John Gregson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Gregson (15 March 1919 - 8 January 1975) was a British actor.
He was born as Harold Thomas Gregson in Wavertree, Liverpool, England, of Scottish descent, where he was educated at the St Francis Xavier School. He met his wife, the actress Thea Gregory, when they were appearing together in rep at Perth in 1946 and they were married in London in 1947. They had three daughters and three sons.
He appeared as John Gregson in 40 films between 1948 and 1971 and on television from 1960 until his death. He was often cast as a police inspector or as a navy or army officer, or for his comedy roles in Ealing and other British films. From 1965 he mainly worked on TV, starring as Commander George Gideon in the series Gideon's Way, known as Gideon C.I.D. in America.
His most famous comedy role was in the film chosen for the Royal Command Performance in 1953, Genevieve, also starring Kenneth More, Dinah Sheridan and Kay Kendall. He also appeared in the Ealing comedies The Titfield Thunderbolt and The Lavender Hill Mob. Kenneth More has been described as his "rival" in British cinema at the time, although Gregson tended to appear in less comedy films and more dramas than More, and was less 'broad' in his performances.
His best known drama films are probably The Battle of the River Plate, Angels One Five and Above Us the Waves. Among his many other roles he had leads in Treasure Island and The Treasure of Monte Cristo. Gregson concentrated on TV from the mid-sixties onwards, including The Saint with Roger Moore and a popular comedy adventure series with Shirley MacLaine; Shirley's World. He took over from Kenneth More in long running TV adverts for coffee on British television.
He appeared in 'It's The Geography That Counts', the last play at the St James's Theatre before its closure in 1957.
John Gregson died suddenly from a heart attack in Porlock Weir, Somerset, aged 55. He left a widow and six children. His final television role was in the BBC serial "Dangerous Knowledge", which was broadcast posthumously in 1976.
