David Tree
Encyclopedia
David Tree was an English
stage and screen actor from a distinguished theatrical family whose career in the 1930s included roles in numerous stage presentations as well as in thirteen films produced between 1937 and 1941, among which were 1939's Goodbye Mr. Chips
and two of producer Gabriel Pascal
's adaptations of Shaw
classics, 1938's Pygmalion
, in which he portrayed Freddy Eynsford-Hill, and 1941's Major Barbara, in which he was Charles Lomax.
's Hampstead
area, Ian David Parsons was the son of theatre critic Alan Parsons and actress Viola Tree
, the daughter of renowned Victorian
actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. The young performer's first exposure to the stage came at the age of six, when he played a bear in his mother's 1921 revival of The Tempest
at the Aldwych Theatre
and continued through his childhood years, as exemplified by his portrayal, at eleven-and-a-half, of Lieutenant Spicer in a January 1927 juvenile production of Quality Street
. Taking as his stage name
the famous surname from his mother's side of the family, he spent a year studying drama at the Old Vic
where, in his words, he "played spear carriers and said 'Hail Caesar!' a lot", such as in September 1934's production of Antony and Cleopatra
. Joining the repertory company at Oxford Playhouse, he remained there, on and off, for three seasons and, by March 1937, was at Embassy
and Savoy Theatre
s, playing Mago in The Road to Rome. In 1938, he was Robin in Only Yesterday at the Intimate during February, Ferdinand in The Tempest and Feste
in Twelfth Night at Regent Park
's Open Air
during June–July, Edgar Malleson in Serena Blandish at the Gate
during September, and Gerald in Ma's Bit O'Brass at the Q
during October. In 1939 he had a notable success portraying Mervyn Brudge in Little Ladyship at the Strand during February and, during March, played Christopher Hatton
in Drake at the Coliseum
for King George
's Pension Fund for Actors.
as well as the role of Freddy in the following year's Pygmalion, a film which had special significance for him since it was his grandfather, Herbert Beerbohm Tree who, three years before his death in July 1917, originated the role of Henry Higgins in the play's initial English-language performance on April 11, 1914. In a sentimental gesture, the film's producer, Gabriel Pascal, cast Beerbohm Tree's daughter, Viola Tree in the cameo role of social reporter Perfide, thus giving David Tree one final opportunity to work with his mother. Ill with pleurisy
, she died at the age of 54, five weeks after Pygmalions 6 October 1938 London premiere.
Having supported Robert Donat
in 1937's Knight Without Armour
, he fulfilled another such role as a young fellow teacher of Donat's Academy-Award-winning
Mr. Chips in 1939. At the start of the wartime 1940s
, he had four releases, French Without Tears
, Return to Yesterday, Just William
and Major Barbara but, shortly after putting his promising film career on hold to aid the war effort, lost his left hand in an explosion during service with Special Operations
, while training French resistance fighters in the wilds of Scotland
. The war came to an end during his extended recovery and, mindful of the effect of such an injury upon a performing career, he chose to retire from acting and pursue life as a gentleman farmer. Having inherited a Victorian School house and three cottages in East Herts
, he converted them to handsome dwellings. Since the property included the wall of 15th-century house known as Baas Manor, he combined the cottages, creating Baas Manor Farm. Having met Mary Vick of Rickmansworth
on an underground train on the last day of the war, he introduced himself and, within a short time, asked her to marry him. Starting a farm where none had been before, they raised, in turn, bees, ducks, cows and Landrace pigs
, the descendants of which he exhibited at the Royal Show
where he broke all records by winning 1st prize in every category. From the mid 1960s he was a leading commercial lily grower and humorously chronicled his successes, failures and adventures as a postwar farmer in the autobiography, Pig in the Middle (Michael Joseph, 1966, reprinted by Noble Books, 2006). The book became the basis for the 1975–78 sitcom The Good Life, for which he received no royalties or credit, except for recognition from cast member Felicity Kendall. In 1961 he became a founding member of the Hoddesdon
Society "set up to protect the town from tower blocks and excessive development that did not fit in with its historic architecture", remaining the Society's president for a number of years.
