Gerald du Maurier

Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier (26 March 1873 – 11 April 1934) was an English actor and manager. He was the son of the author George du Maurier and brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. During 1902, he married the actress Muriel Beaumont with whom he had three daughters: writers Angela du Maurier (1904–2002) and Daphne du Maurier (1907–1989), and painter Jeanne du Maurier (1911–1997).[1][2] His popularity was due to his subtle and naturalistic acting: a "delicately realistic style of acting that sought to suggest rather than to state the deeper emotions".[3] His Times obituary said of his career: "His parentage assured him of engagements in the best of company to begin with; but it was his own talent that took advantage of them."

Sir

Gerald du Maurier
Born
Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier

(1873-03-26)26 March 1873
Hampstead, London, England
Died11 April 1934(1934-04-11) (aged 61)
Hampstead, London, England
OccupationActor
Years activepre-1900–1934
Spouse(s)Muriel Beaumont, Lady du Maurier
Children
Parent(s)George du Maurier and Emma Wightwick
Cannon Hall, Hampstead, drawn by A.R. Quinton, 1911, the family home in London from 1916 and where du Maurier died.

Early life
du Maurier caricatured by Spy for Vanity Fair, 1907.

Du Maurier was born in Hampstead, London, and attended Heath Mount School[4] and Harrow School. He initially pursued a career in business, but it did not suit him, and he began working as an actor. He obtained his first engagement, a small part in Sydney Grundy's An Old Jew, by means of his father's friend John Hare, manager of the Garrick Theatre.

J.M. Barrie

After playing a number of small roles pre-1900, including a part in his father's popular drama Trilby with Herbert Beerbohm Tree during 1895, his popularity became assured as a result of his acclaimed performance in major roles in the premieres of two J.M. Barrie plays: as Ernest in The Admirable Crichton during 1902, and the dual role of George Darling and Captain Hook (instead of Seymour Hicks, who had refused the part) in Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, at the Duke of York's Theatre, London, on 27 December 1904. He also played in other Barrie plays, including Dear Brutus.

His nephews, his sister Sylvia Llewelyn Davies's sons, were the inspiration for Peter Pan and other boy characters of Barrie's fiction. The character of Wendy Darling in Peter Pan shares one of her middle names with du Maurier's daughter Angela, who in later years portrayed Wendy onstage herself.

Theatre

With Frank Curzon, he co-managed Wyndham's Theatre from 1910 to 1925, and then worked for the St James's Theatre. Knighted during 1922 at the maximum of his popularity, he continued to perform throughout his life. During later years he acted cinema roles such as Lord Camber's Ladies (1932), a German doctor in I Was a Spy (1933), the emperor's valet in Catherine the Great (1934) and, soon before his final illness, Wessensee in the Michael Balcon version of Jew Süss (1934).

Du Maurier cigarettes

Du Maurier was a regular cigarette smoker, and the du Maurier brand was named after him as a paid endorsement deal (he did not smoke them himself), to which he agreed to help pay taxes owed.[5]

Charity work

He served as President of the Actors' Orphanage Fund (now the Actors' Charitable Trust) from 1914 to his death, when he was succeeded by Noël Coward.

Freemason

He joined the Freemasons' Green Room Lodge No. 2957 on 4 November 1904, an actors' lodge which included Leedham Bantock, Fred Terry and George Grossmith Jr. among its members.[6]

Death

He died on 11 April 1934 of colon cancer, at Cannon Hall, Cannon Place, Hampstead, his home since 1916. A blue plaque has been placed at the house in his memory.[7] His daughter Daphne refused to attend his funeral[1] but wrote a biography of him – Gerald: A Portrait – which was published soon after his death.

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1917 Masks and Faces Hunsdon Film debut
Everybody's Business Tom Briton Short
Justice Falder
1920 Unmarried Rev. Roland Allington
1930 Escape Captain Matt Denant
1932 Lord Camber's Ladies Dr. Napier
1933 I Was a Spy Doctor
1934 The Scotland Yard Mystery Commissioner Stanton
The Rise of Catherine the Great Lecocq
Jew Süss Weissensee Final film

Selected stage credits

References and sources
References
  1. Conradi, Peter J (1 March 2013). "Women in love: The fantastical world of the du Mauriers". ft.com. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  2. Dunn, Jane Daphne du Maurier and Her Sisters, Harper Press (2013)
  3. Britannica 2005
  4. Gerald: A Portrait, Daphne du Maurier, Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1935 Google Books
  5. "Du Maurier Cigarettes". www.dumaurier.org. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  6. "Join Ancestry". www.ancestry.co.uk.
  7. "Gerald du Maurier - Blue Plaque". openplaques.org. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
Sources
  • Sir Gerald du Maurier, Actor, Manager and Producer, Obituary, The Times, 12 April 1934
  • James Harding, "Du Maurier, Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson (1873–1934)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 10 Sept 2007
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