Who was Anthony Quayle? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

British Celebrities Born In September

Also Known As: Sir John Anthony Quayle

Died At Age: 76

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Dorothy Hyson (m. 1947), Hermione Hannen (m. 1934–1941)

father: Arthur Quayle

mother: Esther Kate

children: Christopher Quayle, Jenny Quayle, Rosanna Quayle

Born Country: England

Actors Directors

Height: 6'1" (185 cm), 6'1" Males

Died on: October 20, 1989

place of death: Chelsea, London, England

Cause of Death: Liver Cancer

Founder/Co-Founder: Compass Theatre Company

More Facts

education: Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art

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Childhood & Early Life

Anthony Quayle was born into a Manx family on September 7, 1913, in Ainsdale, in the borough of Southport, which was at the time part of the LancashireCounty in England. His father was a lawyer in Lancashire and a theatre lover, who took the family to see all the touring companies visiting their town.

His family owned a drug business which he was supposed to join after growing up, but he was more interested in writing and acting than in chemistry while attending school. He initially studied at the private Abberley Hall School and later completed his secondary education from the Rugby School in 1930, following which he briefly attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Director Tyrone Guthrie, one of his mentors who saw him at the academy, gave him an introduction which helped him get his first role as straight man in a vaudeville comic in 1931. He acquired a steady job withthe Old Vic Company in September 1932 and subsequently portrayed several small roles in classical parts.

In 1936, he made his Broadway debut playing Mr. Harcourt opposite American actress Ruth Gordon in 'The Country Wife'. Two years later, he made his feature film debut in a short, uncredited appearance as an Italian wigmaker in 'Pygmalion'.

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Military Service

As the Second World War broke out, he joined the British Army and served as an area commander of the Auxiliary Units in Northumberland from 1939 to 1945, rising to the rank of major.Serving as a liaison officer for the Special Operations Executive, he was deeply affected while coordinating with the partisans in Albania, which he later fictionalized in his 1945 book 'Eight Hours from England'.

On July 4, 1943, when he was serving for the Governor of Gibraltar, a plane carrying General Władysław Sikorski crashed into the sea immediately after takeoff from Gibraltar, killing everyone except the pilot. In 1947, he published his second book, 'On Such a Night', which contained fictional account of his experience of the incident.

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Career

Anthony Quayle debuted as a theatrical director with a London production of 'Crime and Punishment' in 1946, and went on to work with illustrious stars like Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud. He directed at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon from 1948 to 1956, and played a significant role in laying the foundations for the creation of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

He also established himself as a prolific Shakespearean actor, acting in 'Much Ado About Nothing', 'Henry VIII' and 'Titus Andronicus', and played Mosca in Ben Jonson's 'Volpone'. While he worked primarily on theatre, he often had to accept "one dreary thing after another" on television and in films, such as the ‘Tarzan's Greatest Adventure’ and 'The Fall of the Roman Empire', for financial stability.

Thanks to his combat experience, he asserted a degree of authenticity to authoritative characters unmatched by most other stars. He portrayed roles such as Commodore Harwood in 'Pursuit of the Graf Spee' also known as ‘The Battle of the River Plate’ (1956), an enigmatic Afrikaner captain in 'Ice Cold in Alex' (1958) andby-the-book Colonel Harry Brighton in 'Lawrence of Arabia' (1962).

His other notable film appearances included 'The Wrong Man' (1956) by Alfred Hitchcock, 'The Guns of Navarone' (1961), and 'H.M.S. Defiant' (1962). One of his best performances was in the role of Cardinal Wolsey in 'Anne of the Thousand Days' (1969), for which he was nominated for an 'Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor'.

On television, he appeared in an episode of ITV's' Armchair Theatre' (1959), played the lead in the ITC series 'Strange Report' (1969), and starred as Rubrius Gallius in the miniseries 'Masada' (1981). He played French General Villers in the 1988 telefilm 'The Bourne Identity', and narrated the BBC drama series 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII' (1970) and the aviation documentary series 'Reaching for the Skies' (1988).

In 1970, 34 years after his Broadway debut, he won a 'Drama Desk Award' for his starring role in Anthony Shaffer's 'Tony Award'-winning Broadway production of 'Sleuth'. In spring 1974, he became an artist-in-residence at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and starred in Henry Denker’s 'The Headhunters', first at the Clarence Brown Theatre and then at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theatre.

He also acted in 'Everyman' in 1974, and throughout the mid-1970s, taught classes in UT, apart from serving as the artistic director of the resident professional theatre company, the Clarence Brown Company. He directed and acted in the eponymous role in 'Macbeth' (1975), played the title character in 'Rip Van Winkle' (1976), and appeared opposite Mary Martin in the opening production of 'Do You Turn Somersaults' (1977).

In 1984, 70-year-old Quayle sold his yacht and villa in Malta to found the Compass Theatre Company, and directed a touring production of 'The Clandestine Marriage', in which he appeared as Lord Ogleby. The company also toured with plays such as 'Saint Joan', 'Dandy Dick' and 'King Lear', the last of which saw him in the titular role.

Family & Personal Life

Anthony Quayle married his first wife, English actress Hermione Hannen, in 1935, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1941. He later married American actress Dorothy Hyson in 1947, and had three children with her: daughters, Jenny and Rosanna, and son, Christopher.

In June 1952, he was appointed a 'Commander of the Order of the British Empire' (CBE) on the occasion of the celebration of Queen Elizabeth's birthday. For services to the theatre, he was knighted during the 1985 New Year Honours.

He was diagnosed with liver cancer during the final weeks of his life, but was not admitted to hospital, and died peacefully at his home in Chelsea, London, on October 20, 1989. Just before his death, he had completed his autobiography, 'A Time to Speak', which was published in 1990.

Trivia

Anthony Quayle was playing Macbeth in his own production during his residency at the University of Tennessee in 1975 while the audience threw tomatoes and an onion on stage. At the end of the play, he told the audience how an actor named McCready had had half-a-sheep thrown at him during a nineteenth century production of the play.

Anthony Quayle Biography