Harry Welchman (24 February 1886 – 3 January 1966) was an English star of

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

. He made several appearances in non-musical plays, but was remembered as, in the words of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', "perhaps the most popular musical comedy hero on the London stage in the years between the wars.""Mr Harry Welchman", ''The Times'', 4 January 1966, p. 10 Welchman was primarily a stage performer, but he made nineteen films between 1915 and 1954, some of them musical and others straight drama.

Early life and career

Welchman was born at

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, the son of an Army colonel. He was educated at Weston-super-Mare,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

, where he was a sporting boy, playing, as he said, "all the games", including hockey at county level. On leaving school at the age of eighteen he joined a touring musical comedy company led by

Ada Reeve Ada Reeve (born Adelaide Mary Reeves, 3 March 1874 – 5 October 1966) was an English actress of both stage and film. Reeve began to perform in pantomime and music hall as a child. She gained fame in Edwardian musical comedies in the 1890s. Re ...

.Parker, pp. 977–978 When he was twenty he was spotted while playing in Christmas

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...

by the impresario

Robert Courtneidge Robert Courtneidge (29 June 1859 – 6 April 1939) was a British theatrical manager-producer and playwright. He is best remembered as the co-author of the light opera ''Tom Jones (Edward German), Tom Jones'' (1907) and the producer of ''The Arc ...

, under whose management he became a well known juvenile lead in such West End hit shows as ''

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

'' (1907) '' The Arcadians'' (1909) and ''

Princess Caprice ''Princess Caprice'' is a musical theatre work described as a "comedy with music", in three acts, with music by Leo Fall. The book was adapted by Alexander M. Thompson from Fall's operetta ''Der liebe Augustin'' by Rudolf Bernauer and Ernst Welis ...

'' (1912). In 1915 he made his first film, in the title role of '' Mr. Lyndon at Liberty''."Harry Welchman"
British Film Institute, retrieved 1 June 2014 During the latter part of the First World War Welchman served in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

. After demobilisation he returned to the West End under the management of C B Cochran, appearing with

Alice Delysia Alice Henriette Lapize (3 March 1889 – 10 February 1979), better known by her stage name, Alice Delysia and sometimes Elise Delisia, was a French actress and singer who made her career in English musical theatre. After performing in the cho ...

in ''

Afgar ''Afgar, or the Andalusian Leisure'' is a musical with lyrics by Douglas Furber, music by Charles Cuvillier and a book by Fred Thompson and Worton David. It is based on Cuvillier's 1909 French operetta of the same name, with words by André B ...

'' (1919). In 1921 he went to Daly's Theatre where he had two substantial successes, ''Sybil'', and ''The Lady of the Rose'', which, as ''The Times'' put it, "contained a famous duet in which Welchman tried without success to storm the affections of the heroine, played by Miss

Phyllis Dare Phyllis is a feminine given name which may refer to: People * Phyllis Bartholomew (1914–2002), English long jumper * Phyllis Drummond Bethune (née Sharpe, 1899–1982), New Zealand artist * Phyllis Calvert (1915–2002), British actress * P ...

Operetta, film and later years

In 1925 Welchman made his Broadway debut as Rudolph Rassendyll in '' Princess Flavia''."Mr Harry Welchman", ''The Guardian'', 4 January 1966, p. 5 In the same year he appeared in London under his own management at the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receivin ...

in ''Love's Prisoner'' (1925). The piece, judged by ''The Times'' to be an unsuccessful mixture of

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exce ...

and musical comedy, had a brief run. He had a greater success in a string of West End operetta-style musical hits, playing leading man roles. These included the Red Shadow in ''

The Desert Song ''The Desert Song'' is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colo ...

'' (1927), which ran at

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks T ...

for more than 400 performances; in '' The New Moon'' (1929) at the same theatre; in '' Victoria and Her Hussar'' (1931); and as

François Villon François Villon ( Modern French: , ; – after 1463) is the best known French poet of the Late Middle Ages. He was involved in criminal behavior and had multiple encounters with law enforcement authorities. Villon wrote about some of these e ...

in a revival of ''The Vagabond King'' (1937). He toured as Captain Hook in ''Peter Pan'', in which ''The Manchester Guardian'' found him less villainous than his predecessors in the role, but "melodious" with "a certain dash and attractiveness". In the 1930s and 40s Welchman appeared in more than a dozen feature films, some musical and others straight drama. Among the former were ''A Southern Maid (film), A Southern Maid'' (1933) and ''Lisbon Story (1946 film), Lisbon Story'' (1946); the latter include ''The Gentle Sex'' and ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'' (1943). In 1947 Welchman moved to Penzance, where he bought a farm and spent more and more of his time, though never formally retiring from the stage. In 1959, when he was seventy-three, he played Lord Mortlake in John Osborne's ''The World of Paul Slickey''; he and Marie Löhr, who played his wife, were singled out for praise as highlights of an otherwise dull evening.Hope-Wallace, Philip. "Rough reception for 'Slickey'", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 6 May 1959, p. 7 Welchman was twice married. His first marriage, to Joan Challoner, was dissolved. His second wife was the actress Sylvia Forde, with whom he had a daughter. He died in Penzance at the age of seventy-nine.

Partial filmography

* ''The Verdict of the Heart'' (1915) * ''The Lyons Mail (1916 film), The Lyons Mail'' (1916) * ''A Princess of the Blood'' (1916) * ''The Maid of the Mountains (film), The Maid of the Mountains'' (1932) * ''A Southern Maid (film), A Southern Maid'' (1933) * ''The Last Waltz (1936 British film), The Last Waltz'' (1936) * ''The Common Touch'' (1941) * ''This Was Paris'' (1942) * ''The Gentle Sex'' (1943) * ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'' (1943) * ''Waltz Time (1945 film), Waltz Time'' (1945) * ''Lisbon Story (1946 film), Lisbon Story'' (1946) * ''Loyal Heart'' (1946) * ''I'll Turn to You'' (1946) * ''Green Fingers'' (1947) * ''Judgment Deferred'' (1952) * ''Eight O'Clock Walk'' (1954) * ''Mad About Men'' (1954) * ''Three Cases of Murder'' (1955)

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Welchman, Harry 1886 births 1966 deaths English male stage actors English male film actors English male silent film actors Male actors from Devon 20th-century English male actors