Michael Redgrave

Tall, distinguished star of the English stage and screen, and a stellar member of the generation of British actors which included Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud. A versatile, sensitive and polished actor, Redgrave made a superb screen debut as the musician hero of the classic Hitchcock thriller, "The Lady Vanishes" (1938). He demonstrated a fine talent for comedy, as in Anthony Asquith's "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1952), as well as playing suffering but reserved, upper-class characters in films such as "The Browning Version" (1951; one of his greatest performances) and "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner" (1962). The edgy, nervous tension which Redgrave brought to such characters made him memorable as well in the classic horror anthology "Dead of Night" (1945), as a ventriloquist driven crazy by his dummy.

Redgrave was knighted in 1959 for his services to the theater. He also authored two plays and several books, including his autobiography, "Face or Mask" (1958) and was the father, by his wife (and frequent stage co-star) Rachel Kempson, of actors Vanessa, Corin and Lynn Redgrave. He died of Parkinson's disease at the age of 77.

• Also Credited As:
  Michael Scudenmore Redgrave, Sir Michael Redgrave
• Born:
  March 20, 1908 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
• Died:
  March 21, 1985.
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Author, Director, Novelist, Playwright, School headmaster

Family

• Grandfather: Cornelius Redgrave.
• Half-sister: Peggy Anderson.

Significant Others

• Companion: Edith Evans. had relationship in the late 1930s
• Companion: Noel Coward. had relationship in the late 1930s

Education

• Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England

Milestones

• 1921 Amateur acting debut in a walk-on part in "Henry IV, Part 2" at Stratford-on-Avon
• 1934 Professional acting debut at the Liverpool Playhouse in "Counsellor at Law"
• 1936 Joined the Old Vic in the fall; debuted there in "Love's Labour's Lost"
• 1938 First credited film appearance in "The Lady Vanishes", directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• 1939 Co-starred in "Stolen Life"
• 1941 Had title role in "Kipps", directed by Carol Reed
• 1941 Played opposite wife Rachel Kempson in "Jeannie"
• 1945 Played a ventriloquist driven mad by his dummy in "Dead of Night"
• 1945 Starred in London production of "Jacobowsky and the Colonel"
• 1946 Second screen teaming with wife in "The Captive Heart"
• 1947 Earned Best Actor Oscar nomination as Orin Mannon in the film adapation of Eugene O'Neill's "Mourning Becomes Electra"; film not released in Great Britain until 1952
• 1948 Acted in "Secret Beyond the Door", helmed by Fritz Lang
• 1948 Broadway debut in "Macbeth"
• 1951 Won particular praise for his turn as a schoolteacher in "The Browning Version"
• 1952 Played Jack Worthing in the screen adaptation of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest"
• 1954 Acted opposite Rachel Kempson as husband and wife in "The Sea Shall Not Have Them"
• 1955 Reprised London role in "Tiger at the Gates" on Broadway; earned Tony nomination
• 1956 Appeared in the film version of George Orwell's "1984"
• 1957 US TV debut in the title role of "Ruggles of Red Gap"
• 1958 Co-starred with daughter Vanessa in the London production of "A Touch of the Sun"
• 1958 Had title role in "Hamlet" at the Moscow Art Theatre
• 1958 Played lead in "Behind the Mask"
• 1959 Starred in and wrote the play "The Aspern Papers", based on a Henry James novella
• 1962 Directed by then son-in-law Tony Richardson in "The Lonliness of the Long-Distance Runner"
• 1962 Enjoyed a stage triumph as Vanya in the Chichester Festival production of "Uncle Vanya"
• 1967 Starred in the ABC biographical drama "Mr. Dickens of London"
• 1968 Cast as the grandfather in "Heidi" (NBC)
• 1968 Portrayed Prospero in a BBC production of "The Tempest"
• 1969 Played the school headmaster in the musical remake of "Goodbye, Mr. Chips"
• 1971 Appeared as the older version of Dominic Guard's character Leo in "The Go-Between"
• 1979 Starred in "Close of Play", written by Simon Gray and directed by Harold Pinter
• While at Cambridge, acted in and occasionally directed plays