fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Mervyn Johns (born David Mervyn John; 18 February 1899 – 6 September 1992)[1] was a Welsh stage, film and television character actor who became a star of British films during the Second World War. He was known for his "mostly mild-mannered, lugubrious, amusing, sometimes moving ‘little men’" in over 100 films and television series.[1]

Mervyn Johns
Johns in The Halfway House (1944)
Born	David Mervyn John (1899-02-18)18 February 1899 Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Died	6 September 1992(1992-09-06) (aged 93) Northwood, London, England
Education	Llandovery College Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1923–1979
Spouse(s)	Alice Maud Steele Wareham ​ ​ (m. 1922; died 1970)​ Diana Churchill ​ ​ (m. 1976)​
Children	Glynis Johns
Relatives	Howard Johns (brother) John Geoffrey Jones (nephew) Gareth Forwood (grandson)
Signature

After training in Camden and Primrose Hill, Johns began his career in repertory theatre in 1923 and made his screen debut with Lady in Danger in 1934. In the postwar era, he worked regularly at Ealing Studios.

Early life and education

David Mervyn John was born on 18 February 1899 in Pembroke, Wales.[1] The John family owned Glan Morlais Uchaf, a farm, and the surrounding land near Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire.[2] Johns was the brother of Oxonian academic Howard Johns, who became the rector of Pusey and Weston-on-the-Green,[3] and an uncle of judge John Geoffrey Jones.

Johns was educated at Llandovery College,[4] Carmarthenshire, and having trained as a medical student at London Hospital, was encouraged by his wife to pursue a career in drama, later attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he graduated in 1924 with a gold medal.

Career

Interwar

Johns made his stage debut while he and his first wife, Alice Steel, were touring South Africa in 1923. Johns had various roles in West End productions throughout the 1920s following his graduation from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 1924. Beginning on 24 January 1926, he portrayed Mr Mingan in Allan Monkhouse's play Sons and Fathers with RADA. From 1931 to 1932, Johns starred in two productions at the Little Theatre in Bristol: When Knights Were Bold by Charles Marlowe and A Cup of Kindness by Ben Travers; at the same theatre from 16 to 21 October 1932, he played Mr Blanquet in John Drinkwater's comedy Bird In Hand. From 1932 to 1933, he starred in two more productions at Bristol's Little Theatre: The Rivals by Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw. Following this, he played the Magistrate's Clerk in Walter Hackett's Hyde Park Corner from 5 October 1934 to 11 April 1935 at the Apollo Theatre in London, the same year as the eponymous film.[5]

Johns made his screen debut in 1934 as the reporter in Ben Travers' comedy thriller Lady in Danger, going on to play Hemp in David MacDonald's 1937 crime film The Last Curtain, Sir Wilfred Lucas in the 1938 TV Movie adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and Percival Clicker in Oswald Mitchell's 1938 comedy film Almost a Gentleman.

In 1936, he starred as Sir John Brute alongside Kulia Crawley and Marda Vanne in an Embassy Theatre production of Sir John Vanbrugh's The Provoked Wife,[6] prompting the renowned theatre critic and newspaper journalist James Agate (styled "the best judge of acting of the day") to remark that his acting was "blazingly good" and his role a "magnificent performance which would have warmed the heart's cockles of the old playgoers", saying that "in this actor's hands, Sir John is a brute indeed, not a pewling mooncalf, but a roaring bull. Mr Johns lets us see the pleasure he is taking in the fellow's brutish gusto. There are actors who could make the man as unbearable to an audience as he was to his own circle. Mr Johns, by lifting a corner of the brute's mind to show us his own, is right with Garrick."[1][5]

Two years later, Johns was cast in Ivor Novello's play Comedienne (directed by Murray Macdonald), at the Aldwych Theatre in London. From 26 August 1937 to 12 March 1938, he played Ernest Beevers in J. P. Mitchelhill's adaptation of the J. B. Priestley time play Time and the Conways at the Duchess Theatre in London, and from 17 February to 17 June 1939, he played Sir Patrick Cullen in The Doctor’s Dilemma at the London Mask Theatre, Westminster Theatre and Whitehall Theatre.[5]

Johns' final film role of the interwar era was as Thomas in the 1939 British adventure thriller film Jamaica Inn, directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Second World War

