Milo Sperber (20 March 1911 – 22 December 1992) was a British actor, director and writer, who was born in Poland.

Early life

Sperber was born in 1911 into a family of Polish

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

Jews who fled anti-Semitism during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. His older brother was activist, author and intellectual

Manès Sperber Manès Sperber (12 December 1905 – 5 February 1984) was an Austrian-French novelist, essayist and psychologist. He also wrote under the pseudonyms ''Jan Heger'' and ''N.A. Menlos''. Early life Sperber was born on 12 December 1905 in Zabłotów ...

. The younger Sperber trained as a lawyer in Vienna before joining

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he is regarded as one of the most promi ...

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compu ...

; there he played roles in ''

Six Characters in Search of an Author ''Six Characters in Search of an Author'' ( it, Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore, link=no ) is an Italian play by Luigi Pirandello, written and first performed in 1921. An absurdist metatheatric play about the relationship among authors, the ...

'' and ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict ...

'', among other plays.

Martin Esslin , birth_date = , birth_place = Budapest, Austria-Hungary , death_date = , death_place = London, England, UK , education = University of Vienna Reinhardt Seminar , o ...

was a classmate during this time. While on the rise as an actor, in 1939 he fled Germany and the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

with his family, eventually landing in Britain as refugees.

Career

Early in the

Sperber joined the Oxford Pilgrim Players; he gained experience directing the company on tour in ''Case 27 VC'' and spending a season in London even during the Blitz. He also was involved in producing anti-Nazi propaganda for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

before the end of the war. His later career included stints in

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

, theatre and television; in the last capacity, he performed as shoe salesman Mr. Grossman in four episodes of ''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London, ...

''. In 1990, at the age of 79, he appeared in Series 2, Episode 7 of '' Poirot'', "The Kidnapped Prime Minister," as Mr. Fingler, Poirot's '' kvetching'' tailor. His big-screen career included performances in minor roles in such films as '' Foreign Intrigue'', '' The Spy Who Loved Me'', ''

Operation Crossbow ''Crossbow'' was the code name in World War II for Anglo-American operations against the German long range reprisal weapons (V-weapons) programme. The main V-weapons were the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket – these were launched against Brita ...

'', '' In Search of the Castaways'' and ''

Billion Dollar Brain ''Billion Dollar Brain'' is a 1967 British espionage film directed by Ken Russell and based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Len Deighton. The film features Michael Caine as secret agent Harry Palmer, the anti-hero protagonist. The "b ...

''. He taught for some time at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and served as a scriptwriter for the BBC's German language service. Many of his students at RADA went on to succeed in the arts, including

Glenda Jackson Glenda May Jackson (born 9 May 1936) is an English actress and former Member of Parliament (MP). She has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice: for her role as Gudrun Brangwen in the romantic drama '' Women in Love'' (1970); and again fo ...

. Sperber's last appearance in the West End was in a 1984 production of ''

The Clandestine Marriage ''The Clandestine Marriage'' is a comedy by George Colman the Elder and David Garrick, first performed in 1766 at Drury Lane. It is both a comedy of manners and a comedy of errors. The idea came from a series of pictures by William Hogarth ent ...

'' at the

Albany Theatre The Albany is a multi-purpose arts centre in Deptford, south-east London. Facilities include a flexible performance space holding up to 300 seated or 500 standing and a bar, two studio theatres, a performance cafe and rehearsal / meeting rooms. T ...

; he spent his last years travelling Britain, giving readings from the works of his brother, writer

. Sperber died on 22 December 1992, aged 81 in London, United Kingdom.

Early life

Career

Filmography

References

Further reading