Philip Merivale

Merivale, Philip (1886–1946), actor. The lanky, suave, slightly haughty leading man was born in India and spent several seasons acting in London before he came to America in 1914 with Mrs. Patrick Campbell. He made his debut playing Higgins to her Liza Doolittle in Pygmalion. Thereafter he moved back and forth between the West End and Broadway. Among his notable American performances were Prince Albert in The Swan (1923); the neglectful husband Maurice Sorbier in Grounds for Divorce (1924); Hannibal in The Road to Rome (1928); His Serene Highness, the personification of Death, in Death Takes a Holiday (1929); barrister Jim Warlock in Cynara (1931); and the Earl of Bothwell in Mary of Scotland (1933). In 1935 he appeared with his wife, Gladys Cooper, playing the title roles in Othello and Macbeth.