The Second World War ushered in a new era for British theatre and cinema. Johns avoided conscription, and thus began his typecasting in various roles, though most often as the quirky yet dignified "frightened men" described by Adam Benedick.[1] Among his dozens of film roles were the ultracrepidarian Charlie Wickers in the thriller film Saloon Bar (1940), the determined Agent 23 (Mr Arthur Davis) in the Second World War propaganda film The Next of Kin (1942), the church warden Charlie Sims in the war film Went the Day Well? (1942), the homicidal maniac Arthur Grimshaw in the black-and-white comedy farce My Learned Friend (1943), the proprietor Rhys in the drama film The Halfway House (1944), and Major John Roberts in the drama film Twilight Hour (1945). Commenting on his role as the fearful architect Walter Craig in the 1945 mystery film Dead of Night, The Independent's Adam Benedick describes his approach as having a "masterly touch".[1]

Of Johns' stage work, Benedick writes that he "showed a relish for Restoration comedy, but was also rated a ‘quintessential’ Priestley and Shavian actor in such shows as... Heartbreak House (1943), in which he replaced Robert Donat as Captain Shotover, and as Dolittle in Pygmalion (1947)"; his work of the prewar era was just the same.[1] Less well-known are his roles in Frank Harvey's play Saloon Bar from 15 November 1939 to 30 March 1940 at Wyndham’s Theatre in London, Ken Attiwill and Evadne Price's play Once a Crook as Hallelujah Harry from 3 June 1940 to 12 July 1941, and Patrick Hamilton's play The Duke in Darkness from 1942 to 1943 at the Bristol Hippodrome.[5]

Postwar

Following the end of the Second World War on 4 September 1945, Johns continued to be cast in leading roles. In Robert Hamer's 1945 crime drama film Pink String and Sealing Wax, he played the "unexpectedly severe" Mr. Edward Sutton;[7] in Norman Walker's 1946 drama film They Knew Mr. Knight, he played the main protagonist Tom Blake (playing to his "fretful features");[8] in Paul L. Stein's 1948 thriller film Counterblast, he played Doctor Bruckner "in splendid villainous mode".[9] His supporting roles in this era included playing Ernest Bennett in Ralph Thomas' romantic comedy film Helter Skelter, and Cratchit in Brian Desmond Hurst's 1951 Christmas fantasy drama film adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, with Alastair Sim as the cantankerous title character and miser.

On stage, he appeared in Erskine Caldwell and Jack Kirkland's production of Tobacco Road at the West End in 1949, Michael Norbury's play Love’s a Funny Thing from 10 to 12 March 1949 at The Ambassadors Theatre in London, Harold Martin's play The Martins’ Nest from 12 April to 12 May 1951 at the Westminster Theatre in London, James Forsyth's play Fulbert as the uncle and guardian of Heloise beginning on 14 November 1951 at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, and Eric Linklater's play The Mortimer Touch as Shurie from 30 April to 7 June 1952 at the same theatre.[5]

Though he had appeared in several television films, Johns made his television series debut relatively late when he was cast as Harold Simpson in the episode The Happy Sunday Afternoon of BBC Sunday Night Theatre in 1950. On the same show, he was given the role of Albert Eccles in the 1954 episode Caste, Samuel Pepys in the 1954 episode Ninety Sail, Rough in the 1957 episode Gaslight, and His Excellency the Governor in the 1957 episode His Excellency. In 1956, Johns was given the lead role of J. Philimore Sparkes in six episodes of the television series New Ramps For Old, in which he was cast alongside Harry H. Corbett and Colin Tapley, who played Kegworthy and Detective Inspector Welsh respectively. Following this, he was given the lead role of Lawrence Todhunter in six episodes of the television series Leave It to Todhunter in 1958. He is remembered for standout roles as Arthur Charles Parfitt and Edward Lumsden in five episodes of the courtroom drama television series Crown Court alongside his grandson, actor Gareth Forwood, from 1973 to 1975.

