Michael Redgrave

Michael Scudmore Redgrave was born on March 20, 1908 in Bristol, England. His father was a silent movie star, Roy Redgrave, and his mother Margaret Scudmore was also an actress. His father deserted the family and moved to Australia when Michael was six months old. His father died there when Michael was 14. His mother had remarried Captain James Anderson, a tea planter, whom it is said

Redgrave greatly disliked. Redgrave would study at Clifton College and Magdalene College in Cambridge and went on to teach drama at a private boys' school until 1934. He then decided to become an actor at the age of 25.

He played with a Liverpool Repertory company for a year or so where he met his future wife Rachel Campson. They married on July 18, 1935. He was then invited to perform at the Old Vic in Shakespeare's Loves Labers Lost in 1936 and later with play-larities opposite Lawrence Olivier's Hamlet.

His first television role was in 1937 in scenes from Romeo and Juliet and his big movie breakthrough was in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes in 1938. He tended to act in dramas rather than in comedies, playing both modern and classic roles.

He was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Morning Becomes Electra, co-starring Roslyn Russell. Still he was a fine comedian. He is remembered fondly for his portrayal of Ernest Worthing in the 1952 film adaptation of The Importance of Being Ernest.

His career spanned the theater, the movies, the radio, and television. And he was exceedingly active after World War II. While working a punishing schedule of both theatrical and movie engagements, he managed to find time to act in both British and American radio shows.