Eric Porter
Eric Richard Porter (born April 8, 1928 in London , England ; † May 15, 1995 there ) was a British actor .
Life
stage
Born into a working-class family, Porter began his stage career at the age of 16 without having previously completed an acting training: After appearing at the Wimbledon Youth Club, he applied to Robert Aktins at the Shakespeare Memorial Theater in 1945 and spent a year at Stratford Company has been contracted.
In the following years he worked for various theater groups under respected stage professionals such as Sir Lewis Casson and Sir Donald Wolfit . With the latter, whose interpretation of the works of William Shakespeare and especially King Lear had a lasting influence, he even went on stage tour through Great Britain and Canada . From 1948 to 1950 the young performer found a job at the Birmingham Repertory Theater. In the following years he played on various stages in London alongside great stars of the English theater world such as Sir Alec Guinness and Sir John Gielgud . He made a name for himself as a stage actor at the Old Vic in London and at the Old Vic in Bristol , where he played "Lear" at the age of only 28. Nevertheless, his name remained largely unknown to the public.
Royal Shakespeare Company
Eric Porter achieved his theatrical breakthrough in 1959, when he was alongside Dame Peggy Ashcroft as "Rosmer" in a production of Rosmersholm at the Royal Court Theater, which was also performed in London's West End . Porter was honored with the Evening Standard Award for his acting performance and signed by Sir Peter Hall for the Royal Shakespeare Company . In the newly put together ensemble with Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Christopher Plummer , Sir Donald Sinden , David Warner and Sir Ian Holm , Porter played the "Odysseus" in Troilus and Cressida , the "Leontes" in A Winter's Tale , the "Shylock" in the Merchant of Venice , the "Malvolio" in What you want , the title roles in Henry IV and Macbeth , but also in dramas by other authors such as the title role in Jean Anouilh's Becket .
watch TV
Porter was not known to a wide audience for his stage performance, but only for the roles that television offered him. In 26 episodes of a television adaptation of the Forsyte saga , he embodied the patriarch “Soames” from his youth to old age. The role made him known nationwide and led to numerous appearances in television adaptations of plays by Christopher Marlowe , George Bernard Shaw and Shakespeare, where he once again interpreted "Lear".
After that, Porter, who shied away from great fame, initially retired into private life. It was not until the 1980s that he began to take on more roles in stage, film and television.
His last television roles include " Professor Moriarty " in the Sherlock Holmes adaptation The Final Problem with Jeremy Brett in the role of the master detective and David Burke as Dr. Watson , as well as "Fagin" in a film adaptation of Charles Dickens ' Oliver Twist .
Movie
In film productions, Porter, whose artistic focus remained the stage throughout his life, was a rare guest who could be seen almost exclusively in supporting roles in this medium. He played in the monumental film The Fall of the Roman Empire , in the Hitchcock remake The 39 Steps , in the thriller The Jackal based on Frederick Forsyth , the drama A Man Called Hennessy and the literary film adaptation of The Little Lord based on Frances Hodgson Burnett .
The last few years
In 1988 Porter was able to seamlessly follow up on his old stage career with a portrayal of "Big Daddy" in Tennessee Williams ' The Cat on a Hot Tin Roof . In the last years of his life he played again "King Lear" in a production by Jonathan Miller at London's Old Vic, in 1991 again Shakespeare's "Malvolio" in a last collaboration with Sir Peter Hall at the Playhouse Theater and a year later the "Professor" in Uncle Vanya at the National Theater directed by Sean Mathias .
Eric Porter died of cancer on May 15, 1995 at the age of 67.
Filmography
- 1959: Julius Caesar
- 1964: Bedroom dispute ( The Pumpkin Eater )
- 1964: The Fall of the Roman Empire ( The Fall of the Roman Empire )
- 1966: Die Forsyte Saga ( The Forsyte Saga ), (TV movie)
- 1968: Beasts lurk in front of Caracas ( The Lost Continent )
- 1971: hands full of blood ( Hands of the Ripper )
- 1971: Nikolaus and Alexandra ( Nicholas and Alexandra )
- 1972: Antonius and Cleopatra ( Antony and Cleopatra )
- 1972: Hitler - The Last Ten Days ( Hitler: The Last Ten Days )
- 1973: The Jackal ( The Day of the Jackal )
- 1973: The Belstone Fox (Alternative title: No Mercy for the Fox) ( The Belstone Fox )
- 1975: A man named Hennessy ( Hennessy )
- 1978: The 39 Steps ( The Thirty Nine Steps )
- 1978: Anna Karenina (TV series), as Karenin
- 1979: Churchill and the Generals
- 1980: Why didn't you ask Evans? ( Why Didn't They Ask Evans? ), Movie made for TV
- 1980: Hamlet ( Hamlet, Prince of Denmark )
- 1980: Little Lord Fauntleroy ( Little Lord Fauntleroy ), television film
- 1981: Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
- 1984: Jewel in the Crown ( The Jewel in the Crown )
- 1985: Sherlock Holmes ( The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ), TV series, episode His Last Fall
- 1985: Oliver Twist
biography
- Eric Porter - The Life of An Acting Giant (1928–1978) book 1 and Eric Porter - The Life of An Acting Giant - The Mature Year (1979–1995) book 2 by Helen Monk.
Web links
- Eric Porter in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Billington, “Playing it fort he meaning,” in: Guardian, May 17, 1995.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Porter, Eric |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Porter, Eric Richard (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 8, 1928 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 15, 1995 |
| Place of death | London |