Wilfrid Lawson

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Wilfrid Lawson also Wilfred Lawson (born January 14, 1900 in Bradford , Yorkshire as Wilfrid Worsnop , † October 10, 1966 in London ) was a British stage and character actor in film, television and theater.

life and career

Wilfrid Lawson, born in Bradford, Yorkshire, in 1900, attended Hanson Boys Grammar School and Technical College before becoming a professional actor at the age of 16. He made his film debut in George Pearson's 1931 war comedy East Lynne on the Western Front and appeared in supporting roles until he took the lead in the 1938 version of The Terror . In the same year he took on the film role of the garbage man Alfred P. Doolittle in the successful film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's The novel of a flower girl at the side of Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller .

Lawson also made a number of films in America beginning with Ladies in Love (1936), including the John Ford production The Long Road to Cardiff in 1940 alongside John Wayne . In the final years of the war he served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force .

His last leading role came in 1947 with Harringay's Hound . Alcohol problems made it harder for him to work, and in the 1950s his roles continued to shrink, in some cases he wasn't even featured in the credits. Nonetheless, he still gave memorable performances of his acting skills, for example as Prince Andrei Bolkonski's father in King Vidor's historical epic War and Peace in 1956 , as a mechanic Ed alongside Stanley Baker in Cy Endfield's drama Duel Behind the Wheel and Uncle Nat in Room at the Top in 1958, where the film was shot in Lawson's hometown of Bradford.

His career revived somewhat in the 1960s, with the role of Black George in the acclaimed and award-winning film adaptation of Tony Richardson's Tom Jones in 1963. Two years later he played the decrepit butler Peacock in Bryan Forbes Rogue - Comedy Last Greetings from Uncle Joe and the Dormouse in the Jonathan Miller TV adaptation of Alice in Wonderland .

When Wilfrid Lawson died of a heart attack in London on October 10th at the age of 66, he had appeared in over 65 films.

His brother was supporting actor Gerald Lawson and his nephew was actor Bernard Fox .

Filmography (selection)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Portrait of Wilfrid Lawson in: The New York Times
  2. ↑ Wilfrid Lawson in: Obituaries from the Times: including an index to all obituaries and tributes appearing in the Times during the years 1961-1970 by Frank Cecil Roberts , Newspaper Archive Developments Ltd., 1975, p. 467
personal data
SURNAME Lawson, Wilfrid
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Worsnop, Wilfrid
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Bradford , Yorkshire , England
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 1966
Place of death London , England