Lloyd Lamble

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Lamble in The Optimist, 1984

Lloyd Nelson Lamble (8 February 1914 – 17 March 2008)[1] was an Australian actor who worked in theatre, television, radio and film. He lived and worked for most of his life in the United Kingdom.

Biography

Personal life

Lloyd Lamble was born in

choirmaster and composer.[2] His grandfather was a music professor.[3]

Lloyd was married three times in Australia. His first marriage in 1937 to Marjorie Ellerton Barrett (1913-1978) ended in divorce in 1943. His second marriage in 1945 to (Doris) Barbara Smith (1911-2010) also ended in divorce in 1948, though they had two children together. His third marriage was in his early thirties to actress Lesley Jackson.

adopted two children and remained together for over 60 years.[2][3]

Lamble was president of Actors Equity of Australia from 1942 to 1948.[5]

In the early 1950s, Lloyd could not get acting work. After a year of selling clothing door-to-door to survive, he left Australia to live the rest of his life in

Britain.[2]

He donated a copy of his 1994 unpublished autobiography to the National Library of Australia. The book reveals that he was not satisfied with his personal or professional achievements, despite his obvious talents and successes.[3]

Early career in Australia

Before his voice broke, Lloyd Lamble became ‘head boy’ in the choir of All Saints' Church St Kilda, Melbourne and that gained him a scholarship for Wesley College, Melbourne.[2] His academic record was not outstanding, though he was a keen swimmer and gymnast.[2]

At the age of 17, Lamble became a junior radio announcer for Melbourne commercial radio station 3DB – a post he describes as ‘little more than an office boy’.

crooning.[2]

His professional stage career started in 1934 when he was chosen for the lead juvenile role in J.C. Williamson’s production of Fresh Fields.[2][5] Two years later he played the role of Danny, a psychotic murderous Welsh pageboy, in Night Must Fall.[2][5]

While he was still at 3AW, he began acting with the Lee Murray Radio Players and that established him as a radio actor.[2][5] In lighter vein, he was straight man to Roy Rene (‘Mo’) and a compere and fall guy to Bob Dyer.[2]

Lamble opened a successful school of radio and theatre acting in 1937: the ‘Radio-Theatre Guild’.[2][5]

Lloyd's stage career developed fast in 1940 at Sydney’s Minerva Theatre, where he played parts that included: Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Lennie in Of Mice and Men and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.[2][5] He played 12 stage parts in that year and 35 in the 16 years between 1934 and 1950.[5]

From 1936 to 1950 Lamble toured Australia and

Queensland, Australia.[2]

Lloyd Lamble was well known in both the Australian

British Broadcasting Corporation.[2][3]

In spite of Lloyd's political left-leanings, he was enlisted by the Australian government to read war propaganda on radio, probably for his strong voice that easily commanded authority.[5]

Lloyd Lamble wrote several radio dramas, one of which is in the National Archives of Australia.[6] In 1947, he won a Macquarie Award.[5]

Career in the UK

One of Lamble's first acting roles in Britain was in 1952, playing in the comedy Curtain Up, alongside Margaret Rutherford and Robert Morley.[2][5] Lamble had earlier toured with them in his native Australia.[5] Throughout the rest of his life, he played hundreds of acting roles in Britain: on the stage, in radio, television and film.[5][7]

Twice daily at the 1977

double-bill, each running for over an hour.[2] He is well-remembered for his many roles as authority figures, some of which were: Joyce Grenfell's police-superintendent-fiancée in the St. Trinian’s series; Quentin Crisp's father in The Naked Civil Servant; and Sir Oliver Surface in The School For Scandal.[8]

In his seventies, Lamble appeared in a six-month season at the Scottish Dundee Repertory Theatre, where he played the leading role in four out of six

repertory plays.[3][5][9] He then played a long season in London's West End in the revival of Me and My Girl.[3][5] One of his final acting roles was in the 1984 dialogue-free television comedy The Optimist.

Death

Lamble died in Falmouth, Cornwall on 17 March 2008, aged 94.[10][11] His death was not announced until well into the April when his funeral also took place. He was survived by his third wife Lesley Jackson, his son Tim, his daughter Elizabeth, his son Lloyd Wallis Lamble, daughter Caroline, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.[12]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ "AusStage".
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Lamble, Lloyd Nelson. Hi Diddle Dee Dee: An Actor’s Life For Me. Typescript autobiography of Lloyd Lamble. 1994. (Manuscript sighted in the National Library of Australia, 29 November 2008)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Personal communication: Lloyd Nelson Lamble to Tim Lamble
  4. ^ Captioned photo from unidentified newspaper in possession of Tim Lamble
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Lane, Richard. The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama 1932–1960. A History Through Biography. Melbourne University Press. 1994
  6. ^ The Rabbit Habit – A Preoccupation with Procreation (Copyright registered 23 January 1942). In his autobiography, Lloyd says he later revised the work and renamed it A Couple of Charlies.
  7. ^ Lloyd Lamble entry in the Internet Movie Database (http://Movie Database[permanent dead link]) Accessed 25 November 2008
  8. ^ Various theatre programs catalogued under Lamble's name in the National Library of Australia
  9. ^ Ripples of Delight at the Rep, Evening Telegraph, 1 February 1985 (copy of newspaper article with photo, in possession of Tim Lamble)
  10. ^ Email from Lloyd Wallis Lamble to Tim Lamble
  11. ^ "Obituary: Lloyd Lamble". The Guardian. 9 June 2008. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023.
  12. ^ Tim Lamble

External links

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