Actors - Roger Livesey

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	Actors - Roger Livesey

Roger Livesey (June 25, 1906 - 5 February, 1976) was a British stage and film actor, married to the actress Ursula Jeans from 1936 until her death in 1973.

The son of Sam Livesey and Mary Catherine (nee Edwards), Livesey was born in Barry, South Wales and educated at Westminster City School, London. His first stage appearance was the office boy in Loyalties at St. James's theatre in 1917. He then played in everything from Shakespeare to modern comedies. He played various roles in the West End from 1920 to 1926, toured the West Indies and South Africa, and then returned to join the Old Vic/Sadler's Wells company from September 1932 until May 1934. In 1936 he appeared in New York in the old English comedy The Country Wife and also married Ursula Jeans whom he had known previously in England.

At the outbreak of war Livesey and Jeans were among the first volunteers to entertain the troops before he volunteered for flying duties in the R.A.F. He was turned down as too old to fly so went to work in an aircraft factory at Desford aerodrome near Leicester to "do his bit for the war effort". He was chosen by Michael Powell to play the lead in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
(1943). This was shown in New York and established his international reputation as a talented character actor.

He continued playing many theatrical roles during his film career from 1935 until 1969. Tall and broad with a mop of chestnut hair, Livesey had a deep voice, a gentle manner and an athletic physique. His favourite hobby is listed as "tinkering".

He is most often remembered for the three Powell & Pressburger films in which he starred: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
, I Know Where I'm Going!
and A Matter of Life and Death
.

Selected films

The Four Feathers
(1921)
Lorna Doone (1935)
Rembrandt (1936)
The Drum (1938)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
(1943)
I Know Where I'm Going!
(1945)
A Matter of Life and Death
(1946)
Vice Versa
(1948)
Green Grow the Rushes (1951)
The Master of Ballantrae (1953)
The League of Gentlemen
(1960)
The Entertainer
(1960)
Of Human Bondage
(1964)
Oedipus the King (1967)
Hamlet (1969

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Roger Livesey ]

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