Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor who was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film Anne of the Thousand Days (1969). He also played important roles in such major studio productions as The Guns of Navarone (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Operation Crossbow (1965), QB VII (1974) and The Eagle Has Landed (1976). Quayle was knighted in the 1985 New Year Honours.
Early life Quayle was born on 7 September 1913 at 2 Delamere Road, Ainsdale,Ainsdale became part of the County Borough of Southport in 1912 Southport, Lancashire, to solicitor Arthur Quayle, of a Manx family, and Esther Kate Quayle ( Overton).
He was educated at Abberley Hall School, a preparatory school in Abberley, Worcestershire, and at Rugby School, then an all-boys independent boarding school. He trained for one year at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. His first professional stage appearance was in The Ghost Train at the Q Theatre, while on holiday from RADA. After appearing in music hall, he joined the Old Vic in 1932.
Second World War service During the Second World War, he served in the Royal Artillery. Having joined as a gunner (i.e. private), he attended the 70th Coast Defence Training Regiment and was commissioned second lieutenant on 7 January 1940. He was made one of the area commanders of the Auxiliary Units in Northumberland. The units were "stay-behind forces" in case of a German invasion.Auxiliary Units were the "stay-behind forces" put in place in UK in case of a German invasion
Later, Quayle joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and served as a liaison officer with the partisans in Albania. Reportedly, his service with the SOE seriously affected him and he never felt comfortable talking about it. He described his experiences in a fictional form in Eight Hours from England.
He was an aide to the Governor of Gibraltar at the time of the air crash of General Władysław Sikorski's aircraft on 4 July 1943. He wrote of his Gibraltar experience in his second novel On Such a Night, published by Heinemann.
By the end of the war, he held the rank of temporary major. In May 1946, it was published that he had been mentioned in despatches "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the Mediterranean Theatre".
Career Theatre From 1948 to 1956 Quayle directed at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, and laid the foundations for the creation of the Royal Shakespeare Company. His own Shakespearian roles included Falstaff, Othello, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Henry VIII and Aaron in Titus Andronicus with Laurence Olivier. He also played Mosca in Ben Jonson's Volpone; and he appeared in contemporary plays. He played the role of Moses in Christopher Fry's play The Firstborn, starring opposite Katharine Cornell. He also made an LP with Cornell, in which he played the role of poet Robert Browning in The Barretts of Wimpole Street.Caedmon Publishers, TC-1071 (1957)
Quayle made his Broadway debut in The Country Wife in 1936. Thirty-four years later, he won critical acclaim for his starring role in the highly successful Anthony Shaffer play Sleuth, which earned him a Drama Desk Award.
Quayle played James Tyrone in the first UK production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night (Globe Theatre, London, 1958).
Quayle was artist-in-residence at the University of Tennessee in the mid-70s. He came to Knoxville in spring 1974 through a partnership with the Kennedy Center, starring in Henry Denker's The Headhunters, which rehearsed and opened at the Clarence Brown Theatre and then moved on to the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theatre. Quayle was appointed as professor of theatre in 1974. He taught classes as an artist in residence and served as artistic director of the Clarence Brown Company—a professional theatre company in residence at UT. He played in Everyman the same year.
In 1984, he founded Compass Theatre Company, that he inaugurated with a tour of The Clandestine Marriage, both directing and playing the part of Lord Ogleby. This production had a run at the Albery Theatre, London. With the same company, he subsequently toured with a number of other plays, including Saint Joan, Dandy Dick and King Lear with himself in the title role.
Film and television
His first film role was an uncredited brief appearance as an Italian wigmaker in Pygmalion (1938) – later film roles included parts in Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Battle of the River Plate (both 1956), Ice Cold in Alex (1958), Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959), The Guns of Navarone (1961), H.M.S. Defiant, David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (both 1962) and The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Cardinal Wolsey in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969).
Often cast as the decent British officer, Quayle drew upon his wartime experiences, bringing authenticity to the parts absent from the performances of some non-combatant stars. Nonetheless, he convincingly also played a German Panzer officer and spy in Ice Cold in Alex. One of his best friends from his days at the Old Vic was fellow actor Alec Guinness, who appeared in several films with him. He was also a close friend of Jack Hawkins and Jack Gwillim; all four actors appeared in Lawrence of Arabia.
