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British classical actor, producer, and director Douglas Seale enjoyed a 65-year career spanning stage, film, and television across both sides of the Atlantic. Born in 1913 to Robert Henry Seale and Margaret Law Seale, he attended Rutlish, a boys' comprehensive school in West Wimbledon. Although he showed early talent in art, he gravitated toward theatre after a teacher encouraged him following his performance in a school play. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his professional debut in 1934 at London's Embassy Theatre in "The Drums Begin." He continued in repertory theatre until World War II, when he served in the British Army from 1940, commissioned in the Royal Signals.
After demobilization in 1946, Seale joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company for two seasons in Stratford-upon-Avon. He expanded his talents to stage producing, overseeing productions such as "Caesar and Cleopatra" at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre; Shakespeare's "King John" at Stratford-upon-Avon and Stratford, Ontario; "Henry V" in Stratford, Connecticut; and "King Lear" at the Old Vic. As a director, he led plays including "King Lear" for the Marin Shakespeare Festival in San Francisco; "A Doll's House" and "Look Back in Anger" in Cleveland; and "The Winslow Boy" in New York.
Later, Seale returned to performing, making his Broadway debut at age 60 in "Emperor Henry IV" (1973), followed by roles in "Frankenstein," "The Dresser," and "The Madwoman of Chaillot." His other roles included Oliver Seaton in "A Family and a Fortune" and Reverend Shannon in "The Night of the Iguana." He is perhaps best known for his 1983 Broadway portrayal of Selsdon Mowbray, the drunken actor who repeatedly misses cues in the stage-within-a-stage comedy "Noises Off," a performance that earned him a Tony Award nomination for Featured Actor in a Play. Denholm Elliott later played the role in the 1992 film adaptation. Known for his rich, resonant voice, Seale appeared in the film "Amadeus" (1984) and voiced the Sultan in Disney's animated "Aladdin" (1992). He also took on elderly roles in popular films such as "Ernest Saves Christmas" (1988) as Santa Claus, "Ghostbusters II" (1989), "Almost an Angel" (1990), "Mr. Destiny" (1990), "For Love or Money" (1993), and his final film, "Palookaville" (1995). On television, he occasionally appeared as lively older gentlemen in shows like "Cheers" and "The Golden Girls." One of his last stage roles was as aging vaudevillian Billy Rice in the 1996 revival of John Osborne's "The Entertainer."
Seale was divorced from Elaine Wodson and Joan Geary. His third wife was stage actress and three-time Tony Award nominee Louise Troy, who died of breast cancer in 1994. Living in Manhattan at the time of his death, he passed away at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City at age 85 and was survived by two sons, Jonathan and Timothy.
