Geoffrey Kerr
Encyclopedia
Geoffrey Kerr was a British stage and film actor, and writer, during the middle of the 20th century, part of a British family with a strong stage and theatre tradition spanning several generations.
and Lucy Dowson. After college, he appeared in several of his father's theatrical productions.
At the start of World War I, he obtained a commission in the Shropshire Light Infantry, and saw duty in the European trenches. A friend from his theatre days before the war arranged for him to receive training in the Royal Flying Corps
. While serving in that branch of the British military, he was wounded and spent the remainder of the war as an instructor in aerial gunnery. In 1920, he travelled to the United States for the first time to appear with his father on Broadway. From that point on for the remainder of the 1920s, he travelled back and forth across the Atlantic quite often, appearing on Broadway in New York City, and making silent films back home in the United Kingdom.
on Broadway in The Bachelor Father (1928). He ended his acting career in 1934, though he did appear in a play on Broadway in 1949–50, to celebrate the silver Broadway anniversary of the two stars Alfred Lunt
and Lynn Fontanne
.
His credits include:
In addition, Kerr wrote a fantasy novel, Under the Influence (1954), about a London bank cashier who can read people's minds, but only when drunk. Kerr attempted to co-write a screenplay with George S. Kaufman based on that novel, but the screenplay remained unfinished.
in 1926. They had one child in 1931 (a son, John Kerr
, who also became an actor in the family tradition). He separated from his wife in 1938, and they divorced in 1943.
Early life
Geoffrey Kemble Grinham Keen was born on 26 January 1895, in London, England, the son of character actor and theatrical manager Frederick KerrFrederick Kerr
Frederick Kerr was a British actor who appeared on stage in both New York City and London, and in British and American films; he also worked as a major theatrical manager in London.-Early life:...
and Lucy Dowson. After college, he appeared in several of his father's theatrical productions.
At the start of World War I, he obtained a commission in the Shropshire Light Infantry, and saw duty in the European trenches. A friend from his theatre days before the war arranged for him to receive training in the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
. While serving in that branch of the British military, he was wounded and spent the remainder of the war as an instructor in aerial gunnery. In 1920, he travelled to the United States for the first time to appear with his father on Broadway. From that point on for the remainder of the 1920s, he travelled back and forth across the Atlantic quite often, appearing on Broadway in New York City, and making silent films back home in the United Kingdom.
Stage career
On Broadway, as Geoffrey Kerr, he performed in such plays as The Stork (1925) and London Calling, the latter which he wrote. He also directed occasionally, and co-starred with wife June WalkerJune Walker
June Walker was an American stage and film actress. She appeared on Broadway in such plays as Green Grow the Lilacs, The Farmer Takes a Wife, and Twelfth Night...
on Broadway in The Bachelor Father (1928). He ended his acting career in 1934, though he did appear in a play on Broadway in 1949–50, to celebrate the silver Broadway anniversary of the two stars Alfred Lunt
Alfred Lunt
Alfred Lunt was an American stage director and actor, often identified for a long-time professional partnership with his wife, actress Lynn Fontanne...
and Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne was a British actress and major stage star in the United States for over 40 years. She teamed with her husband Alfred Lunt.She lived in the United States for more than 60 years but never relinquished her British citizenship. Lunt and Fontanne shared a special Tony Award in 1970...
.
- Just Suppose, playing George (1 Nov 1920 – Jan ?, 1921)
- East of Suez, playing Harold Knox (21 Sep 1922 – Dec ?, 1922)
- You and I, playing Roderick White (19 Feb 1923 – Jun ?, 1923)
- The Changelings, playing Wicky Faber (17 Sep 1923 – Jan ?, 1924)
- In His Arms, playing Ernest Fairleigh (13 Oct 1924 – Nov ?, 1924)
- The Stork, playing Lionel Deport (26 Jan 1925 – Feb ?, 1925)
- 'First Love", playing Jean (8 Nov 1926 – Dec ?, 1926)
- The Bachelor Father, playing John Ashley (28 Feb 1928 – Oct ?, 1928)
- Ada Beats the Drum, directed by Geoffrey Kerr (8 May 1930 – Jun ?, 1930)
- London CallingLondon Calling (play)London Calling is a comedy play in three acts, written by Geoffrey Kerr, produced by John Golden, and directed by Dan Jarratt. The play was first performed at Little Theatre, Rochester, New York, on October 18, 1930. The star of the original production was British-born thespian St. Clair Bayfield...
, written by Geoffrey Kerr, playing George Craft (18 Oct 1930 – Oct ?, 1930) - This is New York, playing Joseph Gresham, Jr. (28 Nov 1930 – Jan ?, 1931)
- Collision, playing Dr. Gestzi (16 Feb 1932 – Feb ?, 1932)
- We Are No Longer Children, playing Jean Servin (31 Mar 1932 – Apr ?, 1932)
- Domino, playing Cremone (16 Aug 1932 – Aug ?, 1932)
- Foolscap, staged by Geoffrey Kerr, playing Shakespeare (11 Jan 1933 – Jan ?, 1933)
- Yellow JackYellow jackThe yellow jack, Carangoides bartholomaei , is a species of offshore marine fish in the jack family, Carangidae. It is one of only two representatives of its genus present in the Atlantic Ocean, inhabiting waters off the east coast of the Americas from Massachusetts in the north to Brazil in the...
