''King Lear'' is a 1953

live television Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television where all viewers watch the same stream simultaneously, rather than watching vide ...

adaptation of the Shakespeare play staged by

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

and starring

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

. Preserved on

kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940s ...

, it aired October 18, 1953, as part of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

television series ''Omnibus'', hosted by

Alistair Cooke Alistair Cooke, Order of the British Empire, KBE (né Alfred Cooke; 20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the Unite ...

. The cast includes

Micheál Mac Liammóir Micheál Mac Liammóir (born Alfred Lee Willmore; 25 October 1899 – 6 March 1978) was an actor, designer, dramatist, writer, and impresario in 20th-century Ireland. Though born in London to an English family with no Irish connections, he emig ...

and Alan Badel.

Production

A heavily abridged version of the play, this production condensed the play by eliminating the characters of Edgar and Edmund. To compensate for their absence, the role of Oswald is expanded to take Edmund's part in the play's climax, and "Poor Tom" is included not as a disguised Edgar but as an actual madman. Welles returned to America to star in this presentation. He was guarded by

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

agents, prohibited to leave his hotel room when not at the studio, prevented from making any purchases, and the entire sum (less expenses) he earned went to his tax bill. Welles returned to England after the broadcast.

Cast

… King Lear * Natasha Parry … Cordelia *

Arnold Moss Arnold Moss (January 28, 1910 – December 15, 1989) was an American character actor. Early years Born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, Flatbush, Moss was a third-generation Brooklyn native. He attended Brooklyn's Boys High School (Brooklyn), Boys ...

… Duke of Albany * Bramwell Fletcher … Earl of Kent * David J. Stewart … Oswald * Margaret Phillips … Regan *

Beatrice Straight Beatrice Whitney Straight (August 2, 1914 – April 7, 2001) was an American theatre, film, television and radio actress and a member of the prominent Whitney family. She was both an Academy Award and Tony Award winner, as well as a Primetime Em ...

… Goneril * Alan Badel … Fool *

… Poor Tom * Frederick Worlock … Earl of Gloucester *

Scott Forbes Conrad Scott Forbes (11 September 1920 – 25 February 1997), popularly known as Scott Forbes, was a British film and television actor and screenwriter. In his later career as a screenwriter, he was credited as C. Scott Forbes. Early year ...

… Duke of Cornwall *

Wesley Addy Robert Wesley Addy (August 4, 1913 – December 31, 1996)R Wesley Addy in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claim Index, 1936-2007, retrieved froAncestry.com/ref> was an American actor of stage, television, and film. Early years A ...

… King of France * Fred Sadoff … Duke of Burgundy

Home media

* 2010 E1 Entertainment, Region 1 DVD, February 9, 2010

References

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

''Omnibus: King Lear''
at YouTube * CBS films Films based on King Lear American live television shows Television shows based on King Lear {{US-tv-film-stub