Who is this man?

[theuofc]

Hello, Everyone,

Can anyone identify the man in the center holding a check? He's not the director James Roose-Evans. He may be Peter Bridge, the producer, but I'm having a hard time finding a photo of Bridge to compare with this one. I've shared this 1965 photo on the Roger Livesey and the Margaret Lockwood threads, so you may have seen it there also.

Although not a burning issue, but it'd be nice to lay to rest a question that's been nagging me and others.

Thanks very much for your help,

Barbara

[GRAEME]

He appears to be holding a cheque - could he be a theatre sponsor? Or a local charity rep receiving the result of a benefit performance?

[theuofc]

He appears to be holding a cheque - could he be a theatre sponsor? Or a local charity rep receiving the result of a benefit performance?

Good ideas, GRAEME. I've searched any history that can be found for benefit performances, etc. but come up empty. Neither "Theatre World" nor one of the programmes for the play mention anything. Someone suggested that it might be the producer holding a check as evidence of ongoing full houses. Dunno. As you say, I think it's more likely that the man is connected with a charity or some organization that received a donation.

Barbara

[GRAEME]

Just a thought - in 1965 the play would still have been in copyright - could it be a representative of the publisher or Wilde family collecting a royality cheque for publicity reasons/special anniversary or something?

[theuofc]

Just a thought - in 1965 the play would still have been in copyright - could it be a representative of the publisher or Wilde family collecting a royality cheque for publicity reasons/special anniversary or something?

Excellent! You may be on to something, GRAEME. It never occurred to me, but I'll follow that lead and report back.

Any other suggestions are also welcome.

Barbara

[cassidy]

Is there any way that the picture could be blown up to see who the cheque is mde out to ?

Excellent! You may be on to something, GRAEME. It never occurred to me, but I'll follow that lead and report back.

Any other suggestions are also welcome.

Barbara

[theuofc]

Is there any way that the picture could be blown up to see who the cheque is mde out to ?

Hi, Cassidy,

I just tried enlarging it on my computer, but it gets fuzzy. Have a look and see if you think it looks like a UK cheque? It seems to have a lot of small sections on it unlike any U.S. check so I can't tell if it is a cheque or a ticket or something for a drawing of some kind?

Thanks,

Barbara

[aardvark]

Hello Barbara

thanks for lovely pictures, including the street one on the other threads - I like the smiles, and the dog!

This doesn't really help, but I happen to have just been reading Michael Denison's Double Act and Dulcie Gray's Looking Forward, Looking Back, and have them by me - maybe you have them too. There's a lot about Peter Bridge (then just 40) and Peter Donald (I think about 60) and the production, but no helpful picture - though there's another of the cast in costume. This could be anywhere, perhaps Manchester where it opened. Again, big smiles and drinking to the success of the production.

As you know, it was a 'whopping commercial...success' which broke records. The stars got a basic salary of £60 and 'good percentages of the box-office takings' - in fact, it turned out a golden egg that some were reluctant to leave! The play was in the public domain, so no author's royalties. Wilde's son Vyvyan Holland saw the play with his wife and son and expressed warm approval - he was a 'shy and gentle man' who 'would not have taken kindly to charity' - so with his wife 'Thelma's connivance, he received for his birthday new curtains for his study and a pair of binoculars for bird-watching in The Boltons'.

I did wonder if the cheque could be connected with Howard and Wyndham's sale of the King's Theatre to Glasgow Corporation, but saw that this didn't happen till 1967 - unless this was some preparatory arrangement. Peter Bridge is described in his DNB entry as tall and dark, and elsewhere as a large man, and not sure if this fits the man in the chair who perhaps looks more Richard Todd's build? Do you agree - I'm not much of a judge. So if not Peter Bridge, Peter Donald or James Roose-Evans, probably what you and others have suggested, or possibly the theatre manager, or someone else from Howard and Wyndham?

Good luck anyway.

Nick

[DocRobertPepper]

Maybe he is a Football "Pools" winner and had his cheque presented to him by the cast

[Freddy]

On the charity side I wonder if any of them were in the Grand Order of the Water Rats and it was a presentation.

[theuofc]

Hello Barbara

thanks for lovely pictures, including the street one on the other threads - I like the smiles, and the dog!

