Hilton Edwards

Hilton Edwards (2 February 1903 – 18 November 1982) was an English-born Irish actor, lighting designer, and theatrical producer. He co-founded the Gate Theatre in Dublin with his partner Micheál Mac Liammóir and two others, and has been referred to as the founder of Irish theatre. He was one of the most recognisable figures in the arts in 20th-century Ireland.

Early life Edwards was born in London, the son of Thomas George Cecil Edwards and Emily Edwards ( Murphy).

Career

Edwards began his career acting with the Charles Doran Shakespeare Company in 1920 in Windsor and then joined the Old Vic in London, playing in all but two of Shakespeare's plays before leaving the company a few years later. Trained in music, he also sang baritone roles with the Old Vic Opera Company.

As an actor he played leading parts, including the title roles in Peer Gynt, Cyrano de Bergerac and Macbeth and Sheridan Whiteside in The Man Who Came To Dinner. On Broadway in 1966, he directed Brian Friel's Philadelphia, Here I Come! and The Loves of Cass McGuire.

After touring with various companies in Britain and South Africa, he went to Ireland in 1927 for a season with Anew McMaster's company and met McMaster's brother-in-law, Micheál Mac Liammóir. As he told an interviewer once, both men wanted a theatre of their own; MacLiammóir wanted it to be in Ireland and Edwards did not care. I don't care about nationalism, I care about the theatre, he said.

Film Edwards appeared in 15 films, including Guests of the Nation (1935), Othello (1952), Captain Lightfoot (1955), David and Goliath (1960), Victim (1961) and Half a Sixpence (1967). He also wrote and directed Orson Welles's Return to Glennascaul (1951). However, Edwards was primarily known for his theatre work; he was nominated for a Tony Award in 1966 for Best Director of a Drama for Philadelphia, Here I Come!.

Death Hilton Edwards died in Dublin on 18 November 1982, aged 79. Edwards and Mac Liammóir are buried alongside each other at St. Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton, Dublin.

Coverage and recognition James Joyce mentioned Edwards in his 1939 novel, Finnegans Wake.

Edwards and Mac Liammóir were the subject of a biography, titled The Boys by Christopher Fitz-Simon. He also features extensively in Mac Liammóir's books.

Frank McGuinness's play Gates of Gold is a nod to Edwards and Mac Liammóir.

In 1973, Edwards and Mac Liammóir were granted the Freedom of the City of Dublin.

Relationship with Mac Liammóir and legacy The academic Éibhear Walshe of University College Cork notes that MacLiammóir and Edwards did not ever identify themselves as gay as "Irish cultural discourse simply didn’t accommodate any public sexual identity outside the heterosexual consensus", noting that Irish society at the time only recorded lesbian and gay communities and cultures "in police records, prosecutions of men for same-sex activities or medical records of institutional committals of men and women for the mental illness of inversion".

They were, however, prominent features on the Dublin social scene and as Walshe notes elsewhere "MacLiammóir and his partner Edwards survived, and even flourished, as Ireland's only visible gay couple". The couple lived together at 4 Harcourt Terrace. Walshe goes on to say that "when MacLiammóir died in 1978, the president of Ireland attended his funeral, as did the taoiseach and several government ministers, while Hilton Edwards was openly deferred to and sympathised [with] as chief mourner".

The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival presents an award for "Best Aspect of Production" in his name.

Partial filmography

Call of the Blood (1949) – Dr. Robert Blake Othello (1951) – Brabantio Captain Lightfoot (1955) – Lord Glen Cat & Mouse (1958) – Mr. Scruby She Didn't Say No! (1958) – Film Director This Other Eden (1959) – Canon Moyle David and Goliath (1960) – Prophet Samuel A Terrible Beauty (1960) – Father McCrory Victim (1961) – P.H. The Quare Fellow (1962) – Holy Healy The Wrong Box (1966) – Lawyer Half a Sixpence (1967) – Shalford (final film role)