Michael Bradshaw
Michael Bradshaw | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 18 April 1933 |
| Died | 13 December 2001 (aged 68) Newton, New Jersey, United States |
Michael Bradshaw (18 April 1933 – 13 December 2001) was an English actor.
Early life in England
Born in
and would reach the rank of Senior Aircraftsman. He would remain a member of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve until 1964. He finished his formal apprenticeship at John Dickinson in August 1956.Canada
Bradshaw left Britain for
Sir Thomas More in "A Man for All Seasons" for which he won the Henry Osborne Trophy for Best Actor in the Dominion of Canada Award at the Dominion Drama Festival in 1965. He also appeared in notable productions for the London Little Theatre in 1964, including My Fair Lady as Henry Higgins and as the title character in "Ross". Bradshaw appeared at the Shaw Festival during its early years, most notably in the 1966 season with Artistic Director Barry Morse. He appeared that year, alongside actors such as Zoe Caldwell, Paxton Whitehead and Susan Clark, in productions of "The Apple Cart" as Pamphilius and "Misalliance
" as the pilot, Joey Percival.
United States
In 1967 he began performing as part of the resident company at the
The Woodstock Playhouse in Woodstock, New York and the Green Hills Theatre in Reading, Pennsylvania. In late 1968 he was cast as the Captain of the Inquisition in the first U.S. national touring company of Man of La Mancha with José Ferrer, which he toured with into the summer of 1969. In 1970 Bradshaw appeared in the Original Broadway production of Barry England's Conduct Unbecoming as Major Lionel Roach.[4][5]
In the 1970s he served as Production Stage Manager for the
Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri
, and then retired for most of the 1980s, working again as a printer and focusing on his family.
In the late '80s he began acting again, starting off small, appearing in community theatre and even directing several high school productions. Quickly he began appearing in smaller productions around the
Boston Common. He also appeared in productions for the Lyric West Theatre Company, The New Repertory Theatre, Boston Actors' Ensemble, Gloucester Stage Company and performed in the first ever Boston Theater Marathon. In 1998 he was nominated for the prestigious Elliot Norton Award
for Outstanding Actor in a Small Company.
Later life
It was around this time that he began to work in small roles in film, television and voice over work. He did the play by play voice over commentary for the
The History Channel and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health as well as small roles or extra work in the films The Crucible (1996), The Spanish Prisoner (1997), The Proposition (1998) and State and Main
(2000).
In the early 2000s he continued theatre work around the country appearing in shows such as
Sir Robert Walpole off Broadway at the Rubicon Theatre Company in New York and in Tennessee Williams' "The Night of the Iguana" as Nonno at the Dallas Theater Center in Dallas, Texas.[7] He was scheduled to take part in the Washington, D.C. premiere of The Invention of Love at the Studio Theatre, but due to illness was forced to withdraw, the first time he'd ever been forced to leave a production in his career. His illness was diagnosed as cancer, and it grew worse until he finally succumbed on 13 December 2001 in a Newton, New Jersey
hospital.
Family
- Patricia Stevenson: 1960-1970. Had one son, Jeff.
- Rosemary Harvey: 1970-1976. Had one son, Michael.
- Patricia Hitz: 1976 until his death in 2001. Had two sons, Joshua and Jonathan.
Sources
- L.W. Conolly, The Shaw Festival: The First Fifty Years, Oxford University Press; First Edition, October 9, 2011
- Brian Doherty, Not Bloody Likely: The Shaw Festival, 1962-1973, J. M. Dent & Sons (Canada); First Edition, 1974
- Hugh Waldwick, The Players' Guild of Hamilton: 1875-1975 First Edition, 1975
- Sheila M.F. Johnston, Let's Go to The Grand!: 100 Years of Entertainment at London's Grand Theatre, Dundurn Press, First Edition 2001
- Kathleen H. Thorne, The Story of Starlight Theatre: The History of Kansas City's Delightful Musical Theatre Under the Stars, Generation Organization, Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A. First Edition 1992
- John Willis, Theatre World: Volume 24 1967-1968 Crown Publishers Inc., First Edition 1968
- John Willis, Theatre World: Volume 27 1970-1971 Crown Publishers Inc., First Edition 1971
- Boston Globe; Obituary, 23 December 2001
- Globe and Mail; 14 April 1958; Pg. 14
- Globe and Mail; 31 May 1965; Pg. 15
- The Kingston Daily Freeman, Kingston, NY 5 July 1968 Pg. 24
- Backstage; July 31, 1998 – August 6, 1998 Pg. 6
- Backstage; June 23, 2000 – June 29, 2000 Pg. 44
References
- ^ Digital Commons at Buffalo State; Studio Arena Collection; http://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/studioarena/
- ^ Internet Broadway Database; https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/portrait-of-a-queen-3145/
- ^ Playbill Vault; http://www.playbill.com/production/portrait-of-a-queen-henry-millers-theatre-vault-0000013431/
- ^ Playbill Vault; http://www.playbill.com/production/conduct-unbecoming-ethel-barrymore-theatre-vault-0000004342
- ^ Internet Broadway Database; https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/conduct-unbecoming-3088/
- ^ Huntington Theatre Company; https://www.huntingtontheatre.org/about/history/1996-1997/Arcadia/
- ^ Playbill; http://www.playbill.com/article/williams-night-of-the-iguana-ends-feb-11-in-dallas-com-94908/
External links
- Michael Bradshaw at IMDb
- Michael Bradshaw at the Internet Broadway Database