M. R. Morand

Marcellus Raymond Morand (17 December 1860 – 5 March 1922) was an English actor and operatic baritone who, after a career in the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, appeared in Edwardian musical comedy, among other theatrical genres, and in early silent film.

Early life and career Morand was born in Bury, Lancashire, in 1860, the son of Peter Joseph Morand, an organist. In 1881 he was working as a clerk in a rubber manufactory in Glasgow, Scotland.

Initially appearing on stage as an amateur, Morand joined professional touring companies for whom he appeared in a range of works from Shakespeare to Victorian burlesque, making his London début at the Avenue Theatre in September 1889 as Domino in W. S. Gilbert's adaptation of Offenbach's The Brigands.

In December 1901 at St George's Church in Beckenham, Kent, he married Helena Woodley Nash (1867–1949). Their daughter was Mary Ursula Morand (1906–1923).

Later life Along with many former D'Oyly Carte members, Morand appeared in The Earl and the Girl at the Adelphi Theatre (1903–1904), in which he created the role of Downham, an American solicitor. He was in The Talk of the Town at the Lyric Theatre (1905); played the Chinese servant Sin Chong in The White Chrysanthemum at the Criterion Theatre (1905–06); was in Aladdin at the Adelphi (1907–08); played the miller Poquelin in The Belle of Brittany at the Queen's Theatre (1908–09), and King Khalifah in A Persian Princess at the Queen's (1909). He acted in the legitimate theatre, appearing in Chekhov’s The Seagull with the Scottish Repertory Theatre (1910), sang with Horace Lingard’s Opera Company and was Frank in Die Fledermaus and Spalanzani in The Tales of Hoffmann for the Thomas Beecham Opera Comique Company (1910). During 1915 and 1916 he was in South Africa where he joined the Ethel Irving Company at the Palladium Theatre in Johannesburg. He returned to England in 1917 by way of the Far East and Canada.

He acted in a number of silent films including Gloria (1916) playing the villain opposite Frank Cellier; was Gaspard the miser in Les Cloches de Corneville (1917); was John Melsher Snr in Daddy (1917) and appeared in The Land of Mystery (1920). His last stage appearance was in July 1921 as Admiral Dale in James the Less at the Aldwych Theatre. From 1912 until his death in 1922 he was the Chairman of the charity the Royal General Theatrical Fund.