Television appearances include the Armchair Theatre episode "The Scent of Fear" (1959) for ITV, the title role in the drama series Strange Report (ITC, 1969) and as French General Villers in the television film adaptation of The Bourne Identity (1988). He starred in the miniseries Masada (1981) as Rubrius Gallius. Also he narrated the BBC drama serial The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), and the acclaimed aviation documentary series Reaching for the Skies (1988). Quayle also starred in the 'Last Bottle in The World' episode of Tales of the Unexpected.
Caedmon Records Quayle's many recordings for Caedmon Records include Macbeth with Gwen Ffrangcon Davies, Medea with Judith Anderson, Hedda Gabler with Joan Plowright, Antony and Cleopatra with Pamela Brown, Sonnets from the Portuguese with Katherine Cornell, Julius Caesar, Titus Andronicus, The Iliad and The Odyssey, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Personal life and death Quayle married twice. His first wife was the actress Hermione Hannen (1913–1983), to whom he was married from 1935 to 1941. In 1947, he married American-born actress Dorothy Hyson (1914–1996), known as "Dot" to family and friends. He and Dorothy had two daughters, Jenny and Rosanna, and a son, Christopher.
Quayle died at his home in Chelsea from liver cancer on 20 October 1989."Quayle tough guy on and off screen", The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 October 1989, p. 5.
Awards and honours Awards (nominations) 1959 – BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for: Ice Cold in Alex 1970 – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, for: Anne of the Thousand Days 1970 – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for: Anne of the Thousand Days 1981 – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special, for: Masada 1989 – CableACE Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic or Theatrical Special, for: The Theban Plays by Sophocles
Awards (won) 1975 – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Special, for: QB VII
Honours Quayle was mentioned in despatches during the Second World War. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1952 Birthday Honours. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 1985 New Year Honours for services to the Theatre, and knighted by Queen Elizabeth II during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 5 March 1985.
Filmography Film Year Film Role Director Notes 1935 Moscow Nights Soldier dictating letter Anthony Asquith Uncredited 1938 Pygmalion Eliza's Hairdresser Leslie Howard 1948 Hamlet Marcellus Laurence Olivier Saraband for Dead Lovers Durer Basil Dearden 1949 Train of Events Violinist Uncredited 1955 Oh... Rosalinda!! Gen. Orlovsky Powell and Pressburger 1956 The Battle of the River Plate Commodore Harwood The Wrong Man Frank D. O'Connor Alfred Hitchcock 1957 Woman in a Dressing Gown Jim Preston J. Lee Thompson No Time for Tears Dr. Graham Seagrave Cyril Frankel 1958 The Man Who Wouldn't Talk Dr. Frank Smith Herbert Wilcox Ice Cold in Alex Captain van der Poel J. Lee Thompson 1959 Serious Charge Howard Phillips Terence Young Tarzan's Greatest Adventure Slade John Guillermin 1960 The Challenge Jim John Gilling 1961 The Guns of Navarone Maj. Roy Franklin J. Lee Thompson 1962 H.M.S. Defiant Vizard Lewis Gilbert Lawrence of Arabia Colonel Brighton David Lean 1964 The Fall of the Roman Empire Verulus Anthony Mann East of Sudan Private Baker Nathan H. Juran 1965 Operation Crossbow Bamford Michael Anderson A Study in Terror Doctor Murray James Hill 1966 The Poppy Is Also a Flower Captain Vanderbilt Terence Young Misunderstood Sir John Edward Duncombe Luigi Comencini 1969 Mackenna's Gold Older Englishman J. Lee Thompson Before Winter Comes Brigadier Bewley Anne of the Thousand Days Thomas Wolsey Charles Jarrott 1972 Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) The King Woody Allen 1973 Bequest to the Nation Lord Minto James Cellan Jones 1974 The Tamarind Seed Jack Loder Blake Edwards 1976 The Eagle Has Landed Admiral Canaris John Sturges 1977 Holocaust 2000 Griffith Alberto De Martino 1979 Murder by Decree Sir Charles Warren Bob Clark 1988 The Legend of the Holy Drinker The Distinguished Gentleman Ermanno Olmi Buster Sir James McDowell David Green Magdalene Father Noessler Monica Teuber Posthumous release 1990 King of the Wind Lord Granville Peter Duffell 1993 The Thief and the Cobbler King Nod Richard Williams Posthumous release, original version, voice
Television