Mervyn Johns (born David Mervyn John; 18 February 18996 September 1992) was a
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* Sta ...
,
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
character actor
A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...
who became a star of British films during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Johns was known for his "mostly mild-mannered, lugubrious, amusing, sometimes moving ‘little men’" in over 100 films and television series.
After training in
Camden and
Primrose Hill
Primrose Hill is a Grade II listed public park located north of Regent's Park in London, England, first opened to the public in 1842.Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) It was named after the natural hill in the centre of ...
, Johns began his career in
repertory theatre
A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom
Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...
in 1923. He made his screen debut with ''
Lady in Danger
''Lady in Danger'' is a 1934 British comedy thriller film directed by Tom Walls and starring Walls, Yvonne Arnaud and Anne Grey. The screenplay was by Ben Travers.
Plot
In the mythical European country of Ardenberg, General Dittling (Leon M. L ...
'' in 1934 and went on to become an indelible part of British
wartime cinema, with starring roles in such films as ''
Saloon Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (un ...
'' (1940), ''
The Next of Kin
''The Next of Kin'', also known as ''Next of Kin'', is a 1942 Second World War propaganda film produced by Ealing Studios. The film was originally commissioned by the British War Office as a training film to promote the government message tha ...
'' (1942), ''
Went the Day Well?
''Went the Day Well?'' is a 1942 British war film adapted from a story by Graham Greene and directed by Alberto Cavalcanti. It was produced by Michael Balcon of Ealing Studios and served as unofficial propaganda for the war effort. The film shows ...
'' (1942), ''
The Halfway House
''The Halfway House'' is a 1944 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Mervyn Johns, his daughter Glynis Johns, Tom Walls and Françoise Rosay. The film tells the story of ten people who are drawn to stay in an old Welsh cou ...
'' (1944), ''
Twilight Hour
''Twilight Hour'' is a 1945 British Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Mervyn Johns, Basil Radford, and Marie Lohr. It was shot at the British National Studios in Elstree. The film's sets were designed b ...
'' (1945), and ''
Dead of Night
''Dead of Night'' is a 1945 black and white British anthology horror film, made by Ealing Studios. The individual segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie W ...
'' (1945). In the postwar era, he worked regularly at
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...
, first with starring roles in such films as ''
They Knew Mr. Knight'' (1946), ''
The Captive Heart
''The Captive Heart'' is a 1946 British war drama, directed by Basil Dearden and starring Michael Redgrave. It is about a Czechoslovak Army officer who is captured in the Fall of France and spends five years as a prisoner of war, during which ...
'' (1946), ''
Captain Boycott'' (1947), and ''
Easy Money
A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates of return for a small investment. The term "get rich quick" has been used to describe shady investments since at least the early 20th century.
Most schemes create an impression that partic ...
'' (1948), and later guest appearances on
televised plays and
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 ...
, including his final role in
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
's 1979
detective fiction
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...
drama series ''
Shoestring'' as the Reverend James Appleby.
Johns was the father of acclaimed actress
Glynis Johns
Glynis Margaret Payne Johns (born 5 October 1923) is a South African-born British former actress, dancer, musician and singer. Recognised as a film and Broadway icon, Johns has a career spanning eight decades, in which she appeared in more than ...
, and thus the grandfather of actor
Gareth Forwood
Gareth L. John Forwood (14 October 1945 – 16 October 2007) was a British stage, film and television actor.
Forwood was born to actors Glynis Johns and Anthony Forwood. He made his screen debut in 1965 and went on to prosper as a character ac ...
.
Early life
David Mervyn John was born on 18 February 1899 in
Pembroke, Wales.
The John family owned Glan Morlais Uchaf, a farm, and the surrounding land near
Kidwelly
Kidwelly ( cy, Cydweli) is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, southwest Wales, approximately northwest of the most populous town in the county, Llanelli. In the 2001 census the community of Kidwelly returned a population of 3,289, inc ...
, Carmarthenshire. Johns was the brother of Oxonian academic Howard Johns, who became the rector of
Pusey and
Weston-on-the-Green, and an uncle of judge
John Geoffrey Jones.
Due to its growing reputation, Johns' parents enrolled him at
Llandovery College
, image = Llandovery College (geograph 5927072).jpg
, image_size =
, motto = Gwell Dysg Na Golud( here areno riches better than learning)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Independent day and bo ...
, where his elder brother Howard had studied and which
Sir James Williams-Drummond, 4th Baronet Hawthornden had described as the "Eton of Wales" a few years previously. Upon leaving, Johns initially wanted to become a doctor of medicine and so attended London Hospital, where he trained as a medical student. While there, he met concert pianist Alyce Steel (born Alice Maude Steele-Wareham), who was studying at the
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...
. She persuaded him to pursue a career in drama and on her advice, he enrolled at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
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 Sen ...
