Graham Moffat
Encyclopedia
William Graham Moffat was a Scottish
actor, director and playwright. He is best known for his 1910 comedy Bunty Pulls the Strings.
His father was William Moffat and his mother was Helen Dobson. The third of eight children, he was born in Glasgow, Scotland. There, he was exposed at an early age to the theatres and sixpenny galleries of the city and to numerous famous comedians and entertainers of the day.
He was married in 1897 to the stage actress and costume designer, Margaret Liddell Linck (1882–1942). His wife was also a suffragist, and in 1907 Graham Moffat founded the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage in Glasgow. He also penned a suffrage propaganda play, The Maid and the Magistrate.
Bunty Pulls the Strings was a huge hit in London’s West End, his biggest success, running for 617 shows at the Haymarket Theatre
in 1911. In reviewing the play when it debuted on Broadway late in 1911, the New York Times classed Moffat beside J. M. Barrie
and wrote, "it is the freshest and most wholesome thing that the theatres in New York have housed since the days of Peter Pan. The Scottish actress Molly Pearson
played the title role of Bunty in New York. The comic actor James Finlayson played Bunty's father both New York and in London. The play was made into a film in 1921.
Moffat himself directed at least one film, Till the Bells Ring (1926), a 46-minute experimental sound film based on the comedy of the same name he mounted in 1908. The film starred Moffat, his wife and his daughter.
He was living in Cape Town
, South Africa
, by 1950 and he died there in 1951.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
actor, director and playwright. He is best known for his 1910 comedy Bunty Pulls the Strings.
His father was William Moffat and his mother was Helen Dobson. The third of eight children, he was born in Glasgow, Scotland. There, he was exposed at an early age to the theatres and sixpenny galleries of the city and to numerous famous comedians and entertainers of the day.
He was married in 1897 to the stage actress and costume designer, Margaret Liddell Linck (1882–1942). His wife was also a suffragist, and in 1907 Graham Moffat founded the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage in Glasgow. He also penned a suffrage propaganda play, The Maid and the Magistrate.
Bunty Pulls the Strings was a huge hit in London’s West End, his biggest success, running for 617 shows at the Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
in 1911. In reviewing the play when it debuted on Broadway late in 1911, the New York Times classed Moffat beside J. M. Barrie
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...
and wrote, "it is the freshest and most wholesome thing that the theatres in New York have housed since the days of Peter Pan. The Scottish actress Molly Pearson
Molly Pearson
Molly Pearson was a Scottish stage actress of the early 20th century. She was born in Edinburgh.-Theatrical career:...
played the title role of Bunty in New York. The comic actor James Finlayson played Bunty's father both New York and in London. The play was made into a film in 1921.
Moffat himself directed at least one film, Till the Bells Ring (1926), a 46-minute experimental sound film based on the comedy of the same name he mounted in 1908. The film starred Moffat, his wife and his daughter.
He was living in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, by 1950 and he died there in 1951.
Publications
Besides his plays, he published at least three books:- The Pawky Scot (1928), a book of Scottish humour, with illustrations by Arthur Moreland.
- Towards Eternal Day: the Psychic Memoirs of a Playwright (1950) in which he revealed his belief that his dead father and brother helped from the deadSpirit world (spiritualism)The spirit world, according to Spiritualism, is the world inhabited by spirits. Though a concept of a spirit world is in the constitution of most religions, it is not "itself the religion". Whereas religion regards an inner life, the spirit world is regarded as an external environment for spirits...
in writing his plays. He also wrote on the supposed return from the dead of Sarah BernhardtSarah BernhardtSarah Bernhardt was a French stage and early film actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress the world has ever known". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas...
. - Join Me in Remembering (posthumous, 1955) incomplete upon his death and finished by his daughter.