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'''David March''' (born 18 February 1925, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire - died 25 August 1999, London) was an English actor who had a prominent career on British radio |
'''David March''' (born 18 February 1925, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire - died 25 August 1999, London) was an English actor who had a prominent career on British radio from 1953 until his death 45 years later.<ref name="obit"/> He also appeared on London's [[West End]] and other major British theaters during the mid 20th century, but eschewed theatre for radio after 1964.<ref name="obit">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-david-march-5381369.html|title=Obituary: David March|date=September 17, 2011|work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref> In 1985 he received the [[Radio Academy Awards|Radio Academy Award]] for Best Radio Actor for his performance in a dramatisation of ''[[Mr Norris Changes Trains]]''.<ref name="obit"/> |
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==Life and career== |
==Life and career== |
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Revision as of 16:44, 8 April 2021
David March (born 18 February 1925, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire - died 25 August 1999, London) was an English actor who had a prominent career on British radio from 1953 until his death 45 years later.[1] He also appeared on London's West End and other major British theaters during the mid 20th century, but eschewed theatre for radio after 1964.[1] In 1985 he received the Radio Academy Award for Best Radio Actor for his performance in a dramatisation of Mr Norris Changes Trains.[1]
Life and career
Born in Leamington Spa, March was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art during World War II.[1] He began his career in Scotland as a repertory actor at the Byre Theatre in St Andrews and at the Perth Theatre.[1] He then joined the roster of artists at the Stratford Memorial Theatre (now called Royal Shakespeare Theatre) at the invitation of director Robert Atkins; appearing mainly in small to mid sized roles like the Eunuch in Antony and Cleopatra and Rodrigo in Othello.[1] In 1946 and 1947 he was committed to the theatrical seasons at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre where he portrayed Patroclus in Troilus and Cressida and the roles of Philostrate and Francis Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream.[1]
In 1950 March became a member of the Oxford Playhouse.[1] There he had a triumphant success as the central clown character “He" in Leonid Andreyev's He Who Gets Slapped in 1952.[2] Directed by Oliver Marlow Wilkinson, that lauded production also starred Susan Dowdall as Consuelo, John McKelvey as Briquet, Hugh Manning as Count Mancini, Mary Savidge as Zinida, and Ronnie Barker as Polly.[2][3][4] In 1959 he starred in James Roose-Evans's Stories and Designs at the Hampstead Theatre; a one man show written for March based on the writings of Virginia Woolf.[1] At Hampstead he also appeared as Tiresias in Oedipus Rex and Marguerite Duras The Square (1964).[1]
In April 1954 Martin portrayed John de Stogumber in Esme Percy's staging of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan with at the Q Theatre with Rachel Kempson as the title heroine; a role which he repeated at the Cambridge Drama Festival in 1956 with Siobhan McKenna as Joan. His work in that play drew the attention of radio producer R. D. Smith, and led to his first job performing on radio in 1953. From 1965 on, March onlt performed in radio, and never returned to stage performance. His radio career was ubiquitous and spanned a 45 year period in which he excelled in radio dramas.[1] One of the programs he was associated with was the role of Richard Fulton in Mrs Dale's Diary (1954-1969).[1]
His life partner was Derek Lewis.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Obituary: David March". The Independent. September 17, 2011.
- ^ a b "ROUND THE COUNTRY: Oxford". The Stage. March 6, 1952. p. 11.
- ^ Richard Webber (2010). Remembering Ronnie Barker. Random House.
- ^ Dennis Barker (4 October 2005). "Ronnie Barker". The Guardian. London, UK. Retrieved 13 April 2010.