Max Adrian(1903-1973)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Grandiose Irish stage, film and television character player Max Adrian,
a noted classical performer and musical comedy revue star with a highly
distinctive voice and "old school" acting style, was born Guy Thornton Bor on
November 1, 1903, in Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland. The son of
Edward Norman Cavendish Bor and wife Mabel Lloyd Thornton, Max studied
at the Portora Royal School and showed early interest in the performing
arts. An intermission singer/dancer at a silent film theatre, he made
his stage debut in the chorus in 1925 and proceeded to gain experience
on the West End.
Following extensive repertory experience, Adrian (who was occasionally
billed as Max Cavendish) enjoyed his first transcontinental stage hit
with "First Episode", which toured throughout England and later
transferred to Broadway in 1934. He went on to find wide personal
success with his roles in "Troilus and Cressida" and "The Doctor's
Dilemma" toward the end of the decade. Joining the Old Vic company in
1939, he scored as "The Dauphin" in "Saint Joan", then continued
supremely with John Gielgud's company at
the Haymarket Theatre in the mid-1940s as "Puck" in "A Midsummer
Night's Dream", "Osric" in "Hamlet" and "Tattle" in "Love for Love".
A founding member of both the Royal Shakespeare Company and, much
later, Laurence Olivier's National
Theatre, Adrian earned widespread admiration for his work on the
lighter side as a singer/comedian on the post-WWII musical revue stage.
Many were produced by his long-time companion Laurier Lister
(1907-1986). He also later performed eloquently, if outrageously, in
one-man shows about
George Bernard Shaw and the lesser
successful "Gilbert and Sullivan".
Following his revue success, the often-bespectacled actor traveled to
America in 1956 to appear in
Leonard Bernstein's operetta,
"Candide", on Broadway. Adrian stayed and pursued a career working in
such summer stock productions of "Pygmalion" as Alfred as Doolittle,
"Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme" as "Jourdain", "The Merchant of Venice" as
"Shylock", and "The School for Scandal" as "Sir Peter Teazle", but
never established a strong footing. He returned to London in 1959 to
appear in Noël Coward "Look After Lulu!",
which later was taken to Broadway.
In the early 1960s, Adrian became a member of
Peter Hall's nascent Royal
Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford-upon-Avon, wherein he appeared
in "As You Like It", "Twelfth Night" and "Troilus and Cressida", as
well as the non-Bard productions of "The Duchess of Malfi", "The
Devils" and "The Hollow Crown". He also was a founding member of
Olivier's National Theatre Company at the Old Vic from 1963, wherein he
supported Peter O'Toole "Hamlet"
as "Polonius". He also went on to appear in "Saint Joan", "Uncle
Vanya", "The Recruiting Officer" and "The Master Builder".
Less renowned for his work on film, Adrian's made his debut in 1934
with two films:
The Primrose Path (1934) and
Eight Cylinder Love (1934).
Film highlights during this earlier period came with his roles in the
historical pieces The Remarkable Mr. Kipps (1941) and
Courageous Mr. Penn (1942)
and as "The Dauphin" in Olivier's classical masterpiece,
Henry V (1944)
(aka Henry V). Post-war films included lesser parts in
The Taming of Dorothy (1950),
Pool of London (1951) and
The Pickwick Papers (1952).
In later years, he showed some minor flash in
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) and
The Deadly Affair (1967), and
capped his cinematic career as a favorite actor of visionary director
Ken Russell and his mesmerizingly
bizarre films
The Music Lovers (1971),
The Boy Friend (1971) and
The Devils (1971). He fared much
better on TV with several Shakespearean and other classical roles,
notably as a delightful "Fagin" in "Oliver Twist", impressive
Benjamin Disraeli in "Victoria
Regina", and as composer "Fredrick Delius" in "Song of Summer".
