Jonathan Cecil

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Jonathan Hugh Gascoyne-Cecil , known as Jonathan Cecil , (born February 22, 1939 in London , † September 22, 2011 in London ) was a British actor .

Life

Family and education

Cecil was born in London to the British university professor and writer Lord David Cecil . His grandfather was the British statesman James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury (1861-1947). His other grandfather was the British literary and theater critic Desmond MacCarthy (1877-1952).

Cecil grew up in Oxford , where his father was a Goldsmiths' professor of English . Cecil attended Eton College , where he already played small roles in school theater performances. He studied modern languages at New College of the University of Oxford , with a focus on French . There he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in French. At Oxford University he was a member of the Oxford University Dramatic Society . His fellow actors there included Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett . Even during this time he mostly played comic roles, such as a love-struck troubadour in the play Bartholomew Fayre: A Comedy by Ben Jonson in 1959 ; mostly he played funny servant roles. He also appeared in performances of Coriolan and The Birds .

After graduating from university, he completed two years of acting training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art , where he had lessons in a class with Michael MacOwan and Vivian Matalon ; at the same time Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi studied there .

theatre

As a stage actor , Cecil first appeared in various theater companies ( Repertory Theater Companies ), including in Northampton , Dundee , Hornchurch , Salisbury and Lincoln . He played at the Salisbury Repertory Theater for eighteen months ; There he appeared as Dauphin in Saint Joan , as Disraeli in Portrait of a Queen by William Francis , as Trinculo in The Tempest and in several other Shakespeare roles. In 1961 he appeared in Dundee with the Dundee Repertory Theater in the play Luther by John Osborne ; the play was premiered as part of the Edinburgh Festival .

In 1965 he made his London theater debut in the West End at the Phoenix Theater in a stage version of the novel A Heritage and Its History by Ivy Compton-Burnett, adapted by Julian Mitchell (* 1935) . In 1967 he played with Robert Morley as a partner at the Queen's Theater the role of sincere Scout Basil Utterwood in the play half on the tree (original title: Halfway up the Tree ) by Peter Ustinov ; Directed by Sir John Gielgud .

Other theater productions followed, including numerous West End productions: The Ruling Class by Peter Barnes (1969, Piccadilly Theater), Lulu by Frank Wedekind (1970/1971, Apollo Theater), the revue Cowardy Custard (1972, Mermaid Theater), one Compilation of songs by Noël Coward , The Bed Before Yesterday by Ben Travers (1975, Lyric Theater London), Uncle Wanja (1987/1988, Vaudeville Theater, as Telegin), The Dressmaker by Georges Feydeau (1990, Theater Royal London), Was you want (1992, as Junker Andreas Bleichenwang), The Taming of the Shrew (1993, West Yorkshire Playhouse, as Gremio), The Seagull (1995, Theater Royal London, as Sorin), The Importance of Being Earnest (1995, as Reverend Chasuble) , as you like it (1998, Globe Theater, as Monsieur le Beau / Corinnus / Sir Oliver Martext) and Othello (2004, Devonshire Park, Eastbourne, as Roderigo).

His favorite role on stage was the Junker Andreas Bleichenwang, whom he played in four different productions over the course of his career. Again and again (1994–1996, 2000, 2001) he appeared in the one-person play The Incomparable Max , about the British essayist and parodist Max Beerbohm .

Movie and TV

In film and television Cecil also embodied mostly comic roles; in particular representatives of the British upper class , comical aristocrats and clergy belonged to his role type.

He was first seen on television in 1964. British television director and BBC producer Naomi Capon had seen Cecil as a stage actor and cast Cecil in the role of a young student in the television play Maggie ; Cecil's partner was Vanessa Redgrave . In the television film Diary of a Nobody (1964), a literary adaptation of the novel of the same name by George Grossmith , Cecil played the role of Mr. Cummings, directed by Ken Russell , who directed the film in the style of a silent film ; he played a friend of the main male character Mr. Charles Pooter. In 1981 he took on the role of Bertie Wooster , main character and storyteller of PG Wodehouse , in the television movie Thank You, PG Wodehouse .