. They married on 17 November 1922 in
St Giles
Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...
, London, and began touring with her family's theatre company. While touring South Africa on 23 October 1923, their only child
Glynis Margaret Payne Johns was born; she would later become the fourth generation in her mother's family to act on stage.
They returned to the United Kingdom and Johns re-enrolled at 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
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
in 1923. He 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
Ben Travers (12 November 188618 December 1980) was an English writer. His output includes more than 20 plays, 30 screenplays, 5 novels, and 3 volumes of memoirs. He is best remembered for his long-running Aldwych farce, series of farces first ...
; 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
''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 List of Maverick ...
'' by
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ''The Rivals'', ''The Sc ...
and ''
Saint Joan'' by
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
. 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
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London. in London, the same year as the
eponymous film.
Johns made his screen debut in 1934 as the reporter in
Ben Travers
Ben Travers (12 November 188618 December 1980) was an English writer. His output includes more than 20 plays, 30 screenplays, 5 novels, and 3 volumes of memoirs. He is best remembered for his long-running Aldwych farce, series of farces first ...
'
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
thriller ''
Lady in Danger
''Lady in Danger'' is a 1934 British comedy thriller film directed by Tom Walls and starring Walls, Yvonne Arnaud and Anne Grey. The screenplay was by Ben Travers.
Plot
In the mythical European country of Ardenberg, General Dittling (Leon M. L ...
'', going on to play Hemp in
David MacDonald's 1937
crime film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
''
The Last Curtain
''The Last Curtain'' is a 1937 British crime film directed by David MacDonald and starring Campbell Gullan, Kenne Duncan and Greta Gynt. The film blends drama and comedy and its plot follows an insurance investigator who examines a series of ro ...
'', Sir Wilfred Lucas in the 1938 TV Movie adaptation of Jane Austen's
Pride and Prejudice
''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...
, and Percival Clicker in
Oswald Mitchell
Oswald Albert Mitchell (1890 - April 27, 1949) was a British film director who directed several of the Old Mother Riley series of films. 's 1938
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
''
Almost a Gentleman''.
In 1936, he starred as Sir John Brute alongside Kulia Crawley and
Marda Vanne
Marda "Scrappy" Vanne (born Margaretha van Hulsteyn;One source, a close friend, spells her name "Margueretha". 27 September 1896 – 27 April 1970) was a South African actress who found fame in London.
Early life
Margaretha was born in Pretoria, ...
in an
Embassy Theatre production of
Sir John Vanbrugh
Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restora ...
's ''
The Provoked Wife
''The Provoked Wife'' (1697) is the second original comedy written by John Vanbrugh. It made its first appearance in Lincoln's Inn Fields in May, 1697. The often-repeated claim that Vanbrugh wrote part of his comedy ''The Provoked Wife'' in th ...
'', prompting the renowned theatre critic and newspaper journalist
James Agate
James Evershed Agate (9 September 1877 – 6 June 1947) was an English diarist and theatre critic between the two world wars. He took up journalism in his late twenties and was on the staff of ''The Manchester Guardian'' in 1907–1914. He later ...
(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."
Two years later, Johns was cast in
Ivor Novello's play ''Comedienne'' (directed by Murray Macdonald), at the
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels.
History
Origins
The theatre was constructed in th ...
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
John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator.
His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...
time play ''
Time and the Conways
''Time and the Conways'' is a British play written by J. B. Priestley in 1937 illustrating J. W. Dunne's Theory of Time through the experience of a moneyed Yorkshire family, the Conways, over a period of nineteen years from 1919 to 1937. Wide ...
'' at the
Duchess Theatre
The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street near Aldwych.
The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest West End theatres with a proscenium arch. It has 494 se ...
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
The Westminster Theatre was a theatre in London, on Palace Street in Westminster.
History
The structure on the site was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, by William Dodd with money from his wife Mary Perkins. Through Peter Ri ...
and
Whitehall Theatre
Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million pound restoration project aiming to reinstate it back to its ...
.
Of this role, Sieghard Erich Krueger writes that he "acheives a fine effect of crusted and downright integrity."
Johns' final film role of the interwar era was as Thomas in the 1939 British
adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
''
Jamaica Inn
The Jamaica Inn is a traditional inn on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall in the UK, which was built as a coaching inn in 1750, and has a historical association with smuggling. Located just off the A30, near the middle of the moor close to the hamle ...
'', directed by
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
.
Second World War
![Mervyn Johns in The Duke in Darkness](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Mervyn_Johns_in_The_Duke_in_Darkness.png)
The Second World War ushered in a new era for British
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
and
cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
...
. 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.
Among his dozens of film roles were the ultracrepidarian Charlie Wickers in the
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
''
Saloon Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (un ...
'' (1940) and the church warden Charlie Sims in the
war film
War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...