This doesn't really help, but I happen to have just been reading Michael Denison's Double Act and Dulcie Gray's Looking Forward, Looking Back, and have them by me - maybe you have them too. There's a lot about Peter Bridge (then just 40) and Peter Donald (I think about 60) and the production, but no helpful picture - though there's another of the cast in costume. This could be anywhere, perhaps Manchester where it opened. Again, big smiles and drinking to the success of the production.

As you know, it was a 'whopping commercial...success' which broke records. The stars got a basic salary of £60 and 'good percentages of the box-office takings' - in fact, it turned out a golden egg that some were reluctant to leave! The play was in the public domain, so no author's royalties. Wilde's son Vyvyan Holland saw the play with his wife and son and expressed warm approval - he was a 'shy and gentle man' who 'would not have taken kindly to charity' - so with his wife 'Thelma's connivance, he received for his birthday new curtains for his study and a pair of binoculars for bird-watching in The Boltons'.

I did wonder if the cheque could be connected with Howard and Wyndham's sale of the King's Theatre to Glasgow Corporation, but saw that this didn't happen till 1967 - unless this was some preparatory arrangement. Peter Bridge is described in his DNB entry as tall and dark, and elsewhere as a large man, and not sure if this fits the man in the chair who perhaps looks more Richard Todd's build? Do you agree - I'm not much of a judge. So if not Peter Bridge, Peter Donald or James Roose-Evans, probably what you and others have suggested, or possibly the theatre manager, or someone else from Howard and Wyndham?

Good luck anyway.

Nick

Hello, Nick,

And thank you from a fellow dog lover. I much appreciate your taking the time to share from both biographies of Dennison and Gray. Fascinating information which certainly fills in the background of the play, its success, and Peter Bridge. I don't have the bios, but I will get them. I thought the play was a hit having read that Todd went on to South Africa with it. No clue if Dennison, Gray, Lockwood continued on.

I checked the University of Glasgow archives, or as far as I could go, and found the play listing including the designer Anthony Holland. Based on photo and age, he's not the man either. He was only 25 during the play in 1965.

Howard and Wyndham are still in the running although I have a hunch that the center man represents a popular charity in Glasgow. Perhaps the cheque (if it is a cheque) is from front of house collections during the run of
"An Ideal Husband" and presented to him for his charity. If a charity, I am guessing one to do with medicine: a hospital, cancer research, disabled, blind, or a children's group, etc. or even The Rotary Club or like. I also checked the archives of The Scotsman for major events in Glasgow, 1965, the play, etc. but came up blank except for an obit for Ms. Gray and a reference to the play.

It's an interesting trail which may lead to a dead end, but sometimes it's the journey.

Thank you again for helping out. I'll keep you posted if I come up with anything.

Best wishes,

Barbara

[theuofc]

Maybe he is a Football "Pools" winner and had his cheque presented to him by the cast

Hello, DocRobertPepper:

It's definitely a possibility. News items from 1965 in The Scotsman are filled with football news, so it had to be a big deal then.

Are you able to see the "cheque" clearly enough to say it's a cheque? It's 50-50 to me but it's hard to tell given its size. When companies made a donation, they seemed to have a blown up cheque that the recipient held up for a news story. Not so here perhaps because it's the cast as reps of the play (and the theatre? but where is the theatre rep?) and they probably would not have created an enlarged cheque for PR but rather presented it to him...at the end of a perfomance on stage...or?

Thank you again for the input. I'll follow the lead.

Barbara

[theuofc]

On the charity side I wonder if any of them were in the Grand Order of the Water Rats and it was a presentation.

Hi, Paul,

Rats! I had totally forgotten about the Grand Order of the Water Rats (what a name, eh?). Digging showed me that John Mills was a member. I went through quite a bit of the website looking for a matching photo, but 1965 is too long ago.

One of the most helpful bits was the Order's list of charities they help. Most of them are connected with medicine, so perhaps that cheque was a donation to a medical charity. I will send a copy of the photo to the Grand Order on the off chance they might know the man or as you suggest, they would identify a fellow Water Rat in the pic. One thing: when there is an event involving the Rats, they tend to have a larger gathering vs. one man as a rep.

But, it's a great suggestion, and I will follow it.

All best,

Barbara

[smudge]

If you're sure that the presentation is at the specific theatre my suggestion would be to see if there is a local newspaper archive available for around the time of the performance dates. It looks to me like the sort of photo that would hit the local rag...

On the Rats thing, if it were a GOWR presentation I'd expect to spot at least one indication that somebody was wearing their Rats insignia - the wee badge thingy. That doesn't look in evidence here to me.

