Michael Redgrave

Michael Redgrave
Name	Michael Redgrave
Birth date	20 March 1908
Birth place	Bristol, England
Death date	21 March 1985
Death place	Denham, Buckinghamshire, England
Occupation	Actor, writer, director
Years active	1934–1983
Spouse	Rachel Kempson
Children	Vanessa Redgrave, Corin Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave

Michael Redgrave was an English stage and screen actor, writer and director noted for a career spanning classical theatre, British cinema and international collaborations. He gained prominence in the mid-20th century with acclaimed performances in works by William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen and modern dramatists, while also appearing in films directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Carol Reed and David Lean. His family became a prominent acting dynasty with ties to British theatre and film institutions such as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.

Early life and education

Born in Bristol to Mathilde Angela (née Reyntiens) and Captain Roy Redgrave, he was raised amid links to the Victorian era theatrical tradition and the emerging British film industry. He attended Bristol Grammar School before studying at Marlborough College and later read history at Wadham College, Oxford, where he became involved with the Oxford University Dramatic Society, performing alongside contemporaries who later joined companies such as the Old Vic and the Cambridge Arts Theatre. After Oxford he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in repertory at theatres including the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Theatre Royal, Nottingham.

Stage career

Redgrave's early professional stage work included seasons with the Old Vic where he performed in productions of Hamlet, Othello and As You Like It, collaborating with directors and actors from the Garrick Theatre circuit and the West End. He joined companies that toured internationally, appearing at venues such as the Edinburgh Festival and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, sometimes under the artistic influence of figures associated with the London Stage, Peter Brook and the Royal Court Theatre. During the 1940s and 1950s he created roles in plays by Noël Coward, Terence Rattigan, George Bernard Shaw and Christopher Fry, sharing bills with actors who worked at the Almeida Theatre, Donmar Warehouse and Criterion Theatre. His stage collaborations connected him with managers and impresarios linked to the Old Vic Company, the Sadler's Wells Theatre and touring circuits that reached the United States and Australia.

Film and television career

Redgrave's film breakthrough came with adaptations and literary films produced by studios such as Ealing Studios, Rank Organisation and independent producers working with directors including Carol Reed and David Lean. He appeared in films adapted from novels by Graham Greene, E. M. Forster and Daphne du Maurier, and worked with screenwriters active in British cinema circles alongside cinematographers from the British Film Institute milieu. Notable screen collaborations placed him opposite performers linked to Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Alec Guinness and Ralph Richardson, and in productions screened at festivals such as Cannes Film Festival and events hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He also performed for television on the BBC and in productions associated with the American Broadcasting Company and ITV, adapting stage plays and novels by authors like Henry James and Jane Austen for small-screen audiences.

Writing and directing

Beyond acting, he wrote, narrated and adapted material for stage and screen, collaborating with playwrights and screenwriters from the Royal Court Theatre and the BBC Drama department. He directed productions in the West End and for touring companies, bringing texts by Anton Chekhov, Sophocles and contemporary dramatists to regional venues linked to the Guildford Shakespeare Company and repertory theatres across the United Kingdom. His literary interests connected him with publishers and editors associated with Faber and Faber and theatrical periodicals that reviewed work from the London Review of Books circle and other cultural journals of the period.

Personal life and beliefs

He married actress Rachel Kempson; their children included actors who became central figures in British and international theatre and film, associated with institutions such as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. His social and political views brought him into contact with intellectuals, artists and activists connected to the Labour Party, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and cultural debates in postwar Britain. He maintained friendships with figures from the Bloomsbury Group milieu and with contemporary writers and directors whose work spanned the Anglo-American cultural exchange, including collaborations that linked him to theatrical developments in New York City and continental festivals in Venice and Edinburgh.

Health, later years and legacy

In later life he struggled with illnesses that curtailed his stage appearances, receiving treatment from medical teams associated with hospitals in London and Buckinghamshire. He continued to work in film and television into the 1970s and early 1980s, leaving a legacy through recordings, published memoirs and archives held by institutions such as the British Library, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Imperial War Museum which preserve scripts, correspondence and production documentation. His influence is reflected in the careers of descendants and colleagues who contributed to theatre and film history, and in scholarly studies produced by academics at Oxford University, Cambridge University, King's College London and institutions that study performing arts history.

Category:English male stage actors Category:English male film actors Category:1908 births Category:1985 deaths