Charles Hickman

Charles Hickman (18 January 19053 April 1983) was a British theatre director and actor who worked mainly in London's West End theatres. According to his obituary in The Times, as a performer, "He had an easy manner and a quick period sense in parts between Shakespeare and light comedy, revue and pantomime."

After an early career in acting Hickman made his directorial debut in London in 1940 with The Peaceful Inn at the Duke of York's Theatre. The last West End play he directed was A Murder Announced in 1979. Between those two dates he directed a total of 61 London productions. He also directed several plays in Australia and South Africa, as well as one production, Black Chiffon (1950) in New York. Hickman directed many of the biggest stars of the London stage such as Evelyn Laye, Anton Walbrook, George Formby, Margaret Lockwood, Sybil Thorndike, Robertson Hare, Beryl Reid, Ralph Lynne and many others. Some of his most successful plays include Annie Get your Gun, Wedding in Paris, Black Chiffon and The Merry Widow.

Life and career Hickman left Chigwell School at the age of sixteen and spent two years studying drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. He says of his teachers at RADA, " If Norman Page taught me to think for myself and Helen Hayes how to behave in a Drawing-room, then Claude Rains showed me how to enjoy being an actor. 'Lovely-lovely! Go on! Wonderful!' " For one week Charles Hickman's name was in lights on the front of the Empire cinema in Leicester Square. He pursued an acting career for almost two decades before achieving his ambition to become a director, firstly in 1939 with the Wilson Barrett company at the Empire Theatre, Edinburgh and then in 1940 with The Peaceful Inn in London's West End.

During the early war years of 1940 to 1943 Hickman worked as director for the Wilson Barrett Repertory Company. Wilson Barrett and his partner Neil Crawford decided to move the company from Hammersmith, London, to Edinburgh after a brief stay in Wales. Hickman wrote, " The Floral Hall in Llandudno gave us a home on our way to Edinburgh - where sirens wailed and windows were blacked and we went on doing a different play every week."

By the late 1940s Hickman's career as a theatre director was well established. A play that ran for 337 performances was Cage Me a Peacock (1948). It was a musical comedy adaptation of Noel Langley's rollicking novel set in ancient Greece. Hickman wrote, " The show was ahead of its time and although the general public may not have been ready to accept its high-camp, it managed to fill both the Strand and Cambridge theatres for nearly a year and was a signpost to musicals of the future."

Theatre career as director

1939 The Enchanted Cottage, Wilson Barrett Company, Empire Theatre, Edinburgh 1940 The Peaceful Inn, Duke of York's Theatre, London 1943 Sweet and Low (revue), Jack Pemberton production, Ambassadors Theatre, London 1944 Zero Hour, Duke of York's Theatre, London 1944 Daughter Janie, Apollo Theatre, London 1944 Sweeter and Lower (revue), Ambassadors, London 1945 Lady from Edinburgh, Playhouse Theatre, London 1945 Young Mrs Barrington 1945 The Vicar of Wakefield 1946 Song of Norway (musical), Emile Littler production, Palace Theatre, London 1946 Sweetest and Lowest, Ambassadors, London 1946 Mother Goose (pantomime), Casino Theatre, London 1947 Call Home the Heart 1947 Annie Get Your Gun, London Coliseum 1947 The Red Mill, Palace Theatre, London 1947 Outrageous Fortune, by Ben Travers, starring Ralph Lynn, Winter Garden Theatre 1947 The Blind Goddess, Apollo Theatre, London 1948 Cage Me a Peacock, Strand and Cambridge Theatres, London 1948 Little Lambs Eat Ivy, Ambassadors, London 1948 Slings and Arrows, (of which he was co-author) 1949 Breach of Marriage, Peter Saunders production, Duke of York's Theatre, London 1949 A Woman's Place, Vaudeville Theatre, London 1949 Black Chiffon, by Lesley Storm, starring Flora Robson, Westminster Theatre 1949 Bonaventura, Strand Theatre, London 1950 The School Mistress, Saville Theatre, London 1950 His Excellency, Princes Theatre (now Shaftesbury Theatre) London 1950 Dear Miss Phoebe, Emile Littler production, Phoenix Theatre, London 1950 Black Chiffon, 48th Street Theatre, New York 1950 Beauty and the Beast, Westminster Theatre, London 1951 Count Your Blessings, Wyndham's then Westminster Theatre, London 1951 Taking Things Quietly, Ambassadors Theatre, London 1951 Zip Goes a Million, Palace Theatre, London 1952 Sunset in Knightsbridge 1952 The Young Elizabeth, Criterion Theatre, London 1952 And If I Laugh, 'Q' Theatre Company, London 1952 Love from Judy, Emile Littler production, Saville Theatre, London 1952 Wild Horses, Aldwych Theatre, London 1953 The Man Upstairs, 1953 Red-Headed Blonde, Vaudeville Theatre, London 1953 Drama at Innish or is Life Worth Living?, Arts Theatre, London 1953 A London Actress 1954 Wedding in Paris, Hippodrome, Bristol then London Hippodrome 1954 The Party Spirit, Piccadilly Theatre, London 1955 The Tender Trap, Theatre Royal, London 1955 The Water Gypsies, Winter Garden Theatre, London 1956 Summer Song, Princes Theatre, London 1956 The Bride and the Bachelor, Duchess Theatre, London 1956 Bachelor Borne, Bristol Hippodrome 1957 Silver Wedding, Cambridge Theatre, London 1958 The Merry Widow, Bristol Hippodrome then Sadler's Wells, London 1958 Verdict, Strand Theatre, London 1958 The Big Tickle, Globe Theatre, London 1958 A Day in the Life of ... Savoy Theatre, London 1959 And Suddenly It's Spring, Duke of York's, London 1960 Land of Smiles, The Coliseum, London 1963 All Square, Vaudeville, London 1964 The Reluctant Peer, Duchess Theatre, London 1965 The Circle, Savoy Theatre, London 1965 The Last of Mrs Cheyney, Phoenix Theatre, London 1968 Oh, Clarence, Lyric Theatre, London 1973 Mistress of Novices, Piccadilly Theatre, London 1973 Any Other Business, Ambassadors, London 1974 The Dame of Sark, Wyndham's and Duke of York's, London 1979 A Murder is Announced, Vaudeville, London

Film and TV

1931 played George in Compromising Daphne 1931 played Orville Wright (uncredited) in The Conquest of the Air 1932 played Eddie Kaye in Josser on the River 1933 Mayfair Girl 1933 played Son in Smithy 1934 played House detective (uncredited) in Girl in Danger 1935 played Sgt. Brace in Ten Minute Alibi 1938 played Alfie Hobson in They're Off! (TV Movie) 1939 played Ralph Mayne in The Infinite Shoeblack (TV Movie)