Harcourt Williams

Ernest George Harcourt Williams (30 March 1880 – 13 December 1957) was an English actor and director. After early experience in touring companies he established himself as a character actor and director in the West End. From 1929 to 1934 he was director of The Old Vic theatre company; among the actors he recruited were John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson. After directing some fifty plays he resigned the directorship of the Old Vic but continued to appear in the company's productions throughout the rest of his career. He appeared in thirty cinema and television roles during his later years.

Life and career Williams was born in Croydon, Surrey, the son of John Williams, a merchant. He was educated at Beckenham Abbey and Whitgift Grammar School, Croydon. This made Williams the first known actor to play Mr. Darcy on the professional stage.

He then worked for three other companies, including that of Ellen Terry, which he joined in 1903.

In 1906 Williams made his American debut, with H.B. Irving, touring the US for a year.

In the First World War, as a conscientious objector, he volunteered for the Friends' Ambulance Unit.

One of Williams's most notable parts of this period was General Lee in John Drinkwater's Abraham Lincoln in 1919; In 1922, in Mary Stuart by Drinkwater, he was "exquisitely repulsive" as Darnley. In a third historical drama by the same author he was John Hampden in Oliver Cromwell at His Majesty's in 1923, to the Cromwell of Henry Ainley. In 1923 he directed G K Chesterton's play Magic at the Everyman Theatre. In 1926 he appeared in John Barrymore's production of Hamlet at the Haymarket Theatre, as the Player King.

In 1929, when he was forty-nine, Lilian Baylis appointed Williams as the new director of her Old Vic theatre company. He was responsible for engaging first John Gielgud and then Ralph Richardson to join the Old Vic as leading man. |

After leaving the directorship of the Old Vic, handing over to Tyrone Guthrie after the 1933–34 season, Williams frequently accepted invitations to act with the company, for Guthrie and his successors. including a supporting role as the ambassador in the film classic Roman Holiday alongside Audrey Hepburn. In 1953 he appeared in A Day by the Sea by N.C. Hunter. Williams celebrated his golden jubilee as an actor while appearing in a long-running production of Shaw's You Never Can Tell described by The Times as "the liveliest show in town". He died in London after a long illness, aged 77.

Screen roles Williams's cinema and television roles were: YearTitleRoleNotes 1944 Henry V Charles VI of France 1947 Brighton Rock Prewitt 1948 Vice Versa Judge 1948 Hamlet First Player 1948 No Room at the Inn Rev Mr Allworth 1949 Third Time Lucky Doc 1949 For Them That Trespass Second judge 1949 Trottie True Duke of Wellwater 1949 The Lost People Priest 1949 Under Capricorn Coachman 1950 The Frog Prince Script TV 1950 The Admirable Crichton Earl of Loam TV 1950 The Lady's Not for Burning Hebble Tyson, the Mayor TV 1950 Thérèse Raquin Monsieur Michaud TV 1950 The Master Builder Dr Herdal TV 1950 Your Witness Richard Beamish, Sam's Solicitor 1950 Cage of Gold Dr Kearn 1950 A Midsummer Night's Dream Peter Quince, the carpenter TV 1951 The Late Edwina Black Dr Septimus Prendergast 1951 Green Grow the Rushes Chairman of the bench 1951 The Magic Box Tom, workman at Lege & Co 1952 Music at Night Charles Bendrex TV 1952 The Bishop's Treasure The Bishop TV 1952 The King and the Mockingbird The Old Beggar Voice 1953 Time Bomb Vicar 1953 The Blakes Slept Here Narrator 1953 Roman Holiday Ambassador 1955 The Flying Eye Professor Murdoch 1955 The Hideaway Mr Collins TV 1955 The Adventures of Quentin Durward Bishop of Liége 1956 The Advancing Shadow George Cornelius TV 1956 Around the World in 80 Days Hinshaw – Reform Club Aged Steward (final film role) Source: British Film Institute