Philip Asheton Tonge (26 April 1897 – 28 January 1959) was an English actor. Born into a theatrical family, he was a child actor, making his stage debut at the age of five. Among the stars with whom he performed while he was a boy were

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ...

Herbert Beerbohm Tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...

and Johnston Forbes-Robertson. His colleagues as child actors included Hermione Gingold,

Mary Glynne Mary Glynne (born Mary Aitken; 25 January 1895 – 19 September 1954) was a British actress. Biography Glynne was born Mary Aitken in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. She started her career in 1908, in a stage play called ''The Dai ...

, Esmé Wynne-Tyson and

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

. Tonge's adult acting career was in the US, where he and his parents settled after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. He made numerous appearances in

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

productions, including nine Coward plays. Among his films were ''

Miracle on 34th Street ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (initially released as ''The Big Heart'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1947 American Christmas comedy-drama film released by 20th Century Fox, written and directed by George Seaton and based on a story by Valentine Davi ...

'' (1947), ''

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consist ...

'' (1952) and '' Witness for the Prosecution'' (1957).

Life and career

Early years

Tonge was born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

, London, the son of the actor H. Asheton Tonge and his wife Lillian, ''née'' Brennard, an actressParker, p. 919–920 He made his first appearance on the stage at His Majesty's Theatre in October 1902, as Joseph in Hall Caine's ''The Eternal City''. In December of that year he took the part of Donald in ''A Little Un-Fairy Princess'' by

Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (published in 1885–1886), '' A Little ...

, in 1903 he played Ib in '' Ib and Little Christina'' at Terry's Theatre and Egil in

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's '' The Vikings'' under

's management at the

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...

. Other child roles included Cupid in a revival of

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

's masque ''

The Hue and Cry After Cupid ''The Hue and Cry After Cupid,'' or ''A Hue and Cry After Cupid,'' also ''Lord Haddington's Masque'' or ''The Masque at Lord Haddington's Marriage,'' or even ''The Masque With the Nuptial Songs at the Lord Viscount Haddington's Marriage at Cour ...

'' (1903), Geoffrey in Tennyson's ''Becket'', starring

and Eilif in ''

An Enemy of the People ''An Enemy of the People'' (original Norwegian title: ''En folkefiende''), an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, followed his previous play, '' Ghosts'', which criticized the hypocrisy of his society's moral code. That response in ...

'' starring

(all 1905). In 1906 he had his first Shakespeare roles: Robin in ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'' and Mamillius in ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some cri ...

''; later in the year he went to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

to play Michael in ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

''. On tour and in London he played Ptolemy in Shaw's '' Caesar and Cleopatra'', starring Johnston Forbes-Robertson (1907). In September 1908 Tonge was cast as Freddy in ''The Sway Boat'' at the Kingsway Theatre, London, and in December of the same year he had the important role of Tommy in Tree's Christmas family play, ''Pinkie and the Fairies''. The cast was headed by Ellen Terry, and included Frederick Volpe, Marie Löhr, Viola Tree and the young Hermione Gingold. The following year he was in ''A Boy's Proposal'', a

curtain-raiser A curtain raiser is a short performance, stage act, show, actor or performer that opens a show for the main attraction. The term is derived from the act of raising the stage curtain. The first person on stage has "raised the curtain". The fashio ...

for

Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include ''The Forsyte Saga'' (1906–1921) and its sequels, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of the Chapter''. He won the Nobel Prize i ...

's ''Strife'' at the Adelphi. The reviewer in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' called Tonge "a remarkable boy" and commented, "Nothing more natural and more accompllshed than this youngster in an Eton jacket could be imagined, and the piece is well worth seeing for his amusing performance alone." In 1911 Tonge and

had the principal children's roles in a comic opera, ''The Love Mills'' at the

Globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...

. In December 1911 Tonge played Crispian Carey in '' Where the Rainbow Ends''. The adult stars were

Reginald Owen John Reginald Owen (5 August 1887 – 5 November 1972) was a British actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American films and television programs. Career The son of Joseph and Frances Owen, Reginald Owen studied at Sir Herbert ...

as St George of England and Lydia Bilbrook as Crispian's mother. Other children in the cast included Gingold, Esmé Wynne-Tyson and the twelve-year-old

. Coward idolised Tonge, with whom he had his first sexual experience.Hoare, p. 25–26

Adult career

Tonge made his film debut in 1913 in the short ''The Still Voice'', and in the following year he made his first appearance on

as Tommy Traddles in ''The Highway of Life'', a dramatisation of ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...

