Lewis Casson

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Sir Lewis Thomas Casson MC (born October 26, 1875 in Birkenhead , Cheshire , † May 16, 1969 in London ) was an English actor and theater director and the husband of Dame Sybil Thorndike .

Life

Lewis Casson was born at 18 Alfred Road, Birkenhead , Cheshire . He was the son of the banker and amateur organ builder Thomas Casson and his wife Laura Ann (née Holland-Thomas). When he was a child, his family moved to Denbigh , Wales, and Casson was taught at Ruthin Grammar School. In 1891 Casson's father decided to turn his organ building hobby into a business and the family moved to London. Casson began working in his father's business early on. When that failed, however, he began studying chemistry, but was eventually trained as a teacher at St Mark's College, Chelsea, where he also received his certificate as a teacher. In 1900, Casson's father began building another organ business and Casson worked there for the next four years.

On December 22, 1908, he married Sybil Thorndike in Aylesford , Kent , who was a member of the repertoire troupe of which he was also a member at the time. They had four children together: John (* 1909), Christopher (* 1912), Mary (* 1914) and Ann (* 1915). Christopher, Mary and Ann also became actors.

When the First World War broke out , Casson joined the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) . He later joined the Royal Engineers and eventually reached the rank of major. He returned home as an invalid in 1917 due to an injury and was honored with the Military Cross . Until the end of the war he was secretary of the Chemical Warfare Committee . He later regretted his involvement in the production of poison gas.

Career

Beginnings before the outbreak of the First World War

Casson has always been interested in acting and has worked in various amateur productions in his youth. From 1904 he was a professional actor at the Royal Court Theater under Harley Granville-Barker . He appeared in Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw . He stayed at the Royal Court Theater until 1908 , after which he joined a repertoire troupe founded by Annie Horniman at the Gaiety Theater in Manchester . This was the first repertory theater in the country.

Casson and his wife participated in the repertoire season of Charles Frohman , an American theater director, in London. Soon after their first son was born in 1909, they toured the United States with Frohman . When Casson returned to England he became a theater director and worked again with Annie Horniman from 1911 to 1913.

Interwar period

After the First World War , Casson resumed his career as a theater director. At this time, his wife Sybil's fame was spreading, and Casson supported her emerging career. He directed her play Saint Joan ( Saint Joan ), which was written by George Bernard Shaw with her as a model for the lead role of Saint Joan. He also directed productions of the Trojans and Medea by Euripides (translated by Gilbert Murray ), as well as the plays Henry VIII (1925) and Macbeth (1926). In 1938 Casson produced Henry V for Ivor Novello . In 1940 he directed Coriolanus with Laurence Olivier and King Lear with John Gielgud .

Casson and his wife toured South Africa in 1928 and the Middle East , Australia and New Zealand in 1932 . In 1939 he led the ensemble of the Old Vic Theater (called Old Vic ) on a tour of the Mediterranean .

In the film business he made his debut in The Merchant of Venice (1927, German: The Merchant of Venice ) as Shylock. This was his only silent film.

World War II and Later Life

During World War II , Casson organized tours of the Old Vic Ensemble through the South Wales Valleys .

Casson was President of the British Actors' Equity Association (now Equity ) from 1941 to 1945 and was promoted to Knight Bachelor in 1945 . In 1947 he successfully starred in JB Priestley's The Linden Tree . In 1959 the Cassons celebrated their golden wedding anniversary with a joint appearance in Clemence Dane's piece Eighty in the Shade , which was written especially for them.

Casson took part in some of his wife's international lecture tours. He was active in his profession until 1968, his last appearance was in Night Must Fall by Emlyn Williams . He died on May 16, 1969 at the Nuffield Nursing Home . His wife Sybil died in 1976.

Filmography (selection)

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literature

  • John Casson: Lewis and Sybil. A memoir . William Collins & Sons, London 1972, ISBN 0-00-211488-7 .
  • Diana Devlin: A Speaking Part. Lewis Casson and the Theater of His Time . Hodder & Stoughton, London 1982, ISBN 0-340-28090-5 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Casson, Lewis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Casson, Sir Lewis Thomas (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English actor and theater director
DATE OF BIRTH October 26, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Birkenhead , Cheshire
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 1969
Place of death London