Peter Glenville (born Peter Patrick Brabazon Browne; 28 October 1913 – 3 June 1996) was an English theatre and film director, and actor. He was a prominent director of stage plays on the West End and Broadway in the 1950s. He was nominated for four Tony Awards for his American plays.[1]
He attended Stonyhurst College and studied law at Christ Church, Oxford. He was president of the Oxford University Dramatic Society, and performed in many roles for them.[4]
Career
In London
Glenville performed as an actor in the UK, where he also started directing. Between 1934 and 1947, he appeared in various leading roles "ranging from Tony Pirelli in Edgar Wallace's gangster drama On the Spot and Stephen Cass in Mary Hayley Bell's horror thriller Duet for Two Hands to Romeo, Prince Hal and an intense Hamlet in a production which he also directed for the Old Vic company in Liverpool..."[4]
Glenville directed the Bridget Boland play The Prisoner at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh in March 1954, and then at the Globe Theatre in London, starring Alec Guinness.[11] Glenville made his film debut as director with the 1955 adaptation of The Prisoner. Alec Guinness repeated his starring role in the film.[12]
In 1961, he directed Jean Anouilh's play Becket, which starred Laurence Olivier as Thomas Becket and Anthony Quinn as Henry II. An erroneous story arose in later years that during the run, Quinn and Olivier switched roles and Quinn played Becket to Olivier's King.[citation needed] Critic Howard Taubman, in his book The Making of the American Theatre, supports this story, as does a biographer of Laurence Olivier.
But Quinn left the production for a film, never having played Becket. Glenville suggested a road tour with Olivier playing Henry II. Olivier happily acceded and Arthur Kennedy took on the role of Becket for the tour and brief return to Broadway.[15][16]
Glenville was for most of his life a closeted homosexual.[5] Glenville met Hardy William Smith (1916-2001) after the end of World War II. Smith, a United States Navy veteran, wanted a career in the theater in the UK. According to his biography at the University of Texas (where his papers are kept), "Glenville and Smith became professional and life partners, with Smith producing and Glenville directing plays for the London stage."[22]
Politically, Glenville identified as a conservative. Historian Gil Troy characterized him as "individualist," "anti-communist," and "anti-totalitarian".[5]Glenville said that he had retired from directing due to a perceived left-wing turn in art and culture, as well as an embrace of Method acting techniques. He disliked the latter and found Method actors difficult to direct.[5]
^ abStevens, Christopher (2010). Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth Williams. John Murray. p. 365. ISBN978-1-84854-195-5.
^Kabatchnik, Amnon. The Prisoner, Blood on the Stage, 1950-1975: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection, Scarecrow Press, 2011, ISBN0810877848, pp. 145-146