''Pygmalion'' is a 1948 British TV production of
the 1913 play by
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
. It was the first time the play was done for television and was the longest production done by the BBC to that time.
It starred Margaret Lockwood who was under suspension by the Rank Organisation at the time for refusing a film role.
Cast
*
Ralph Michael
Ralph Michael (26 September 1907 – 9 November 1994) was an English actor. He was born as Ralph Champion Shotter in London. His film appearances included ''Dead of Night'', '' A Night to Remember'', ''Children of the Damned'', ''Grand Prix'' ...
as Professor Henry Higgins
*
Margaret Lockwood
Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, Order of the British Empire, CBE (15 September 1916 – 15 July 1990), was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included ''The Lady Vanishes (1938 ...
as Eliza Doolittle
*
Arthur Wontner
Arthur Wontner (21 January 1875 – 10 July 1960) was a British actor best known for playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's master detective Sherlock Holmes in five films from 1931 to 1937.
Career
Wontner's acting career began on the stage where h ...
as Colonel Pickering
*
Gordon Harker
William Gordon Harker (7 August 1885 – 2 March 1967) was an English stage and film actor.
Harker was one of the sons of Sarah Elizabeth Harker, née Hall, (1856–1927), and Joseph Harker (1855–1927), a much admired set painter for the ...
as Alfred Doolittle
*
Helen Cherry
Helen Mary Cherry (24 November 1915 – 27 September 2001) was an English stage, film and television actress. She was born in Worsley, Lancashire, and brought up in Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire.
Marriage
Whilst working at the Arts The ...
as Clara Eynsford-Hill
*
Mary Merrall
Mary Merrall (5 January 1890 – 31 August 1973), born Elsie Lloyd, was an English actress whose career of over 60 years encompassed stage, film and television work.
Stage career
Merrall's stage career started in her teens, making her first stag ...
as Mrs. Eynsford-Hill
*
Bryan Coleman
Bryan Coleman (29 January 1911 – 4 July 2005) was a British film actor and television actor.
In 1954 he appeared in William Douglas Home's comedy ''The Manor of Northstead'' in the West End.
Selected filmography
* '' Conquest of the Air'' ...
as Freddie Eynsford-Hill
*
Beatrice Varley
Beatrice Evelyn Varley (11 July 1896 – 4 July 1964) was an English actress who appeared in television and film roles between 1936 and 1964. She made her screen debut in the 1936 film ''Tomorrow We Live'' and began to portray a variety of ch ...
as Mrs. Pearce
Reception
The production was very well received. It was voted best TV production of the year and Lockwood voted Best Actress.
It was Lockwood's first play on TV and she wrote in her memoirs that "I loved every moment of ''Pygmalion''. After the performance I was like a beginner again waiting nervously for the papers, bracing myself to read the criticism. I had not felt this way about notices since I first went on the stage. Thank goodness they were good ones. I was generously praised."
Lockwood later toured with the play on stage.
References
External links
*
''Pygmalion''at BBC
1948 in British television
British television plays
1940s television plays
{{UK-tv-film-stub