Maurice Evans (actor)
Maurice Evans | |
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Born | Maurice Herbert Evans 3 June 1901 Dorchester, Dorset, England |
Died | 12 March 1989 Rottingdean, East Sussex, England | (aged 87)
Occupations |
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Years active | 1926–1983 |
Maurice Herbert Evans (3 June 1901 – 12 March 1989) was an English actor, noted for his interpretations of
Early years
Evans was born at 28 Icen Way in Dorchester, Dorset. He was the son of Laura (Turner) and Alfred Herbert Evans, a Welsh dispensing chemist[1] and keen amateur actor who made adaptations of novels by Thomas Hardy for the local amateur company. Young Maurice made his first stage appearance as a small boy in Far from the Madding Crowd.[2]
He first appeared on the stage in 1926 at the
In 1927, Evans played a poet in The Pleasure Garden by Beatrice Mayor followed by Young Man in On Baile's Strand by
Career
In 1928, he was one of a group of out-of-work actors including
When the U.S. entered the Second World War, he enlisted in the United States Army and he later was in charge of an Army Entertainment Section in the Central Pacific. He arranged for the transfer of Carl Reiner from the Signal Corps to the entertainment unit in Hawaii, where Evans was his commanding officer. The unit produced dozens of shows for the troops in the Pacific. Reiner later hired Evans for the part of Hobart the butler in The Jerk, as Evans's agent had indicated that the part would enable Evans to maintain his union benefits.[4]
Evans produced his famous "G.I. version" of Hamlet that cut the text of the play to make the title character more appealing to the troops, an interpretation so popular that he later took it to Broadway in 1945. Evans rose to the rank of Major by the end of the war. He shifted his attention to the works of Shaw, notably as John Tanner in Man and Superman and as King Magnus in The Apple Cart. In 1952, he starred as the murderous husband in the original Broadway stage production of Dial M for Murder. He also successfully produced Broadway productions in which he did not appear, notably The Teahouse of the August Moon.[3]
In 1956, Evans recorded an LP of stories from
Evans had great impact on the big screen as well. He played a diabolical villain in
Evans appeared in more American television productions of Shakespeare than any other actor. Beginning in 1953, for the famous television anthology, Hallmark Hall of Fame, he starred in the first feature-length (i.e., longer than an hour) dramatisations of the plays to be presented on American television. They were:
- Hamlet
- earlier, a live telecast, was in 1954)
- Richard II
- Twelfth Night (as Malvolio)
- The Taming of the Shrew (as Petruchio, opposite Lilli Palmer as Katherine)
- The Tempest (as Prospero)
In bringing so much Shakespeare to American television in such a short span of time (between 1953 and 1960), Evans was a true pioneer. This had never been tried before – at least, not in the U.S. He firmly believed that it was an actor's job to "lead public taste, not to play to public taste".[8]
Evans brought his Shakespeare productions to Broadway many times, playing Hamlet on the Great White Way in four separate productions for a record grand total of 283 performances. He and Dame Judith Anderson starred on Broadway several times in Macbeth. Their performances were widely regarded as the definitive portrayals of these characters, although one notable dissenter was Orson Welles, who stated that Evans, as an actor, was "worse than bad – he was poor."[9]
Evans appeared on Broadway as Hamlet four times, but the productions of the play that he appeared in were consecutive revivals of it – no other actor played Hamlet on Broadway between 1938, when Evans first played him there, and 1946, which marked Evans's last Broadway Hamlet.[10][11][12][13]
Personal life
Although he had taken U.S. citizenship in 1941,
Publication
- All This and Evans Too, memoir, University of South Carolina Press, 1987; ISBN 978-0872494961
Death
Evans died, aged 87, in Rottingdean, East Sussex, England.
Partial filmography
- White Cargo (1929) – Langford
- Raise the Roof (1930) – Rodney Langford
- Should a Doctor Tell? (1930) – Roger Smith
- Wedding Rehearsal (1932) – George Thompson aka Tootles
- Marry Me (1932) – Paul Hart
- The Only Girl (1933) – Didier
- The Path of Glory (1934) – Anton Maroni
- Bypass to Happiness (1934) – Robin
- Checkmate (1935) – Phillip Allen
- Scrooge (1935) – Poor man
- Kind Lady (1951) – Henry Springer Elcott
- Androcles and the Lion (1952) – Emperor Antoninus (Caesar)
- The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953) – Arthur Sullivan
- Bewitched (TV series, 1964–1971) – Maurice
- The War Lord (1965) – Priest
- One of Our Spies Is Missing (1966) – Sir Norman Swickert
- Batmanepisodes "The Puzzles are Coming" and "The Duo Is Slumming" (1966) – The Puzzler
- Traitors of San Angel (1967) – James Keefe
- Jack of Diamonds (1967) – Nicolai Vodkine
- Planet of the Apes (1968) – Dr. Zaius
- Rosemary's Baby (1968) – Hutch
- The Big Valley (TV Series) Season 4 Episode 24: "Dangerous Road" (1969) – Mr. Hewitt
- The Body Stealers (1969) – Dr. Matthews
- Operation Heartbeat (1969)
- Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) – Dr. Zaius
- Terror in the Wax Museum (1973) – Inspector Daniels
- Columbo: Forgotten Lady (TV series, 1975) – Raymond
- The Jerk (1979) – Hobart
- A Caribbean Mystery, Agatha Christie (1983) - Major Geoffrey Palgrave
Selected stage credits
- New Theatre
References
- ^ Folkart, Burt A. (14 March 1989). "Maurice Evans dies at 87: Brought Shakespeare to TV". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ^ "Maurice Evans Biography". Film Reference. 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
- ^ a b Maurice Evans at the Internet Broadway Database
- ISBN 9781477264553
- ^ "Maurice Evans : Villains : Bat-Mania – The 1966 Batman Tribute Website". 66batmania.com. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- ^ IMDb[unreliable source?]
- ^ "Search". Television Academy. Archived from the original on 29 June 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ "Maurice Evans, Stage Actor, Dies at 87". The New York Times. 14 March 1989. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
- OCLC 37966415.
- ^ The Broadway League. "Hamlet – St James Theater 1938". ibdb.com. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ The Broadway League. "Hamlet – 44th Street Theatre 1939". ibdb.com. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ The Broadway League. "Hamlet – Columbus Circle 1945". ibdb.com. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ The Broadway League. "Hamlet – City Center 1946". ibdb.com. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ Petition for Naturalization as a United States citizen, ancestry.com; accessed 20 October 2015.
- ^ Obituary, The New York Times, 14 March 1989; accessed 17 December 2016.
External links
- Maurice Evans at the Internet Broadway Database
- Maurice Evans papers, 1934–1970, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; accessed 7 October 2015.
- Performances in Theatre Archive University of Bristol; accessed 20 May 2018.
- Maurice Evans at IMDb
- Obituary, The New York Times; accessed 7 October 2015.