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Robert Donat's pleasant voice and somewhat neutral English accent were carefully honed as a boy because he had a stammer and took elocution lessons starting at age 11 to overcome the impediment. It was not too surprising that freedom from such a vocal embarrassment was encouragement to act. His other handicap, acute asthma, did not deter him. At the age of 16 he began performing Shakespeare and other classic roles in a number of repertory and touring companies throughout Britain. In 1924 he joined Sir Frank Benson's repertory company, and later he was with the Liverpool Repertory Theater.
His work was finally noticed by Alexander Korda, who gave him a three-year film contract. Three minor films were followed by his role as Katherine Howard's lover, Thomas Culpepper, in the hit The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). Donat's style of acting, whether comic or dramatic, was usually reserved, with the subtleties of face and voice being his talents to complement the role. A top draw in Britain, he went to Hollywood for The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), but he did not care for the Hollywood scene--the fishbowl lifestyle of the movie star. "Cristo" gave him the opportunity for Captain Blood (1935), but he eventually declined. (With a nod to hindsight, it is hard to think of anyone but a fresh-faced Flynn doing the role.) Although he would have contracts with MGM, Warner Bros. and RKO through the remainder of the 1930s, he begged off many a film role or broke commitments, ostensibly because of health problems, though, along with being finicky about roles, he was also such a conscientious actor that lack of confidence sometimes stymied his forward progress.
Hollywood usually had to shoot in England if it wanted him badly enough. And that was not a problem after the box office reception given The 39 Steps (1935), the big hit for Alfred Hitchcock. There was a hint of whimsy in Donat's face that worked especially well with the sophisticated comedic elements that crept into several of his dramatic roles. His portrayal of individualist Canadian Richard Hannay--which registered with North Americans both above and below the 49th parallel--in "Steps" was the first of such popular characters. Some of Hitch's famous on-the-set practical jokes ensued on the first day of shooting "Steps." The first scene was the escape on the moors from the master spy's henchmen by Donat and Madeleine Carroll handcuffed together. Donat and Carroll had not met before this, and Hitchcock handcuffed them together hours before filming so that they could get very well acquainted. He insisted he had misplaced the key when in fact he had slipped it to a studio security officer for safekeeping.
Hitchcock attempted to land Donat for three other roles, Sabotage (1936) and Secret Agent (1936) and Rebecca (1940), but illness, commitments, and more illness, respectively, supposedly kept Donat from accepting each. Hollywood would be treated in kind, for Donat was more dedicated to stage work. Hollywood did get him for The Citadel (1938), for which he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. He won the Oscar the next year for perhaps his best known role in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) (MGM's with Greer Garson). Since 1939 was one of the most competitive film years in Hollywood history, Donat's reward for his mild Mr. Chipping was something of a stunner. This was the year of Gone with the Wind (1939), and Clark Gable as Rhett Butler seemed a shoo-in for best actor. But there is something of a myth that since both pictures were from MGM and "Wind" had so many nominations (including best actor, actress, and picture), MGM head and strongman Louis B. Mayer used his weight to spread the wealth toward "Chips".
Unlike other British actors who came to work in America during World War II, Donat stayed in Britain. He did mostly theater but also some British films--only four--with one for Korda and one for Carol Reed. Only six more films were allotted Donat after the war and into the 1950s, all but one British productions. He starred, directed and co-wrote The Cure for Love (1949) and starred in The Magic Box (1951), a well-crafted and delightful (if a bit fictionalized) salute to the history of the British film industry. By 1955, all of Donat's acting efforts required a bottle of oxygen kept off stage and at the ready as his health continued to turn toward the worse. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), a Twentieth Century Fox production shot in the UK, was Donat's final film. His fragility was poignantly obvious on screen, and he died shortly after the film was finished. He received a posthumous Special Citation from the USA National Board of Review and was nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe. It was a career for Robert Donat that should have gone on, yet it was filled with many notable screen memories just the same.Plot: Section 8- Actress
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Mel Appleby was born on 11 July 1966 in Hackney, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Coronation Street (1960), Mel & Kim: Respectable (1987) and Mel & Kim: F.L.M. (1987). She died on 18 January 1990 in Westminster, London, England, UK.Plot: Central Avenue, West side- Music Department
- Soundtrack
H.R. Bishop was born on 18 November 1786 in London, England, UK. He is known for Enough (2002), Mr. Turner (2014) and Ravenous (1999). He died on 30 April 1855 in London, England, UK.- Actor
- Soundtrack
- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
Alyn Ainsworth was born in 1924 in Bolton, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor and composer, known for Vera Lynn (1969), Wednesday at Eight (1988) and Stars at Blackpool (1953). He died on 4 October 1990 in London, England, UK.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Matthew Garber was a British child actor. Both of his parents were theatrical actors, but neither was particularly famous.
