The 1937 screen test, which exists in the British Film Institute (BFI) archives under the title " Marguerite Allan and Michael Rennie Screen Test", did not lead to a film career for either performer. Balcon wrote "I had seen the rushes of that day's filming and had at once decided that Rennie was far too inexperienced to justify big screen parts." Balcon says he saw Rennie act in a scene in East Meets West (1936) and fired him immediately afterwards. Rennie's first screen acting was an uncredited bit part in the Alfred Hitchcock film Secret Agent (1936), standing in for Robert Young. He knew nothing of acting, but was given a contract to play small parts and to work as stand-in for players such as Robert Young and John Loder." Head of production Michael Balcon said Rennie was taken on "because he was good-looking and athletic. Rennie said entering the film industry at this level was a deliberate strategy, so he could learn how pictures were made. The 6' 4" tall Rennie attracted the interest of a casting director at Gaumont British, who took him on as an extra. He cited Ronald Colman as his role model. He retained his surname but adopted Michael as his professional name. He eventually decided (at the time of his 26th birthday, in 1935) on a career as an actor.
He worked in a number of occupations, including a stint as a car salesman, and sweeping floors in his uncle's steel ropes factory. He went to work at the family mill in Bradford, but did not enjoy it. He was educated at the Leys School, Cambridge. The Rennie business had operated for over 150 years, and the family was relatively well off. He had an elder brother William, younger brother Gordon and sister Edith. Rennie was born in Idle near Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, the second son of a Scottish wool mill owner, James Rennie, and his English wife Amelia (née Dobby).
In a career spanning more than 30 years, Rennie appeared in more than 50 films and in several American television series. Michael Rennie (born Eric Alexander Rennie 25 August 1909 – 10 June 1971) was a British film, television and stage actor, who had leading roles in a number of Hollywood films, including his portrayal of the space visitor Klaatu in the science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).
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