Wilfrid Lawson (14 January 1900 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England – 10 October 1966, in London, England) was a renowned British character actor of stage and screen.
He was educated at Hanson Grammar School, Bradford and entered the theatre in his late teens, appearing on both the British and American stage throughout his career.
He made his film debut in East Lynne on the Western Front in 1931 and appeared in supporting roles until he took the lead in the 1938 version of The Terror. That same year saw arguably his most celebrated film role as dustman Alfred P. Doolittle in the highly successful film version of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion opposite Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller.
He also had memorable leading roles in Pastor Hall (1940), as a German village clergyman who denounces the new Nazi regime in 1934; Tower of Terror (1941) as the wild-eyed maniacal lighthouse keeper Wolfe Kristen; and the title role in the prestigious The Great Mr. Handel (1942), a biopic… read more
Wilfrid Lawson (14 January 1900 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England – 10 October 1966, in London, England) was a renowned British character actor of stage and screen.
He was educated at Hanson Grammar School, Bradford and entered the theatre in his late teens, appearing on both the British and American stage throughout his career.
He made his film debut in East Lynne on the Western Front in 1931 and appeared in supporting roles until he took the lead in the 1938 version of The Terror. That same year saw arguably his most celebrated film role as dustman Alfred P. Doolittle in the highly successful film version of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion opposite Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller.
He also had memorable leading roles in Pastor Hall (1940), as a German village clergyman who denounces the new Nazi regime in 1934; Tower of Terror (1941) as the wild-eyed maniacal lighthouse keeper Wolfe Kristen; and the title role in the prestigious The Great Mr. Handel (1942), a biopic of the 18th Century composer, all three showing his broad range. He also made a number of films in America beginning with Ladies in Love in 1936 and including John Ford’s The Long Voyage Home (1940) alongside John Wayne.
His last leading role came in 1947 with The Turners of Prospect Road. Due to bouts of alcoholism he became difficult to work with and throughout the 1950s his roles became increasingly small – even uncredited in some cases. Despite this he still gave memorable performances such as Prince Andrei Bolkonsky’s father in King Vidor’s War and Peace (1956), Ed in Hell Drivers (1957) and Uncle Nat in Room at the Top (1958), filmed in Lawson’s hometown of Bradford.
The 1960s saw something of a career resurgence, beginning with his turn as Black George in Tony Richardson’s acclaimed Tom Jones (1963) and culminating in two of his most notable latter day performances: The decrepit butler Peacock in The Wrong Box and the Doormouse in Jonathan Miller’s television adaptation of Alice in Wonderland (both 1966). The same year saw his death from a heart attack.
His brother was the supporting player Gerald Lawson and his nephew, actor Bernard Fox. —Wikipedia
