Philip Tonge

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Philip Ashton Tonge (born April 26, 1897 in London , England , † January 28, 1959 in Hollywood , California ) was a British theater and film actor.

life and career

Philip Tonge was the son of the actor couple Ashton Tonge (1872-1927) and his wife Lillian (1870-1952). He was already on the London stage at the age of four and became a child star there. Tonge has played with theater stars Henry Irving , Herbert Beerbohm Tree , Ellen Terry and Johnston Forbes-Robertson , among others . His fellow child actors included Hermione Gingold , Mary Glynne , Esmé Wynne-Tyson and Noël Coward . Coward is said to have had his first sexual experience with Tonge, who was two years older than him, and a lifelong friendship spanned the two: Coward later cast Tonge in many of his plays when he was a famous author.

Tonge moved with his parents from England to the United States, where he made his Broadway debut at the age of 17 as Thomas Traddles in a version of David Copperfield . A successful, decades-long theater career on Broadway with over 30 plays developed. By 1946 he only came into contact with the film business through three films, two of which were made in his youth. But in the last decade of his life, Tobge was regularly seen on the screen and made over 60 film and television appearances. Tonge often embodied somewhat staid or boring officers, civil servants or superiors. He played, among other things, a department head in the Christmas film The Miracle of Manhattan (1947) and the police inspector Hearne in the prosecution (1957). He has also appeared on television , having a recurring role as a general on the television series Northwest Passage .

On his death at the age of 61 Tonge left behind his wife Lyda (1902-1984).

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • Hoare (1995). Noël Coward, A Biography. London: Sinclair-Stevenson. ISBN 1856192652 .
  • John Parker (1925). Who's Who in the Theater (5th Edition). London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons. OCLC 10013159.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Tonge, Philip
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tonge, Philip Ashton (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor
DATE OF BIRTH April 26, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH London , England
DATE OF DEATH January 28, 1959
Place of death Hollywood , California