Dying of a heart attack in 1973, the prolific stage actor, survived by
his partner, was paid tribute by such luminaries as
Laurence Olivier,
Alec Guinness and revue co-star
Joyce Grenfell.
a noted classical performer and musical comedy revue star with a highly
distinctive voice and "old school" acting style, was born Guy Thornton Bor on
November 1, 1903, in Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland. The son of
Edward Norman Cavendish Bor and wife Mabel Lloyd Thornton, Max studied
at the Portora Royal School and showed early interest in the performing
arts. An intermission singer/dancer at a silent film theatre, he made
his stage debut in the chorus in 1925 and proceeded to gain experience
on the West End.
Following extensive repertory experience, Adrian (who was occasionally
billed as Max Cavendish) enjoyed his first transcontinental stage hit
with "First Episode", which toured throughout England and later
transferred to Broadway in 1934. He went on to find wide personal
success with his roles in "Troilus and Cressida" and "The Doctor's
Dilemma" toward the end of the decade. Joining the Old Vic company in
1939, he scored as "The Dauphin" in "Saint Joan", then continued
supremely with John Gielgud's company at
the Haymarket Theatre in the mid-1940s as "Puck" in "A Midsummer
Night's Dream", "Osric" in "Hamlet" and "Tattle" in "Love for Love".
A founding member of both the Royal Shakespeare Company and, much
later, Laurence Olivier's National
Theatre, Adrian earned widespread admiration for his work on the
lighter side as a singer/comedian on the post-WWII musical revue stage.
Many were produced by his long-time companion Laurier Lister
(1907-1986). He also later performed eloquently, if outrageously, in
one-man shows about
George Bernard Shaw and the lesser
successful "Gilbert and Sullivan".
Following his revue success, the often-bespectacled actor traveled to
America in 1956 to appear in
Leonard Bernstein's operetta,
"Candide", on Broadway. Adrian stayed and pursued a career working in
such summer stock productions of "Pygmalion" as Alfred as Doolittle,
"Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme" as "Jourdain", "The Merchant of Venice" as
"Shylock", and "The School for Scandal" as "Sir Peter Teazle", but
never established a strong footing. He returned to London in 1959 to
appear in Noël Coward "Look After Lulu!",
which later was taken to Broadway.
In the early 1960s, Adrian became a member of
Peter Hall's nascent Royal
Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford-upon-Avon, wherein he appeared
in "As You Like It", "Twelfth Night" and "Troilus and Cressida", as
well as the non-Bard productions of "The Duchess of Malfi", "The
Devils" and "The Hollow Crown". He also was a founding member of
Olivier's National Theatre Company at the Old Vic from 1963, wherein he
supported Peter O'Toole "Hamlet"
as "Polonius". He also went on to appear in "Saint Joan", "Uncle
Vanya", "The Recruiting Officer" and "The Master Builder".
Less renowned for his work on film, Adrian's made his debut in 1934
with two films:
The Primrose Path (1934) and
Eight Cylinder Love (1934).
Film highlights during this earlier period came with his roles in the
historical pieces The Remarkable Mr. Kipps (1941) and
Courageous Mr. Penn (1942)
and as "The Dauphin" in Olivier's classical masterpiece,
Henry V (1944)
(aka Henry V). Post-war films included lesser parts in
The Taming of Dorothy (1950),
Pool of London (1951) and
The Pickwick Papers (1952).
In later years, he showed some minor flash in
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) and
The Deadly Affair (1967), and
capped his cinematic career as a favorite actor of visionary director
Ken Russell and his mesmerizingly
bizarre films
The Music Lovers (1971),
The Boy Friend (1971) and
The Devils (1971). He fared much
better on TV with several Shakespearean and other classical roles,
notably as a delightful "Fagin" in "Oliver Twist", impressive
Benjamin Disraeli in "Victoria
Regina", and as composer "Fredrick Delius" in "Song of Summer".
Dying of a heart attack in 1973, the prolific stage actor, survived by
his partner, was paid tribute by such luminaries as
Laurence Olivier,
Alec Guinness and revue co-star
Joyce Grenfell.