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Romilly Lunge was a British film actor who appeared in 15 films and numerous stage plays between 1933 and 1940. He passed away in August 1994 in England. During World War II, he served as an officer in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
A family’s personal account reveals that Hillcrest Farm in Warton, North Warwickshire, was a quiet rural area far from the bustling cities of London and Milan. After the war, the farm became the home of Romilly Lunge. Ernest Romilly Maundrel Lunge was a reserved and private individual, but during the 1970s, after relocating to Ashby de la Zouch and adopting a more relaxed lifestyle, he often shared stories about his pre-war life. He spoke of his acting career on stage and in films, as well as learning opera singing at La Scala theatre in Milan.
During the war, he joined the Royal Navy and trained at various naval bases. He departed from Loch Ewe in Scotland and was stationed in Ceylon, where he contributed to the development of anti-submarine warfare and sonar technology to detect German U-boats. He recounted that the future Prince Philip once visited the naval base in Ceylon under secrecy, and Romilly was tasked with showing the Greek prince some of the secret research in anti-submarine warfare. While based in Colombo, he was invited to exclusive cocktail parties hosted by the renowned theatre and cinema actor/playwright Noël Coward, who was staying on the island.
Before the war, Romilly had performed alongside notable actors and actresses such as Vivien Leigh, Lilli Palmer, Rex Harrison, George Arliss, Bruce Cabot, and Enid Stamp Taylor. He was also called as a character witness in the tragic circumstances surrounding Miss Stamp Taylor. Romilly had a romantic connection with actress Margaretta Scott, with whom he enjoyed skiing trips to Arosa in the Swiss Alps during the 1930s and relaxing summers around Woolacombe Bay on the North Devon coast.
He spent a year living in Milan in the latter half of 1929, where he received voice training from the famed singer Caruso and later from the younger Beniamino Gigli. In the early 1930s, he lived in the spa town of Wiesbaden, Germany. Alfred Hitchcock had once interviewed him for the film "Secret Agent," and he made a film with the Sir Gerald du Maurier studio company. After World War II, Romilly felt that much had changed in war-torn Britain, and that the Swiss Alps had lost their innocence, now frequented by what we might call "A-listers" today. He had matured and found acting somewhat tedious, although he continued to receive many fan letters from admiring young women.
Romilly fondly recalled the 1924 film "Owd Bob" and the book that inspired it, which motivated him to become a farm and landowner. He never shied away from hard work or duty. After his distinguished father passed away before the end of World War II, his mother moved from the family home at 19 Holland Park, London, to Ashby de la Zouch.
Following the war and his discharge from naval service, Romilly purchased two adjoining farms in Warton, near Atherstone, North Warwickshire, where he worked as a mixed arable and dairy farmer. The local villagers only became aware of his former acting career when one of his films was broadcast on television. Romilly chose Hillcrest Farm, a sister farm to Maypole Farm just across the county border in Warwickshire, as his residence. At about 100 acres, the farm was quite large for an inexperienced owner, but from 1947 to 1966, he managed it successfully. His mother passed away in 1948, shortly after his arrival at the farm, but he continued farming until eventually selling the property and moving to Ashby de la Zouch.
