julian_craster

Were you a fan of Dorothy Bromiley in IT'S GREAT TO BE YOUNG (1956) with John Mills ?

I had a big schoolboy crush on Dorothy at the time - my heart just melted every time Dorothy appeared on screen !


If you remember Dorothy with affection, do check out this webpage:

Cinema


It includes a Letter From Dorothy dated November 2004...

A recent visitor to the site contacted me seeking more information on Dorothy Bromiley. He had been a fan of her films during the fifties! After some research he came back to me with a lead on her possible whereabouts. The lead indicated that she was the author of a book on the history of antique needlework. I e-mailed her publisher who replied saying that she would probably be delighted to hear from me. I wrote a letter asking for some details on her acting career, and was thrilled to receive a reply from her in November. I am printing the contents of the letter as follows:-

"Since you ask, I was born on 18 September 1930 at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. The only child of Frank Bromiley and Ada Winifred, nee Thornton. I began at Chapel Street Elementary school in 1934, leaving in 1941 on a scholarship to attend Levenshulme High. I became Joint Deputy Head Girl in my final year and gained Higher School Certificate in 1949.
With a stage career in mind I went straight on to the Central School of Speech and Drama in the Royal Albert Hall, London; graduating with a Diploma in Dramatic Art. I left early, in March 1952 having auditioned with 900 girls and screen -tested with nine, and was taken to Hollywood on a seven-year contract with Paramount Studios, to feature with two other English actresses, in " The Girls of Pleasure Island", starring Leo Genn And Elsa Lanchester.
I returned to England in May 1954 and went immediately to work as an Assistant Stage Manager at The Central Library Theatre, Manchester (much to the disgust of my agents MCA Ltd) From there, after about two months, I was called to London to audition for E.P. Clift Management in a play entitled " The Wooden Dish", by Edmund Morris, starring Wilfred Lawson and Joan Miller. Directed by the American exile Joseph Losey whom I subsequently married on 16 June 1956. Joe was blacklisted. Our son Joshua was born in 1957. He is married to Karen Dobson, living in Bristol. They have two daughters Natalie and Naiomi. I am still close to Joe's elder son Gavrik who lives in Somerset, with his second family. Joe and I were divorced in 1963.
Since then I have lived with the Dublin-born writer and actor Brian Phelan (who starred in the 1965 film FOUR IN THE MORNING). I changed my name by Deed Poll in 1966. Brian And I have a daughter Kate, who was born in 1967. Kate is married to a Frenchman, Nicolas Grosjean, and they have two sons, Thomas, my eldest grandchild and Hugo. They all live in France.
I remained an actress until 1972, appearing in several films: including " It's Great To Be Young" (1957) starring John Mills and Jeremy Spenser, directed by Cyril Frankel. I sang " You Are My First Love" dubbed by Edna Savage. I also featured in " A Touch Of The Sun" starring Frankie Howard ( in 1956) and "The Servant" adapted by Harold Pinter, and directed by Joseph Losey. I made the cover of Life Magazine and Picture Post in company with Audrey Dalton and Joan Elan; and was interviewed, among many others, on " In Town Tonight".
My first TV role was in a play directed by Peter Brook, starring Paul Schofield and Leo Mckern in 1960, and for the life of me I cannot recall its title. It was about a plane crash or hijack. My last role was as the wife in " Fathers and Families" for BBC TV, starring Dinsdale Landen, directed by Christopher Morahan. Many other parts in both plays and series intervened. I began teaching at the London Academy of Dramatic Art in 1966 and was there until practically the entire teaching staff resigned in 1972, to create a co-operative called " The Common Stock Theatre Company", to mount relevant theatre. We improvised plays on themes suggested by London teenagers in Youth Clubs And State schools; subsequently playing to audiences not in the habit of going to the Theatre. I administrated that company and left to spend one year in Dorset in 1976, to recover from frequent battles with the Arts Council of GB over funding. Brian and I still live here.

I began a specialist needlework shop with Elizabeth Bradley in early 1982 (until 1995 or 96) called " The Sherbourne Tapestry Centre" and during the course of running that found my second calling which is a profound and happy interest in antique needlework, specializing in the 16th and 17th century amateur domestic work. I have written books and articles on the subject, and curated two major exhibitions, " The Needles Excellency" for the Holburne Museum, Bath 2001 and " The Point of the Needle" in 2003/4 for the Dorset County Museum, Dorchester, which was the most successful exhibition ever mounted by that institution in over a hundred years. I was interviewed by BBC Womans Hour talking about the Dorchester exhibition, and they divided the tape into three programme items over a three-week period.
Currently I am researching the artists, engravers, print-makers and print-sellers who contributed to the designs available to the early amateur domestic and professional embroiderers, and those other craftsmen and omen relevant to the needlework trade.
My father died in 1975 and my mother, who came to live in Dorset, died at the age of ninety-one in 1991. I was interested in the specificity of your web site on Levenshulme. I have always considered myself, and am immensely proud of being a Mancunian. Manchester is where I consider I come from and where my roots are- Levenshulme perhaps is an area a fraction too parochial for me? Indeed I regret that I no longer have a reason to "Go Home". I did go back in the late 1990s to attend a seminar at the University, and was driven up Delamere Road, but part of me regretted it, as I was so appalled at how run-down it all seemed. I have very happy childhood memories of living there on the whole. I hope you find yourself as happy in your exile as I am in mine.

Will this do? Use whatever you think fit.

Yours sincerely,

Dorothy Bromiley Phelan. "

ChristineCB

"Will this do?" Oh yes. And more, always more.

julian_craster

John Mills, (?), Dorothy, (?), and Jeremy Spenser in IT'S GREAT TO BE YOUNG (1956)
Dorothy was 26 years old, but playing a 17 year old 6th former....Can you name the other two (?)
Why wasn't my school like this ?

Ray

The "boy" in the middle is 24 year old Brian Smith who was so good as Taplow in the original Browning Version. He was also one of Jennifer Jones's brothers in The Browning Version as well appearing in Betrayed with Lana Turner and Clark Gable.

julian_craster

For any other 'fans of Dorothy' out there.....

Joenoir

What a fascinating thread, and proof indeed of the importance of this website. Dorothy Bromily could be considered only a footnote in the history of British film, but I was very interested in reading about her career, and in view of the opportunities she had, I wonder why she didn't achieve a more high profile career.

Moondog

Dear Julian: Nice to 'meet' another Dorothy fan after all these years! I melted too...

I was the 'recent visitor' who helped to track her down and obtain the letter you quoted.

julian_craster