''Macbeth'' is a
live television
Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television over the Internet when content or programming is played continuously (not on demand) ...
adaptation of the
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
presented as the November 28, 1954 episode of the American
anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...
''
Hallmark Hall of Fame
''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City-based greeting card company. The longest-running prime-time series in t ...
''. Directed by
George Schaefer, and starring
Maurice Evans and Dame
Judith Anderson
Dame Frances Margaret Anderson, (10 February 18973 January 1992), known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film and television. A pre-eminent stage actress in her era, she won two ...
, the production was telecast in color, but has only been preserved on black-and-white
kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940 ...
.
In 1960, Evans and Anderson starred in a
filmed made-for-television production of the play, also directed by Schaefer for the ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', but with an entirely different supporting cast. That production was filmed in color on location in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, and was released theatrically in Europe.
Cast
*
Maurice Evans as Macbeth
*
Judith Anderson
Dame Frances Margaret Anderson, (10 February 18973 January 1992), known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film and television. A pre-eminent stage actress in her era, she won two ...
as Lady Macbeth
*
Jane Rose
Jane Prim Rose (February 7, 1913 – June 29, 1979) was an American character actress, perhaps best remembered as Audrey Dexter, the gently befuddled mother-in-law of Phyllis Lindstrom on the CBS sitcom ''Phyllis'' (1975–1977).
Early life
Jane ...
as First Witch
*Frieda Altman as Second Witch
*Maud Sheerer as Third Witch
*
House Jameson
House Baker Jameson (December 17, 1902 – April 23, 1971)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 139. was an American actor in the era ...
as Duncan
*Roger Hamilton as Malcolm
*
William Woodson
William T. Woodson (July 16, 1917 – February 22, 2017) was an American film, stage, radio and voice actor, best known for his narration of the radio series ''This is Your FBI'', the animated series ''Super Friends'' and all its spin-offs, and t ...
as the Sergeant
*Guy Sorel as Ross
*
Staats Cotsworth
Staats Cotsworth (February 17, 1908 – April 9, 1979) was an actor in old-time radio.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 64. He is ...
as Banquo
*Michael Kane as Angus
*
Basil Langton
Basil Calvert Langton (9 January 1912 – 29 May 2003) was an English actor, director and photographer, who made a career on both sides of the Atlantic. He was an authority on the plays of George Bernard Shaw and compiled an archive of more than ...
as Seyton
*John Reese as Fleance
*
J. Pat O'Malley as the Porter (credited as Pat O'Malley)
*
Richard Waring
Richard Waring (born Richard Waring Stephens; 27 May 1911 – 18 January 1993) was an English-American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the film ''Mr. Skeffington'' (1944).
Biography
Richard Waring was born Richard Ste ...
as Macduff
*
Peter Fernandez
Peter Fernandez (January 29, 1927 – July 15, 2010) was an American actor, voice director, and writer. Despite a career extending from the 1930s, he is probably best known for his roles in the 1967 anime ''Speed Racer''. Fernandez co-wrote the ...
as Donaldbain
ic*Noel Leslie as the Doctor
*George Ebeling as First Murderer
*
Robert Carricart
Robert Anthony Carricart (January 18, 1917 – March 3, 1993) was a French-American film, television and theatre actor. He was known for playing the role of Pepe Cordoza in the American action drama television series '' T.H.E. Cat''.
Life and ...
as Second Murderer
*
Ford Rainey
Ford Rainey (August 8, 1908 – July 25, 2005) was an American film, stage, and television actor.Myrna Oliver"Ford Rainey, 96; Performed Shakespeare, Shepard and Variety of Film, TV Roles" ''Los Angeles Times'', July 26, 2005.
Early life
Rainey ...
as Menteith
*
Margot Stevenson
Margaret Helen Stevenson (February 8, 1912 – January 2, 2011) was an American film, stage and radio actress, known for her role as Margo Lane in the radio adaptation of ''The Shadow'', opposite Orson Welles in 1938.
Early life
She was ...
as Lady Macduff
*Rhoden Streeter as Young Macduff
*Nan McFarland as Gentlewoman
*Edwin Jerome as Caithness
*Val Wrenne as the Servant
*Roy Dean as the Messenger
References
External links
*
1954 American television episodes
Films based on Macbeth
Emmy Award-winning programs
Hallmark Hall of Fame episodes
Films directed by George Schaefer
1954 drama films
1954 films
{{US-tv-episode-stub