- See also John Gregson, Baron Gregson
Lord John Gregson, Baron Gregson of Stockport DL was a British politician. He was a member of the Labour Party.-Life:...
.
John Gregson (15 March 1919 – 8 January 1975) was an
EnglishEngland 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...
actor.
He was born
Harold Thomas Gregson, of
IrishIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
descent, and grew up in
WavertreeWavertree is an area of Liverpool, in Merseyside, England, and is a Liverpool City Council ward. It is bordered by a number of districts to the south and east of Liverpool city centre from Toxteth, Edge Hill, Fairfield, Old Swan, Childwall and Mossley Hill....
,
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, where he was educated at Greenbank Road primary school, later St Francis Xavier School. He left school at 16, working first for a telephone company, then for the Liverpool Corporation, as the city council was then known, before World War II started. During this time, he became interested in amateur dramatics, joining first his local Catholic Church theatre group at St. Anthony’s, Mossley Hill, and later the Liverpool Playgoers Club.
When ware broke out, he was called up and joined the Royal Navy as a sailor on minesweepers. At one point, his minesweeper was torpedoed and he was rescued from the sea with a knee injury.
After being demobbed in 1945, he joined the
Liverpool PlayhouseThe Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It originated in 1866 as a music hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the early careers of many actors and actresses, some of which went on to achieve...
for a year, before going on to
Perth TheatrePerth Theatre is a Victorian playhouse situated at 185 High Street, Perth, Scotland. It was opened in 1901 and extended in 1991.A memorial foundation stone was laid on 6 October 1889 by George Alexander, actor and manager of the St James's Theatre, London. The building is category B listed by...
in
ScotlandScotland 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...
. Here he met his future wife, actress
Ida ReddishThea Gregory was an English actress.She appeared in nine British films between 1954 and 1957, such as The Weak and the Wicked with John Gregson and Laurence Harvey. She is the widow of the actor John Gregson, whom she met while performing with Perth rep in 1946. They were married in London in...
from Nottingham, who at the time was using the stage name Thea Kronberg and had recently arrived from the
Birmingham RepBirmingham Repertory Theatre is a theatre and theatre company based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England...
. In 1947 they moved to
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and married there. They eventually had three daughters and three sons.
He was credited as 'John Gregson' in 40 films between 1948 and 1971 and on
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
from 1960 until his death. He was often cast as a police inspector or as a navy or army officer, or for his comedy roles in
EalingEaling Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
and other British films. One of his first appearances was in the film
Saraband for Dead LoversSaraband for Dead Lovers is a 1948 British historical drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Stewart Granger and Joan Greenwood. It is based on the novel by Helen Simpson...
, a tearjerking romance starring
Joan GreenwoodJoan Greenwood was an English actress. Born in Chelsea, she studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Her husky voice, coupled with her slow, precise elocution, was her trademark...
and
Stewart GrangerStewart Granger was an English-American film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s rising to fame through his appearances in the Gainsborough melodramas.-Early life:He was born James Lablache Stewart in Old...
.
His most famous comedy role was in the film chosen for the
Royal Film PerformanceThe Royal Film Performance is a charity performance of a British film which is attended by members of the British Royal Family. The proceeds from the evening's entertainment are donated to the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund, a charity which offers financial support to people from the film,...
in 1953,
GenevieveGenevieve is a 1953 British comedy film produced and directed by Henry Cornelius and written by William Rose. It starred John Gregson, Dinah Sheridan, Kenneth More and Kay Kendall as two couples comedically involved in a vintage automobile rally...
, also starring
Kenneth MoreKenneth Gilbert More CBE was a highly successful English film actor during the post-World War II era and starred in many feature films, often in the role of an archetypal carefree and happy-go-lucky middle-class gentleman.-Early life:Kenneth More was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the...
,
Dinah SheridanDinah Sheridan is an English actress who appeared in the films 29 Acacia Avenue and Genevieve .She made her film debut in 1937, and has frequently appeared on television...
and
Kay KendallKay Kendall was an English actress.Kendall began her film career in the 1946 musical London Town. Though the film was a financial failure, Kendall continued to work regularly until her appearance in the comedy Genevieve brought her widespread recognition...
. More was described as his "rival" in British cinema at the time, although Gregson tended to appear in fewer comedy films and more dramas. He also appeared in the Ealing comedies
Whisky Galore!Whisky Galore! was a 1949 Ealing comedy film based on the novel of the same name by Compton MacKenzie. Both the movie and the novel are based on the real-life 1941 shipwreck of the S.S. Politician near the island of Eriskay and the unauthorized taking of its cargo of whisky...
