Robert Tobias Andrews (born Reginald Frank Andrews; 20 February 1895 – 17 January 1976)

Principal Probate Registry The National Probate Calendar is a register of proved wills and administrations in England and Wales since 1858. History The probate calendar was created by the Probate Registry, which was responsible for proving wills and administrations from 1 ...

. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England © Crown copyright.John Snelson, 'Novello, Ivor (1893–1951)',

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 16 Nov 2007
/ref> was a British stage and film actor. He is perhaps best known as the long-term companion of

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

Early life

Andrews was born in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

, the son of Walter Andrews (1861–1935), a

horse bus A horse-bus or horse-drawn omnibus was a large, enclosed, and sprung horse-drawn vehicle used for passenger transport before the introduction of motor vehicles. It was mainly used in the late 19th century in both the United States and Europe ...

inspector, and his wife Ada Harriet, née Judd (1864–1946). He was the younger brother of actress Maidie Andrews.

Career

Andrews began his stage acting career at age eleven. He made his first stage appearance in the play ''Shore Acres'' in 1906. His

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in film, movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associ ...

contemporaries included

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

and

Philip Tonge Philip Asheton Tonge (26 April 1897 – 28 January 1959) was an English actor. Born into a theatrical family, he was a child actor, making his stage debut at the age of five. Among the stars with whom he performed while he was a boy were Henry I ...

. Coward referred to Andrews as Tonge's "only serious rival" among the "boy actors" of the London theatre. In 1907, at the age of twelve, Andrews appeared in Horace Annesley's comedy ''Her Son'' as "Min, the eight-year-old child of Crystal and Gasgoyne," a role for which he received significant acclaim. Andrews' "finished and sympathetic performance" was described as "the success of 'Her Son'''s''première,''" "a genuine and surprising triumph" that caused "quite a sensation." In 1911, he briefly worked in

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, acting in the play ''The Backsliders'', before returning to London theatre. His stage career continued into adulthood with performances as Marcel in the 1920 production of ''The Children's Carnival'', Maurice Avery in the 1920 production of ''Columbine'', and Tyltyl in the 1921 production of ''The Betrothal''. In 1921, he appeared as

Charles Deburau Jean-Charles Deburau (February 15, 1829– December 19, 1873) was an important French mime, the son and successor of the legendary Jean-Gaspard Deburau, who was immortalized as Baptiste the Pierrot in Marcel Carné's film ''Children of Paradise'' ( ...

in the play ''

Deburau ''Deburau'' is a 1918 French play by Sacha Guitry that also played on Broadway in a translation by Harley Granville-Barker at the Belasco Theatre in 1920–21 Mantle, BurnsThe Best Plays of 1920-21 and the Year Book of the Drama in America pp. 1 ...

''; ''Deburau'' also featured Andrews's lover Ivor Novello's debut performance. Andrews starred in a number of Novello's theater productions, beginning with the play ''

Fresh Fields ''Fresh Fields'' is a British sitcom starring Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers. A ratings success at the time, it was written by John Chapman and produced by Thames Television for ITV, running for four series between 7 March 1984 and 23 Octob ...

'' in 1932. Amongst his many character parts was the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

in Ivor Novello's musical play '' King's Rhapsody'' at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

. While he was primarily a stage actor, Andrews also made several film appearances. In 1923, he acted in the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

Fires of Innocence ''Fires of Innocence'' is a 1922 British silent drama film directed by Sidney Morgan and starring Joan Morgan, Bobbie Andrews and Arthur Lennard. It was based on George Stevenson's novel ''A Little World Apart''. Cast * Joan Morgan as Helen ...

'' as Pen Arkwright. His co-star

Joan Morgan Joan Morgan (1 February 1905 – 22 July 2004) was an English film actress, screenwriter and novelist. Born in Forest Hill, London, she was the daughter of film director Sidney Morgan and his wife, Evelyn. Joan Morgan died at age 99 in Henle ...

later claimed that she did not remember anything about her time working on the film, except for Andrews. She described how, during a "love-scene," Andrews would not look at her because he claimed he didn't "feel a bit in the mood to see er"

Personal life

Andrews first met

in 1916, while Novello was attending the opera with his friend Edward Marsh. Andrews and Novello eventually became lovers. Andrews was also responsible for introducing Novello to Noël Coward in 1916, at Coward's request. Andrews and Novello both had relations with other men over the course of their long-term relationship, but Andrews remained Novello's primary companion until Novello's death in 1951.

Death

Andrews died in 1976 at his family home, 37 St Mary's Mansions,

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

Stage credits

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Robert 1895 births 1976 deaths English male stage actors English male film actors English gay actors English LGBT actors People from Camden Town 20th-century English male actors 20th-century LGBT people