Morton Selten (6 January 1860 – 27 July 1939) was a British stage and film actor. He was occasionally credited as Morton Selton.
Biography
Selten was born 6 January 1860. At birth, Selten was given the name Morton Richard Stubbs and was the son of Morton Stubbs, a lawyer who died in 1877. It is said that Selten was widely believed to be an illegitimate son of the then
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...
(and future King
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910.
The second child ...
). However, the prince's first sexual experience was as a 19-year-old in September 1861 with an Irish actress named
Nellie Clifden
Nellie Clifden was a nineteenth-century actress, believed to be of Irish extraction.
She is known for her brief sexual relationship with the 19-year old Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (Bertie), prior to his marriage to Princess Alexandra of De ...
, as he noted in his diary.
Selten began acting on the stage in 1878, mainly in America. In 1889, he played Clarence Vane in Mrs. Hargrove's ''
Our Flat
''Our Flat'' is a farce-comedy by Mrs. H. Musgrave first produced as a matinee performance on June 13, 1889, at the Prince of Wales Theatre
The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre in Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in Lond ...
'' at the
Lyceum Theatre and Captain Heartsease in ''
Shenandoah'',
Bronson Howard
Bronson Crocker Howard (October 7, 1842 – August 4, 1908) was an American dramatist.
Biography
Howard was born in Detroit where his father Charles Howard was Mayor in 1849. He prepared for college at New Haven, Conn., but instead of ente ...
's
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
epic. Selten would go on to play in some twenty-five Broadway productions over the following three decades. His film career began with his portrayal of the Marquis of Shelford in ''Branded'' (1920). His last film role was as the King of the Land of Legend in ''
The Thief of Bagdad'' (1940).
Selten suffered from ill health in his final year of life. He underwent two operations in the first few months of 1939, which left him weak and wheelchair-bound. Selten died of a heart attack on 27 July 1939 during the production of ''The Thief of Bagdad''.
Stage work
*''Our Flat'' (1889) - Clarence Vane
*''Shenandoah'' (1889-1890) - Captain Heartsease
*''Captain Lettarblair'' (1891) - Francis Merivale
*''Sheridan'' (1893) - Capt. Lord Lochinvar
*''The Victoria Cross'' (1894)
*''An Enemy to the King'' (1896) - De Berquin
*''Change Alley'' (1897) - Jack Spurway
*''The King's Musketeer'' (1899) - Louis XIII
*''The King's Musketeer'' (1899) (second run) - Louis XIII
*''The Song of the Sword'' (1899)
*''Her Majesty, the Girl Queen of Nordenmark'' (1900)
*''Unleavened Bread'' (1901)
*''Her Lord and Master'' (1902)
*''Hearts Aflame'' (1902)
*''Heidelberg'' (1902-1903)
*''The Taming of Helen'' (1903)
*''Man Proposes'' (1904)
*''Camille'' (1904)
*''Yvette'' (1904)
*''My Wife'' (1907)
*''The World and His Wife'' (1908-1909) - Captain Beaulieu
*''The Barber of New Orleans'' (1909)
*''Herod'' (1909) - Pheroras
*''Smith'' (1910) - Herbert Dallas-Baker, K.C.
*''The Runaway'' (1911)
*''The "Mind-the-Paint" Girl'' (1912-1913) - Lionel Roper
*''The Amazons'' (1913) - Rev. Roger Minchin
*''The Legend of Leonora'' (1914) - Sir Roderick Peripety
*''The Little Minister'' (1916)
*''A Kiss for Cinderella'' (1916-1917) - Mr. Bodie
*''Humpty Dumpty'' (1918)
Filmography
*''
Branded'' (1920) - Marquis of Shelford
*''Somebody's Darling'' (1925)
*''
The Shadow Between'' (1931) - Sir George Fielder
*''
Service for Ladies'' (1932) - Mr. Robertson
*''
Wedding Rehearsal'' (1932) - Major Harry Roxbury
*''
Falling for You'' (1933) - Caldicott
*''The Love Wager'' (1933) - General Neville
*''
The Diplomatic Lover'' (1934) - Sir Charles
*''
Once in a New Moon'' (1935) - Lord Bravington
*''
Ten Minute Alibi'' (1935) - Sir Miles Standish
*''
Annie, Leave the Room!'' (1935) - Lord Spendlove
*''
Moscow Nights
"Moscow Nights", originally titled "Leningrad Nights", is a Soviet patriotic song written by Mikhail Matusovsky and composed by Vasily Solovyov-Sedoy. It was later covered as "Midnight in Moscow" by Kenny Ball.
Composition and initial succ ...
'' (1935) - Gen. Kovrin
*''
The Ghost Goes West
''The Ghost Goes West'' is a 1935 British romantic comedy/fantasy film directed by René Clair and starring Robert Donat, Jean Parker, and Eugene Pallette. It was Clair's first English-language film. The story concerns an Old World ghost deali ...
'' (1935) - The Glourie
*''
His Majesty and Company'' (1935) - King of Poldavia
*''
Dark World'' (1935) - Colonel
*''
Two's Company'' (1936) - Earl of Warke
*''
In the Soup'' (1936) - Abernethy Ruppershaw
*''
Juggernaut
A juggernaut (), in current English usage, is a literal or metaphorical force regarded as merciless, destructive, and unstoppable.
This English usage originates in the mid-nineteenth century. ''Juggernaut'' is the early rendering in English ...
'' (1936) - Sir Charles Clifford
*''
Fire Over England'' (1937) - Burleigh
*''
Action for Slander
''Action for Slander'' is a 1937 British drama film directed by Tim Whelan and starring Clive Brook, Ann Todd and Googie Withers. The plot is about an army officer who is falsely accused at cheating at cards by a man whose wife he had an affa ...
'' (1937) - Judge Trotter
*''
The Divorce of Lady X
''The Divorce of Lady X'' is a 1938 British Technicolor romantic comedy film produced by London Films; it stars Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Binnie Barnes. It was film director, directed by Tim Whelan and produced by Alex ...
'' (1938) - Lord Steele
*''
A Yank at Oxford
''A Yank at Oxford'' is a 1938 comedy-drama film directed by Jack Conway and starring Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan, Vivien Leigh and Edmund Gwenn. The screenplay was written by John Monk Saunders and Leon Gordon. ...
'' (1938) - Cecil Davidson, Esq.
*''
Shipyard Sally
''Shipyard Sally'' is a 1939 British musical comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Gracie Fields, Sydney Howard and Norma Varden. The film is notable for the song " Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye", which became a major hit.
Plot ...
'' (1939) - Lord Alfred Randall
*''
Young Man's Fancy'' (1939) - Mr. Fothergill
*''
The Thief of Bagdad'' (1940) - The Old King (final film role)
See also
*
List of British actors
This list of notable actors from the United Kingdom includes performers in Theatre of the United Kingdom, theatre, Cinema of the United Kingdom, film, Television in the United Kingdom, television, and Radio in the United Kingdom, radio.
Bo ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selten, Morton
1860 births
1939 deaths
English male film actors
English male stage actors
20th-century English male actors
People from Marlborough, Wiltshire
Male actors from Wiltshire