,
The Lavender Hill MobThe Lavender Hill Mob is a 1951 comedy film from Ealing Studios, written by T.E.B. Clarke, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway and featuring Sid James and Alfie Bass...
, and
The Titfield ThunderboltThe Titfield Thunderbolt is a 1953 British comedy film about a group of villagers trying to prevent British Railways from closing the fictional Titfield branch line. The film was written by T.E.B...
. His best known drama films include
The Battle of the River PlateThe Battle of the River Plate is a 1956 British war film by director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, starring John Gregson, Anthony Quayle and Peter Finch...
,
Angels One FiveAngels One Five is a 1952 British film directed by George More O'Ferrall, and starring Jack Hawkins, Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray, John Gregson, Cyril Raymond, Veronica Hurst and also featuring Bill Everett. Based on the book 'What Are Your Angels Now?' by Pelham Groom Angels One Five is a 1952...
and
Above Us the WavesAbove Us the Waves is a 1955 war film directed by Ralph Thomas. It tells the story of human torpedo and midget submarine attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz. It is based on true-life attacks on the Tirpitz, first using manned torpedoes , and then the Royal Navy's midget X-Craft submarines in...
. He was featured in
The Treasure of Monte CristoThe Treasure of Monte Cristo is a British movie released in 1961. It features Rory Calhoun as a military captain who goes off in search of the treasure of the legendary Count of Monte Cristo. It was directed by Monty Berman and also featured Patricia Bredin and John Gregson....
and had a role in
Treasure IslandTreasure Island is a 1950 Disney adventure film, adapted from the Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. It starred Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins, and Robert Newton as Long John Silver...
.
Gregson also worked on TV. In
Ivor BrownIvor John Carnegie Brown was a British journalist and man of letters.-Biography:Born in Penang, Malaya, Brown was the younger of two sons of Dr. William Carnegie Brown, a specialist in tropical diseases, and his wife Jean Carnegie. At an early age he was sent to Britain, where he attended Suffolk...
's BBC TV play
William's Other Anne he played
William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
revisiting his first girlfriend
Anne WhateleyAnne Whateley is the name of a woman who is sometimes supposed to have been the intended wife of William Shakespeare before he married Anne Hathaway. Most scholars believe that Whateley never existed, but that her name in a document concerning Shakespeare's marriage is merely a clerical error...
. TV work became increasingly important to him from the mid-sixties. He starred as Commander George Gideon in the series
Gideon's WayGideon's Way is a British television crime series made by ITC Entertainment in 1964/65, based on the novels by John Creasey . The series was made at Elstree in twin production with The Saint TV series...
(known as
Gideon C.I.D. in America). He also appeared in
The SaintThe Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
with
Roger MooreSir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
, and a popular comedy adventure series with
Shirley MacLaineShirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
,
Shirley's WorldShirley's World was a television series aired first by American Broadcasting Company during the U.S. 1971-72 television season. The sitcom was co-produced by the British ATV Network and American producer Sheldon Leonard; it starred Shirley MacLaine as a photojournalist and John Gregson as her...
. He took over from Kenneth More in long running TV adverts for coffee on British television.
He appeared in
It's The Geography That Counts, the last play at the
St James's TheatreThe St James's Theatre was a 1,200-seat theatre located in King Street, at Duke Street, St James's, London. The elaborate theatre was designed with a neo-classical exterior and a Louis XIV style interior by Samuel Beazley and built by the partnership of Peto & Grissell for the tenor and theatre...
before its closure in 1957.
John Gregson died suddenly from a
heart attackMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in
Porlock WeirPorlock Weir lies about 1.5 miles west of Porlock, Somerset, England and is a small settlement which has grown up around the harbour. It is a popular visitor attraction....
,
SomersetThe ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, aged 57, whilst on holiday. He left a widow, Thea Gregory, and six children. His final television role was in the
Southern TelevisionSouthern Television was the first ITV broadcasting licence holder for the south and south-east of England from 30 August 1958 until the night of 31 December 1981. The company was launched as Southern Television Limited and the title Southern Television was consistently used on-air throughout its life...
serial
Dangerous Knowledge, which was broadcast posthumously in 1976. He was interred at Sunbury burial ground Sunbury on Thames section E/F
Filmography
- London Belongs to Me
London Belongs to Me is a 1948 British film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Richard Attenborough and Alastair Sim. It was based on the novel of the same name by Norman Collins...
