Peter Godfrey

Peter Godfrey (16 October 1899 – 4 March 1970) was an English actor and film director. Founder of the experimental Gate Theatre Salon in 1925, with his first wife Molly Veness, he staged London's first expressionistic production in the following year. He went into partnership with Velona Pilcher in 1927 and together they opened the Gate Theatre Studio in Villiers Street, Charing Cross. Eventually moving to Hollywood, he established a career as a film actor and director.

Life and career Godfrey began his career as a conjuror, clown, actor and director in repertory theatres around the United Kingdom. However, he became increasingly dissatisfied with the standard repertory plays, being himself attracted to the experimental works of American and Continental directors, and the avant-garde playwrights of the 1920s. Godfrey moved to New York City in around 1937, where he continued to write and produce plays. In the 1950s he switched to television and directed episodes for a variety of shows. With his second wife, actress Renee Haal, he established a Hollywood "Gate Theatre Studio" in 1943, which lasted for two years.

Godfrey died on 4 March 1970, at the age of 70. He is interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery near his wife, Renee Godfrey.

Selected filmography Actor

Leave It to Me (1933) - Siegffied Velour Heads We Go (1933) - Fancourt Good Morning, Boys (1937) - Cliquot Blockade (1938) - Roderigo - Cafe Magician Raffles (1939) - Crawshay The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) - Monk (uncredited) The Earl of Chicago (1940) - Judson

Edison, the Man (1940) - Ashton Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) - Poole Uncensored (1942) - Lou Forever and a Day (1943) - Mr. Pepperdish (uncredited) The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947) - Racetrack Tout (uncredited) The Decision of Christopher Blake (1948) - Butts (uncredited) (final film role)

Director

Down River (1931, directorial debut) The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939) Unexpected Uncle (1941) Highways by Night (1942) Make Your Own Bed (1944) Indiscretion (1945) Christmas in Connecticut (1945) Hotel Berlin (1945) One More Tomorrow (1946) Cry Wolf (1947) The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947) That Hagen Girl (1947) Escape Me Never (1947) The Woman in White (1948) The Decision of Christopher Blake (1948) One Last Fling (1949) The Girl from Jones Beach (1949) Barricade (1950) The Great Jewel Robber (1950) He's a Cockeyed Wonder (1950) One Big Affair (1952) Please Murder Me (1956, final film)