Marius Goring
Encyclopedia
Marius Goring CBE was an English
stage
and cinema
actor
. He is most often remembered for the four films he did with Powell & Pressburger
, particularly as Conductor 71 in A Matter of Life and Death and as Julian Craster in The Red Shoes. He regularly performed French
and German roles.
Goring was born in Newport, Isle of Wight
, England
, the son of Doctor Charles Goring and Kate Macdonald. After attending The Perse School in Cambridge
, where he became a friend of an older boy, the future documentary film maker Humphrey Jennings
, he studied at the universities of Cambridge
, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Paris. He first performed professionally in 1927. His early stage career included appearances at the Old Vic
, Sadler's Wells, Stratford
and several European tours; he was fluent in French and German. He first worked in the West End
in a 1934 revival of Granville-Barker
's The Voysey Inheritance
at the Shaftesbury Theatre
. During the 1930s, he played a variety of Shakespearean roles, including Feste in Twelfth Night (1937), Macbeth
and Romeo
, in addition to Trip in Sheridan
's The School for Scandal
. In 1929, he became a founding member of British Equity
, the actor's union, and became its president from 1963 to 1965, and again from 1975 to 1982. Goring's relationship with his union was fraught: he took it to litigation on three occasions. In 1992 he unsuccessfully sought to end the block on the sale of radio and television programmes to (the still) apartheid South Africa.
During the war
he joined the army
, becoming supervisor of BBC
radio productions broadcasting to Germany
and continued to act under the name Charles Richardson, because of the association of his name with Hermann Göring
. In 1941, he married his second wife, the actress Lucie Mannheim
. She died in 1976, and the next year Goring married television producer Prudence Fitzgerald, who survived him.
His TV work included starring as Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel
(ITV
, 1955), a series which he also co-wrote and produced; Theodore Maxtible in the Doctor Who
story The Evil of the Daleks
(BBC
, 1967); title role in The Expert (BBC
, 1968–1976); George V
in Edward and Mrs Simpson
(Thames
, 1980); and The Old Men at the Zoo
(BBC, 1983).
Goring's voice provides the narration of the sound and light show performed regularly in the evening at the Blue Mosque
in Istanbul
, Turkey.
He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
in 1979 and appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(CBE) in 1991. He died from cancer
in 1998 aged 86.
* Powell and Pressburger
productions
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He is most often remembered for the four films he did with Powell & Pressburger
Powell and Pressburger
The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers, made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1981 they were recognized for their contributions to British cinema with the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, the most prestigious...
, particularly as Conductor 71 in A Matter of Life and Death and as Julian Craster in The Red Shoes. He regularly performed French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
and German roles.
Goring was born in Newport, Isle of Wight
Newport, Isle of Wight
Newport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the son of Doctor Charles Goring and Kate Macdonald. After attending The Perse School in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, where he became a friend of an older boy, the future documentary film maker Humphrey Jennings
Humphrey Jennings
Frank Humphrey Sinkler Jennings was an English documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organization...
, he studied at the universities of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Paris. He first performed professionally in 1927. His early stage career included appearances at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
, Sadler's Wells, Stratford
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
and several European tours; he was fluent in French and German. He first worked in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
in a 1934 revival of Granville-Barker
Harley Granville-Barker
Harley Granville-Barker was an English actor-manager, director, producer, critic and playwright....
's The Voysey Inheritance
The Voysey Inheritance
The Voysey Inheritance is a play written by the English dramatist Harley Granville-Barker. Originally written in 1905, it was revived at the National Theatre in 2006.It is currently in the public domain.- See also :*...
at the Shaftesbury Theatre
Shaftesbury Theatre
The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New...
. During the 1930s, he played a variety of Shakespearean roles, including Feste in Twelfth Night (1937), Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
and Romeo
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, in addition to Trip in Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...
's The School for Scandal
The School for Scandal
The School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 8, 1777.The prologue, written by David Garrick, commends the play, its subject, and its author to the audience...
. In 1929, he became a founding member of British Equity
British Actors' Equity Association
Equity is the trade union for actors, stage managers and models in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1930 by a group of West End performers....
, the actor's union, and became its president from 1963 to 1965, and again from 1975 to 1982. Goring's relationship with his union was fraught: he took it to litigation on three occasions. In 1992 he unsuccessfully sought to end the block on the sale of radio and television programmes to (the still) apartheid South Africa.