, persuaded him to return to the screen in Roeg's horror film
Don't Look Now
, playing a cameo role as the ineffectual headmaster. The Tree family manor provided the exterior and interior for the opening sequences as did his lake, where the red anoraked girl drowns. David Tree remained deeply contented in his homelife, his sixty-three-year marriage and his passionate interest in gardening, natural history, ecology, history and the career of his renowned grandfather, Herbert Beerbohm Tree. He died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the Herts village of Welwyn
three-and-a-half months after his 94th birthday, leaving his wife, Mary, daughters Belinda, Gay and Vicken (married to sculptor Anthony Gormley), and son James. Another daughter, Susie, died in 1989.
David Tree is fondly remembered in the autobiographies of fellow performer James Mason
(Before I Forget, Hamish Hamilton
, 1981), with whom he appeared in the supporting cast of Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel, and actor-turned-documentary-maker Kenneth Griffith
(The Fools Pardon, Little, Brown and Company
, 1994).
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
stage and screen actor from a distinguished theatrical family whose career in the 1930s included roles in numerous stage presentations as well as in thirteen films produced between 1937 and 1941, among which were 1939's Goodbye Mr. Chips
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939 film)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a 1939 British film based on the novel of the same name by James Hilton. It was directed by Sam Wood, and starred Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn, John Mills, and Paul Henreid. The screenplay was adapted from the novel by R. C. Sherriff, Claudine West and Eric...
and two of producer Gabriel Pascal
Gabriel Pascal
Gabriel Pascal was a Hungarian film producer and director.Born 1894 in Arad, Austria-Hungary , Pascal was the first film producer to bring the plays of George Bernard Shaw successfully to the screen. His most famous production was Pygmalion, for which Pascal himself received an Academy Award...
's adaptations of Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
classics, 1938's Pygmalion
Pygmalion (1938 film)
Pygmalion is a 1938 British film based on the George Bernard Shaw play of the same title, and adapted by him for the screen. It stars Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller....
, in which he portrayed Freddy Eynsford-Hill, and 1941's Major Barbara, in which he was Charles Lomax.
Theatre credits
A native of Inner LondonInner London
Inner London is the name for the group of London boroughs which form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. The area was first officially defined in 1965 and for purposes such as statistics, the definition has changed over time. The terms Inner London and Central...
's Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
area, Ian David Parsons was the son of theatre critic Alan Parsons and actress Viola Tree
Viola Tree
Viola Tree was an English actress, singer, playwright and author. Daughter of the actor Herbert Beerbohm Tree, she made many of her early appearances with his company at His Majesty's Theatre...
, the daughter of renowned Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. The young performer's first exposure to the stage came at the age of six, when he played a bear in his mother's 1921 revival of The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
at the Aldwych Theatre
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:...
and continued through his childhood years, as exemplified by his portrayal, at eleven-and-a-half, of Lieutenant Spicer in a January 1927 juvenile production of Quality Street
Quality Street (play)
Quality Street is a comedy in four acts by J. M. Barrie, written before his more famous work Peter Pan. The story is about two sisters who start a school "for genteel children"....
. Taking as his stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
the famous surname from his mother's side of the family, he spent a year studying drama at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
where, in his words, he "played spear carriers and said 'Hail Caesar!' a lot", such as in September 1934's production of Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony...
. Joining the repertory company at Oxford Playhouse, he remained there, on and off, for three seasons and, by March 1937, was at Embassy
Embassy Theatre (London)
The Embassy Theatre is a theatre at 64, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London.- Early years :The Embassy Theatre was opened as a repertory company in September 1928 on the initiative of Sybil Arundale and Herbert Jay., when the premises of Hampstead Conservatoire of Music were adapted by architect...
and Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
s, playing Mago in The Road to Rome. In 1938, he was Robin in Only Yesterday at the Intimate during February, Ferdinand in The Tempest and Feste
Feste
Feste is a jester in the Shakespeare comedy Twelfth Night or: What You Will. He is attached to the household of the Countess Olivia. Apparently he has been there for some time, as he was a "fool that the Lady Olivia's father took much delight in"...
in Twelfth Night at Regent Park
Regent Park
Regent Park is a neighbourhood located in Old Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Regent Park is Canada's oldest and largest social housing project; built in the late 1940s. Formerly the centre of the Cabbagetown neighbourhood, it is bounded by Gerrard Street East to the north, River Street to the east,...
