- Peter Glenville
Peter Glenville (
28 October 1913 -3 June 1996 ), born Peter Patrick Brabazon Browne, was an English film and stage actor and director.Biography
Born in
Hampstead ,London into a theatrical family, Glenville was the son of Shaun Glenville (born John Browne; 1884 -1968), an Irish-born comedian, and Dorothy Ward, bothpantomime performers.Peter Glenville was educated by Jesuits at
Stonyhurst College , one of England's leading Catholic public schools, and from there went up toChrist Church, Oxford where he read Jurisprudence. At university he joined theOxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS) and in 1934, became its president and also made his professional stage debut. Over the next several years Glenville was active in the theatre and films as an actor, gradually developing an interest in directing, and leading to his 1944 appointment as director for the Old Vic Company.After
World War II , Glenville met Hardy William Smith. They became professional and life partners, Glenville as director and Smith as producer of plays both in London and New York.Career
Glenville's directorial debut on Broadway was
Terence Rattigan 's "The Browning Version" (1949). Other notable productions which followed included "The Innocents" (1950), the stage adaptation of Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw ", Tennessee Williams' "Summer and Smoke " (1951),Shakespeare 's "Romeo and Juliet ", which starredDouglass Watson ,Jack Hawkins and marked the Broadway debut ofOlivia de Havilland (1951), Rattigan's "Separate Tables " (1954), "The Prisoner" (1954), andGeorges Feydeau 's "Hotel Paradiso" (1957). Glenville also directed the 1955 film version of "The Prisoner", his film directorial debut. Both the play and the film starred his friend,Alec Guinness .In the 1960s, Glenville and Smith moved from London to New York and continued to work in the theatre and in films. From that period was the musical "
Take Me Along " (1959-60), based onEugene O'Neill 's play "Ah, Wilderness! ", withJackie Gleason ,Walter Pidgeon ,Robert Morse ,Una Merkel andEileen Herlie . In 1960, Glenville also directedBarbara Bel Geddes andHenry Fonda in "Silent Night, Lonely Night" by Robert Anderson.In 1961, he directed
Jean Anouilh 's play "Becket " which starredLaurence Olivier asThomas Becket andAnthony Quinn as Henry II. An erroneous story arose in later years that during the run, Quinn and Olivier switched roles and Quinn played Becket to Olivier's King. CriticHoward Taubman , in his book "The Making of the American Theatre", supports this story, as does a biographer of Laurence Olivier. In fact, Quinn left the production for a film, never having played Becket, and director Glenville suggested a road tour with Olivier as Henry. Olivier happily acceded andArthur Kennedy took on the role of Becket for the tour and brief return to Broadway [Time Magazine, 7 April 1961] [Spoto, Donald, "Laurence Olivier: A Biography", New York: HarperCollins, pp. 360-368] .In 1962-63, he directed Quinn and
Margaret Leighton in "Tchin-Tchin ". This was followed by the musical "Tovarich" (1963) withVivien Leigh andJean-Pierre Aumont . For "Dylan", based on the life ofDylan Thomas (1964), Glenville worked once again with his frequent collaborator, Alec Guinness.He also directed
Edward Albee 's adaptation ofGiles Cooper 's play "Everything in the Garden " (1967),John Osborne 's "A Patriot for Me " (1969) withMaximilian Schell ,Salome Jens andTommy Lee Jones in his Broadway debut, and Tennessee Williams' "Out Cry" (1973).He also directed the films "
Me and the Colonel " (1958) withDanny Kaye , "Summer and Smoke" (1961) withGeraldine Page andLaurence Harvey , "Term of Trial " (1962) with Laurence Olivier,Simone Signoret andSarah Miles , "Becket" (1964) withRichard Burton andPeter O'Toole , "Hotel Paradiso" (1966) with Guinness andGina Lollobrigida and "The Comedians" (1967) withElizabeth Taylor , Burton, Guinness andPeter Ustinov .In 1971, Glenville began work on the film project of "Man of La Mancha", but when he failed to agree with
United Artists on the production, he bowed out. He retired in 1973 and eventually moved toSan Miguel de Allende ,Mexico .Glenville was nominated for four
Tony Awards , twoGolden Globe Awards ("Becket" and "Me and the Colonel"), oneAcademy Award ("Becket") and oneGolden Lion at theVenice Film Festival for "Term of Trial".He died in
New York City , aged 82, from a heart attack [Guinness, Alec, "My Name Escapes Me", Penguin Books, 1996.] .References
External links
*
* [http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/research/search/ Peter Glenville Collection] at theHarry Ransom Center at theUniversity of Texas at Austin
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.