Peter Glenville(1913-1996)
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
A talented actor and distinguished stage director, Peter Glenville was
the son of Shaun Glenville, the British music hall artist and noted
pantomime dame. Born in London Glenville was educated at the Jesuit's
Stonyhurst College where he appeared in a production of Hamlet in the
1930s and was singled out by critics for his matinee idol looks.
He played small roles in West End shows during the 1940s but his true
talent lay as a director. He became a director at the Old Vic Theatre
in 1944 and worked with some of the leading playwrights of the period
including Tennessee Williams, Jean Anouilh, Terence Rattigan and Graham
Greene.
In 1949 he took Rattigan's The Browning Version to Broadway and later
went on to direct the writer's Separate Tables, which starred Eric
Portman and Margaret Leighton. Later stage productions included The
Prisoner (with Alec Guinness) and Romeo and Juliet (with Olivia de
Havilland). One of his most long running commercial productions was
Feydeau's Hotel Paradiso which ran on Broadway and in London starring
Alec Guinness, Douglas Byng and Martita Hunt. On Broadway Byng's role
was taken by Bert Lahr.
In an interview about his life in the theatre and cinema Glenville
said: "I believe that the director should, like a conductor, be an
interpreter of a particular world of each playwright with whom he
works. On occasion, the style of the play should call for the most
delicate and unobtrusive staging. Sometimes other plays allow for broad
and colourful strokes of direction, involving all the tricks that
theatre magic can provide."
the son of Shaun Glenville, the British music hall artist and noted
pantomime dame. Born in London Glenville was educated at the Jesuit's
Stonyhurst College where he appeared in a production of Hamlet in the
1930s and was singled out by critics for his matinee idol looks.
He played small roles in West End shows during the 1940s but his true
talent lay as a director. He became a director at the Old Vic Theatre
in 1944 and worked with some of the leading playwrights of the period
including Tennessee Williams, Jean Anouilh, Terence Rattigan and Graham
Greene.
In 1949 he took Rattigan's The Browning Version to Broadway and later
went on to direct the writer's Separate Tables, which starred Eric
Portman and Margaret Leighton. Later stage productions included The
Prisoner (with Alec Guinness) and Romeo and Juliet (with Olivia de
Havilland). One of his most long running commercial productions was
Feydeau's Hotel Paradiso which ran on Broadway and in London starring
Alec Guinness, Douglas Byng and Martita Hunt. On Broadway Byng's role
was taken by Bert Lahr.
In an interview about his life in the theatre and cinema Glenville
said: "I believe that the director should, like a conductor, be an
interpreter of a particular world of each playwright with whom he
works. On occasion, the style of the play should call for the most
delicate and unobtrusive staging. Sometimes other plays allow for broad
and colourful strokes of direction, involving all the tricks that
theatre magic can provide."