Dennis Price
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano (Ediz. Garami), no. 5. Photo: Eagle Lion Films / Arthur Rank Organisation.
British actor Dennis Price (1915-1973) made nearly 130 films and television plays. He started as a suave leading man, and became a character star of great versatility.
Dennis Price was born in 1915. On the London stage he debuted in 1937 in 'Richard II' with John Gielgud. He appeared as an extra in the film No Parking (Jack Raymond, 1938) and in early BBC television plays. War put a temporary halt to his acting career and he joined the Royal Artillery from which he was invalided out in 1942. Michael Powell cast him to star in his successful A Canterbury Tale (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1944). Price went on to star in the Gainsborough melodramas A Place of One's Own (Bernard Knowles, 1945) and Caravan (Arthur Crabtree, 1946). His fatally charming serial murderer in the Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets (Robert Hamer, 1949) was a triumph, but the showcase role in The Bad Lord Byron (David MacDonald, 1949) that could have led him to Hollywood, flopped. He fell into a severe depression. His marriage to actress Joan Schofield ended in 1950 and he attempted suicide in 1954.
Dennis Price's heavy drinking and homosexuality seem to be the cause of most of his personal problems. Bravely he played in the controversial drama Victim (Basil Dearden, 1961) which portrayed gay men being blackmailed for their ‘crime’. Price became a character actor in such delightful comedies as Private's Progress (John Boulting, 1956), I'm All Right Jack (John Boulting, 1959) and School for Scoundrels (Robert Hamer, 1960). On television he became popular as butler Jeeves in the hit series The World of Wooster (1965-1967). In 1966, Price was declared bankrupt and moved to the tax haven island of Sark. He paid his debts back, partly by appearing in campy B-films as Vampyros lesbos (Jesus Franco, 1971). In his nearly forty years spanning career he never seemed to be out of work and according to TV Times (1969) Dennis Price was "very nearly Britain's biggest film star."
Sources: Wikipedia, IMDb and British Pictures.com.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Dennis Price
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano (Ediz. Garami), no. 5. Photo: Eagle Lion Films / Arthur Rank Organisation.
British actor Dennis Price (1915-1973) made nearly 130 films and television plays. He started as a suave leading man, and became a character star of great versatility.
Dennis Price was born in 1915. On the London stage he debuted in 1937 in 'Richard II' with John Gielgud. He appeared as an extra in the film No Parking (Jack Raymond, 1938) and in early BBC television plays. War put a temporary halt to his acting career and he joined the Royal Artillery from which he was invalided out in 1942. Michael Powell cast him to star in his successful A Canterbury Tale (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1944). Price went on to star in the Gainsborough melodramas A Place of One's Own (Bernard Knowles, 1945) and Caravan (Arthur Crabtree, 1946). His fatally charming serial murderer in the Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets (Robert Hamer, 1949) was a triumph, but the showcase role in The Bad Lord Byron (David MacDonald, 1949) that could have led him to Hollywood, flopped. He fell into a severe depression. His marriage to actress Joan Schofield ended in 1950 and he attempted suicide in 1954.
Dennis Price's heavy drinking and homosexuality seem to be the cause of most of his personal problems. Bravely he played in the controversial drama Victim (Basil Dearden, 1961) which portrayed gay men being blackmailed for their ‘crime’. Price became a character actor in such delightful comedies as Private's Progress (John Boulting, 1956), I'm All Right Jack (John Boulting, 1959) and School for Scoundrels (Robert Hamer, 1960). On television he became popular as butler Jeeves in the hit series The World of Wooster (1965-1967). In 1966, Price was declared bankrupt and moved to the tax haven island of Sark. He paid his debts back, partly by appearing in campy B-films as Vampyros lesbos (Jesus Franco, 1971). In his nearly forty years spanning career he never seemed to be out of work and according to TV Times (1969) Dennis Price was "very nearly Britain's biggest film star."
Sources: Wikipedia, IMDb and British Pictures.com.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.