During the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he joined the army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, becoming supervisor of BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio productions broadcasting to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and continued to act under the name Charles Richardson, because of the association of his name with Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
. In 1941, he married his second wife, the actress Lucie Mannheim
Lucie Mannheim
Lucie Mannheim was a German singer and actress.Mannheim was born in Berlin–Köpenick where she studied drama and quickly became a popular figure appearing on stage in plays and musicals. Among other roles, she played Nora in Ibsen's A Doll's House, Marie in Büchner's Woyzeck, and Juliet in...
. She died in 1976, and the next year Goring married television producer Prudence Fitzgerald, who survived him.
His TV work included starring as Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel (television series)
The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a British television series based on the adventure novel of the same name by Baroness Emmuska Orczy...
(ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, 1955), a series which he also co-wrote and produced; Theodore Maxtible in the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
story The Evil of the Daleks
The Evil of the Daleks
The Evil of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in seven weekly parts from 20 May to 1 July 1967. This serial marked the debut of Deborah Watling as the Doctor's new companion, Victoria Waterfield.Evil was initially intended to...
(BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, 1967); title role in The Expert (BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, 1968–1976); George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
in Edward and Mrs Simpson
Edward and Mrs Simpson
Edward & Mrs. Simpson is a seven-part British television series that dramatises the events leading to the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, who gave up his throne to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson....
(Thames
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
, 1980); and The Old Men at the Zoo
The Old Men at the Zoo
The Old Men at the Zoo is a novel written by Angus Wilson, first published in 1961 by Secker and Warburg, and by Penguin books in 1964. It was adapted into a 1983 BBC Television serial by scriptwriter Troy Kennedy Martin.-Cast:...
(BBC, 1983).
Sultan Ahmed Mosque
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is a historical mosque in Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey and the capital of the Ottoman Empire . The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior....
in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey.
He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
in 1979 and appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(CBE) in 1991. He died from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in 1998 aged 86.
Selected filmography
- Flying Fifty-FiveFlying Fifty-FiveFlying Fifty-Five is a 1939 British, black-and-white, drama, racing film, directed by Reginald Denham and starring Ronald Shiner as Scrubby Oaks, Derrick De Marney, Nancy Burne, John Warwick and Peter Gawthorne. It was produced by Admiral Films...
(1939) - The Spy in BlackThe Spy in BlackThe Spy in Black is a 1939 British film, and the first collaboration between the British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. They were brought together by Alexander Korda to make the World War I spy thriller by Joseph Storer Clouston into a film...
* (1939) - The Night InvaderThe Night InvaderThe Night Invader is a 1943 British, black-and-white, drama, thriller, war film, directed by Herbert Mason and starring Ronald Shiner as Witsen, Anne Crawford and David Farrar. It was produced by Warner Brothers First National Productions...
(1943) - Night Boat to DublinNight Boat to DublinNight Boat to Dublin is a 1946 British thriller film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Robert Newton, Raymond Lovell, Guy Middleton, Muriel Pavlow and Herbert Lom.-Plot:...
(1946) - A Matter of Life and Death* (1946)
- Take My LifeTake My LifeTake My Life is a 1947 British thriller film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Hugh Williams, Greta Gynt and Marius Goring.-Cast:* Hugh Williams as Nicholas Talbot* Greta Gynt as Philippa Shelley* Marius Goring as Sidney Flemming...
(1947) - Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill (1948)
- The Red Shoes* (1948)
- OdetteOdette (film)Odette is a 1950 film that was directed by Herbert Wilcox and used a screenplay by Warren Chetham-Strode. The film starred Anna Neagle as Odette Sansom, an Allied French-born heroine of World War II who joined the Special Operations Executive and was sent to France to work with the resistance...
(1950) - Highly DangerousHighly DangerousHighly Dangerous is a 1950 British spy film starring Margaret Lockwood as a British entomologist trying to stop a biological attack with the help of an American journalist played by Dane Clark. The screenplay was written by Eric Ambler.-Cast:...
(1950) - Pandora and the Flying DutchmanPandora and the Flying DutchmanPandora and the Flying Dutchman is a 1951 British drama film made by Romulus Films and released by MGM in the United States. It was directed by Albert Lewin and produced by Joe Kaufmann and Albert Lewin from his own screenplay, based on the legend of The Flying Dutchman.It starred Ava Gardner and...
(1951) - Circle of DangerCircle of DangerCircle of Danger is a 1951 British thriller film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Ray Milland, Patricia Roc and Naunton Wayne. An American travels to England to discover the truth behind his brother's death during the Second World War...
(1951) - So Little TimeSo Little Time (film)So Little Time is a 1952 British World War II romance drama, directed by Compton Bennett and starring Marius Goring and Maria Schell. The film is based on the novel Je ne suis pas une héroïne by French author Noelle Henry...
