Brian Roper (actor)

Brian T. Roper ^{[note 1]}(August 19, 1929 – May 14, 1994)^{[1][2][4][3][note 2]} was a British and American film and television child actor, actor, and real estate agent.

Biography

Roper played youthful parts during his career due to his young physique, which included his appearance as the animal-friendly character Dickon with a pet fox named Captain in the film The Secret Garden (1949) with Margaret O'Brien and Dean Stockwell. The Secret Garden was a movie prepared for MGM’s 25th anniversary as a film studio and was heavily promoted in 1949-1950, still being popular as a children’s film shown in theaters in 1968.^[5] Newspapers would claim his age as 14 at the time.^[6][7] He appeared this age but was physically five years older. He was noted for his reddish hair and some freckles^[2].

Screen name of Brian Roper. Born in Doncaster^[1][2], West Riding of Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom. Roper left at the age of 19 on an American Overseas Airlines airflight from London on October 5, 1948 onboard a Constellation plane (number N90922, Flagship Denmark)^{[8][note 3][note 4]} after his selection for The Secret Garden from over one hundred tested boys during a six-month search.^[6] He arrived in Washington, D.C. in the United States on October 6, 1948^{[8][note 5]}, enroute to MGM-British Studios in Culver City, California (now Sony Pictures Studios) who had paid for his trip. Filming for the movie began October 4, 1948 and lasted through late November,^[9] during a period of excitement regarding the appearance of a predawn bright long-tailed comet (1948 L, aka the Eclipse Comet of 1948) becoming visible.^[10][11] He lived in both Great Britain and California depending on the filming project locales and acted for 24 years. Following his acting career he went briefly into the film industry agency business.^[12] Roper married in Los Angeles, California 25 year old Barbara L. Eaton (aka Barbara L. Stafsudd) when he was 38 years old on December 30, 1967.^[13]

Shortly after his marriage, Roper established the Roper School of Real Estate in 1968 in Hayward, California and served as its lecturer and instructor.^[14] He would go on to train new sales people while serving as director of sales training for Red Carpet Realtors in northern California.^[15]

He died in Livermore,^[3] Alameda County, California, 46 years after his first arrival in California. Roper lived to the age of 64.

Theatrical performances

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Roper has not been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Memberships and affiliations

Notes

1. ^ “Brian T. Roper” appears in the England and Wales Birth Index. It appears as such on the airflight manifest reference. The middle initial “T.” appears on the Marriage Index reference and also appears in his name in his Modesto Bee advertisement reference. It is used once more on the Death Index reference. All other references use the most common form of his name, i.e. his screen name “Brian Roper”.
2. ^ Roper is a common surname around this time period in this area of Great Britain, including on the very same England and Wales register. One should note the typed transcription of his age as “19”, which agrees with the Birth Index, on the airflight manifest reference. Holmstrom (1998) birth date is listed in error as August 09, 1933, the day with a typographical error and the year based on the age of 14 as appeared in the press at his time of flying over to the United States. Ragan (1992) birth date is listed in error as August 19, 1933, having picked up the year from the Holmstrom (1998) reference.
3. ^ Also known as air Flagship Copenhagen and air Flagship Oslo.
4. ^ Flight passenger manifest uses plane number "NC90922".
5. ^ Flight passenger manifest: 3rd passenger on list from top. Note name as “ROPER, Brian”, age as “19”, and address info under name as “c/o MGM Brit.Studios, Culver City,” [sic], and occupation as “Actor.” Also note second listed passenger as “FLYNN, Mona Valery” with address info as “c/o MGM Studios, Culver City, CAL.” [sic], and occupation as “Artist Manager.”
6. ^ Later renamed Producers Guild of America Award, or PGA Award.

References (citations)

References (books)

• Holmstrom, John (1998), The Moving Picture Boy – An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995, 2nd Revised Edition, Michael Russell (Publishing) Ltd., Wilby Hall, Wilby, Norwich, Great Britain, ISBN 0-85955-178-4 (ISBN 978-0-85955-178-6), hardcover. 1st Edition 1996.
• Ragan, David (1992), Who’s Who in Hollywood – The Largest Cast of International Film Personalities Ever Assembled, 2nd Revised Edition, Facts on File (publisher), New York, New York, USA, 2 volumes (vol. 1 A-L, vol. 2 M-Z) (1,920 pp.), ISBN 0-8160-2011-6 (ISBN 978-0-8160-2011-9), hardcover. 1st Edition: Who’s Who in Hollywood – 1900-1976, Arlington House (publisher), 1 volume (864 pp.), 1976, ISBN 0870003496 (ISBN 978-0870003493), hardcover; Crown Publishing, 1977, ISBN 0517548224 (ISBN 978-0517548226), hardcover.
• Zambrana, M. L. (2002), Nature Boy: The Unauthorized Biography of Dean Stockwell, iUniverse (publisher), 130 pp., ISBN 0595218296 (ISBN 978-0595218295), softcover.

External links

• Brian Roper at the Internet Movie Database
• The Secret Garden at the Internet Movie Database — 1949 film.
• The Secret Garden at the TCM Movie Database.