Cecil Stuart Reginald Bevan (May 1, 1875 January 22, 1953) was a British supporting and character actor on stage and screen."England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008"
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Early life

Bevan was born in London, the son of a clergyman, Reverend Cecil Bevan. He worked as an accountant and partnership agent, and acted as an amateur with groups including the Romany Amateur Dramatic Club at St. George's Hall, London in 1900, and the Phoenix Amateur Dramatic Club at the Bijou Theatre, London, in 1901.

Career

By 1907, Bevan had begun acting professionally with George Alexander's company in

Alfred Sutro Alfred Sutro OBE (7 August 1863 – 11 September 1933) was an English dramatist, writer and translator. In addition to a succession of successful plays of his own in the first quarter of the 20th century, Sutro made the first English translation ...

's new play, ''John Glayde's Honour''. He also appeared with the Herbert Sleath Company and the London Repertory Theatre under its director J. T. Grein. In 1912, he played the governor of

HM Prison Holloway HM Prison Holloway was a British prison security categories, closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, ...

in a satirical play by

Lillie Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isla ...

titled ''Helping the Cause'', in which Langtry played a militant

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

. The play, with the cast including Langtry, Bevan, Leonora Braham and Alfred Mansfield, toured the United Kingdom and the United States. In the 1910s and 1930s-40s, Bevan appeared in

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes"West End"in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, ...

s in supporting roles in plays by dramatists such as

Harley Granville-Barker Harley Granville-Barker (25 November 1877 – 31 August 1946) was an English actor, director, playwright, manager, critic, and theorist. After early success as an actor in the plays of George Bernard Shaw, he increasingly turned to directing a ...

Elmer Rice Elmer Rice (born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein, September 28, 1892 – May 8, 1967) was an American playwright. He is best known for his plays '' The Adding Machine'' (1923) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of New York tenement life, '' Street Sce ...

, Jerome K. Jerome, and Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein. He received praise for his performances, in particular for his role as Christopher Branley in ''John Glayde's Honour'' by

(1907-1908), Captain Montgomerie in

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

's ''

Lady Frederick ''Lady Frederick'' is a comedy by the British writer W. Somerset Maugham, written early in his career. The play was first seen in London in 1907, and was very successful, running for 422 performances. The title role was played by Ethel Irving. I ...

'' (1908), and Dr. O'Shea in

Roland Pertwee Roland Pertwee (15 May 1885 – 26 April 1963) was an English playwright, film and television screenwriter, director and actor. He was the father of ''Doctor Who'' actor Jon Pertwee and playwright and screenwriter Michael Pertwee. He was al ...

's ''Pink String and Sealing Wax'' (1943). Bevan also appeared on screen from 1921 to 1952. His performance as Sampson Brass in ''

The Old Curiosity Shop ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' is the fourth novel by English author Charles Dickens; being one of his two novels (the other being ''Barnaby Rudge'') published along with short stories in his weekly serial ''Master Humphrey's Clock'', from 1840 t ...

'' (1921) was described as "excellent". His last appearance on screen was as Reverend Mayne in '' Autumn Crocus'' (1952).

Personal life

He married twice, firstly to Violet Gordon Robbins in 1900, and later to Frieda Haesler. He was a member of the

Green Room Club The Green Room Club was a London-based club, primarily for actors, but also for lovers of theatre, arts and music. It was established in in a restaurant in Piccadilly Circus, and moved to premises on Adam Street in 1955, where it remained un ...

and the

Conservative Association A Conservative Association (CA) is a local organisation composed of Conservative Party members in the United Kingdom. Every association varies in membership size but all correspond to a parliamentary constituency in England, Wales, Scotland and N ...

. He died in 1953 in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

, Kent, where he had lived for over thirty years.

Selected stage performances

Filmography

References

External links

*
Cecil Bevan at Theatricalia

Cecil Bevan at the British Film Industry

Cecil Bevan at AllMovie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bevan, Cecil 1875 births 1953 deaths British male film actors British male stage actors People from Royal Tunbridge Wells Male actors from Royal Tunbridge Wells Long stubs with short prose