Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price(23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor. He played Louis Mazzini in theEaling StudiosfilmKind Hearts and Coronets(1949) and the omnicompetent valetJeevesin1960s television adaptationsofP. G. Wodehouse's stories.
Dennis Price | |
|---|---|
 Price asJeeves | |
| Born | Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price 23 June 1915 Ruscombe,England |
| Died | 6 October 1973(aged 58) Guernsey,Channel Islands |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1938–1973 |
| Spouse |
Joan Schofield
(m.1939;div.1950) |
| Children | 2 |
Biography
editEarly life
editPrice was born inRuscombeinBerkshire.He had distant Welsh family connections, and was the son ofBrigadier-GeneralThomas Rose Caradoc Price (1875–1949)CMGDSO[1](who was a great-grandson ofSir Rose Price, 1st Baronetand, through his mother, a descendant of theBaillie baronets[broken anchor]ofPolkemmet,nearWhitburn, West Lothian)[2][3]and his wife Dorothy, née Verey, daughter of SirHenry Verey,[3]Official referee of theSupreme Court of Judicature.[4][5][3]He attendedCopthorne Prep School,Radley CollegeandWorcester College, Oxford.He studied acting at theEmbassy TheatreSchool of Acting.[5]
Stage actor
editPrice made his first appearance on stage at theCroydonRepertory Theatre in June 1937, followed by a London debut at theQueen's Theatreon 6 September 1937 inRichard II.
He served in theRoyal Artilleryfrom March 1940 to June 1942 during theSecond World War,but returned to acting after being invalided out,[3]appearing withNoël CowardinThis Happy BreedandPresent Laughterand later as Charles Condomine inBlithe Spirit,which he later named inWho's Who in the Theatreas one of his two favourite parts along with the title role inAndré Obey'sNoah.[5]
Film career
editPrice's first film role was inA Canterbury Tale(1944). He impressedGainsborough Pictures,which put him under contract. According to Brian MacFarlane, Price was "mercilessly used by Gainsborough [Pictures] in one unsuitable role after another" in this period.[6]
He was given a support role inA Place of One's Own(1945) starringJames Mason.British Nationalborrowed him forThe Echo Murders(1946), a Sexton Blake film; he was then fourth-billed as the villain in aGainsborough melodrama,Caravan(1946) withStewart GrangerandJean Kent,playing the type of villainous part that had made James Mason a star (and that Mason was no longer interested in playing). It was a huge success.
Price was a villain again in Gainsborough'sThe Magic Bow(1946) with Granger and Kent.Two Cities Filmsused him in one of its melodramas,Hungry Hill(1947). Gainsborough used him in villainous roles inDear Murderer,Holiday Camp,JassyandMaster of Bankdam(all 1947).
He made two films forBernard Knowles,supportingMargaret LockwoodinThe White Unicornand a comedy,Easy Money(both 1948). He followed this with a thriller,Snowbound,and a crime melodramaGood-Time Girl(both 1948). In 1948, British exhibitors voted Price the tenth-most popular British actor at the box office.[7][8]
Stardom
editHe was promoted to starring roles. He was given the title role inThe Bad Lord Byron(1949); this was a huge flop at the box-office, and helped kill off the Gainsborough melodrama. Much more successful, both at the box-office and among critics wasKind Hearts and Coronets(1949), forEaling Films;he played the suave serial murderer Louis Mazzini withAlec Guinnessplaying his eight relatives.
Price was in a wartime drama,The Lost People(1949). In the same year, he was a guest judge on a BBC radio broadcast of thePiddingtonsshow. His role was to represent the eyes of listeners as the Piddingtons performed their telepathy act in the Piccadilly studios, and in the Tower of London. He was ensuring that no cheating was going on and overseeing the telepathy tests as a witness.[9]
He was loaned toAssociated British Picture Corporation(ABPC) to make two films: the musicalThe Dancing Years(1950), a sizeable hit; and the thrillerMurder Without Crime(1950), was less successful.
Back at Rank, Price was a villain inThe Adventurers,and was borrowed by20th Century FoxforI'll Never Forget You(both 1951).
He played the lead inLady Godiva Rides Again(1951), and after a cameo inThe Magic Box(1951) he had top billing in a comedy,Song of Paris(1952).
Supporting actor
editPrice supported inThe Tall Headlines(1952) and had the lead in some B-films:Noose for a Lady(1953),Murder at 3am(1953) andTime Is My Enemy(1954). In "A" pictures he was now a supporting actor, with his films includingThe Intruder(1953),For Better, for Worse(1954),That Lady(1955),Oh... Rosalinda!!(1955),Private's Progress(1956),Charley Moon(1956) withMax Bygraves,Port Afrique(1956),A Touch of the Sun(1956),Fortune Is a Woman(1957),The Naked Truth(1957),Danger Within(1959),I'm All Right Jack(1959), andSchool for Scoundrels(1960). He was top billed inDon't Panic Chaps!(1959), a minor comedy made byHammer Films.