's Open Air
Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, in the City of Westminster, London, is a permanent venue with an annual sixteen-week summer season. It was founded in 1932 by Sydney Carroll and Robert Atkins.-The theatre:...
during June–July, Edgar Malleson in Serena Blandish at the Gate
Gate Theatre Studio
The history of London's Gate Theatre Studio, often referred to as simply the Gate Theatre, is typical of many small independent theatres of the period....
during September, and Gerald in Ma's Bit O'Brass at the Q
Q Theatre
The Q Theatre, seating 490 in 25 rows with a central aisle, was opened in 1924 near Kew Bridge in west London by Jack and Beatie de Leon, and was one of a number of small, committed, independent theatre companies which included the Hampstead Everyman, the Arts Theatre Club and the Gate Theatre Studio...
during October. In 1939 he had a notable success portraying Mervyn Brudge in Little Ladyship at the Strand during February and, during March, played Christopher Hatton
Christopher Hatton
Sir Christopher Hatton was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England.-Early days:...
in Drake at the Coliseum
Coliseum Theatre
The London Coliseum is an opera house and major performing venue on St. Martin's Lane, central London. It is one of London's largest and best equipped theatres and opened in 1904, designed by theatrical architect Frank Matcham , for impresario Oswald Stoll...
for King George
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
's Pension Fund for Actors.
Film work and new career path after World War II
David Tree entered films in 1937 and played a string of character parts in films such as that year's Return of the Scarlet PimpernelReturn of the Scarlet Pimpernel
The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1937 British thriller film directed by Hanns Schwarz and starring Barry K. Barnes, Sophie Stewart, Margaretta Scott and James Mason. It is a sequel to the 1934 film The Scarlet Pimpernel based on the stories by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.France, 1794. Citizen...
as well as the role of Freddy in the following year's Pygmalion, a film which had special significance for him since it was his grandfather, Herbert Beerbohm Tree who, three years before his death in July 1917, originated the role of Henry Higgins in the play's initial English-language performance on April 11, 1914. In a sentimental gesture, the film's producer, Gabriel Pascal, cast Beerbohm Tree's daughter, Viola Tree in the cameo role of social reporter Perfide, thus giving David Tree one final opportunity to work with his mother. Ill with pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
, she died at the age of 54, five weeks after Pygmalions 6 October 1938 London premiere.
Having supported Robert Donat
Robert Donat
Robert Donat was an English film and stage actor. He is best-known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr...
in 1937's Knight Without Armour
Knight Without Armour
Knight Without Armour is a 1937 British historical drama film made by London Films and distributed by United Artists. It was directed by Jacques Feyder and produced by Alexander Korda from a screenplay by Lajos Biró adapted by Frances Marion from the novel by James Hilton. The music score was by...
, he fulfilled another such role as a young fellow teacher of Donat's Academy-Award-winning
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
Mr. Chips in 1939. At the start of the wartime 1940s
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he had four releases, French Without Tears
French Without Tears (film)
French Without Tears is a 1940 comedy film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Ray Milland. It was based on the play of the same name by Terence Rattigan who also co-wrote the script.-Cast:* Ray Milland - Alan Howard* Ellen Drew - Diana Lake...
, Return to Yesterday, Just William
Just William
Just William is the first book of children's short stories about the young school boy William Brown, written by Richmal Crompton, and published in 1922. The book was the first in the series of William Brown books which was the basis for numerous television series, films and radio adaptations...
and Major Barbara but, shortly after putting his promising film career on hold to aid the war effort, lost his left hand in an explosion during service with Special Operations
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
, while training French resistance fighters in the wilds of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The war came to an end during his extended recovery and, mindful of the effect of such an injury upon a performing career, he chose to retire from acting and pursue life as a gentleman farmer. Having inherited a Victorian School house and three cottages in East Herts
East Hertfordshire
East Hertfordshire is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England. Its council has offices in Bishop's Stortford and Hertford ....
