- Michael Wilding (actor)
-
Michael Wilding (actor) 
From the trailer for Stage Fright (1950)Born Michael Charles Gauntlet Wilding
23 July 1912
Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, EnglandDied 8 July 1979 (aged 66)
Chichester, West Sussex, EnglandYears active 1933 – 1973 Spouse Kay Young (1937–51)
Elizabeth Taylor (1952–57)
Susan Nell (1958–62)
Margaret Leighton (1964–76)Michael Wilding (23 July 1912 – 8 July 1979) was an English actor.
Contents
Biography
Early life
Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, Wilding was a successful commercial artist when he joined the art department of a London film studio in 1933. He soon embarked on an acting career.
Career
He appeared in numerous British motion pictures, often opposite Anna Neagle, but had a less productive career in Hollywood. His screen performances include Sailors Three (1940), In Which We Serve (1942), Undercover (1943), Piccadilly Incident (1946), Spring in Park Lane (1948), Stage Fright (1950), Torch Song (1953) and The World of Suzie Wong (1960).
His last appearance was in an uncredited, non-speaking cameo in Lady Caroline Lamb (1972), which co-starred his last wife, Margaret Leighton.
He also appeared on television, including the title role in the 1957 episode "The Trial of Colonel Blood" of NBC's anthology series, The Joseph Cotten Show.
Personal life
Wilding had four wives, Kay Young (married 1937, divorced 1951), actress Elizabeth Taylor (married 1952, divorced 1957), Susan Nell (married 1958, divorced 1962),[1] and actress Margaret Leighton (married 1964 until her death in 1976).
He and Taylor had two sons, Michael Howard Wilding (born 1953) and Christopher Edward Wilding (born 1955). In 1957 he had a short-lived romance with actress Marie McDonald, who was nicknamed "The Body".
In the 1960s, he was forced to cut back on his movie appearances because of illness related to his lifelong epilepsy.
Michael Wilding died in Chichester, West Sussex, as a result of head injuries suffered from a fall down a flight of stairs during an epileptic seizure. His body was cremated and the ashes were scattered.
Filmography
Year Title Role Other notes 1972 Lady Caroline Lamb Lord Holland 1970 Waterloo Sir William Ponsonby 1968 The Sweet Ride Mr. Cartwright Code Name, Red Roses English General 1962 A Girl Named Tamiko Nigel Costairs 1961 The Best of Enemies Burke The Naked Edge Morris Brooke 1960 The World of Suzie Wong Ben Marlowe 1959 Danger Within Major Charles Marquand 1956 Zarak Major Michael Ingram 1955 The Scarlet Coat Major John Andre The Glass Slipper Prince Charles 1954 The Egyptian Akhnaton 1953 Torch Song Tye Graham 1952 Trent's Last Case Philip Trent Derby Day David Scott 1951 The Lady with the Lamp Sidney Herbert/Lord Herbert of Lea The Law and the Lady Nigel Duxbury/Lord Henry Minden aka Hoskins 1950 Into the Blue Nicholas Foster Stage Fright Det. Insp. Wilfred 'Ordinary' Smith 1949 Under Capricorn Hon. Charles Adare Maytime in Mayfair Michael Gore-Brown 1948 Spring in Park Lane Richard 1947 An Ideal Husband Viscount Arthur Goring The Courtneys of Curzon Street Sir Edward Courtney 1946 Carnival Maurice Avery Piccadilly Incident Capt. Alan Pearson 1944 English Without Tears Tom Gilbey 1943 Dear Octopus Nicholas Randolph Undercover Constantine 1942 Secret Mission Pvt. Nobby Clark In Which We Serve Flags Ships with Wings Lt. David Grant 1941 Cottage to Let Alan Trently Kipps Ronnie Walshingham Spring Meeting Tony Fox-Collier The Farmer's Wife Richard Coaker Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light Officer 1940 Sailors Don't Care Dick Sailors Three Johnny Wilding Convoy Dot Tilly of Bloomsbury Percy Welwyn The Big Blockade Captain 1939 There Ain't No Justice Len Charteris 1936 When Knights Were Bold Uncredited Role Wedding Group 1935 Late Extra 1933 Heads We Go Bitter Sweet Uncredited Role Channel Crossing Passenger Boarding Ferry Television
Year Title Role Other notes 1973 Frankenstein: The True Story Sir Richard Fanshawe TV-Movie 1968 Mannix Phillip Montford/Sir Arnold Salt Episode: A View of Nowhere 1966 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Major Tucker Episode: The Fatal Mistake The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Franz Joseph Episode: The Lethal Eagle Affair 1963 Burke's Law Dr. Alex Steiner Episode: Who Killed Sweet Betsy? The Alfred Hitchcock Hour David Saunders Episode: Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans 1962 Saints and Sinners Sir Robert Episode: A Night of Horns and Bells 1958, 1959 Playhouse 90 Sir John Alexander
Chris HughesEpisode: Verdict of Three
Episode: Dark as the Night1959 Lux Playhouse Stephen MacIllroy Episode: The Case of the Two Sisters 1958 Target Episode: The Clean Kill Climax! Lt. MacKenzie Barton Episode: The Volcano Seat (1)
Episode: The Volcano Seat (2)1957 The Joseph Cotton Show: On Trial Colonel Blood Episode: The Trial of Colonel Blood 1955, 1956 The 20th Century Fox Hour Robert Marryot
Captain Robert WiltonEpisode: Cavalcade
Stranger in the Night1956 Screen Director's Playhouse David Scott Episode: The Carroll Formula References
- ^ Wilding, Michael & Pamela Wilcox, Apple Sauce (London: Allen & Unwin, 1982), pp 140-144.
External links
- Autobiography Apple Sauce published posthumously by George Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd 1982 ISBN 0-04-920064-X
- Michael Wilding at the Internet Movie Database
- Photographs and literature
Husband of Elizabeth Taylor Preceded by
Conrad Hilton Jr.Husband of Elizabeth Taylor
(by order of marriage)
1952–1957Succeeded by
Mike ToddCategories:- British talent agents
- English film actors
- English stage actors
- Christ's Hospital Old Blues
- People from Leigh-on-Sea
- People with epilepsy
- 1912 births
- 1979 deaths
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
