Robert Donat

Robert Donat Born Friedrich Robert Donat 18 March 1905 Withington, England Died 9 June 1958 (aged 53) London, England Resting place East Finchley Cemetery Occupation Actor Years active 1921–1958 Spouse(s) Ella Annesley (m. 1929; div. 1946) Renée Asherson (m. 1953; his death 1958) Children 3 Relatives Peter Donat and Richard Donat (nephews) Friedrich Robert Donat (18 March 1905 – 9 June 1958) was an English film and stage actor. He is best remembered for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), winning for the latter the Academy Award for Best Actor. In his book, The Age of the Dream Palace, Jeffrey Richards wrote that Donat was "The British cinema's one undisputed romantic leading man in the 1930s". "The image he projected was that of the romantic idealist, often with a dash of the gentleman adventurer." Donat suffered from chronic asthma, which affected his career and limited him to appearing in only 20 films. Donat was born in Withington, Manchester, the fourth and youngest son of Ernst Emil Donat, a civil engineer of German origin from Prussian Poland, and his wife, Rose Alice Green. He was of English, Polish, German and French descent and was educated at Manchester's Central High School for Boys. He took elocution lessons with James Bernard. He left school at 15, working as Bernard's secretary to fund his continued lessons. Donat also took part in dramatic recitals at various venues across the North West of England. Donat made his first stage appearance in 1921 at age 16 with Henry Baynton's company at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Birmingham, playing Lucius in Julius Caesar. His break came in 1924 when he joined the company of Shakespearean actor Sir Frank Benson, where he stayed for four years.[6] He also worked in provincial repertory theatre. In 1928 he began a year at the Liverpool Playhouse, starring in plays by Galsworthy, Shaw and Brighouse, among others. In 1929 he played at the Festival Theatre in Cambridge under the direction of Tyrone Guthrie. He appeared in a number of plays, some with Flora Robson, and also directed. Donat married Ella Annesley Voysey (1903–1994) in 1929; the couple had three children together, but divorced in 1946. London In 1930 Donat moved to London, where he eventually made his debut in Knave and Quean at the Ambassadors Theatre. He received acclaim for a performance in a revival of St Joan. In 1931 he achieved notice as Gideon Sarn in an adaptation of Precious Bane. He played roles at the 1931 Malvern Festival. Around 1930 and 1931, he was known as "screen test Donat" in the industry because of his many unsuccessful auditions for film producers. MGM's producer Irving Thalberg spotted him on the London stage in Precious Bane, and Donat was offered a part in the American studio's Smilin' Through (1932). He rejected this offer. Donat made his film debut in a quota quickie Men of Tomorrow (1932) for Alexander Korda's London Films. An abysmal screen test for Korda had ended with Donat's laughter. Reputedly, Korda in response exclaimed: "That's the most natural laugh I have ever heard in my life. What acting! Put him under contract immediately." Korda cast Donat in the lead in That Night in London (1932), directed by Rowland V. Lee. He had a key role in Cash (1933), directed by Zoltan Korda, co starring Edmund Gwenn. The Private Life of Henry VIII Donat's first great screen success came in his fourth film. This was as Thomas Culpeper in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) for the same producer. The film, starring Charles Laughton in the title role, was an enormous success around the world, including Hollywood. Donat started receiving Hollywood offers. At the 1933 Malvern Festival Donat received good reviews for his performance in A Sleeping Clergyman, which transferred to the West End. He was also in St Joan. Korda loaned Donat to Edward Small for the only film Donat made in Hollywood, The Count of Monte Cristo (1934). (In exchange Leslie Howard was sent to Korda to make The Scarlet Pimpernel.) The film was successful and Donat was offered the lead role in a number of films for Warners, including Anthony Adverse (1935) and another swashbuckler, Captain Blood (1935). However Donat did not like America and returned to Britain. He played on stage in Mary Read opposite Flora Robson. In England, Donat had the star role in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935) opposite Madeleine Carroll. His performance was well-received: "Mr. Donat, who has never been very well served in the cinema until now, suddenly blossoms out into a romantic comedian of no mean order", wrote the film critic C. A. Lejeune in The Observer at the time of the film's