André van Gyseghem (18 August 1906 – 13 October 1979) was an English actor and theatre director who also appeared in many British television programmes.
Early life
Van Gyseghem was born on 18 August 1906 in
Eltham
Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...
, Kent, the son of Georges Emil van Gyseghem and his wife Minnie Evison
(née Offord).
He went to school in
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
, then studied for the stage at
RADA
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Se ...
. He worked initially in a music-publishing business.
[Who's Who in the Theatre: Van Gyseghem, André]
archive.org. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
He made his stage debut at the Theatre Royal, Bognor, in September 1927, as Peveril Leyburn in ''
The Constant Nymph'', then in January 1928 toured as Lewis Dodd in the same play. From September 1928 to July 1930 he was engaged at the
Hull Repertory Theatre
The Hull Repertory Theatre Company was a theatre company in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1924 by Arthur Whatmore. In the 1930s it was managed by Pepino Santangelo who developed it and it became the Hull ...
, then under the direction of
A.R. Whatmore, playing a round of leading juvenile parts.
[
]
Return to London
At the Arts Theatre
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London.
History
It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamber ...
in July 1930 he played Vitek in '' The Macropulos Secret''. He then joined the repertory company at the Embassy Theatre, and remained there from September 1930 until October 1934.The Witch
A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft.
Witch, WITCH, or variations thereof may also refer to:
Animals
* Witch (lefteye flounder) (''Arnoglossus scapha''), a Pacific flatfish
* Witch (righteye flounder) (''Glyptocephalus cynoglossus''), a Euro ...
'', but also began his long career as director, starting with the Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
play '' Black Coffee'' in December 1930.
Other subsequent productions which he directed at the Embassy included:
*''Miracle at Verdun'' by Hans Chlumberg, September 1932[
*''The Glass Wall'' (premiere), by E. M. Delafield, February 1933
*'' All God's Chillun Got Wings'', March 1933, with ]Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...
and Flora Robson
Dame Flora McKenzie Robson (28 March 19027 July 1984) was an English actress and star of the theatrical stage and cinema, particularly renowned for her performances in plays demanding dramatic and emotional intensity. Her range extended from q ...
[
*''The Brontes of Haworth Parsonage'', November 1933
*''Windfall'' by ]R. C. Sherriff
Robert Cedric Sherriff, FSA, FRSL (6 June 1896 – 13 November 1975) was an English writer best known for his play '' Journey's End'', which was based on his experiences as an army officer in the First World War. He wrote several plays, many nov ...
, February 1934
*''Stevedore'', May 1935, with Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...
and Robert Adams[
Between 1933 and 1935 he made several trips to the Soviet Union, including a year's work at ]Nikolay Okhlopkov
Nikolay Pavlovich Okhlopkov (russian: Никола́й Па́влович Охло́пков; 15 May 1900, in Irkutsk – 8 January 1967, in Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian actor and theatre director who patterned his work after Meyerhold. Pat ...
's ''Realistic Theatre'' in Moscow. He attributed much of his own acting expertise to the education he received there.Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
and president of the Unity Theatre's "Management Committee".
In 1939 he appeared in a short BBC television play ''Rehearsal for a Drama''. In 1944 played Cecil Tempest in the film ''Candles at Nine
''Candles at Nine'' is a 1944 British mystery film directed by John Harlow and starring Jessie Matthews, John Stuart and Beatrix Lehmann.
A wealthy man taunts his relations and staff about which of them shall inherit his estate after he chang ...
'', and in 1949 Oblensky in ''Warning to Wantons''.[ In 1953 he played the Stage Door Keeper in '' The Limping Man''. Between 1951 and his death in 1979 he appeared in over 50 British television dramas. ]Rudolph Cartier
Rudolph Cartier (born Rudolph Kacser, renamed himself in Germany to Rudolph Katscher;
17 April 1904 – 7 June 1994) was an Austrian television director, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer who worked predominantly in British television, exc ...
's production of ''Stalingrad'' for the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' series. He appeared in ''
''. He played the retiring Number Two in the episode "
". Van Gyseghem also appeared in an episode of ''
in 1940.