(1948) (uncredited)
- Saraband for Dead Lovers
Saraband for Dead Lovers is a 1948 British historical drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Stewart Granger and Joan Greenwood. It is based on the novel by Helen Simpson...
(1948) (uncredited)
- Scott of the Antarctic
Scott of the Antarctic is a 1948 film about Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated expedition to be the first to the South Pole in Antarctica in 1910-12...
(1948)
- Whisky Galore!
Whisky Galore! was a 1949 Ealing comedy film based on the novel of the same name by Compton MacKenzie. Both the movie and the novel are based on the real-life 1941 shipwreck of the S.S. Politician near the island of Eriskay and the unauthorized taking of its cargo of whisky...
(1949)
- Train of Events
Train of Events is a 1949 British film made by Ealing Studios directed by Sidney Cole, Charles Crichton and Basil Dearden.A portmanteau work, it tells the various stories of the passengers who are on a train which crashes into a stalled petrol tanker at a level crossing.-Plot:The film opens with a...
(1949)
- Treasure Island
Treasure Island is a 1950 Disney adventure film, adapted from the Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. It starred Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins, and Robert Newton as Long John Silver...
(1950)
- Cairo Road
Cairo Road is a 1950 British crime film directed by David MacDonald and starring Laurence Harvey, Eric Portman, Maria Mauban, Harold Lang and John Gregson. A team of Egyptian anti-narcotic agents try to prevent shipments of drugs crossing the southern Egyptian border...
(1950)
- The Lavender Hill Mob
The Lavender Hill Mob is a 1951 comedy film from Ealing Studios, written by T.E.B. Clarke, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway and featuring Sid James and Alfie Bass...
(1951)
- Angels One Five
Angels One Five is a 1952 British film directed by George More O'Ferrall, and starring Jack Hawkins, Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray, John Gregson, Cyril Raymond, Veronica Hurst and also featuring Bill Everett. Based on the book 'What Are Your Angels Now?' by Pelham Groom Angels One Five is a 1952...
(1952)
- The Brave Don't Cry
The Brave Don't Cry is a 1952 British drama film directed by Philip Leacock and starring John Gregson, Meg Buchanan and John Rae. The film depitcts the events of September 1950 at the Knockshinnoch Castle colliery in Scotland, where 129 men were trapped by a landslide...
(1952)
- Venetian Bird
Venetian Bird is a 1952 British thriller film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Richard Todd, Eva Bartok and John Gregson.-Synopsis:...
(1952)
- The Holly and the Ivy
The Holly and the Ivy is a 1952 drama film about an English clergyman whose neglect of his grown offspring, in his zeal to tend to his parishioners, comes to the surface at a Christmas family gathering. It stars Ralph Richardson, Celia Johnson, and Margaret Leighton...
(1952)
- The Titfield Thunderbolt
The Titfield Thunderbolt is a 1953 British comedy film about a group of villagers trying to prevent British Railways from closing the fictional Titfield branch line. The film was written by T.E.B...
(1953)
- Genevieve
Genevieve is a 1953 British comedy film produced and directed by Henry Cornelius and written by William Rose. It starred John Gregson, Dinah Sheridan, Kenneth More and Kay Kendall as two couples comedically involved in a vintage automobile rally...
(1953)
- The Weak and the Wicked
The Weak and the Wicked is a 1954 British drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson based on the book by his wife, Joan Henry, starring Glynis Johns and Diana Dors....
(1954)
- Conflict of Wings (1954)
- The Crowded Day
The Crowded Day is a 1954 British drama film directed by John Guillermin and starring John Gregson, Joan Rice and Sid James. The film follows a group of shopgirls working in Bunting and Hobbs, a department store during the Christmas period.-Cast:...
(1954)
- To Dorothy a Son
To Dorothy a Son is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Muriel Box and starring Shelley Winters, John Gregson and Peggy Cummins. It is also known as Cash on Delivery. It is based on a play by Roger MacDougall...
(1954)
- Three Cases of Murder
Three Cases of Murder is a 1955 British drama film comprising three stories. Though the stories are separate and unrelated, Alan Badel appears in all three....
(1955)
- Value for Money
Value for Money is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring John Gregson, Donald Pleasence, Leslie Phillips, Joan Hickson, Derek Farr and Diana Dors.-Cast:* John Gregson as Chayley Broadbent* Diana Dors as Ruthine West...
