Thane William Howard Hardcastle Christopher Bettany (28 May 1929 – 7 November 2015) was an English actor and dancer. He was the father of film and theatre actor
Paul Bettany
Paul Bettany (born 27 May 1971) is an English actor. He is mostly known for his roles as J.A.R.V.I.S. and Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, recently starring in the Disney+ miniseries '' WandaVision'' (2021), for which he was nominate ...
.
Early years
Thane Bettany was born in
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
, an independent state on the island of
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...
, which was then a
British protectorate governed by the
White Rajahs
The White Rajahs were a dynastic monarchy of the British Brooke family, who founded and ruled the Raj of Sarawak, located on the north west coast of the island of Borneo, from 1841 to 1946. The first ruler was Briton James Brooke. As a reward ...
. Thane grew up with an elder brother, named Peter Bettany. His godmother was the American memoirist
Agnes Newton Keith, author of ''
Three Came Home
''Three Came Home'' is a 1950 American post-war film directed by Jean Negulesco, based on the memoirs of the same name by writer Agnes Newton Keith. It depicts Keith's life in North Borneo in the period immediately before the Japanese invasi ...
''.
The Bettanys knew the Rhys-Jones family, also British expats in Sarawak. In 1965, when both had been widowed, Howard John Bettany, Thane's father, married Margaret Rhys-Jones (''née'' Molesworth; a descendant of
Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth
Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth PC (Ire) (7 September 1656 – 22 May 1725) was an Anglo-Irish politician and writer.
Molesworth came from an old Northamptonshire family. He married Hon. Letitia Coote, daughter of Richard Coote, 1st ...
). The same year, further intermingling the families, Thane Bettany stood godfather to his new stepbrother's daughter,
Sophie. In 1999 he was summoned by royal command to attend
her wedding to Prince Edward, when she became Countess of Wessex.
Dancing career
Bettany had become enamoured with ballet after seeing a performance as a child. Once he left school he took the money given to him by his father to go to school to study ballet. After
National Service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The ...
, when he served in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
's Fleet Air Arm as a mechanic, he entered
Sadler's Wells Ballet School
The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especiall ...
(which later became the
Royal Ballet School
The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...
). He began dancing in musical theatre, but after an accident on stage when he broke his back he had to give up professional dance. Acting was an obvious career move, but he had a stammer. He went to study mime in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
with Charles Antonetti, who helped him manage his stammer. Bettany returned to England and joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company, which would later become the
Royal Shakespeare Company. He played Osric to Sir
Michael Redgrave
Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Elec ...
's ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
''. In ''
The Tempest'', he was the
understudy
In theater, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to a ...
for the role of Ferdinand; he then took over the part when the play transferred to
Drury Lane with Sir
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...
.
Personal life
After a few years with the New Zealand Players, he returned home and taught at Corona Stage School, where he met Anne Kettle, whom he would later marry. He moved on to Norway as the Artistic Director of the English Theatre Company there, inviting Kettle over as his
stage manager. Back in England they renewed their friendship at the Lincoln Theatre Royale. They married and settled in
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire.
The term ''nor ...
, "a rough estate in Harlesden" according to their son,
and although stage work continued to be his focus, when his children were born he looked for other work to be closer to home. He continued to act, mainly in television; during this period he was cast in one of his most famous roles, as Tarak on ''
Doctor Who''.
[
The couple had three children: daughter Sarah, elder son ]Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
and younger son Matthew. Sarah and Paul initially attended school in North London. When Sarah, Paul and Matthew were 11, 9 and 2 years old, respectively, their father obtained employment as a drama teacher at the Hertfordshire all-girls boarding school, Queenswood School
Queenswood School is a girls-only independent school located near Hatfield, Hertfordshire, twenty miles from London. It offers admission at ages 11, 13 or 16 (for sixth form).
The ''Good Schools Guide'' 2013 described Queenswood as "a girls' ...
; the family lived on campus.
His son, Matthew, died after a fall at Queenswood when he was 8. Soon after, Paul left home to live on his own in London. Thane and Anne divorced in 1993 after 25 years of marriage. Bettany considered paying privately for sex-reassignment surgery, as he was too old for NHS protocols; in the end he judged it too expensive, and likely to hinder his remaining acting career. He lived in Fife, Scotland with his partner, Andy Little, continuing to work regularly as an actor, including performing with Dundee Rep
Dundee Repertory Theatre, better known simply as the Dundee Rep, is a theatre and arts company in the city of Dundee, Scotland. It operates as both a producing house - staging at least six of its own productions each year, and a receiving house ...
until his death in November 2015.[ According to his son Paul, following the death of Andy after a 20 year relationship, Thane "went back into the closet" out of difficulties with grief and with reconciling his sexuality and Catholicism, fearing "not being able to get into Heaven".]
Filmography
References
External links
*
"My Son, the Actor"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bettany, Thane
1929 births
2015 deaths
English male ballet dancers
English male film actors
English male stage actors
People from Sarawak
Male actors from London
20th-century English male actors
People educated at Lucton School
People associated with Fife
LGBT dancers
Fleet Air Arm personnel
English LGBT actors
LGBT male actors