In 1963, Garber came to the attention of actor Roy Dotrice (father of Karen Dotrice) who was seeking potential child actors. Roy recommended Garber to the casting department of the Disney company, where young Garber's "artful dodges, like squinting, screwing up his nose, and brushing his hair back with one hand" were thought likely to make him stand out. He was cast in the film "The Three Lives of Thomasina" (1963), as the character Geordie McNab, a playmate to the Scottish girl Mary MacDhui (played by Karen Dotrice).
Garber next received a bigger role as the character Michael Banks in "Mary Poppins" (1964), one of the two charges of the protagonist nanny. Jane Banks, Michael's sister, was played by Karen Dotrice. The film was the greatest hit of Garber's career and is the role for which he is most remembered.
In 1967, Garber had his third and last film role, as the character Rodney Winthrop in "The Gnome-Mobile". In the film, Rodney and his sister Elizabeth Winthrop (played by Karen Dotrice) are trying to prolong the life of a 943-year-old gnome, who has lost the will to survive.
Following his brief film career, Garber returned to his school studies. He attended first St Paul's Primary School in Winchmore Hill, and then Highgate School in Highgate, North London. He graduated in 1972.
In 1976-1977, Garber was in India and contracted hepatitis. He returned to London in June 1977, seeking better medical treatment. It was too late as the disease had infected his pancreas. He died soon after, the official cause being hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis. He was only 21-years-old. He was single and had no known children.
Garber's remains were cremated at St. Marylebone Crematorium, in East Finchley, London. Both of his parents died within a decade following his death. Fergus Garber, a surviving younger brother of Matthew, was never informed whether there was any memorial erected for his brother. Garber was posthumously named a Disney Legend in 2004.Plot: ashes scattered in the Willow Tree Gardens Section- A beautiful and durable actress of screen, stage and television, Asherson was born Renée Ascherson in London (dropping the "c" early in her acting career), the younger daughter of Charles Ascherson, a businessman and bibliophile of German-Jewish extraction, and his second wife, Dorothy Wiseman, who wed on 14 December 1910. (Her older sister was Janet Elizabeth Ascherson, born 22 May 1914).
Asherson's parents narrowly avoided being passengers on the fateful maiden voyage of the Titanic in 1912, after Charles Ascherson reportedly canceled the passage due to suffering from appendicitis.
She played the bride of Laurence Olivier's title character in Henry V (1944) (Henry V (1944)). She later appeared in Maniacs on Wheels (1949), a speedway drama with Dirk Bogarde. A frequent co-star of the actor Robert Donat, whom she married in 1953. The couple separated in 1956, but were due to reconcile at the time of his untimely death in London on 9th June 1958, aged 53. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Wendy Richard, was born in Middlesborough to Henry and Beatrice Emmerton who moved to London when she was 5. and there they ran The Shepherds Tavern in Mayfair. Her father commited suicide due to depression when she was 11. She was educated at St Georges School in Mount Street, Mayfair, London and at a boarding school then while still in her teens became a shop assistant at Fortum and Masons but was fired on her second day for not selling anything. She then joined the Italia Conti stage school at 16 but refused elocution lessons as she didn't want to do voice exercises. Her first big break was when she did voice on the Mike Sarne record 'Come Outside' which went to number one in 1962 the charts but all she got out of it was £ 15. David Croft then cast her in the comedy series Hugh and I and nurtured her career resulting in appearances in such series as The Likely Lads, Newcomers, Up Pompeii, Dads Army and Eastenders. She had a part in the Beatles film Help but was cut out of it but survived in the comedy Bless This House. The day after her mothers funeral she married music publisher Leonard Black in May 1972 but it only lasted 5 months. Afraid of being on her own she then married advertising executive Will Thorpe but their relationship became turbulent and developed into violent abuse resulting in a divorce in 1984. Her 3rd marriage was to Paul Glorney, a carpet fitter, but they divorced in 1994. In February 1996 she met John Burns, a painter and decorator and they lived together before marrying in October 2008, In 1996 she had discovered a lump on her breast which turned out to be cancerous but she was given the all clear after an operation, There was a recurrence of it in 2002 and after further treatment she was again given a clean bill of health until in 2008 when a check up revealed that she had cancerous cells in her breast and that they had spread through her body. She made a half hour television Programme 'Wendy Richard: To Tell You the Truth' documenting the last few months of her life which was broadcast in March 2009She was cremated upon her death. Cremation location is either Golders Green Crematorium or East Finchley Crematorium in London, England.