''
Went the Day Well?
''Went the Day Well?'' is a 1942 British war film adapted from a story by Graham Greene and directed by Alberto Cavalcanti. It was produced by Michael Balcon of Ealing Studios and served as unofficial propaganda for the war effort. The film shows ...
'' (1942). In the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
film ''
The Next of Kin
''The Next of Kin'', also known as ''Next of Kin'', is a 1942 Second World War propaganda film produced by Ealing Studios. The film was originally commissioned by the British War Office as a training film to promote the government message tha ...
'' (1942), Johns starred as the determined Agent 23 (Mr Arthur Davis), described by Robert Murphy as "the most cautious and effective agent – all the more sinister for being played by the kindly Welshman of so many other films of the period, Mervyn Johns."
Following this, Johns played the homicidal maniac Arthur Grimshaw in the
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...
''
My Learned Friend
''My Learned Friend'' is a 1943 British, black-and-white, comedy, farce, directed by Basil Dearden with his regular collaborator, Will Hay, as the film's star in the role of William Fitch. The principal supporting roles were taken by Claude Hul ...
'' (1943), the proprietor Rhys in the
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
''
The Halfway House
''The Halfway House'' is a 1944 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Mervyn Johns, his daughter Glynis Johns, Tom Walls and Françoise Rosay. The film tells the story of ten people who are drawn to stay in an old Welsh cou ...
'' (1944), and Major John Roberts in the drama film ''
Twilight Hour
''Twilight Hour'' is a 1945 British Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Mervyn Johns, Basil Radford, and Marie Lohr. It was shot at the British National Studios in Elstree. The film's sets were designed b ...
'' (1945). Commenting on his role as the fearful architect Walter Craig in the 1945
mystery film
A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...
''
Dead of Night
''Dead of Night'' is a 1945 black and white British anthology horror film, made by Ealing Studios. The individual segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie W ...
'',
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
's Adam Benedick describes his approach as having a "masterly touch".
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
''Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes'' is a play written by George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first played at the Garrick Theatre in November 1920. According to A. C. Ward, the work argues that "cul ...
(1943), in which he replaced Robert Donat as Captain Shotover, and as Dolittle in
Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
(1947)"; his work of the prewar era was just the same.
Less well-known are his roles in
Frank Harvey's play ''
Saloon Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (un ...
'' from 15 November 1939 to 30 March 1940 at
Wyndham’s Theatre in London,
Ken Attiwill and
Evadne Price
Evadne Price (28 August 1888 – 17 April 1985), probably born Eva Grace Price, was an Australian-British writer, actress, astrologer and media personality. She also wrote under the pseudonym Helen Zenna Smith.
She is now best remembered fo ...
'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
''The Duke in Darkness'' is a 1942 play by Patrick Hamilton. A psychological drama set during the French Wars of Religion, it was first staged on 7 September 1942 at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. It ran for 72 performances (8 October â ...
'' from 1942 to 1943 at the
Bristol Hippodrome
The Bristol Hippodrome () is a theatre located in The Centre, Bristol, England, United Kingdom with seating on three levels giving a capacity of 1,951. It frequently features shows from London's West End when they tour the UK, as well as re ...
.
Postwar
Following the end of the Second World War on 4 September 1945, Johns continued to be cast in leading roles. In
Robert Hamer
Robert Hamer (31 March 1911 – 4 December 1963) was a British film director and screenwriter best known for the 1949 black comedy ''Kind Hearts and Coronets''.
Biography
Hamer was born at 24 Chester Road, Kidderminster, along with his twi ...
's 1945
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
film ''
Pink String and Sealing Wax
''Pink String and Sealing Wax'' is a 1945 British drama film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Mervyn Johns. It is based on a play with the same name by Roland Pertwee. It was the first feature film Robert Hamer directed on his own.
The ti ...
'', he played the "unexpectedly severe" Mr. Edward Sutton, a middle-class Victorian and newly appointed court analyst;
in
Norman Walker Norman Walker may refer to:
*Norman Walker (bass) (1907–1963), English bass opera singer
* Norman W. Walker (1886–1985), British-American raw food and alternative health advocate
*Norman Walker (director) (1892–1963), British film director
* ...
's 1946
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
''
They Knew Mr. Knight'', he played the main protagonist Tom Blake, playing to his "fretful features";
in
Paul L. Stein
Paul Ludwig Stein (4 February 1892 – 2 May 1951) was an Austrian-born film director with 67 films to his credit. Stein began his career in Berlin in 1918 and worked exclusively in the German silent film industry until 1926, when he first w ...
's 1948
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
''
Counterblast
''Counterblast'' is a 1948 British thriller film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Robert Beatty, Mervyn Johns and Nova Pilbeam. It was made by British National Films at Elstree Studios.
Plot
A Nazi scientist escapes from prison, murders ...