Public image

Johns is recurrently hailed as one of Ealing Studios' most prolific actors. In his book Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48, Robert Murphy describes Johns as a "mainstay of so many Ealing films".[10] In September 2022, he was named the 40th most popular Welsh actor of all time, after being absent from public attention for almost fifty years and dead for thirty.[11]

Personal life

Johns married twice. His first wife was the concert pianist Alice Maud Steele Wareham, whom he married on 17 November 1927 in Saint Giles, London, and with whom he had his only child, the actress Glynis Johns, while on tour in Pretoria, South Africa. He and Glynis appeared together in two drama films: The Halfway House in 1944 and The Sundowners in 1960. After Alice's death on 1 September 1971, he married the actress Diana Churchill on 4 December 1976 in Hillingdon, London. He predeceased her by two years, dying on 6 September 1992 in Northwood, London.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1934	Lady in Danger	Reporter	Film debut
1935	The Guv'nor	Bank Director
	Foreign Affaires	Courtroom interpreter
1936	Pot Luck	Night Watchman
	In the Soup	Meakin
	Everything Is Thunder	Karl - Waiter
	Dishonour Bright	French Postcard Seller
1937	Song of the Forge
	Storm in a Teacup	Court Bailiff
	Night Ride	Trapped Miner
	The Last Curtain	Hemp
1938	Pride and Prejudice	Sir Wilfred Lucas	TV Movie
	Almost a Gentleman	Percival Clicker
1939	Jamaica Inn	Thomas
1940	The Midas Touch
	Convoy
	Girl in the News	James Fetherwood
	Saloon Bar	Charlie Wickers
1942	The Next of Kin	No 23: Mr Davis
	The Foreman Went to France	Passport Official
	Went the Day Well?	Charlie Sims
1943	The Bells Go Down	Sam
	My Learned Friend	Arthur Grimshaw
	San Demetrio London	Greaser John Boyle
1944	The Halfway House	Rhys
1945	Twilight Hour	Major John Roberts
	Dead of Night	Walter Craig
	Pink String and Sealing Wax	Mr. Sutton
1946	They Knew Mr. Knight	Tom Blake
	The Captive Heart	Evans
1947	Captain Boycott	Watty Connell
1948	Easy Money	Herbert Atkins
	Counterblast	Dr. Bruckner the Beast of Ravensbruck
	Quartet	Samuel Sunbury	Segment: The Kite
1949	Edward, My Son	Harry Sempkin
	Helter Skelter	Ernest Bennett
	Diamond City	Hart
1950	Tony Draws a Horse	Alfred Parsons
1951	Scrooge	Bob Cratchit
	The Magic Box	Goitz
1952	The Tall Headlines	Uncle Ted
1953	The Oracle	Tom Mitchum
	Valley of Song	Minister Griffiths
	The Master of Ballantrae	MacKellar
1954	Romeo and Juliet	Friar Laurence
1955	The Blue Peter	Captain Snow
1956	1984	Jones
	The Intimate Stranger	Ernest Chaple
	Moby Dick	Peleg
	Find the Lady	Hurst
1957	The Counterfeit Plan	Louie Bernard
	Doctor at Large	Smith
	A Tale of Two Cities	Mr. Jarvis Lorry	TV Movie
	The Vicious Circle	Dr. George Kimber
	The Surgeon's Knife	Mr. Waring
1958	The Gypsy and the Gentleman	Brook
1959	The Devil's Disciple	Rev. Maindeck Parshotter
	Danger List	Mr. Ellis
1960	Once More, with Feeling!	Mr. Wilbur Jr.
	Never Let Go	Alfie Barnes
	The Sundowners	Jack Patchogue, Mayor of Cawndilla
1961	No Love for Johnnie	Charlie Young
	The Rebel	Manager of Art Gallery, London
	Francis of Assisi	Brother Juniper
1962	The Keep	Ben Morton	TV Movie
1963	The Day of the Triffids	Mr. Coker
	55 Days at Peking	Clergyman
	80,000 Suspects	Buckridge
	The Old Dark House	Potiphar Femm
	The Victors	Dennis
1964	A Jolly Bad Fellow	Willie Pugh-Smith
1965	The Heroes of Telemark	Col. Wilkinson
1966	Who Killed the Cat?	Henry Fawcett
1973	The National Health	Rees
	Thinking Man As Hero	Lord Beale
1976	House of Mortal Sin	Father Duggan	Final film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Episode number	Notes
1950–1957	BBC Sunday Night Theatre	Harold Simpson / Albert Eccles / Samuel Pepys / Rough / His Excellency, the Governor	5 epsiodes	Television debut
1955–1961	ITV Television Playhouse	Walter Turnbull / Wickers / Jan Konigsveldt / Jack Wilson / Frank Davidson / Sylvan Humphreys	7 episodes
1956	New Ramps for Old	J. Philimore Sparkes	6 episodes
1956–1964	ITV Play of the Week	Caspar Darde / Rev. Arthur Mottram / Doctor Evans / Eli	4 episodes
1957	A Tale of Two Cities	Mr. Jarvis Lorry	7 episodes
1958	White Hunter	Mr. Doak	2 episodes
	Leave It to Todhunter	Lawrence Todhunter	6 episodes
1959	Knight Errant Limited	Harry Smith	1 episode
1960	Boyd Q.C.	John Parsons	1 episode
1962	Probation Officer	Mr. Todd	1 episode
	Maigret	Inspector Fumel	1 episode
1963	The Third Man	Geoffrey Ormsby	1 episode
1964	Detective	Father Brown	1 episode
	No Hiding Place	Alf Turnball	1 episode
	Danger Man	Armstrong	1 episode
1965	The Sullavan Brothers	Benjamin Greenfield	1 episode
	Knock on Any Door	Mr. Prubright	1 episode
	The Avengers	Brandon Storey	1 episode
1965–1966	Pardon the Expression	Jacob Elijah Burgess / Jeb	2 episodes
1966	The Saint	Doctor Davis	1 episode
1972	Kate	Mr. Norris	1 episode
	The Adventurer	Franz Kolmar	1 episode
	Dixon of Dock Green	Mr. Farmer	1 episode
	The Strauss Family	Doctor Sarner	1 episode	TV Mini Series
1973	The Adventures of Black Beauty	Silas Surtees	1 episode
1973–1975	Crown Court	Edward Lumsden / Arthur Charles Parfitt	5 episodes
1974	QB VII	Mr. Evans	1 episode	TV Mini Series
1977	The New Avengers	Elderly man	1 episode
	Kilvert's Diary	James Jones	1 episode
1979	Shoestring	Reverend James Appleby	1 episode

