Faith Brook

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Faith Brook (born February 16, 1922 in York , England , † March 11, 2012 in London ) was a British actress .

Life

Family and education

Brook was born the daughter of British actor Clive Brook and his wife Mildred Evelyn Brook; her brother was the actor and playwright Lyndon Brook . Barely a year old, Brook moved to the United States with her parents . Her father had received an offer from Paramount Pictures ; In Hollywood he played, among other things, Marlene Dietrich's partner, the suicidal Capt. Donald "Doc" Harvey in the film Shanghai Express (1931). Brook grew up in Hollywood with children of other Hollywood stars; she later described her youth as "idyllic". The situation changed after the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped in 1932 , at which point Clive Brook decided to send his daughter back to England, where she eventually followed in her father's footsteps. Brook attended schools in Los Angeles , London , Kent and Gstaad . She made her first experiences as an actress in school theater . There she played mainly the boy roles, for example Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice , in a guest production by the later actor and director Alec Guinness . She completed her acting training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art .

theatre

As a stage actress , Brook made her debut in September 1941 in Santa Barbara , California in the play Lottie Dundass by Enid Bagnold ; a little later, in December 1941, she made her debut in New York City on Broadway at the Cort Theater in the role of Marion Curwood in the play Letters to Lucerne by Alfred Rotter and Allen Vincent . Her theatrical debut in London's West End was in 1942 with the role of Marie in the play Aren't Men Beasts! by Vernon Sylvaine (1942, Garrick Theater, London).

Brook served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service , the British Army 's women's unit , during World War II . She worked in troop support for the entertainment unit Stars in Battledress , and went on tour with the play Flare Path by Terence Rattigan through Italy and Greece , where British troops were stationed.

In 1946 she became a permanent member of the Bristol Old Vic ; Brooks 'important stage roles in her early days as a stage actress included Dorinda in the play Galante Listen , also: Liebes-Schlachten-Lenker ( The Beaux' Stratagem ) by George Farquhar (Bristol Old Vic Company, London, 1945-1946), Nina Michailovna Zarečnaya in The Seagull (Bristol Old Vic Company, London, 1945–1946), Lady Macduff in Macbeth (Bristol Old Vic Company, 1946), Olivia in Was ihr wollt (Bristol Old Vic Company, 1946; Old Vic Company, 1948–1949) ; Direction: Alec Guinness) and Charlotta Iwanowna in Der Kirschgarten (Old Vic Company, London, 1948–1949, next to Dame Edith Evans and Cedric Hardwicke ). In the early 1950s Brooks played again theater in the United States, including the role of Celia Coplestone in the play The Cocktail Party by TS Eliot (Henry Miller's Theater, New York City, 1950). In 1952/1953 she took on the role of Sheila Vendice in a touring production in the crime play When Calling Mord by Frederick Knott .

Later in her career, Brook played Queen Gertrude in Hamlet (toured production 1969; Cambridge Theater, London 1971, alongside Ian McKellen as Hamlet), Volumnia in Coriolan (West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds , 1994–1995; with Steven Berkoff in the Title role) and, alongside Charles Dance , the blind mother in the play Good by CP Taylor (1999, Donmar Warehouse Theater, London). For this role she also received the Clarence Derwent Award in 1999 in the category "Best Supporting Actress".

Brooks greatest success in her old age was the role of Martha in the one-person play The Color of Poppies based on the novel La Femme Coquelicot by Noëlle Châtelet . Brooks embodied an aging woman who, after a long time, experiences love, passion and sexuality again; the play premiered in London's Jermyn Street Theater in 2004 and also addressed the taboo topic of female sexuality in old age. In 2007 Brook performed this role on a tour of various cities in the UK. The last performances took place in April 2007 at the Theater Royal in York. Brook's last stage role was in 2008 the role of María Wassíljewna Wojnízkaja in the play Uncle Vanya in a touring production; she embodied, under the direction of Sir Peter Hall , the mother of the title character.

At Edinburgh Festival (1981, St Cecilia's Hall) Brook impressed as reciter with the cycle of poems Requiem by Anna Akhmatova . Brook worked as an acting teacher and lecturer at the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Movie and TV

Brook also regularly took on roles in motion pictures .

She made her film debut in 1941, without being named in the credits, under the direction of Alfred Hitchcock in the crime film Suspected . She played the teenage beauty Alice Barhem , alongside Cary Grant . Her first named role was the English girl in the adventure film The Jungle Book (1942, director: Zoltan Korda ).

Other cinema roles were, alongside David Niven , the role of Mrs. Doris Grice, the wife of Colonel Grice, in the war film The Sea Wolves (1979/1980) and the Margaret Thatcher- based character of the British Prime Minister in the action film Demolition Squad Atlantic (1979). In 1997 she starred alongside Margaret Tyzack (as Lady Burton) in the role of Lady Bexborough in the film Mrs. Dalloway directed by Marleen Gorris .

Brook often worked for television as well . She had roles in the television series The Irish RM (1983–1984), War and Peace (1972–1973, as Countess Rostova) and Gentlemen and Players (1988–1989), in the television film Cream in My Coffee (1980) and in the episode They do it with Mirrors in the television series Miss Marple (1991).

Private

In 1949 Brook married Charles Moffett, a US Navy doctor , and moved with him to New York City. The marriage was divorced a little later. In her second marriage she married the doctor Michael Horowitz. From this marriage a son, Brook Horowitz, was born. Brook's second marriage also ended in divorce.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1941: suspected (Suspicion)
  • 1942: The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book)
  • 1943: No Time for Love
  • 1948: bigamy ...? (Uneasy Terms)
  • 1956: No one passed her (Wicked as They Come)
  • 1956: The Intimate Stranger
  • 1957: The bridge of retribution (Across the Bridge)
  • 1958: Whispering Shadows (Chase a Crooked Shadow)
  • 1959: The 39 Steps (The 39 Steps)
  • 1961: Commissioner Maigret (Maigret)
  • 1964: The Finest Hours
  • 1969: Walk a Crooked Path
  • 1970: Hamlet (TV adaptation)
  • 1972–1973: War and Peace (TV series)
  • 1975–1978: Angels (TV series)
  • 1979: North Sea Hijack (North Sea Hijack)
  • 1980: The Sea Wolves (The Sea Wolves)
  • 1980: Cream in my Coffee (TV movie)
  • 1981: The needle (Eye of the Needle)
  • 1983–1984: The Irish RM (TV series)
  • 1984: The Razor's Edge (The Razor's Edge)
  • 1986: Sins (TV series)
  • 1988–1989: Gentlemen and Players (TV series)
  • 1991: Miss Marple (episode: They Do it with Mirrors )
  • 1997: Mrs. Dalloway
  • 1997: Mothertime (TV movie)
  • 2000: The Bible - Paul (TV movie)
  • 2002: AKA (TV series)
  • 2006: The Commander: Blacklight (TV movie)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Preview: Faith Brook performs The Color Of Poppies, The Studio, York Theater Royal, April 25 to 27 Preview and interview with Faith Brook in: The York Press, April 20, 2007
  2. ↑ Uncle Vanya ( Memento from September 1, 2013 on WebCite ) (Production, Cast, Downloads, English Touring Theater )
  3. ↑ Sea Wolves (Actor Photos at Aveleyman.com )
personal data
SURNAME Brook, Faith
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actress
DATE OF BIRTH February 16, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH York , England
DATE OF DEATH March 11, 2012
Place of death London , England