Peter Godfrey (16 October 1899 – 4 March 1970) was an English

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

. Founder of the experimental Gate Theatre Salon in 1925, with his first wife Molly Veness, he staged London's first expressionistic production in the following year. He went into partnership with Velona Pilcher in 1927 and together they opened the Gate Theatre Studio in

Villiers Street Villiers Street is a street in London connecting Strand, London, the Strand with Thames Embankment, the Embankment. It is partly pedestrianised; traffic runs northbound only up to John Adam Street, where vehicles must turn right. It was built by ...

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

. Eventually moving to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, he established a career as a film actor and director.

Life and career

Godfrey began his career as a conjuror, clown, actor and director in repertory theatres around the United Kingdom. However, he became increasingly dissatisfied with the standard repertory plays, being himself attracted to the experimental works of American and Continental directors, and the avant-garde playwrights of the 1920s. To stage such plays, he and his wife, the actress Molly Veness, rented a room in

Floral Street Floral Street is a narrow street in the Covent Garden area of London, England. It runs east from Garrick Street to Bow Street and contains a number of fashion stores, including Paul Smith (fashion designer), Paul Smith. The Upper School of the R ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

, which they were forced to run as a private club since

London City Council London City Council is the governing body of the city of London, Ontario, Canada. Composition London is divided into 14 wards, with residents in each ward electing one councillor. The mayor is elected citywide, who along with the councillors fo ...

refused to grant a licence for their "theatre", which, according to Edna Antrobus, had only "one entrance and exit and a rickety wooden staircase". The

Gate Theatre Studio Gate Theatre Studio, often referred to as simply the Gate Theatre, is a former independent theatre on Villiers Street in London. History Founded in October 1925 by Peter Godfrey (director), Peter Godfrey and his wife Molly Veness, the theatre w ...

opened on 30 October 1925, and after staging plays by

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

and

Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 play ...

established its reputation with a production staged in 1926 of Georg Kaiser's ''From Morn to Midnight'', London's first expressionistic production. In 1927, the theatre club moved to

, where it reached the peak of its success in the 1930–31 season. Godfrey directed two British films in the early 1930s. In 1936 he directed a production of C. L. R. James's play '' Toussaint Louverture: The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History'' at the

Westminster Theatre The Westminster Theatre was a theatre in London, on Palace Street in Westminster. History The structure on the site was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, by William Dodd with money from his wife Mary Perkins. Through Peter Ri ...

. Godfrey moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in around 1937, where he continued to write and produce plays. In 1939, now in

, he took up directing more permanently. In 1942 he became a dialogue director for

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

and

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

. By the late 1940s Godfrey was a prominent director, working on films such as the

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian and American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Oliv ...

vehicles '' Cry Wolf'' and '' Escape Me Never''. In the 1950s he switched to television and directed episodes for a variety of shows. With his second wife, actress

Renee Haal Renee Godfrey (born Renee Vera Haal; September 1, 1919 – May 24, 1964) was an American stage and motion picture actress and singer. Early life Godfrey was born September 1, 1919, in New York, with Dutch and French ancestry as the daughter o ...

, he established a Hollywood "Gate Theatre Studio" in 1943, which lasted for two years. Godfrey died on 4 March 1970, at the age of 70. He is interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery near his wife, Renee Godfrey.''Resting Places''
/ref>

Selected filmography

Actor

* '' Leave It to Me'' (1933) - Siegffied Velour * '' Heads We Go'' (1933) - Fancourt * ''

Good Morning, Boys ''Good Morning, Boys!'' is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and featuring Will Hay, Graham Moffatt, Martita Hunt, Lilli Palmer and Peter Gawthorne. It was made at the Gainsborough Studios in Islington. The film marked the f ...

'' (1937) - Cliquot * ''

Blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are ...

'' (1938) - Roderigo - Cafe Magician * '' Raffles'' (1939) - Crawshay * '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (1939) - Monk (uncredited) * ''

The Earl of Chicago ''The Earl of Chicago'' is a 1940 American drama film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Robert Montgomery, Edward Arnold, Reginald Owen and Edmund Gwenn. Made during 1939 and released in January 1940, it was the first MGM film of the 1940 ...

'' (1940) - Judson * ''

Edison, the Man ''Edison, the Man'' is a 1940 biographical film depicting the life of inventor Thomas Edison, who was portrayed by Spencer Tracy. Hugo Butler and Dore Schary were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story, Academy Award for Best Writing, Ori ...

'' (1940) - Ashton * ''

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is an 1886 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series ...

'' (1941) - Poole * '' Uncensored'' (1942) - Lou * '' Forever and a Day'' (1943) - Mr. Pepperdish (uncredited) * '' The Two Mrs. Carrolls'' (1947) - Racetrack Tout (uncredited) * ''

The Decision of Christopher Blake ''The Decision of Christopher Blake'' is a 1948 American drama film based upon the Moss Hart play. It was adapted by Ranald MacDougall and directed by Peter Godfrey. The film stars Alexis Smith, Robert Douglas, Cecil Kellaway, Ted Donaldson, ...

'' (1948) - Butts (uncredited) (final film role)

Director

* '' Down River'' (1931, directorial debut) * '' The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt'' (1939) * '' Unexpected Uncle'' (1941) * ''

Highways by Night ''Highways by Night'' is a 1942 American crime drama film directed by Peter Godfrey from a screenplay by Lynn Root and Frank Fenton, based on the story ''Silver Spoon'', by Clarence Budington Kelland. The film stars Richard Carlson and Jane ...

'' (1942) * '' Make Your Own Bed'' (1944) * '' Indiscretion'' (1945) * '' Christmas in Connecticut'' (1945) * '' Hotel Berlin'' (1945) * '' One More Tomorrow'' (1946) * '' Cry Wolf'' (1947) * '' The Two Mrs. Carrolls'' (1947) * '' That Hagen Girl'' (1947) * '' Escape Me Never'' (1947) * '' The Woman in White'' (1948) * ''

'' (1948) * '' One Last Fling'' (1949) * '' The Girl from Jones Beach'' (1949) * ''

Barricade Barricade (from the French ''barrique'' - 'barrel') is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Adopted as a military term, a barricade denotes ...

'' (1950) * '' The Great Jewel Robber'' (1950) * ''

He's a Cockeyed Wonder ''He's a Cockeyed Wonder'' is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Peter Godfrey and written by Jack Henley. The film stars Mickey Rooney, Terry Moore, William Demarest, Charles Arnt, Ross Ford and Ned Glass. The film was released on Dec ...

'' (1950) * ''

One Big Affair ''One Big Affair'' is a 1952 American comedy film directed by Peter Godfrey and written by Leo Townsend and Francis Swann. The film stars Evelyn Keyes, Dennis O'Keefe, Mary Anderson, Connie Gilchrist, Thurston Hall and Gus Schilling. The film ...

'' (1952) * '' Please Murder Me'' (1956, final film)

References

Bibliography

* McNulty, Thomas. ''Errol Flynn: The Life and Career''. McFarland, 2004.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey, Peter 1899 births 1970 deaths 20th-century English male actors English male film actors English male stage actors British television directors Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Male actors from London Film directors from London