, he converted them to handsome dwellings. Since the property included the wall of 15th-century house known as Baas Manor, he combined the cottages, creating Baas Manor Farm. Having met Mary Vick of Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth is a town in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England, 4¼ miles west of Watford.The town has a population of around 15,000 people and lies on the Grand Union Canal and the River Colne, at the northern end of the Colne Valley regional park.Rickmansworth is a small town in...
on an underground train on the last day of the war, he introduced himself and, within a short time, asked her to marry him. Starting a farm where none had been before, they raised, in turn, bees, ducks, cows and Landrace pigs
Danish Landrace
The Danish Landrace is a medium to large breed of pig, white in colour with long bodies, fine hair, long snouts, and heavy drooping ears. They are bred for pork production....
, the descendants of which he exhibited at the Royal Show
Royal Show
The Royal Show was an annual agricultural show/fair held by the Royal Agricultural Society of England every year from 1839 to 2009. It was held in Stoneleigh Park near Stoneleigh in Warwickshire, England...
where he broke all records by winning 1st prize in every category. From the mid 1960s he was a leading commercial lily grower and humorously chronicled his successes, failures and adventures as a postwar farmer in the autobiography, Pig in the Middle (Michael Joseph, 1966, reprinted by Noble Books, 2006). The book became the basis for the 1975–78 sitcom The Good Life, for which he received no royalties or credit, except for recognition from cast member Felicity Kendall. In 1961 he became a founding member of the Hoddesdon
Hoddesdon
Hoddesdon is a town in the English county of Hertfordshire, situated in the Lea Valley. The town grew up as a coaching stop on the route between Cambridge and London. It is located southeast of Hertford, north of Waltham Cross and southwest of Bishop's Stortford. At its height during the 18th...
Society "set up to protect the town from tower blocks and excessive development that did not fit in with its historic architecture", remaining the Society's president for a number of years.
Later years and death
In 1973, his friend, director Nicolas RoegNicolas Roeg
Nicolas Jack Roeg, CBE, BSC is an English film director and cinematographer.-Life and career:Roeg was born in London, the son of Mabel Gertrude and Jack Nicolas Roeg...
, persuaded him to return to the screen in Roeg's horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
Don't Look Now
Don't Look Now
Don't Look Now is a 1973 thriller film directed by Nicolas Roeg. Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland star as a married couple whose lives become complicated after meeting two elderly sisters in Venice, one of whom claims to be clairvoyant and informs them that their recently deceased daughter is...
, playing a cameo role as the ineffectual headmaster. The Tree family manor provided the exterior and interior for the opening sequences as did his lake, where the red anoraked girl drowns. David Tree remained deeply contented in his homelife, his sixty-three-year marriage and his passionate interest in gardening, natural history, ecology, history and the career of his renowned grandfather, Herbert Beerbohm Tree. He died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the Herts village of Welwyn
Welwyn
Welwyn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The parish also includes the villages of Digswell and Oaklands. It is sometimes called Old Welwyn to distinguish it from the newer settlement of Welwyn Garden City, about a mile to the south.-History:Situated in the valley of the...
three-and-a-half months after his 94th birthday, leaving his wife, Mary, daughters Belinda, Gay and Vicken (married to sculptor Anthony Gormley), and son James. Another daughter, Susie, died in 1989.
David Tree is fondly remembered in the autobiographies of fellow performer James Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
(Before I Forget, Hamish Hamilton
Hamish Hamilton
Hamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half-Scot half-American Jamie Hamilton . Confusingly, Jamie Hamilton was often referred to as Hamish Hamilton...
, 1981), with whom he appeared in the supporting cast of Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel, and actor-turned-documentary-maker Kenneth Griffith
Kenneth Griffith
Kenneth Griffith was a Welsh actor and documentary filmmaker.-Early life:He was born Kenneth Reginald Griffiths in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Six months after his birth his parents split up and left Tenby, leaving Kenneth with his paternal grandparents, Emily and Ernest, who immediately adopted...
(The Fools Pardon, Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...
, 1994).
External links
- David Tree, Telegraph obituary