J. Hastings Batson

Abraham John Hastings Batson (8 November 1841 – 18 April 1921), usually credited as J. Hastings Batson, was an English stage actor of the Victorian and Edwardian era who went on to become a character actor in silent movies.

Biography

Batson was born in Clerkenwell, London, in 1841.^[1] In October 1881 he played Iago in Othello, at Kilburn Town Hall, and was credited as John Hastings Batson.^[2]

In 1908 and 1909 he was a member of the executive committee of the Actors' Union, founded in 1907.^[3]

Batson played the leading role in The German Spy Peril (1914), a silent war propaganda film based loosely on the Guy Fawkes plot of 1605, with German spies planning to blow up the Houses of Parliament.^[4]

He died in the West Middlesex Hospital, Isleworth, Middlesex, on 18 April 1921, aged 79, leaving effects worth £50. At the time of his death his address was 26, Mountfield Road, Ealing.^[5]

Filmography

• In the Hands of London Crooks (1913) : Sir James Linley^[6]
• Sixty Years a Queen (1913)
• Lights of London (1914)
• The German Spy Peril (1914)^[4]
• Jack Tar (1915) : Sir Michael Westwood
• The Scorpion's Sting (1915) : Bishop of Lowden
• She (1916)
• On the Banks of Allan Water (1916) : Sir John Warden
• The Little Damozel (1916) : Admiral Craven
• The House Opposite (1917)
• Just a Girl (1917) : The Duke^[7]
• A Gamble for Love (1917)
• The Woman Wins (1918) : Admiral Fraser
• Consequences (1918) : Guardian
• Because (1918)
• God's Clay (1919)
• The Soul of Guilda Lois (1919) : Gregoire
• With All Her Heart (1920) : Earl of Stanborough