(1952) - The Man Who Watched the Trains Go ByThe Man Who Watched the Trains Go ByThe Man Who Watched Trains Go By is a crime drama film, released in the United Kingdom with an all-European cast, including Claude Rains in the lead role. Rains plays the role of Kees Popinga, who is infatuated with Michele Rozier . The film was released in the United States in 1953 under the...
(1952) - The Barefoot ContessaThe Barefoot ContessaThe Barefoot Contessa is a 1954 film about the life and loves of fictional Spanish sex symbol Maria Vargas. It was written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and stars Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner and Edmond O'Brien....
(1954) - Break in the CircleBreak in the CircleBreak in the Circle is a 1955 British film directed by Val Guest and starring Forrest Tucker, Eva Bartok, Marius Goring and Guy Middleton. An adventurer is hired by a German millionaire to help a Polish scientist escape to the West....
(1955) - The Adventures of Quentin DurwardThe Adventures of Quentin DurwardThe Adventures of Quentin Durward, known also as Quentin Durward, is a 1955 historical film released by MGM. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S. Berman...
(1955) - Ill Met by Moonlight* (1957)
- The MoonrakerThe MoonrakerThe Moonraker is a 1958 British historical drama film set during the English Civil War. It was directed by David MacDonald and starred George Baker, Sylvia Sims, Marius Goring, Gary Raymond, Peter Arne, John Le Mesurier and Patrick Troughton....
(1958) - I Was Monty's DoubleI Was Monty's Double (film)I Was Monty's Double is a 1958 film made by Associated British Picture Corporation . It was directed by John Guillermin, from a screenplay adapted by Bryan Forbes.- Plot :...
(1958) - Desert MiceDesert MiceDesert Mice is a 1959 British comedy film featuring Alfred Marks, Sid James, Dora Bryan, Irene Handl, John Le Mesurier and Liz Fraser. A group of ENSA entertainers with the British army in the North Africa desert during the Second World War thwart a Nazi plan...
(1959) - The Angry HillsThe Angry Hills (film)-Cast:* Robert Mitchum as Mike Morrison* Stanley Baker as Conrad Heisler* Elisabeth Müller as Lisa Kyriakides* Gia Scala as Eleftheria* Theodore Bikel as Dimitrios Tassos* Sebastian Cabot as Chesney* Peter Illing as Leonides* Leslie Phillips as Ray Taylor...
(1959) - The Unstoppable ManThe Unstoppable ManThe Unstoppable Man is a 1960 British crime drama film directed by Terry Bishop and starring Cameron Mitchell, Harry H. Corbett, Marius Goring and Lois Maxwell.-Plot:...
(1960) - Beyond the CurtainBeyond the CurtainBeyond the Curtain is a 1960 British drama film written and directed by Compton Bennett and starring Richard Greene and Eva Bartok.-Plot:...
(1960) - ExodusExodus (film)Exodus is a 1960 epic war film made by Alpha and Carlyle Productions and distributed by United Artists. Produced and directed by Otto Preminger, the film was based on the 1958 novel Exodus, by Leon Uris. The screenplay was written by Dalton Trumbo, which represented the breaking of the Hollywood...
(1960) - The Devil's DaffodilThe Devil's DaffodilThe Devil's Daffodil is a 1961 German crime film directed by Ákos Ráthonyi and starring Joachim Fuchsberger.-Cast:* Joachim Fuchsberger - Jack Tarling...
(1961) - The InspectorThe Inspector (1962 film)The Inspector, is a 1962 British-American drama film directed by Philip Dunne, starring Stephen Boyd & Dolores Hart. Dolores Hart plays Lisa Held, a Dutch Jewish girl who has survived the horror of Auschwitz.-Plot:...
(1962) - Girl on a Motorcycle (1968)
- SubterfugeSubterfuge (1968 film)Subterfuge is a 1968 British espionage film directed by Peter Graham Scott and starring Gene Barry, Joan Collins and Richard Todd.-Cast:* Gene Barry as Michael A...
(1968) - First LoveFirst Love (1970 film)First Love is a 1970 film, written, directed, and starred in by Austrian director Maximilian Schell. It is an adaptation of Ivan Turgenev's homonymous novella starring Schell, Dominique Sanda, and John Moulder-Brown.-Cast:*John Moulder-Brown as Alexander...
(1970)
Powell and Pressburger
The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers, made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1981 they were recognized for their contributions to British cinema with the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, the most prestigious...
productions
External links
- The British Film InstituteBritish Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
profile