, playing Stackpoole (6 Mar 1934 – May 1934) - I Know My Love, playing Frederic Chanler (2 Nov 1949 – 3 Jun 1950)
Film career
Geoffrey Kerr became known in the film industry when he co-starred with his father in the British silent film 12.10 (1919), although he did appear in several other silent films prior to that. Most of his silent films were British productions; the "talkies" in 1931 were US productions.- The Profligate (1917) .... Wilfred
- The Usurper (1919/II) .... Bonamy Tredgold
- 12.10 (1919) .... Geoffrey Brooke
- The MirageThe Mirage (film)The Mirage is a 1920 British silent romance film directed by Arthur Rooke and starring Edward O'Neill, Dorothy Holmes-Gore and Douglas Munro. The screenplay was written by Guy Newall and Ivy Duke based on a story by E. Temple Thurston. A poor French aristocrat living in Bloomsbury falls in love...
(1920) .... Richard Dalziell - Torn SailsTorn SailsTorn Sails is a 1920 British silent drama film directed by A.V. Bramble and starring Milton Rosmer, Mary Odette and Geoffrey Kerr. It was based on the 1897 novel Torn Sails by Allen Raine...
(1920) .... Ivor Parry - The Great DayThe Great DayThe Great Day is a 1921 short drama film directed by Hugh Ford. Alfred Hitchcock is credited as a title designer. The film is now lost.-Cast:* Arthur Bourchier - Sir John Borstwick* Mary Palfrey - Lady Borstwick* Marjorie Hume - Clara Borstwick...
(1921) .... Dave Leeson - The Man from HomeThe Man from Home (1922 film)The Man From Home is a 1922 UK drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice. The story had been filmed before in 1914 by Cecil B. DeMille as The Man from Home. Alfred Hitchcock was credited as a title designer on the 1922 production. The film is now considered a lost film.-Cast:* James Kirkwood -...
(1922) .... Horace Granger-Simpson - Love's BoomerangLove's BoomerangLove's Boomerang is a 1922 crime film directed by John S. Robertson. Alfred Hitchcock is credited as a title designer...
(1922) .... Saville Mender - Just Suppose (1926) .... Count Anton Teschy
- Once a Lady (1931) .... Jimmy Fenwick
- The RunaroundThe Runaround (1931 film)The Runaround is a comedy-drama film that was photographed entirely in Technicolor. The film is important as the first to be filmed in a new Technicolor process which removed grain and resulted in a much improved color....
(1931) .... Fred - Women Love Once (1931) .... Allen Greenough
Writing career
From 1935 until the late 1940s, Kerr was a screenwriter and playwright; he also wrote several British television productions in the early 1950s. His best-known film credits include Rene Clair's Break the News (1938), the wartime comedy/melodrama Cottage to Let (1941), and the period drama Jassy (1947). One of Kerr's screenplays from 1936 resurfaced in 1988 as the British TV production, The Tenth Man.His credits include:
- The Ghost Goes WestThe Ghost Goes WestThe Ghost Goes West is a British romantic comedy/fantasy film starring Robert Donat, Jean Parker, and Eugene Pallette, and directed by René Clair, his first English-language film...
(1935) (scenario) - Weekend Millionaire (1935) (writer) ... aka Once in a Million (UK original title)
- The Tenth Man (1936) (writer)
- A Star Fell from Heaven (1936) (writer)
- Living Dangerously (1936) (writer)
- Break the News (1938) (writer)
- Sweet Devil (1938) (writer)
- Under Your HatUnder Your HatUnder Your Hat is a 1940 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge, Austin Trevor, Leonora Corbett and Cecil Parker. The film is set in pre-Second World War England where a leading film star and his wife attempt to recover a secret carburettor...
(1940) (his play adapted for film) - Bombsight Stolen (1941) (his play adapted for film) ... aka Cottage to LetCottage to LetCottage to Let is a 1941 spy film starring Leslie Banks, Alastair Sim and John Mills. Set in World War II Scotland, its plot concerns Nazi spies trying to kidnap an inventor.-Plot:...
(UK original title) - JassyJassy (film)Jassy was a 1947 British film melodrama, based on a novel by Norah Lofts. It was a Gainsborough melodrama, the only one to be made in technicolour.-Plot:...
(1947) (writer) - The CalendarThe Calendar (1948 film)The Calendar is a 1948 British drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Greta Gynt, John McCallum, Raymond Lovell and Leslie Dwyer...
(1948) (writer) - Fools Rush In (1949) (writer)
- The Monster of Killoon (1952) (British television play)
- My Husband and IMy Husband and I (1956 TV series)My Husband and I was a short-lived black-and-white British sitcom starring Evelyn Laye and her husband Frank Lawton, who played themselves. It ran for seven episodes in 1956. My Husband and I was written by Geoffrey Kerr and James Leasor...
(1956) British TV series (writer of an unknown number of episodes)
In addition, Kerr wrote a fantasy novel, Under the Influence (1954), about a London bank cashier who can read people's minds, but only when drunk. Kerr attempted to co-write a screenplay with George S. Kaufman based on that novel, but the screenplay remained unfinished.
Personal life
He married June WalkerJune Walker
June Walker was an American stage and film actress. She appeared on Broadway in such plays as Green Grow the Lilacs, The Farmer Takes a Wife, and Twelfth Night...
in 1926. They had one child in 1931 (a son, John Kerr
John Kerr (actor)
John Kerr is an American actor from a family rooted in British and Broadway stage, and a lawyer.- Early life :Kerr's parents, Geoffrey Kerr and June Walker, were both stage and film actors, and his grandfather was Frederick Kerr, a famed British trans-Atlantic character actor in the period...
, who also became an actor in the family tradition). He separated from his wife in 1938, and they divorced in 1943.