'' at

Wallack's Theatre Three New York City playhouses named Wallack's Theatre played an important part in the history of American theater, as the successive homes of the stock company managed by actors James W. Wallack and his son, Lester Wallack. During its 35-ye ...

. He and his parents moved permanently to the US, and he made his adult stage career in New York and on tour in a wide range of roles.Hoare, p. 172 In 1915 Tonge played

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

''. He gave further Broadway performances as Robert Langworthy in ''Gamblers All '' (1917), Murty in ''The Grasshopper'' (1917), Roger in ''The New Word'' (1917), Peter in ''Peter's Mother'' (1918), Willis Ainley in ''Smilin' Through '' (1919), Secretary in ''Bluebeard's Eighth Wife'' (1921) and Lord Kinlock in ''The Bunch and Judy'' (1922), His final Broadway appearances of the 1920s were as Al Lavery in a crime thriller, ''Interference'' (1927) and Frank Oakes in a comedy, ''In Love With Love'' (1928)."Philip Tonge"
Internet Broadway Database, retrieved 6 June 2014 During the 1930s Tonge appeared with

Edith Evans Dame Edith Mary Evans, (8 February 1888 – 14 October 1976) was an English actress. She was best known for her work on the stage, but also appeared in films at the beginning and towards the end of her career. Between 1964 and 1968, she was no ...

in ''The Lady with a Lamp'' (1931) after which he was in a comedy, ''Clear All Wires'' (1932) and in 1933 was cast by Coward, now an international star, in the small role of Matthew Birbeck in the premiere of ''

Design for Living ''Design for Living'' is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Cowa ...

'' (1933), starring Coward,

Alfred Lunt Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway and West End productions. After th ...

and

Lynn Fontanne Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End theatre, West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred i ...

, which ran for five months at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. After two dramas, ''Eight Bells'' (1933) and ''The Lake'' (1934), Tonge was in another Coward premiere, the melodramatic '' Point Valaine'', which ran for three months in 1935. Tonge's next three Broadway roles were in comedies, as Ludlow in

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

's ''Fresh Fields'' (1936), the pompous headmaster, the Rev Edmund Ovington, in Ian Hay's '' Bachelor Born'' (1938) and Herbert Soppitt in J. B. Priestley's '' When We Are Married'' (1939). After two short runs in unsuccessful new plays, he had a year and a half playing Dr Bradman in Coward's ''

Blithe Spirit Blithe Spirit may refer to: * ''Blithe Spirit'' (play), a 1941 comic play written by Noël Coward * ''Blithe Spirit'' (1945 film), a British comedy film based on the play * ''Blithe Spirit'' (2020 film), a British-American comedy film based on th ...

'', with

Clifton Webb Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck (November 19, 1889 – October 13, 1966), known professionally as Clifton Webb, was an American actor, singer, and dancer. He worked extensively and was known for his stage appearances in the plays of Noël Coward, i ...

, Mildred Natwick, Leonora Corbett and Peggy Wood. In 1948 Coward once again cast Tonge in Broadway productions of his shows, this time in six of the short plays in the cycle ''

Tonight at 8.30 ''Tonight at 8.30'' is a cycle of ten one-act plays by Noël Coward, presented in London in 1936 and in New York in 1936–1937, with the author and Gertrude Lawrence in the leading roles. The plays are mostly comedies, but three, '' The Astoni ...

'' with Gertrude Lawrence and Graham Payn in the principal roles. Tonge played Murdoch in '' Ways and Means'', Mr Edwards in ''

Red Peppers ''Red Peppers'', described as "an interlude with music", is a short comic play in two scenes by Noël Coward. It is one of ten short plays that make up '' Tonight at 8.30'', a cycle written to be performed in groups of three plays across three ...

'', Burrows in '' Family Album'', George Cunningham in ''

Shadow Play Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim. The cut-ou ...

'', Mr Wadhurst in '' Hands Across the Sea'' and Henry Gow – Coward's own role in the first production – in '' Fumed Oak''. Tonge appeared in five more Broadway productions between 1948 and 1951, none of which ran for more than two months; they included a six-week run as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...

