Michael Denison
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John Michael Terence Wellesley Denison CBE (b. Doncaster, South Yorkshire November 1, 1915 - d. Amersham, Buckinghamshire July 22, 1998) was a noted English actor.
Denison was raised by his aunt and uncle from the age of three weeks, following the tragic death of his mother and an estranged relationship with his father. He was educated at Harrow where he took part in school productions. It was while at Magdalen College, Oxford University, studying modern languages that he met John Gielgud and decided to take up acting seriously. From there, he went on to the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, where began one of the most enduring love stories of the English stage. He met Dulcie Gray, a fellow student, who was to become his wife and his lifelong acting partner in 1939. They appeared in over 100 West End productions, together in some 28 plays in London and countless tours of England and elsewhere. They also appeared together in several films. Their intertwined professional lives reached their pinnacle in 1996 with their first appearance together on Broadway, in the Peter Hall production of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband. Their last appearance together was in Curtain Up, an evening of reminiscences at the Jermyn Street Theatre in London, shortly before he died.
Denison made his stage debut in 1938 as Lord Fancourt Babberly in a Frinton-on-Sea production of Charley's Aunt and in the same year, he made his West End debut at the Westminster Theatre, playing Paris in Troilus and Cressida. He interrupted his career to join the Intelligence Corps of the British Army, serving until 1946.
Denison typically played the quintessential English gentleman. He made his film debut in the film Tilly of Bloomsbury in 1940. He only made 21 films in the course of his career, but included among them are such classics as Anthony Asquith's The Importance of Being Earnest (1952) with Michael Redgrave and Edith Evans and Richard Attenborough's acclaimed Shadowlands (1985) starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger . He also worked in television, most notably in the series Boyd QC, which ran for 78 episodes from 1957 to 1963.
He published two volumes of memoirs, Overture and Beginners (1973) and Double Act (1985). He also contributed many entries to the Dictionary of National Biography. He became the director of the New Shakespeare Company in 1971. He also served as council and vice-president of Equity.
Denison was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II with the Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977 and both he and his wife were designated Commanders of the Order of the British Empire in 1983.
