Bertie Alexander Meyer (17 June 1877 – mid November 1967) was a British theatre producer and entrepreneur.
Biography
Meyer was born on 17 June 1877 to a Jewish family. In 1902, he worked under director
Arthur Lewis at the
Garrick Theatre who was putting on a series of plays with actress
Gabrielle Réjane
Gabrielle Réjane (), ''née'' Gabrielle Charlotte Réju (6 June 1856 – 14 June 1920), was a French actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The daughter of a former actor, Réjane studied at the Paris Conservatoire and made her stag ...
.
He worked with Réjane the following year at
Terry's
Terry's is a British chocolate and confectionery maker, formerly based in York, England, until 2005, and re-established in 2019 as Terry's Chocolate Co and based in London. The company was founded in 1767. The company's headquarters and fac ...
. He was appointed manager of the
German Theatre in London, becoming business manager for
Charles Frohman and manager of the
Queen's Theatre after his death. Meyer then went on two tours of Australia with
Oscar Asche and
Lily Brayton.
He returned to London in 1913, and in October of that year, he was appointed business manager of the
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...
. He served in the
Royal Army Ordnance Corps from 1914 during World War I, reaching the position of lieutenant and acting as an interpreter.
Meyer oversaw the construction of the
St Martin's Theatre
St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre which has staged the production of ''The Mousetrap'' since March 1974, making it the longest continuous run of any show in the world.
The theatre is located in West Street, near Shaftesbury Avenue, in t ...
in the
West End
West End most commonly refers to:
* West End of London, an area of central London, England
* West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England
West End may also refer to:
Pl ...
. Following his discharge from military service in 1922,
he was appointed general manager of the
Ambassadors Theatre, and in 1923 worked with
Owen Nares to produce ''
The Enchanted Cottage'' and ''
If Winter Comes'' on stage.
He was the producer of the Grand Guignol Season in 1927–28 at the Little Theatre.
The
Cambridge Theatre in the West End, which opened on 4 September 1930, was built for Meyer by the architects
Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie
Wimperis, Simpson & Guthrie were a firm of British architects based at 61, South Molton Street, London, W1, most active in the 1920s and 1930s. They were known for their design of buildings such as Fortnum and Mason on Piccadilly, the Cambridge Th ...
. .
In January 1932, he married the second time; the wedding to the American film actress
Rosemary Ames
Rosemary Ames (December 11, 1906 – April 15, 1988) was an American film actress who had a brief career in the early 1930s.
Born in Evanston, Illinois, Ames's father was Knowlton Lyman (Snake) Ames, who played fullback for Princeton Uni ...
, occurred at St Martin's register office in London. Two years later, Ames filed for divorce in Chicago on the grounds of desertion. During the period 1936 to 1939, he lived abroad.
From Christmas 1954, he produced a stage adaption of
Enid Blyton's Noddy, ''Noddy in Toyland'', with stage director
André van Gyseghem
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, Kent, the son of Georges Em ...
at the large
Stoll Theatre in
Kingsway, London.
Meyer was 77 at the time.
Due to the success of the pantomime, which sold out, Meyer and Blyton agreed to continue with it, and it ended up being shown for a further five or six years. In 1958, Meyer announced that in association with Geraldo, he would produce a musical version of
Gerald du Maurier's ''
Trilby''.
Meyyer had been involved with the adaptation of
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 ...
's books into plays as early as 1928 with ''
Alibi''.
[Gale, p. 963] However, when Meyer was approached by Christie in 1950 to produce a stage adaption of her novel ''
The Hollow'', he turned it down as he believed it would be too difficult to cast, although it has been speculated that the
anti-Semitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
in the novel was the primary reason.
Meyer also turned down her ''Towards Zero'', causing annoyance to Christie for his sudden aversion to her.
Meyer took over the St Martin's Theatre again in 1960, which he ran intermittently until his death in November 1967, when his son R.A. (Ricky) took over. Meyer was cremated at
Golders Green Crematorium on 22 November 1967.
["Court Circular", ''The Times'', 22 November 1867, p. 12]
Notes and references
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;References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Bertie
British theatre managers and producers
British Jews
People from the London Borough of Camden
1877 births
1967 deaths
British Army personnel of World War I
Royal Army Ordnance Corps officers
Golders Green Crematorium