In the 1950s, Price appeared in London and New York City in new plays and revivals of classics. It has been suggested that he was the first name actor on television to play a "more or less overtly gay role" inCrime on Our Hands(1954).[10]In 1957, he made his debut inSouth Africain lead roles inSeparate Tables.[5]
As a radio actor, Price was the original "No. 1" in charge of the crew of HMSTroutbridgein the first series of the long-running radio comedy seriesThe Navy Larkin 1959, but was unable to continue the role in the second series because of other work commitments; he was replaced byStephen Murray.His film appearances from this period includedTunes of Glory(1960) andThe Amorous Prawn[5](also known asThe Playgirl and the War Minister,1962). InVictim(1961) he portrayed one of several characters being blackmailed because of their (then illegal) homosexuality. In the horror spoofWhat a Carve Up!(1961) he starred alongsideKenneth Connor,Sid James,Shirley EatonandDonald Pleasence,while in the science fiction filmThe Earth Dies Screaming(1964) he appeared alongsideWillard ParkerandThorley Walters.
In the BBC television seriesThe World of Wooster(1965–67), Price's performance asJeeveswas described byThe Timesas "an outstanding success",[4]and P. G. Wodehouse said Price had "that essential touch of Jeeves mystery".[3]Working withIan CarmichaelasBertie Wooster,this now almost completelylostseries[11]was based on the novels and short stories ofP. G. Wodehouse.[5]He also appeared in an episode ofThe Avengers.
Later years
editIn 1967, Price was declaredbankrupt;he attributed his financial distress to "extravagant living and most inadequate gambling". He then moved to thetax havenisland ofSark,[12]which coincided with an escalation in hisalcoholism.Towards the end of his life, Price appeared in a series of horror movies includingThe Haunted House of Horror(1969),Twins of Evil(1971),Horror Hospital(1973) andTheatre of Blood(1973), as well as five films directed byJesús Franco.One of his last film appearances was a star-studded version ofAlice in Wonderland(1972) withRalph Richardson,Robert Helpmann,Peter SellersandDudley Moore,among others.[13]On television, he had recurring roles in theITCseriesJason King(1971) andThe Adventurer(1972).
Price died ofheart failure,complicated by ahip fracture,inGuernseyin 1973, at the age of 58. He was cremated at the Foulon Vale Crematorium, Guernsey, and his ashes were buried outside St. Peter's Anglican Church onSark,next to the traditional burial plot of theseigneurs of Sark.
In the bookBritish Film Character Actors(1982), Terence Pettigrew wrote that Price's most successful screen characterisations were "refined, self-centred, caddish and contemptuous of a world inhabited by inferiors. Everything about him was deceptive. He could be penniless and still manage to look as if he owned the bank. But behind all that grand talk and lordly ways, there skulked, in his characters, the most ordinary of shabby, grasping souls."[14]
Personal life
editPrice was married to the actress Joan Schofield from 1939 to 1950. They had two daughters.[12]Decades after his death, it was claimed that Price was bisexual.[3]
In April 1954, he tried to commit suicide by gas in a London guest house.[15][16]Public sympathy led to a revival of his career and the offer of film roles.
Filmography
editReferences
edit- ^The Times,25 October 1949, p. 1
- ^Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 3, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 2315
- ^abcdef"Price, Dennis [real name Dennistoun John Franklin Rose Price]".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37863.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ab"Mr Dennis Price – An actor of style",The Times,8 October 1973, p. 19
- ^abcdefGaye, p. 1076
- ^Brian MacFarlane"Price, Dennis (1915-1973)",BFI screenonline, reprinted from MacFarlane (ed.)Encyclopaedia of British Cinema,London: Methuen/BFI, 2003, p. 534
- ^"Britten's 'Rape of Lucretia': New York Divided",The Manchester Guardian(1901–1959) [Manchester (UK)] 31 Dec 1948, p. 8
- ^"FILM NEWS".Western Star.No. 6295. Queensland, Australia. 4 February 1949. p. 6.Retrieved24 May2016– via National Library of Australia.
- ^"Broadcasts".Thepiddingtons.
- ^Keith Howes "Are There Stars Out Tonight" in Robin Griffiths (ed)British Queer Cinema,Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2006, pp. 61–70, 63
- ^"(P. G. Wodehouse's) The World of Wooster"Archived22 December 2015 at theWayback Machine,lostshows See also Michael Brooke"World of Wooster, The (1965-67)",BFI screenonline
- ^abThe Guardian,8 October 1973, p. 6
- ^"Alice in Studioland",The Guardian,10 June 1972, p. 8
- ^Terence PettigrewBritish Film Character Actors: Great Names and Memorable Moments,Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles, 1982, pp. 165–66
- ^The Manchester Guardian,20 April 1954, p. 12
- ^"GAS OVERCOMES U.K. FILM STAR".The Mercury.Vol. CLXXIV, no. 25, 998. Tasmania, Australia. 21 April 1954. p. 21.Retrieved4 September2017– via National Library of Australia.
Further reading
edit- Gaye, Freda (ed).Who's Who in the Theatre,Fourteenth edition. Pitman Publishing, London, 1967
- Huntley, Elliot J.Dennis Price – A Tribute: The Life and Death of Dennis Price.Pickard Communication, 2008
- Parker, Elaine & Owen, Gareth 'The Price of Fame'. Fonthill books, 2018.
