Alec McCowen
Alec McCowen Royal Academy of Dramatic Art | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1942–2002 |
| Partner(s) | Geoffrey Burridge (– 1987; his death) |
Alexander Duncan McCowen,
Early life
McCowen was born in
Career
Early theatre work
McCowen first appeared on stage at the
He made his London debut on 20 April 1950 at the Arts Theatre as Maxim in Anton Chekhov's Ivanov, and made his first appearances on the New York City stage at the Ziegfeld Theatre on 19 December 1951 as an Egyptian Guard in Caesar and Cleopatra, and on 20 December 1951 as the Messenger in Antony and Cleopatra. Following a series of roles at the Arts and with the Repertory Players, he had rising success as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in Moulin Rouge at the then New Theatre, Bromley, and appeared as Barnaby Tucker in The Matchmaker at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, both 1954.
After appearances as Dr Bird in
He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in September 1962, appearing at Stratford-upon-Avon playing Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors and the Fool to Paul Scofield's King Lear, subsequently appearing in both plays at the Aldwych Theatre in December 1962 – performing these roles again for a British Council tour of the Soviet Union, Europe and the United States from February to June 1964. With the RSC he also played "the gruelling role"[3] of Father Riccardo Fontana in Rolf Hochhuth's controversial play The Representative at the Aldwych in December 1963.
Later theatre work
He enjoyed a career breakthrough at the
At the Royal Court in August 1970, McCowen was cast to play the title role in Christopher Hampton's sophisticated comedy, The Philanthropist. If a philanthropist is literally someone who likes people, McCowen's Philip was a philologist with a compulsive urge not to hurt people's feelings – the inverse of Molière's The Misanthrope. Following enthusiastic reviews the production played to packed houses and transferred to the Mayfair Theatre where it ran for a further three years, making it the Royal Court's most successful straight play. McCowen and his co-star Jane Asher went with it to Broadway in March 1971 where he won the 1971 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance.
His next big successes were in
McCowen devised and directed his own solo performance of the complete text of the
Two years later, again at the Mermaid, McCowen gave a portrayal of the British poet Rudyard Kipling in a one-man play by Brian Clark, performed in a setting that exactly matched Kipling's own study at Bateman's (his Jacobean rustic haven in Sussex) "and turning", as Michael Billington wrote, "an essentially private man into a performer." McCowen appeared in the play on Broadway and on television for Channel 4.
Directing
While preparing to co-star as Vladimir to
At the Hampstead Theatre in December 1972 he directed a revival of Terence Rattigan's wartime London comedy While the Sun Shines.
Film and television
McCowen made his film debut in (1989).
Television roles included the BBC's four-part adaptation of J. B. Priestley's Angel Pavement (1958), and his one-man stage performance of The Gospel According to Saint Mark, transferred to television by Thames for Easter 1979.[4]
He appeared alongside Maureen Lipman and Arthur Askey performing comic monologues in The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog, which was recorded 1982, and broadcast by Channel 4 in 1983.[5]
He appeared in the BBC Television Shakespeare series as Malvolio in Twelfth Night and as Chorus in Henry V. In 1984 and 1985 McCowen starred in the ten episodes of the short-lived television series Mr Palfrey of Westminster as a "spy catcher" working for British intelligence under the direction of a female boss (played by Caroline Blakiston).
His one-man performance as
Literature
McCowen published his first volume of autobiography, Young Gemini in 1979, followed a year later by Double Bill (Elm Tree Books).
Personal life
His partner, the actor
Death
McCowen died, aged 91, on 6 February 2017 and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium.[10]
Filmography
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List of theatre roles
- Sir Henry Harcourt-Reilly in Phoenix Theatre, July 1986;
- Nikolai in Turgenev adaptation Fathers and Sons, National Theatre, July 1987;
- Vladimir in Waiting for Godot, National Theatre, November 1987;
- Harry Rivers in Jeffrey Archer's Exclusive, Strand Theatre, September 1989,
- George in A Single Man, Greenwich Theatre, June 1990;
- Jack in Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa, Abbey Theatre, Dublin and National Theatre, October 1990; Phoenix Theatre, March 1991; and Garrick Theatre, December 1991;
- Caesar in Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra, Greenwich Theatre, February 1992,
- Michael in Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, Hampstead Theatre, July 1992; Vaudeville Theatre, September 1992; the Booth Theatre, New York, November 1992 to June 1993;
- Edward Elgar in The Pit, May 1994;
- Prospero in Barbican Theatre, July 1994;
- Reginald Pager (a retired opera singer) in Albery Theatre, September 1999 – January 2000.
Honours
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1972 New Year Honours[11] and promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1986 New Year Honours.[12]
On 2 May 2017 McCowen was accorded a memorial service at St. Paul's Church in Covent Garden (known as "the actors' church"), conducted by the Reverend Simon Grigg. McCowen's nephew, Reverend Nigel Mumford, read an affectionate remembrance from McCowen's sister Jean Mumford's memoirs titled "Childhood memories of Pantos". The tribute was read by Dame Penelope Wilton, followed by a tribute from the playwright Christopher Hampton. Rebecca Trehearn sang "Bill" from Show Boat, which was followed by a tribute from the theatre critic Michael Billington and a tribute by the actor Malcolm Sinclair. After final prayers a plaque to McCowen was dedicated by Grigg to the left of the altar.[citation needed]
Bibliography
- Theatre Record and its annual Indexes
- Who's Who in the Theatre, 17th edition, ed Ian Herbert, Gale (1981) ISBN 0-8103-0234-9.
- Double Bill (autobiography) by Alec McCowen, Elm Tree Books (1980) ISBN 0-241-10395-9.
- The National: The Theatre and its Work 1963–1997 by Simon Callow, Nick Hern Books/NT (1997) ISBN 1-85459-323-4.
- Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies, 4th (and final) edition, ed John Walker, HarperCollins 2006 ISBN 978-0-00-716957-3
- Halliwell's Television Companion, 3rd edition, Grafton (1986) ISBN 0-246-12838-0.
- Memorial service notes added by Bryan Hewitt
See also
References
- ^ "Birthday's today". The Telegraph. 26 May 2011. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
Mr Alec McCowen, actor, is 86
- ^ "Alec McCowen Biography (1925–)". Filmreference.com. 26 May 1925. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
- ISBN 0-241-10395-9, page 7.
- ^ "BFI | Film & TV Database | The GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK (1979)". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
- ^ [1] The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog production website
- ^ "Longitude © (1999)". Retrieved 22 June 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-312-22384-7.[page needed]
- ^ Raymond, Gerard (June 1990). "Smart Alec". Advocate (553): 52.
- ^ The Advocate: The National Gay & Lesbian Newsmagazine. Liberation Publications. April 1990.
- ^ "Alec McCowen obituary". The Guardian. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
- ^ "Viewing Page 11 of Issue 45554". London-gazette.co.uk. 31 December 1971. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
- ^ "Alec McCowen | BFI". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. 2 July 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
External links
- Selected performances in the Theatre Archive, University of Bristol
- Alec McCowen at IMDb
- Alec McCowen on BFI
- Alec McCowen at the Internet Broadway Database
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