In several Agatha Christie film adaptations he played alongside Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot, his assistant Captain Arthur Hastings , for example in Murder à la carte (1985), Murder with distributed roles (1986) and Deadly Parties (1986). In 2009 he appeared in the crime series Inspector Barnaby . In the episode The Glitch , he played the villager Mr. Melville Dodgson.

Cecil took on episode roles and guest roles in various British television series , including in Doctor in the House (1969), Dad's Army (1973, as a military dog ​​trainer and school principal), Romany Jones (1974-1975, as Jeremy Crichton-Jones, who with his wife Lives on a campsite ), It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1977), Murder Most Horrid (1994) and One Foot in the Grave (2000). He had a continuous lead series as Mr. Herbert in the sitcom Oh Happy Band! (1980).

Cecil has also acted in numerous films : as Biggs in the horror film Nur Vampire Kisses Bloody (1971), as Officer Lieutenant Jonathan Fakenham in Barry Lyndon (1975), as Dude and Stutzer in The Adventures of Joseph Andrews (1977), as “Popping Jay “in Mel Brooks - The Mad History of the World (1981) and as a gay ricotin in Fellini's Ship of Dreams (1983).

Speaking activities

For the BBC, Cecil has worked in several radio play series , such as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Brightonomicon based on the novel by Robert Rankin . In the radio sitcom All Gas and Gaiters , he took on the second season (1972) of Derek Nimmo the role of Reverend Mervyn Noote, the bishop's local chaplain, when Nimmo had other obligations as an actor.

He has also recorded over 40 audiobooks of novels and short stories by PG Wodehouse .

Private

Cecil was married twice. In 1963 he married his first wife, actress Vivien Heilbron, whom he met at the London Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1972 he met his second wife, the actress and singer Anna Sharkey , who he married in 1976, while he was working on the revue Cowardy Custard (1972) . He was married to her until his death. Cecil died at the age of 72 years at Charing Cross Hospital in London at a pneumonia . Cecil suffered from emphysema .

Filmography (selection)

  • 1964: First Night (TV series, episode Maggy )
  • 1964: Diary of a Nobody (TV movie)
  • 1964: The Yellow Rolls-Royce (The Yellow Rolls-Royce)
  • 1968: Unlucky named Otley (Otley)
  • 1969: Doctor in the House (TV series, episode)
  • 1971: Only vampires kiss bloody (Lust for a Vampire)
  • 1972: A matter of command 'Nackter Po' (Up the Front)
  • 1973: Dad's Army (TV series, episode)
  • 1974–1975: Romany Jones (TV series)
  • 1975: Barry Lyndon
  • 1977: The Adventures of Joseph Andrews (Joseph Andrews)
  • 1980: Oh Happy Band (TV series)
  • 1981: Mel Brooks - History of the World: Part I
  • 1981: Thank You, PG Wodehouse (TV movie)
  • 1983: Fellini's Ship of Dreams (E la nave va)
  • 1985: Murder à la Carte (Thirteen at Dinner)
  • 1986: Murder with Split Roles (Dead Man's Folly)
  • 1986: Deadly Parties (Murder in Three Acts)
  • 1987: The Second Victory
  • 1988: Little Dorrit (Little Dorrit)
  • 1992: A Spicy Affair (Cin-Cin)
  • 1992: As You Like It
  • 1994: Murder Most Horrid (TV series, an episode)
  • 2000: One Foot in the Grave (TV series, one episode)
  • 2001: Victoria & Albert
  • 2004: Fakers
  • 2009: Inspector Barnaby (TV series, an episode)
  • 2010: Man and Dog

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Jonathan Cecil obituary Obituary in: The Guardian, September 25, 2011
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Jonathan Cecil: Actor who specialized in upper-class twits and found his perfect role in Bertie Wooster obituary in: The Independent of September 27, 2011
  3. ↑ Obituary: Jonathan Cecil, actor obituary in: The Scotsman, September 26, 2011
  4. ↑ Jonathan Hugh CECIL death report in: The Times, September 24, 2011
personal data
SURNAME Cecil, Jonathan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gascoyne-Cecil, Jonathan Hugh (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH London , England, UK
DATE OF DEATH September 22, 2011
Place of death London , England, UK