William Freshman (1 November 1902, in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia – 1980 in London, England) was an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n-born actor, scriptwriter and director. He moved to England as a child and worked in the British film industry, writing over 20 screenplays and working as an associate producer at British International Pictures. He also wrote the play ''The Last of the Ladies''. In 1939 Freshman returned to Australia with his screenwriter wife

Lydia Hayward Lydia Hayward (1879-1945) was a British screenwriter and actress who worked on over 30 screenplays between 1920 and 1942. She was particularly active during the 1920s.Nelmes p.49 Hayward has been noted for several of the sophisticated comedy film ...

under contract to

Cinesound Productions Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was an Australian feature film production company, established in June 1931, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred on Greater Union Theatres, that covered all facets of the film process, from produ ...

for whom he directed ''

Come Up Smiling ''Come Up Smiling'' (also known as ''Ants in His Pants'') is a 1939 Australian comedy film starring popular American stage comedian Will Mahoney and his wife Evie Hayes. It was the only feature from Cinesound Productions not directed by Ken G. H ...

'' (1939). It was announced that he and Hayward would make two more films for the studio, an adaptation of the books ''Overland Telegraph'' and ''

Robbery Under Arms ''Robbery Under Arms'' is a bushranger novel by Thomas Alexander Browne, published under his pen name Rolf Boldrewood. It was first published in serialised form by ''The Sydney Mail'' between July 1882 and August 1883, then in three volumes in ...

'', but during World War II feature film production at Cinesound came to a halt and the films were not made. It was reported that he did some work in ''

Dad Rudd, MP ''Dad Rudd, M.P.'' is a 1940 comedy that was the last of four films made by Ken G. Hall starring Bert Bailey as Dad Rudd. It was the last feature film directed by Hall prior to the war and the last made by Cinesound Productions, Bert Bailey and ...

'' (1940). He and his wife returned to England shortly before the outbreak of World War II.Ken G. Hall, ''Directed by Ken G. Hall'', Lansdowne Press, 1977 p155 He died in London, England, in 1980, aged 77.

Selected filmography

* ''

The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's ''The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's'' (published 1881) is the best known of the school stories by the late nineteenth century author Talbot Baines Reed. The stories as well as the book were written for the ''Boy's Own Paper'' and published by th ...

'' (1921) * ''

Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

'' (1922) * ''

Widecombe Fair Widecombe Fair is an annual fair in England, held in the Dartmoor village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor on the second Tuesday of September. It is well known as the subject of the folk song of the Widecombe Fair (song), same name, featuring Uncle Tom ...

'' (1928) * ''

The Guns of Loos ''The Guns of Loos'' is a 1928 British silent war film directed by Sinclair Hill and starring Henry Victor, Madeleine Carroll, and Bobby Howes. Plot A blind veteran of the First World War returns home to run his family's industrial empire. C ...

'' (1928) * ''

Glorious Youth ''Glorious Youth'' is a 1929 British silent drama film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Anny Ondra, Randle Ayrton and William Freshman. It is also known by the alternative title of ''Eileen of the Trees''. It was one of two films Cutts m ...

'' (1929) – actor *'' A Broken Romance'' (1929) – actor * '' The Night of Terror'' (1929) * ''

Greek Street Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature. History It is thought to take its name from a Greek church that was built in 1 ...

'' (1930) * ''

Bachelor's Baby ''Bachelor's Baby'' is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Ann Casson, William Freshman and Henry Wenman. It was made by British International Pictures at Elstree Studios.Wood p.71 Cast * Ann Casson as Peggy * Wil ...

'' (1932) * ''

Lucky Blaze ''Lucky Blaze'' is a 1933 British sports film directed by Widgey R. Newman and starring William Freshman, Vera Sherborne and Moore Marriott. It was made as a quota quickie.Chibnall p.273 Cast * William Freshman as Cliff Ellis * Vera Sherborne a ...

'' (1933) * ''

Love's Old Sweet Song "Love's Old Sweet Song" is a Victorian parlour song published in 1884 by composer James Lynam Molloy and lyricist Graham Clifton Bingham. The first line of the chorus is "Just a song at twilight", and its title is sometimes misidentified as su ...

'' (1933) *''

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...

'' (1934) – actor * ''

Limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when ...

'' (1936) * ''

Spring Handicap ''Spring Handicap'' is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Herbert Brenon and starring Will Fyffe, Maire O'Neill and Billy Milton. The film was made by the Associated British Picture Corporation at their Elstree Studios and based on the pla ...

'' (1937) – writer * ''

Aren't Men Beasts! ''Aren't Men Beasts!'' is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Robertson Hare, Alfred Drayton and Billy Milton. Premise A number of people try to prevent a man getting married. Cast * Robertson Hare as Herbert Holly ...

'' (1937) * ''

Jane Steps Out ''Jane Steps Out'' is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Diana Churchill, Jean Muir, Peter Murray-Hill and Athene Seyler. There was a television remake on BBC in 1957. It was also remade in India as the Hindi fi ...

'' (1938) * '' Hold My Hand'' (1938) *''

'' (1939) – director, writer * ''

The Man at the Gate ''The Man at the Gate'' is a 1941 British drama film directed by Norman Walker and starring Wilfrid Lawson. It was released in the U.S. as ''Men of the Sea''. Cast * William Freshman as George Foley * Hubert Harben as Rev.Trant * Mary Jerrold as ...

'' (1941) *''

Teheran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most populo ...

'' (1947) – director

References

External links

William Freshman
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

* Australian film directors 20th-century Australian male actors 1902 births 1980 deaths Australian male film actors Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom {{Australia-film-director-stub