Cecil Bevan

Cecil Stuart Reginald Bevan (May 1, 1875 – January 22, 1953) was a British supporting and character actor on stage and screen.^[1][2][3]

Cecil Bevan's 1939 Spotlight photo

Early life

Bevan was born in London,^[1] the son of a clergyman, Reverend Cecil Bevan.^[4] He worked as an accountant and partnership agent,^[5] and acted as an amateur with groups including the Romany Amateur Dramatic Club at St. George's Hall, London in 1900,^[6] and the Phoenix Amateur Dramatic Club at the Bijou Theatre, London, in 1901.^[7]

Career

By 1907, Bevan had begun acting professionally with George Alexander's company^[1] in Alfred Sutro's new play, John Glayde's Honour.^[8][9][10] He also appeared with the Herbert Sleath Company^[11] and the London Repertory Theatre under its director J. T. Grein.^[12][13]

In 1912, he played the governor of HM Prison Holloway in a satirical play by Lillie Langtry titled Helping the Cause, in which Langtry played a militant suffragist. The play, with the cast including Langtry, Bevan, Leonora Braham and Alfred Mansfield, toured the United Kingdom and the United States.^{[14][15][16][17][18]}

In the 1910s and 1930s-40s, Bevan appeared in West End theatres in supporting roles in plays by dramatists such as Harley Granville-Barker, Elmer Rice, Jerome K. Jerome, and Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein.^[12][19] He received praise for his performances, in particular for his role as Christopher Branley in John Glayde's Honour by Alfred Sutro (1907-1908),^[8][9] Captain Montgomerie in W. Somerset Maugham's Lady Frederick (1908),^[20] and Dr. O'Shea in Roland Pertwee's Pink String and Sealing Wax (1943).^[21][22][23]

Bevan also appeared on screen from 1921 to 1952. His performance as Sampson Brass in The Old Curiosity Shop (1921) was described as "excellent".^[24] His last appearance on screen was as Reverend Mayne in Autumn Crocus (1952).^[1]

Personal life

He married twice, firstly to Violet Gordon Robbins in 1900,^[4] and later to Frieda Haesler.^[25] He was a member of the Green Room Club^[26] and the Conservative Association.^[1] He died in 1953 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, where he had lived for over thirty years.^[1]

Selected stage performances

Year	Title	Author	Theatre	Role	Notes
1900	A Pair of Spectacles	Sydney Grundy, adapted from Les Petits Oiseaux by Eugène Labiche and Alfred Delacour	St. George's Hall, London	Percy Goldfinch	Romany Amateur Dramatic Club[6]
1900	The Money Spinner	Arthur Wing Pinero	St. George's Hall, London	Lord Kingussie	Romany Amateur Dramatic Club [27]
1905	Mrs. L'Estrange	Kinsey Peile	Shaftesbury Theatre, London	Jules	[28]
1907	John Glayde's Honour	Alfred Sutro	Theatre Royal, Bath	Christopher Branley	George Alexander Productions [8]
1908	John Glayde's Honour	Alfred Sutro	Borough Theatre, Stratford; The Kennington Theatre, south-east London	Christopher Branley	George Alexander Company[9][10]
1908	Lady Frederick	W. Somerset Maugham	King's Theatre, Sunderland; Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne	Captain Montgomerie	[29][20]
1909	A White Man	Edwin Milton Royle	Theatre Royal, Woolwich; Empire Theatre, Southend-on-Sea	Earl of Kerhill	Herbert Sleath Company [11][30]
1911	The Quality of Mercy	Hall Caine	Theatre Royal, Manchester	Mr. Pettigrew	John Hart and M. V. Leveaux. World Premiere[31]
1912	Helping the Cause	Percy Fendall and Lillie Langtry	Oldham Coliseum Theatre, Greater Manchester; Glasgow Empire Theatre, Scotland; B. F. Keith's Theater, Cincinnati; Hippodrome Theater (Cleveland, Ohio); Orpheum Theater, Brooklyn, United States	Sir Martyn Mangles, governor of Holloway gaol	[14][15][16][17]
1912	The Right Sort (a short version of The Degenerates)	Sydney Grundy	The Empire Palace Theatre, Leeds	Duke of Orme	[32]
1914-1915	The Dynasts	Thomas Hardy, adapted by Harley Granville-Barker	Kingsway Theatre, London	1st Passenger; Colonel Graham; General Sir Thomas Picton	[12]
1915	On Trial	Elmer Rice	Lyric Theatre, London	Clerk	[12]
1915	The World of Boredom	Adapted from Édouard Pailleron's Le Monde où l'on s'ennuie by Maria Leonard and J. T. Grein	Queen's Theatre, London	Monsieur de Millets	[12]
1915	The Three Patriots	Jerome K. Jerome	Queen's Theatre, London	Doctor	[12]
1915	The Dummy	Harvey J. O'Higgins and Harriet Ford	Prince of Wales Theatre, London	Fisher	[12]
1917	Ruts	Harry Wall	Court Theatre, London	Mr. Boulder	London Repertory Theatre, dir. J. T. Grein[12][13]
1933	The Brontës	Alfred Sangster	Royalty Theatre, London	William Smith Williams	[33]
1943	Pink String and Sealing Wax	Roland Pertwee	Theatre Royal, Brighton; Theatre Royal, Nottingham; Duke of York's Theatre, London	Dr. O'Shea	[1][21][22][23][19]
1944	Pink String and Sealing Wax	Roland Pertwee	Phoenix Theatre, London	Dr. O'Shea	[19]
1945	Chicken Every Sunday	Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein, based on the novel by Rosemary Drachman Taylor	Savoy Theatre, London	Reverend Wilson	[19][34]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1921	The Old Curiosity Shop	Sampson Brass	[35][24]
1937	The Elder Brother	Coroner	[2][36]
1937	Jump for Glory	Cyril	[35]
1937	Night Ride		[37]
1937	The Cavalier of the Streets		[38][39]
1937	Paradise for Two, released in the US as The Gaiety Girls	Renaud or Renard	[2][35][40][41]
1938	The Beautiful One	Scribe	[42]
1939	Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday	Man In Solicitor's Office	[43]
1942	Let the People Sing	Minor Role	[44]
1943	Subject for Discussion		#5 of the Into Battle series produced by the Ministry of Information[45]
1945	Twilight Hour	Hartley	[2]
1945	Waltz Time	Minister of Health	[2][46]
1947	The White Unicorn	Clerk to the Assizes	[2]
1948	The Blind Goddess	Morton	[2]
1949	Once Upon a Dream	Wright	[2]
1950	The Reluctant Widow		[2]
1951	Night Was Our Friend	Clerk of the Court	[2][35]
1952	Autumn Crocus	Reverend Mayne, the clergyman	[1][47]