Seymour Hicks(1871-1949)
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Seymour Hicks was an extremely successful actor and theatrical
impresario who flourished from the late 19th century into the 1930s. He
was best remembered for his portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge in
Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".
Born on January 30, 1871 on the Isle of Jersey, he first trod the
boards as a professional at the age of sixteen. He became a
musical-comedy star in London in 1894 in "The Shop Girl", which he
followed up with "The Circus Girl" (1896) and "A Runaway Girl" (1898),
both of which co-starred his wife Ellaline Terriss, whom he had married
in 1893.
After the turn of the century, Hicks began writing musical comedies
that he and his wife appeared in. These efforts were met with great
success. With his earnings from his successful career, he built the
Aldwych Theatre in 1905 and the Seymour Hicks Theatre in 1906. (The
Hicks was renamed the Globe Theatre in 1909 and eventually the Gielgud
Theatre in 1994.) The first production at the Aldwych, Hicks' own
musical comedy "The Beauty of Bath", was a hit.
Jerome Kern was the composer and
P.G. Wodehouse gained his first paying
job as a writer on the musical. Wodeouse would be credited with the
lyrics to two songs on another Hicks musical, "The Gay Gordons", in
1907.
(Hicks also was instrumental in "discovering" the young
Alfred Hitchcock. When the
director Hugh Croise walked off the set of
the 1923 short
Always Tell Your Wife (1923),
based on a play by Hicks, starring Seymour Hicks, and produced by his
Seymour Hicks Productions, the actor enlisted Hitchcock to finish
directing it. It was only the second directing gig for Hitchcock, and
though he was uncredited, it was his first film to be screened.
(Hitch's first movie, Number 13 (1922),
was never completed.))
By the time of the "Always Tell Your Wife" movie, Hicks had
successfully navigated the change in theatrical tastes brought about by
the Great War. He had begun writing and appearing in light, escapist
comedies and satiric farces. Many of the farces he put on in the 1920s
were adapted from French plays. Eventually, as his star waned, he
worked in music halls.
It was in 1901 that Hicks first played the role of Ebenezer Scrooge,
the role for which he was most famous. He appeared in "A Christmas
Carol" thousands of times on stage and made two movie versions of the
Charles Dickens classic, a silent film
(Old Scrooge (1913)) in 1913 and a talkie
(Scrooge (1935)) in 1935.
By the mid-'30s, he was a well-established and highly respected actor
and theatrical impresario. He became the 13th actor to become knighted
in 1934, which came three years after the French Republic awarded him
the Legion of Honor in recognition of his services in promoting French
theater in England. (In 1915, he had won the French Croix de Guerre for
entertaining Allied troops in France during in World War One and would
win his second Croix de Guerre in World War II for the same service to
the Allies.)
Seymour Hicks died on April 6, 1949 in Hampshire, England. He was 78
years old. He had continued appearing on stage and in movies until the
year before his death.
impresario who flourished from the late 19th century into the 1930s. He
was best remembered for his portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge in
Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".
Born on January 30, 1871 on the Isle of Jersey, he first trod the
boards as a professional at the age of sixteen. He became a
musical-comedy star in London in 1894 in "The Shop Girl", which he
followed up with "The Circus Girl" (1896) and "A Runaway Girl" (1898),
both of which co-starred his wife Ellaline Terriss, whom he had married
in 1893.
After the turn of the century, Hicks began writing musical comedies
that he and his wife appeared in. These efforts were met with great
success. With his earnings from his successful career, he built the
Aldwych Theatre in 1905 and the Seymour Hicks Theatre in 1906. (The
Hicks was renamed the Globe Theatre in 1909 and eventually the Gielgud
Theatre in 1994.) The first production at the Aldwych, Hicks' own
musical comedy "The Beauty of Bath", was a hit.
Jerome Kern was the composer and
P.G. Wodehouse gained his first paying
job as a writer on the musical. Wodeouse would be credited with the
lyrics to two songs on another Hicks musical, "The Gay Gordons", in
1907.
(Hicks also was instrumental in "discovering" the young
Alfred Hitchcock. When the
director Hugh Croise walked off the set of
the 1923 short
Always Tell Your Wife (1923),
based on a play by Hicks, starring Seymour Hicks, and produced by his
Seymour Hicks Productions, the actor enlisted Hitchcock to finish
directing it. It was only the second directing gig for Hitchcock, and
though he was uncredited, it was his first film to be screened.
(Hitch's first movie, Number 13 (1922),
was never completed.))
By the time of the "Always Tell Your Wife" movie, Hicks had
successfully navigated the change in theatrical tastes brought about by
the Great War. He had begun writing and appearing in light, escapist
comedies and satiric farces. Many of the farces he put on in the 1920s
were adapted from French plays. Eventually, as his star waned, he
worked in music halls.
It was in 1901 that Hicks first played the role of Ebenezer Scrooge,
the role for which he was most famous. He appeared in "A Christmas
Carol" thousands of times on stage and made two movie versions of the
Charles Dickens classic, a silent film
(Old Scrooge (1913)) in 1913 and a talkie
(Scrooge (1935)) in 1935.
By the mid-'30s, he was a well-established and highly respected actor
and theatrical impresario. He became the 13th actor to become knighted
in 1934, which came three years after the French Republic awarded him
the Legion of Honor in recognition of his services in promoting French
theater in England. (In 1915, he had won the French Croix de Guerre for
entertaining Allied troops in France during in World War One and would
win his second Croix de Guerre in World War II for the same service to
the Allies.)
Seymour Hicks died on April 6, 1949 in Hampshire, England. He was 78
years old. He had continued appearing on stage and in movies until the
year before his death.