release. Lejeune observed that he possessed "an easy confident humour that has always been regarded as the perquisite of the American male star. For the first time on our screen we have the British equivalent of a Clark Gable or a Ronald Colman, playing in a purely national idiom. Mr. Donat, himself, I fancy, is hardly conscious of it, which is all to the good." Hitchcock wanted Donat for the role of the agent in Secret Agent (1936) and Detective in Sabotage (1936), but this time Korda refused to release him. John Loder played the role. MGM wanted him for Romeo and Juliet but he turned them down. Sam Goldwyn made several offers which were turned down, as was an offer from David O. Selznick to appear in The Garden of Allah and Small to make The Son of Monte Cristo. Donat's next film was for Korda, The Ghost Goes West (1935), a comedy directed by René Clair. In 1936 Donat took on the management of the Queen's Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue, where he produced Red Night by J. L. Hodson. Korda wanted Donat to make Hamlet. Instead the actor appeared in Korda's Knight Without Armour (1937). Korda became committed to the latter project because of Donat's indecision. Madeleine Carroll had read the James Hilton novel while shooting The 39 Steps, and had persuaded Donat that it could be a good second film for them to star in together. Donat acquired the rights and passed them on to Korda, although by now Carroll was unavailable. His eventual co-star, Marlene Dietrich, was the source of much attention when she arrived in Britain, in which Donat was involved, and this was enough for him to suffer a nervous collapse a few days into the shooting schedule. Donat entered a nursing home. The production delay caused by Donat's asthma led to talk of replacing him. Dietrich, contracted by Korda for $450,000, threatened to leave the project if this happened, and production was halted for two months, until Donat was able to return to work. He was going to return to the US in 1937 to make Clementine for Small at RKO but changed his mind, fearing legal reprisals from Warners. In 1938, Donat signed a contract with MGM British for £150,000 with a commitment to making six films. In The Citadel (1938), he played Andrew Manson, a newly qualified Scottish doctor, a role for which he received his first Best Actor Oscar nomination. He played in Shaw's The Devil's Disciple (1938) on stage at the Piccadilly Theatre in London and the Old Vic. Donat is best remembered for his role as the school master in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939). Australian film critic Brian McFarlane writes: "Class-ridden and sentimental perhaps, it remains extraordinarily touching in his Oscar-winning performance, and it ushers in the Donat of the postwar years." His rivals for the Best Actor Award were Clark Gable for Gone with the Wind, Laurence Olivier for Wuthering Heights, James Stewart for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Mickey Rooney for Babes in Arms. MGM wanted Donat to star in a movie about Beau Brummell and a new version of Pride and Prejudice but the war delayed this. In the early days of World War Two, Donat focused on stage. He played three roles at the 1939 Buxton Festival, including a part in The Good Natured Man. He had the title role in The Young Mr. Pitt (1942) for 20th Century Fox and played Captain Shotover in a new staging of Heartbreak House at the Cambridge Theatre in London from 1942–43. For MGM British he starred in The Adventures of Tartu (1943), with Valerie Hobson. Donat wanted to play the Chorus in Olivier's Henry V, but the role went to Leslie Banks. In 1943 he took over the lease of the Westminster Theatre, staging a number of plays there until 1945, including An Ideal Husband (1943–44), The Glass Slipper (1944) and The Cure for Love (1945) by Walter Greenwood. With the latter, which he directed, he began his professional association with Renée Asherson, later his second wife. Donat was reunited with Korda for Perfect Strangers (1945) with Deborah Kerr, the last film he did for MGM British. In 1946 Donat and Asherson appeared at the Aldwych Theatre in a production of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Donat. He also directed The Man Behind the Statue by Peter Ustinov. Both lost money. Donat had a cameo as Charles Parnell in Captain Boycott (1947) with Stewart Granger. He appeared on stage in a revival of A Sleeping Clergyman in 1947. He longed desperately to be cast against type as Bill Sikes in David Lean's Oliver Twist (1948), but Lean thought him wrong for the part and cast Robert Newton instead. Donat played the male lead in The Winslow Boy (1948), a popular adaptation of the Terence Rattigan play.