(1955)
- Above Us the Waves
Above Us the Waves is a 1955 war film directed by Ralph Thomas. It tells the story of human torpedo and midget submarine attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz. It is based on true-life attacks on the Tirpitz, first using manned torpedoes , and then the Royal Navy's midget X-Craft submarines in...
(1955)
- Jacqueline
-Cast:* John Gregson as Mike McNeil* Kathleen Ryan as Elizabeth McNeil* Jacqueline Ryan as Jacqueline McNeil* Noel Purcell as Mr. Owen* Cyril Cusack as Mr. Flannagan* Tony Wright as Jack McBride* Maureen Swanson as Maggie* Liam Redmond as Mr. Lord...
(1956)
- The Battle of the River Plate
The Battle of the River Plate is a 1956 British war film by director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, starring John Gregson, Anthony Quayle and Peter Finch...
(1956)
- True as a Turtle
True as a Turtle is a 1957 British comedy film directed by Wendy Toye and starring John Gregson, Cecil Parker, June Thorburn and Keith Michell...
(1957)
- Miracle in Soho
Miracle in Soho is a 1957 British drama film directed by Julian Amyes and starring John Gregson, Belinda Lee and Cyril Cusack. The film depicts the lives of the inhabitants of a small street in Soho and the romance betweena local road-builder and the daughter of Italian immigrants.-Main cast:* John...
(1957)
- Rooney
Rooney is a 1958 British comedy film directed by George Pollock and starring John Gregson, Muriel Pavlow and Barry Fitzgerald. The film depicts the life of James Ignatius Rooney, a Gaelic sportsman at the weekends, and a Dublin rubbish collector during the week...
(1958)
- Sea of Sand (1958)
- Flight from Treason (1959)
- The Captain's Table
The Captain's Table is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Jack Lee from a novel by Richard Gordon. It starred John Gregson, Donald Sinden, Peggy Cummins, Maurice Denham, Joan Sims, John Le Mesurier and June Jago...
(1959)
- SOS Pacific
SOS Pacific is a 1959 British drama film directed by Guy Green and starring Richard Attenborough and Pier Angeli.-Plot synopsis:The pilot of a flying boat, along with five passengers, has to ditch his plane in a thunder storm. The plane ditches in the Pacific near an island...
(1959)
- Hand in Hand
Hand in Hand is a 1960 British dramatic film about the friendship between two young children, one a Catholic boy about nine, the other a 7-year-old Jewish girl....
(1960)
- Faces in the Dark
Faces in the Dark is a 1960 British thriller film directed by David Eady and starring John Gregson, Mai Zetterling and John Ireland. A blind inventor is convinced he is going mad, but it soon becomes apparent it is a deliberate attempt by someone else....
(1960)
- The Frightened City
The Frightened City is a 1961 British film about extortion rackets and gang warfare in the West End of London. It stars Sean Connery, who plays a burglar called Paddy Damion. He is lured into a protection racket by oily mobster Harry Foulcher , in order to support his partner in crime , who is...
(1961)
- The Treasure of Monte Cristo
The Treasure of Monte Cristo is a British movie released in 1961. It features Rory Calhoun as a military captain who goes off in search of the treasure of the legendary Count of Monte Cristo. It was directed by Monty Berman and also featured Patricia Bredin and John Gregson....
(1961)
- The Longest Day
The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
(1962)
- Live Now - Pay Later (1962)
- Tomorrow at Ten
Tomorrow at Ten is a 1964 British thriller film directed by Lance Comfort and starring John Gregson, Robert Shaw, Kenneth Cope and William Hartnell in his final film appearance.-Plot:...
(1964)
- Person Unknown (1967) (TV)
- The Night of the Generals
The Night of the Generals is a 1967 suspense thriller film directed by Anatole Litvak. Set during World War II, the story was adapted from the novel of the same name by Hans Hellmut Kirst. It stars Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasence, Joanna Pettet and Philippe Noiret.The...
(1967)
- Hans Brinker (1969) (TV)
- Fright
Fright is a 1971 British thriller film starring Susan George, Ian Bannen and Honor Blackman.-Plot:Young babysitter Amanda arrives at the Lloyd residence to spend the evening looking after their young son. Soon after the Lloyds leave, a series of frightening occurrences in the gloomy old house have...
(1971)
- Speaking of Murder (1971) (TV)
- Dangerous Knowledge (1976) (TV)
External links