Smudge

[theuofc]

If you're sure that the presentation is at the specific theatre my suggestion would be to see if there is a local newspaper archive available for around the time of the performance dates. It looks to me like the sort of photo that would hit the local rag...

On the Rats thing, if it were a GOWR presentation I'd expect to spot at least one indication that somebody was wearing their Rats insignia - the wee badge thingy. That doesn't look in evidence here to me.

Smudge

Hi, Al,

You're right, of course, about a newspaper picking it up. My fault in not restating an earlier mention in the Lockwood thread that I'd accessed the photo from a paid subscription to the Scran Archives which taps all of The Scotsman photo archives. This photo came from The Scotsman with no I.D. for the center man. I've searched The Scotsman Archive for a connected article but haven't found any. I will take your lead and try the Glasgow papers for possible coverage of any charity or other event related to the play.

Thanks very much for responding,

Barbara

[aardvark]

Hello, Nick,

And thank you from a fellow dog lover. I much appreciate your taking the time to share from both biographies of Dennison and Gray. Fascinating information which certainly fills in the background of the play, its success, and Peter Bridge. I don't have the bios, but I will get them. I thought the play was a hit having read that Todd went on to South Africa with it. No clue if Dennison, Gray, Lockwood continued on.

I checked the University of Glasgow archives, or as far as I could go, and found the play listing including the designer Anthony Holland. Based on photo and age, he's not the man either. He was only 25 during the play in 1965.

Howard and Wyndham are still in the running although I have a hunch that the center man represents a popular charity in Glasgow. Perhaps the cheque (if it is a cheque) is from front of house collections during the run of
"An Ideal Husband" and presented to him for his charity. If a charity, I am guessing one to do with medicine: a hospital, cancer research, disabled, blind, or a children's group, etc. or even The Rotary Club or like. I also checked the archives of The Scotsman for major events in Glasgow, 1965, the play, etc. but came up blank except for an obit for Ms. Gray and a reference to the play.

It's an interesting trail which may lead to a dead end, but sometimes it's the journey.

Thank you again for helping out. I'll keep you posted if I come up with anything.

Best wishes,

Barbara

Hi again Barbara - and here's to dogs, large and small!

Thank you for your message. You've really been putting in the legwork on this riddle, and hope you come up with something firm. As you say though, you find out stuff along the way and it's fun in itself looking. Good luck! I've been enjoying the various good
suggestions here, including yours. Look forward to hearing if there's any outcome.

Hope you enjoy those books if they come your way (the Denison one for the early years is Overture and Beginners).They sound a delightful, funny and dedicated couple, with a talent for friendship.

BTW, the labrador in your street photo is Titus, and a photo caption in Looking Forward, Looking Back reads: 'Our beloved Titus appeared with us in Let Them Eat Cake , but he did not enjoy acting and had to have arrowroot biscuits after each performance to calm his nerves.' Sounds a good remedy!

Best
Nick

[theuofc]

Hi again Barbara - and here's to dogs, large and small!

Thank you for your message. You've really been putting in the legwork on this riddle, and hope you come up with something firm. As you say though, you find out stuff along the way and it's fun in itself looking. Good luck! I've been enjoying the various good
suggestions here, including yours. Look forward to hearing if there's any outcome.

Hope you enjoy those books if they come your way (the Denison one for the early years is Overture and Beginners).They sound a delightful, funny and dedicated couple, with a talent for friendship.

BTW, the labrador in your street photo is Titus, and a photo caption in Looking Forward, Looking Back reads: 'Our beloved Titus appeared with us in Let Them Eat Cake , but he did not enjoy acting and had to have arrowroot biscuits after each performance to calm his nerves.' Sounds a good remedy!

Best
Nick

Hi, Hi, Nick,

The chase is all. A very fascinating trail to follow with perks along the way, i.e. your comments on the bios.

I also much enjoyed the anecdote about Titus, the lab. Great dogs!

I will let you know what I discover.




All best,

Barbara

[aardvark]

Lovely photos Barbara - thanks for raising some smiles! Heartily recommend an arrowroot, or even a sumptuously Rich Tea to accompany a cuppa.

Nick

[Freddy]

[theuofc]

Hi, Paul,

What a great-looking dog! Thanks for sharing him. And how about white cat who says, "Don't leave me out of the picture!"

Barbara