Kenneth Arthur Wagg (6 March 19097 May 2000) was an English rackets player, banker, and theatrical producer.

Early life and business career

Wagg was born in 1909; his great-grandfather was the founder of the merchant bank Helbert Wagg. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

. Wagg worked for his family's bank after graduating from Oxford. Wagg became a director of

Horlicks Horlicks is a British sweet malted milk hot Malt drink, drink powder developed by founders Sir James Horlick, 1st Baronet, James and William Horlick. It was first sold as "Horlick's Infant and Invalids Food", soon adding "aged and travellers" ...

following his marriage to Katherine Horlick and served as chairman of Horlick's North American subsidiary after the Second World War. Wagg joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and served with the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

in the

North African campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

in the war. Wagg produced several

West End plays West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

in the 1950s and 60s including ''South'' by

Julien Green Julien Green (originally "Julian Hartridge Green", 6 September 1900 – 13 August 1998) often Julian Green, was an American writer who lived most of his life in France and wrote mostly in French and only occasionally in English. Over a long and ...

, ''Belle or The Ballad of Doctor Crippen'' by

Wolf Mankowitz Cyril Wolf Mankowitz (7 November 1924 – 20 May 1998) was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter. He is particularly known for four novels— '' Make Me an Offer'' (1952), '' A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1953), ''My Old Man's a Dustman' ...

and the 1958 play ''Four Winds'' by Thomas Phipps.

Rackets

Wagg became a noted player of rackets while at Eton. Wagg formed a doubles partnership with

Ian Akers-Douglas Ian Stanley Akers-Douglas (16 November 1909 – 16 December 1952) was an English amateur cricketer and rackets player. He was a right-handed batsman who played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Kent County Cricket Club between 1929 ...

. He and Akers-Douglas won the Public Schools championship of 1927 and the Noel Bruce Cup in 1932. The pair were victorious in the national Amateur Doubles championship of 1932, 1933 and 1935. Wagg was part of the inaugural British rackets tour of the United States following the Second World War. He was victorious in the Army rackets tournament with Cosmo Crawley. Wagg reached the semi-finals of the British rackets championship in 1952, also winning the US doubles title that year. Wagg and Geoffrey Atkins lost the final of the US doubles in 1953. In 1958 Wagg won the US doubles title with Atkins. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described the match as "one of the most remarkable feats recorded on a rackets court" as Wagg and Atkins came back from 7–0 in the first game with "the greatest single hand of rackets within memory" as their opponents, the American players Robert Grant and Clarence Pell, "found themselves helpless against the absolute perfection, cleverness and finality of the British pair". Wagg and Atkins won the US doubles championship again in 1961 and won the individual Canadian title in 1960. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' wrote that "Wagg is a brilliant player with one of the best backhand strokes seen since the irst Worldwar" and wrote of him in 1935 that he "must be classed as the best doubles player of the game". Wagg was the captain of several British racket teams in the International Cup in the 1950s and 60s.

Personal life

Wagg married the food company heiress Katherine Horlick in 1933; the couple had four sons and divorced in 1946. He married actress

Margaret Sullavan Margaret Brooke Sullavan (May 16, 1909 – January 1, 1960) was an American stage and film actress. She began her career onstage in 1929 with the University Players on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In 1933, she caught the attention of film direct ...

in 1950; she died of barbiturate poisoning in 1960. Wagg later described "the memories of an all too brief life with the most upright, unique and attractive character I had ever met". Wagg married the actress Clare Sandars, Lady McEwen, and converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in 1973 shortly before their marriage. He worked as fundraiser for Catholic causes in the last years of his life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagg, Kenneth 1909 births 2000 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II Converts to Roman Catholicism English expatriates in the United States English investment bankers English racquets players English theatre managers and producers People educated at Eton College Rifle Brigade soldiers