Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Felix Aylmer

 
Actor: Felix Aylmer
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Feb 21, 1889 in Corsham, Wilts, England
  • Died: Sep 12, 1979 in Surrey, England, UK
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '30s-'60s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Hamlet, Henry V, The Boys
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Temporary Widow (1930)

Biography

British actor Felix Aylmer may not be popularly known in the United States, but his was one of the longest and most prestigious careers in the 20th-century British theatre. Aylmer's first stage work was done with another theatrical giant, Sir Seymour Hicks, in 1911. Two years later, Aylmer was engaged by the then-new Birmingham Repertory, premiering as Orsino ("If music be the food of love...") in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. After World War I service, Aylmer established himself as one of the foremost interpreters of the works of George Bernard Shaw; he also concentrated on the London productions of such American plays as Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee (no partisanship here!) Aylmer made his Broadway bow in a production of Galsworthy's Loyalties, periodically returning to the states in such plays as Flashing Stream, wherein he played First Lord of the Admiralty Walter Hornsby, which some regard as his finest performance. Like most British actors, Aylmer acted in plays to feed his soul and films to pay his bills. His motion picture debut was in Escape (1930), after which he averaged a picture a year. Aylmer was seen by American audiences in such internationally popular films as The Citadel (1938), Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948), Quo Vadis (1951) and Separate Tables (1958). The actor was something of a hero to his fellow actors for his efforts in their behalf during his long tenure as president of British Equity, the performers' trade union; in 1965 Aylmer was knighted for his accomplishments. Active until his eighties, Sir Felix Aylmer made one of his last film appearances as the Judge in The Chalk Garden (1964), a role he'd originated on stage eight years earlier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: Felix Aylmer
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Sir Felix Aylmer
Born 21 February 1889(1889-02-21)
Corsham, Wiltshire, England
Died 2 September 1979 (aged 90)
Surrey, England
Years active 1930–1993
Spouse(s) Cecily Byrne (?-?) 2 children

Sir Felix Aylmer OBE (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was a distinguished English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television.

He was born in Corsham, Wiltshire, England[1] as Felix Edward Aylmer Jones. He often worked with Sir Laurence Olivier in Shakepearean films, such as Polonius in Hamlet (1948), and often played old wise men, such as Merlin in Knights of the Round Table (1953). He also memorably played the Archbishop of Canterbury in the film adaptation of Becket (1964), with Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole.

Aylmer was President of Equity from 1950 to 1969. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)[2] in the 1950 Queen's Birthday Honours and knighted[3][4] in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours. His last major screen role was as the Abbot in the 1960s sitcom Oh, Brother!, opposite Derek Nimmo. He died in a nursing home in Pyrford, Surrey in 1979.

Contents

Partial filmography

Publications

  • Dickens Incognito (1959)
  • The Drood Case (1964)

References

  1. ^ Nimmo, Derek (2004, online edition, January 2006). "‘Aylmer, Sir Felix (1889–1979)’". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30776. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30776. Retrieved 2007-11-26. 
  2. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 38929, pp. 2786–2786, 2 June 1950. Retrieved on 2009-03-09.
  3. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 43667, p. 5471, 4 June 1965. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
  4. ^ London Gazette: no. 43720, p. 7029, 23 July 1965. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.

External links

Stub icon This article about an English actor or actress is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Felix Aylmer".  Read more