SIR GODFREY TEARLE - A KNIGHT TO REMEMBER

1884 - 1953

A tribute to one of the greatest Shakespearian actors of his time

Please Note - this site is currently under construction - I hope to be adding to it constantly so do keep coming back. If you have any information or pictures of Godfrey, or any comments or suggestions about this site, please e-mail me on: lordfaringdon@yahoo.com

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"I think there's an old actor in the family" I remember an uncle of mine saying when I was quite young, but it wasn't until many years later that I began to take an interest in family history and 'that old actor'. Like many rearchers I soon discovered two things: just about all Tearles are related and that my personal relationship with Godfrey Tearle is very distant. Nevertheless, the interest was not dulled and I began researching in earnest. the results of my researches form the basis of these pages and I hope to be adding to them constantly.

I made two contradictory discoveries: 1) There is not much on the Internet. 2) There is a surprising amount to be found on the Internet.

Simple searching - eg typing "Godfrey Tearle" into your Search Engine - brings up pages of references; 90% of these refer to his most popular films (39 Steps, or One of Our Aircraft is Missing) or to various cinema reference pages which merely list his films, co-stars etc and nothing that could possibly be termed 'biography'.

So: some lateral thinking was in order. Co-stars, theatres, places, films or plays - anything with which Godfrey might have been associated. Thus a few more snippets were discovered.

It was then that I discovered e-bay! Many of the pictures here have come from seller's adverts and some of the items I have been able to buy through the auctions. This is the area where I have been most surprised about how much material is out there: theatre programmes, postcards from plays, magazines with full features on Godfrey and even an autographed letter which I now possess. I have been able to correspond with a lot of dealers who have, without exception, been most helpful and encouraging. Their names appear in the acknowledgement section on the Gallery Page. My thanks to you all.

As far as I am aware, this is the only dedicated web-site to Godfrey. I find this rather a shame for two reasons: one is that I am not a theatrical historian by any means and secondly that I am not much of a website designer. I feel that Godfrey deserves better than I am able to provide.

From reviews I have read, Godfrey was every bit as good as the other theatrical Knights - Olivier, Gielgud, Guinness, Richardson et al - and it doesn't seem a fair reflection that Godfrey's Knighthood came for 'Services to Equity'! Possibly he was just a little too early in time to reach the audiences that the others were able to via television etc. Not that I question the abilities of those great actors, merely that I feel Godfrey should be mentioned in the same breath! He was possibly the greatest Othello and certainly one of the top Antonys as well as a superb MacBeth - though Godfrey himself was not satisfied with his portrayal of the Scottish King. His co-stars read like a Who's Who of the theatre: Edith Evans, Katherine Cornell, John Barrymore, Tallulah Bankhead, Marie Lohr, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, both Irene and Violet Vanbrugh, Cora Brown-Potter and even Charlton Heston. On the screen he acted with Robert Donat, Stanley Holloway, Jack Hawkins, George Arliss, Peter Ustinov and many more.

Researchers of any subject will know how easy it is to be distracted by 'off-shoots': researching Godfrey has been no exception. That his father, brother, uncle and cousin, as well as his half brother, Conway Tearle, were all 'in the business' was, of course, known to me and have been in part covered here. But other 'acting Tearles' have come to light: Noel, David (of which there are two!), Rigby, Catherine and Pamela have all appeared so far. One David may be a step brother from Osmond's first marriage and Noel may be the son of Godfrey's cousin Edmund, but I have not been able to verify either of these as yet.

This, then, is my humble tribute to a great but unsung actor. If you have any comments or information please do not hesitate to e-mail me.

Richard Tearle
March 2004

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