Seymour Hicks

Young Seymour Hicks

Sir Edward Seymour Hicks (born January 30, 1871 in Saint Helier ( Jersey ), United Kingdom , † April 6, 1949 in Fleet (Hampshire) , United Kingdom) was a British theater and film actor , writer , screenwriter and director .

Life

Born on the Channel Island of Jersey, Hicks began his theater career on November 11, 1887 with the play " In the Grand ". At the beginning of his career he was a regular stage partner of the actor couple Madge and William Hunter Kendal. In 1895 he also appeared for the first time on Broadway in New York as part of a tour. At first he made a name for himself as an entertainer in music halls and in musical revues, but was also successful in classical, dramatic spoken theater. Hicks celebrated his first great success in 1902 as Valentine Brown in the play ' Quality Street '. In addition to his acting activities, Hicks also wrote his own pieces that were inspired several times by French models, including Bluebell in Fairyland (1901), The Gay Gordons (1907), Sleeping Partners (1917) and The Man in Dress Clothes (1922). They also found their way on London stages. Seymour Hicks debuted as a book author in 1910 with his early autobiography "24 Years of an Actor's Life".

Drawing by Hicks in the hit song Quality Street

Hicks also tried his hand at stage management and as a producer at an early age: in 1893, for example, he had the revue ' Under the Clock ' performed in London . Seymour Hicks had also directed several London venues, including the Aldwych Theater , which he opened in 1905, and the Globe Theater , which began with a repertoire in 1907. In both the First and the Second World War Hicks was the first British entertainer, the actor with a troupe went to France, to entertain stationed there British soldiers.

Seymour Hicks got involved early on in the film, which had long been regarded as a medium; In 1913 he made his debut in front of the camera with two adaptations of famous literature (" David Garrick " and " Scrooge "). In both films he embodied the title hero. At the end of 1929 he directed his comedy " Sleeping Partners " ( inspired by Sacha Guitry ) for the cinema. Since then he has played a number of major character roles in rather minor British entertainment sound films. In 1935 he appeared as Ebenezer Scrooge in the first sound film remake of Charles Dickens ' Christmas classic A Christmas Story . Sir Seymour Hicks, ennobled in 1935, took on his last role in 1948 with old Lord Clandon in the detective melodrama “ The Silent Darkness ”.

Filmography

• 1913: David Garrick
• 1913: Scrooge
• 1914: Always Tell Your Wife
• 1914: A Prehistoric Love Story
• 1923: Always Tell Your Wie (short film remake, also screenplay)
• 1927: Blighty
• 1929: Sleeping Partners (also director and screenplay)
• 1930: The Love Habit
• 1931: Glamor (also co-director and screenplay)
• 1931: Money For Nothing
• 1934: The Secret of the Loch
• 1934: Royal Cavalcade
• 1935: Mr. What's-His-Name?
• 1935: Scrooge
• 1935: Vintage Wine
• 1936: Eliza Comes to Stay
• 1936: It's You I Want
• 1937: Change for a Sovereign
• 1938: The Lambeth Walk
• 1939: Young Man's Fancy
• 1940: Pastor Hall
• 1940: Busman's Honeymoon
• 1947: Fame is the track
• 1948: The silent darkness ( Silent Dust )

literature

• Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 3: F - H. Barry Fitzgerald - Ernst Hofbauer. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 671.
• The Concise Oxford Companion to the theater, ed. By Phyllis Hartnoll and Peter Found. Oxford University Press 1993, p. 221

Web links

• Seymour Hicks in the Internet Movie Database (English)