'' and a three-week run as Major Benjy in ''Make Way for Lucia'', an adaptation of E. F. Benson's novels. Among Tonge's cinema roles was Julian Shellhammer in the Christmas film ''

'' (1947). He also appeared as Otto in ''

'' (1952) and as Chief Inspector Hearne in '' Witness for the Prosecution'' (1957). On television, he played District Attorney Cortland in '' Perry Mason'', Dr Robert Means in '' Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal'' (1955–57) and General Amherst in ''

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the ...

'' (1958–59). Tonge died in

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) * Hollywoo ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He was survived by his wife, Lyda (1902–1984).

Partial filmography

*'' Still Waters'' (1915) - Jed Perkins *''

His Double Life ''His Double Life'' is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by Broadway theatrical impresario and first time film director Arthur Hopkins with directorial input from the experienced William C. deMille, Cecil's older brother. It s ...

'' (1933) - Leek Twin - Henry *''

'' (1947) - Julian Shellhammer *'' Love from a Stranger'' (1947) - Dr. Horace Gribble *'' O. Henry's Full House'' (1952) - Man with Umbrella (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") (uncredited) *''

'' (1952) - Otto *'' House of Wax'' (1953) - Bruce Allison (uncredited) *'' Small Town Girl'' (1953) - Hemmingway *'' Scandal at Scourie'' (1953) - Fred Gogarty *''

Elephant Walk ''Elephant Walk'' is a 1954 American drama film produced by Paramount Pictures, directed by William Dieterle, and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Dana Andrews, Peter Finch and Abraham Sofaer.It is based upon the 1948 novel '' Elephant Walk'' by "Rob ...

'' (1954) - Planter John Ralph *''

Khyber Patrol ''Khyber Patrol'' is a 1954 American adventure film directed by Seymour Friedman and starring Richard Egan, Dawn Addams and Raymond Burr. The plot focuses on British troops on the Afghanistan border. It was distributed by United Artists as a se ...

'' (1954) - Col. A. Rivington *''

Ricochet Romance "Ricochet" (sometimes rendered "Rick-o-Shay" and also as "Ricochet Romance") is a popular song. The credits show it to be written by Larry Coleman, Joe Darion, and Norman Gimbel, without apportioning the work on the lyrics and music, in 1953. In ...

'' (1954) - Mr. Webster *''

Track of the Cat ''Track of the Cat'' is a 1954 American Western film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Robert Mitchum, Teresa Wright and Diana Lynn. The film is based on a 1949 adventure novel of the same name by Walter Van Tilburg Clark. This was ...

'' (1954) - Pa Bridges *'' The Silver Chalice'' (1954) - Ohad *'' The Prodigal'' (1955) - Barber-Surgeon *''

Desert Sands ''Desert Sands'' is a 1955 American adventure film directed by Lesley Selander and written by Danny Arnold, George W. George and George F. Slavin. The film stars Ralph Meeker, Marla English, J. Carrol Naish, John Carradine, Ron Randell, John S ...

'' (1955) - Cpl. Sandy McTosh *'' Pardners'' (1956) - Mr. Baxter, Footman *'' The Peacemaker'' (1956) - Elijah Maddox *''

Les Girls ''Les Girls'' (also known as ''Cole Porter's Les Girls'') is a 1957 American CinemaScope musical comedy film directed by George Cukor and produced by Sol C. Siegel, with Saul Chaplin as associate producer. The screenplay by John Patrick was ba ...

'' (1957) - Associate Judge *'' Witness for the Prosecution'' (1957) - Inspector Hearne *''

Darby's Rangers ''Darby's Rangers'' (released in the UK as ''The Young Invaders'') is a 1958 war film directed by William Wellman and starring James Garner as William Orlando Darby, who organizes and leads the first units of United States Army Rangers during Wor ...

'' (1958) - Prof. John Andrews *'' Macabre'' (1958) - Jode Wetherby *'' Invisible Invaders'' (1959) - Dr. Adam Penner *'' This Earth Is Mine'' (1959) - Dr. Albert Stone (uncredited)

Notes

References

* *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tonge, Philip 1897 births 1959 deaths English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male child actors Male actors from London 20th-century English male actors British expatriate male actors in the United States