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Location
1926	Sons and Fathers by Allan Monkhouse	Mr Mingan	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London
1931–1932	The Ghost Train		Little Theatre, Bristol
	When Knights Were Bold		Little Theatre, Bristol
	A Cup of Kindness		Little Theatre, Bristol
1932	Bird In Hand	Mr Blanquet	Little Theatre, Bristol
1932–1933	The Rivals		Little Theatre, Bristol
	Saint Joan		Little Theatre, Bristol
1934–1935	Hyde Park Corner	Magistrate's Clerk	Apollo Theatre, London
1937–1938	Time and the Conways	Ernest Beevers	Duchess Theatre, London
1938	Comedienne		Aldwych Theatre, London
1939	The Doctor's Dilemma	Sir Patrick Cullen	Westminster Theatre, London / Whitehall Theatre, London
1939–1940	Saloon Bar		Wyndham's Theatre, London
1940–1941	Once a Crook	Hallelujah Harry	Aldwych Theatre, London / New Theatre, London
1942–1943	The Duke in Darkness		Bristol Hippodrome
1943	Heartbreak House	Captain Shotover	Cambridge Theatre, London
1949	Tobacco Road		Embassy Theatre, London / Royal Central School of Speech and Drama / Playhouse Theatre, London
	Love’s a Funny Thing	Michael Norbury	Ambassadors Theatre, London
1951	The Martins’ Nest	Harold Martin	Westminster Theatre, London
	Heloise	Fulbert	Duke of York's Theatre, London
1952	The Mortimer Touch	Shurie	Duke of York's Theatre, London
1961	The Keep	Ben Morton	Royal Court Theatre, London
1964–1965	Heirs and Graces		Theatre Royal, Bath
1971–1972	A Christmas Carol	Bob Cratchit	Theatre Royal, Brighton

References

External links

• Biography at BFI Screen Online
• Mervyn Johns at IMDb

На других языках

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[de] Mervyn Johns

David Mervyn Johns (* 18. Februar 1899 in Pembroke, Pembrokeshire; † 6. September 1992 in Northwood, Middlesex[1]) war ein britisch-walisischer Autor und Schauspieler.

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- [en] Mervyn Johns

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