Ernest George Harcourt Williams (30 March 1880 – 13 December 1957) was an English actor and director. After early experience in touring companies he established himself as a character actor and director in the West End. From 1929 to 1934 he was director of The Old Vic theatre company; among the actors he recruited were John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson. After directing some fifty plays he resigned the directorship of the Old Vic but continued to appear in the company's productions throughout the rest of his career. He appeared in thirty cinema and television roles during his later years.
Life and career Williams was born in Croydon, Surrey, the son of John Williams, a merchant.Parker, pp. 990–991 He was educated at Beckenham Abbey and Whitgift Grammar School, Croydon. After taking drama lessons he joined Frank Benson's touring company in 1897. He remained with Benson for five years, and made his London debut at the Lyceum in 1900, playing Sir Thomas Grey in Henry V.
Harcourt Williams both co-directed and starred in Rosina Filippi's adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, in a play called The Bennets at the Royal Court Theatre in a special matinee on 29 March 1901. He co-directed with Winifred Mayo, doing double duty by acting as hero Mr. Darcy, opposite Mayo's Elizabeth Bennet. The plays was well received to a full house with both Mayo and Williams' making able performances.The Croydon Guardian (6th April 1901) This made Williams the first known actor to play Mr. Darcy on the professional stage.
He then worked for three other companies, including that of Ellen Terry, which he joined in 1903.Hayman, p. 51
In 1906 Williams made his American debut, with H.B. Irving, touring the US for a year. After returning to Britain he was in George Alexander's company before returning for another period with Irving. He married the actress Jean Sterling Mackinlay in 1908. Their son John Sterling became a well-known pianist."Obituary, Mr Harcourt Williams", The Times, 14 December 1957, p. 11
In the First World War, as a conscientious objector, he volunteered for the Friends' Ambulance Unit.
One of Williams's most notable parts of this period was General Lee in John Drinkwater's Abraham Lincoln in 1919; he later switched to the role of the Chronicler in the same production."Abraham Lincoln Revisited", The Times, 28 November 1919, p. 10 In 1922, in Mary Stuart by Drinkwater, he was "exquisitely repulsive" as Darnley."Mary Stuart", The Times, 26 September 1922, p. 8 In a third historical drama by the same author he was John Hampden in Oliver Cromwell at His Majesty's in 1923, to the Cromwell of Henry Ainley.Parker, p. lxi In 1923 he directed G K Chesterton's play Magic at the Everyman Theatre.Parker, p. lxvii In 1926 he appeared in John Barrymore's production of Hamlet at the Haymarket Theatre, as the Player King.Parker, p. cxvi
In 1929, when he was forty-nine, Lilian Baylis appointed Williams as the new director of her Old Vic theatre company. He was responsible for engaging first John Gielgud and then Ralph Richardson to join the Old Vic as leading man. Over the next four years Williams directed about fifty plays for the company, also acting in many of the productions. He expanded the Old Vic's traditional repertoire to include modern works by Bernard Shaw and others. The biographer Jonathan Croall writes of Williams:
After leaving the directorship of the Old Vic, handing over to Tyrone Guthrie after the 1933–34 season, Williams frequently accepted invitations to act with the company, for Guthrie and his successors. He appeared in thirty film and television roles between 1944 and 1956,"Filmography", British Film Institute. Retrieved 24 February 2014 including a supporting role as the ambassador in the film classic Roman Holiday alongside Audrey Hepburn. In 1953 he appeared in A Day by the Sea by N.C. Hunter. Williams celebrated his golden jubilee as an actor while appearing in a long-running production of Shaw's You Never Can Tell described by The Times as "the liveliest show in town"."Wyndham's Theatre", The Times, 4 October 1947, p. 6 He died in London after a long illness, aged 77.
Screen roles Williams's cinema and television roles were: YearTitleRoleNotes 1944 Henry V Charles VI of France 1947 Brighton Rock Prewitt 1948 Vice Versa Judge 1948 Hamlet First Player 1948 No Room at the Inn Rev Mr Allworth 1949 Third Time Lucky Doc 1949 For Them That Trespass Second judge 1949 Trottie True Duke of Wellwater 1949 The Lost People Priest 1949 Under Capricorn Coachman 1950 The Frog Prince Script TV 1950 The Admirable Crichton Earl of Loam TV 1950 The Lady's Not for Burning Hebble Tyson, the Mayor TV 1950 Thérèse Raquin Monsieur Michaud TV 1950 The Master Builder Dr Herdal TV 1950 Your Witness Richard Beamish, Sam's Solicitor 1950 Cage of Gold Dr Kearn 1950 A Midsummer Night's Dream Peter Quince, the carpenter TV 1951 The Late Edwina Black Dr Septimus Prendergast 1951 Green Grow the Rushes Chairman of the bench 1951 The Magic Box Tom, workman at Lege & Co 1952 Music at Night Charles Bendrex TV 1952 The Bishop's Treasure The Bishop TV 1952 The King and the Mockingbird The Old Beggar Voice 1953 Time Bomb Vicar 1953 The Blakes Slept Here Narrator 1953 Roman Holiday Ambassador 1955 The Flying Eye Professor Murdoch 1955 The Hideaway Mr Collins TV 1955 The Adventures of Quentin Durward Bishop of Liége 1956 The Advancing Shadow George Cornelius TV 1956 Around the World in 80 Days Hinshaw – Reform Club Aged Steward (final film role) Source: British Film Institute
Notes
References
External links Theatre performances in the Theatre Archive, University of Bristol