Claude Flemming (1884–1952) was an Australian actor, writer, producer and director of theatre and film whose varied stage career spanned the first half of the 20th century. He performed in Shakespeare and other drama, as well as opera, and became a music comedy specialist.Howarth, Paul

, the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 17 October 2014

Biography

Flemming was born in

Camden, New South Wales Camden is a historic town and suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, located 65 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district. Camden was the administrative centre for the local government area of Camden Council until July 2016 a ...

. He made his stage début for

George Rignold George Richard Rignold, , (1839 – 16 December 1912) was an English-born actor, active in Britain and Australia. Early life Rignold was born in Birmingham, England. He was the son of William Rignall, an actor and theatre manager, and his wife P ...

's Shakespeare company in Sydney in 1903. Soon afterwards, in England, he appeared on tour with

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

's Company and then performed in grand opera at

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 ...

(''Die Meistersinger'', ''The Angelus''). He later played in

Edwardian musical comedy Edwardian musical comedy is a genre of British musical theatre that thrived from 1892 into the 1920s, extending beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions. It began to dominate the English musical stage, and even the American musical ...

and operetta in the West End, including in ''

Fallen Fairies ''Fallen Fairies''; ''or, The Wicked World'', is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Edward German. The story is an operatic adaptation of Gilbert's 1873 blank-verse fairy comedy, '' The Wicked World''. In Fair ...

'' (1909) and in New York. During and after the First World War, he toured in his homeland with the J. C. Williamson company in such musicals and operettas as ''

The Chocolate Soldier ''The Chocolate Soldier'' (German: ''Der tapfere Soldat'' he courageous soldieror ''Der Praliné-Soldat'') is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, '' Arms and the Man''. The German language li ...

The Maid of the Mountains ''The Maid of the Mountains'', called in its original score a musical play, is an operetta or "Edwardian" musical comedy in three acts. The music was by Harold Fraser-Simson, with additional music by James W. Tate, lyrics by Harry Graham a ...

A Southern Maid ''A Southern Maid'' is an operetta in three acts composed by Harold Fraser-Simson, with a book by Dion Clayton Calthrop and Harry Graham and lyrics by Harry Graham (poet), Harry Graham and Harry Miller. Additional music was provided by Ivor No ...

, The Firefly, The Cousin from Nowhere, Sybil'' and '' Lilac Time''. He acted and directed in several silent films in 1917 and 1918. Later, in America, he had a stint as a voice coach in Hollywood during the early years of sound films and as a company director for

Efftee Studios Efftee Studios was an early Australian film and theatre production studio, established by F.W. Thring (the name 'Efftee' deriving from his initials, 'FT' for Francis Thring) in 1930. It existed until Thring's death in 1935. Initially Efftee Films ...

. He directed '' The Magic Shoes'' (1935), the first screen performance of

Peter Finch Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (28 September 191614 January 1977) was an English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio. Born in London, he emigrated to Australia at the age of ten and was raised in Sydney, where he worked in vaudevi ...

. He also worked as supervisor of productions at radio station 2CH in Sydney. His last stage work in Australia was as Col. Buffalo Bill in the Australian premiere in Melbourne, and subsequent three-year tour, of ''

Annie Get Your Gun Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (Malayalam actress) (born 1975), Indian actress who works in Malayalam-language films * ...

'' from 1947 to 1950.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 83.

Selected filmography

* '' The Test'' (1916) *''Trilby'' (1917) – actor *''

The Lure of the Bush ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

'' (1918) – director, actor *''

£500 Reward ''£500 Reward'' is a 1918 Australian silent film starring, written, produced, financed and directed by Claude Flemming who later described it as "a very lurid melodrama". Synopsis A "five-act" drama about a couple who travel from the Rocky Mo ...

'' (1918) – director, actor, producer, writer * ''

The Sword of Damocles Damocles is a character who appears in an ancient Greek anecdote commonly referred to as "the sword of Damocles", an allusion to the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. Damocles was a courtier in the court of Di ...

'' (1920) – actor *''

Captain of the Guard The Captain of the Guard is a position for a military force. It is also a position within jail and prison staffing. Uses Military use A Captain of the Guard is the commanding position of a military security force. The position of Captain of the ...

'' (1930) - actor *''

Too Many Wives ''Too Many Wives'' is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Ben Holmes and starring Anne Shirley, Gene Lockhart and Barbara Pepper. Produced and distributed by RKO Pictures, it lost $35,000. Plot To gain a job as a newspaper reporter, desperat ...

'' (1933) - actor *'' Dear Old London'' (1933) (short) – director *''

Sheepmates ''Sheepmates'' was a proposed Australian film from director F. W. Thring based on a 1931 novel by William Hatfield. It commenced filming in 1933 but was abandoned. Original novel Hatfield's novel was published in 1931. It concerned an English ...

'' (1934) (uncompleted film) – actor *'' The Magic Shoes'' (1935) (short) – director

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flemming, Claude 1884 births 1952 deaths Australian film producers Australian film directors Male actors from New South Wales Australian expatriate male actors in the United Kingdom Australian expatriate male actors in the United States