'', he played Doctor Bruckner the Beast of Ravensbruck, an escaped Nazi who murders a visiting scientist from Australia and assumes his identity,
"in splendid villainous mode". His supporting roles in this era included playing Ernest Bennett in Ralph Thomas'
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film ''
Helter Skelter'', and Bob Cratchit in
Brian Desmond Hurst
Brian Desmond Hurst (12 February 1895 – 26 September 1986) was a Belfast-born film director. With over thirty films in his filmography, Hurst has been hailed as Northern Ireland's best film director.Screening will honour 'NI's best film ...
's 1951
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
film
adaptation
In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...
of
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
's ''
A Christmas Carol
''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...
'', with
Alastair Sim
Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish character actor who began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his ...
as the cantankerous title character and miser.
On stage, he appeared in
Erskine Caldwell
Erskine Preston Caldwell (December 17, 1903 – April 11, 1987) was an American novelist and short story writer. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native Southern United States, in novels such as '' Tobacco Road'' (1 ...
and
Jack Kirkland
Jack Kirkland (July 25, 1902 – February 22, 1969) was an American playwright, producer, director and screenwriter.
Kirkland's greatest success was the play '' Tobacco Road'', adapted from the Erskine Caldwell novel. His other plays included ...
'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
The Westminster Theatre was a theatre in London, on Palace Street in Westminster.
History
The structure on the site was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, by William Dodd with money from his wife Mary Perkins. Through Peter Ri ...
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
The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by th ...
in London, and
Eric Linklater
Eric Robert Russell Linklater CBE (8 March 1899 – 7 November 1974) was a Welsh-born Scottish poet, fiction writer, military historian, and travel writer. For ''The Wind on the Moon'', a children's fantasy novel, he won the 1944 Carnegie Meda ...
's play ''The Mortimer Touch'' as Shurie from 30 April to 7 June 1952 at the same theatre.
Though he had appeared in several
television films
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
, 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
''Sunday Night Theatre'' was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959.
The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, p ...
'' 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
Harry H. Corbett OBE (28 February 1925 – 21 March 1982) was an English actor and comedian, best remembered for playing rag-and-bone man Harold Steptoe alongside Wilfrid Brambell in the long-running BBC television sitcom ''Steptoe and Son'' ( ...
and
Colin Tapley
Colin Edward Livingstone Tapley (7 May 1909 – 1 December 1995) was a New Zealand actor in both American and British films. Born in New Zealand, he served in the Royal Air Force and an expedition to Antarctica before winning a Paramount Pictur ...
, 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
''Leave It to Todhunter'' is a 1958 British television series which originally aired on the BBC in 1958.Baskin p.33 It is based on the 1937 novel ''Trial and Error'' by Anthony Berkeley.
Synopsis
Lawrence Todhunter, a mild-mannered little man, d ...
'' 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
The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...
'' alongside his grandson, actor
Gareth Forwood
Gareth L. John Forwood (14 October 1945 – 16 October 2007) was a British stage, film and television actor.
Forwood was born to actors Glynis Johns and Anthony Forwood. He made his screen debut in 1965 and went on to prosper as a character ac ...
, from 1973 to 1975.
Public image
Johns is recurrently hailed as one of
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...
' 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".
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.
''Entoin'', 14 September 2022
/ref>
Personal life
Johns married twice. His first wife was the concert pianist Alice Maude 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
Glynis Margaret Payne Johns (born 5 October 1923) is a South African-born British former actress, dancer, musician and singer. Recognised as a film and Broadway icon, Johns has a career spanning eight decades, in which she appeared in more than ...
, while on tour in Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. He and Glynis appeared together in two drama films: ''The Halfway House
''The Halfway House'' is a 1944 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Mervyn Johns, his daughter Glynis Johns, Tom Walls and Françoise Rosay. The film tells the story of ten people who are drawn to stay in an old Welsh cou ...
'' in 1944 and '' The Sundowners'' in 1960. After Alice's death on 1 September 1971, he married the actress Diana Churchill
Diana Spencer-Churchill (11 July 1909 – 20 October 1963) was the eldest daughter of British statesman Sir Winston Churchill and Clementine Churchill, Baroness Spencer-Churchill.
Personal life
Diana Churchill was born at 33 Eccleston ...
on 4 December 1976 in Hillingdon
Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...
, London. He predeceased her by two years, dying on 6 September 1992 in Northwood, London.
Filmography
Film
Television
Theatre
References
External links
Biography at BFI Screen Online
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, Mervyn
1899 births
1992 deaths
20th-century Welsh male actors
Welsh male film actors
Welsh male television actors
Welsh male stage actors
People from Pembroke, Pembrokeshire
People from Carmarthenshire
People educated at Llandovery College
Medical students
British Army personnel of World War I
British World War I pilots
Royal Flying Corps officers
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art