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Michael was born in Blackheath, London, the last of five children of Dorothy Feltham Newell and Anthony Newell, who taught at Chelsea College of Agricultural and Aeronautical Engineering. He's also known as Mike Newell, but is not to be confused with the famous English award-winning film director Mike Newell, director of "Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Enchanted April", "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and "Prince of Persia", etc.
Mike Newell the actor, was educated at City of London School and at Oxford. He was a chorister and soloist at New College, Oxford, also at Chapel Royal, Savoy, St Jame's Palace and St Paul's Cathedral. He began acting in films and commercials at age nine. At 14, he auditioned for and got the part of Arthur in Thornton Wilder's play "The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden" at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. Terence Rattigan was at the first night and came back stage afterwards to ask him to play the title role of Ronnie Winslow in the play he was just completing; "The Winslow Boy".
The play opened in May 1946 in London's West End, at the Lyric Theatre, after a twelve week pre-London tour. The play... the direction by Glen Byam Shaw and the cast lead by Emlyn Williams, received rave reviews. Michael's performance was highly praised, especially for the dramatic cross-examination scene. The play ran for well over a year, then auditions were held for the forthcoming transfer to Broadway, as it was feared that Michael would outgrow the part...more than two hundred boys read for the role...but it was decided to keep Michael for the American run.
In November 1947, the play again got great reviews on 'The Great White Way', at the Empire Theater...the only theater actually on Broadway. The production won awards and the doyen of New York critics, George Jean Nathan, voted Michael the 'Best Youngster Actor' and Marlon Brando the 'Best Newcomer Actor' for his role as Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire". Terence Rattigan wrote that he wanted Michael for the film, made in England, but couldn't get him released from his American contract. At the end of the New York run, the cast embarked on a 25 city, nationwide tour of The States and Canada, coast to coast. After the almost three year run of "The Winslow Boy",1048 performances ( he was the only member of the cast to last the whole run)...the production was broadcast nationwide, on NBC.
He then worked in London on stage and television, radio and in films, one for MGM with Gene Kelly...'Seagulls Over Sorrento", also known as "Crest of the Wave". For BBC TV, he played the title role of the Man from Mars, in "Stranger from Space' for two years...the very first TV Science Fiction space series. He played 'Bilaphadorus', with pointed ears...13 years before Spock in "Star Trek"! In 1961 he was invited to join 'the theatre at the Equator', The Donovan Maule monthly repertory company in Nairobi, Kenya, where he met his future wife, actress Judy Gibson who had arrived there from London, just two days before him. They worked together there for their year's contracts. Having greatly enjoyed exploring East Africa, Mike joined a friend driving down through the wilds of Africa to Johannesburg, in a very battered old World War Two JEEP!! An unforgettable experience.
In 1963, while playing Rolf in "The Sound of Music" in Johannesburg, he was cast as Leartes in "Hamlet" at Cape Town's very beautiful open air theatre, Maynardville...directed by Leslie French of London's Regents Park Open Air Theatre fame. Judy Gibson was cast as his sister Ophelia.. Following the "Hamlet" run, the two were cast as the ballerina and the twin brothers in "Ring Round the Moon"...and they married on 6th June, 1964 ( the 20th anniversary of D Day).
On the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth, 23rd April, 1964, Michael realized with surprise, that although there were Globe Theatres in Perth, Australia...Stratford, Connecticut...Stratford, Ontario and San Diego, California... London didn't have one! So the young newly weds, set sail for Southampton...to see if it was possible to get Shakespeare's Globe Theatre rebuilt in Southwark, beside the Thames! They bought a houseboat named Amanda...on the Thames in Chelsea, and proceeded to write to every possible celebrity who might be interested in the project...actors, directors, producers, millionaires, etc! Everyone thought it was a lovely idea, but where would all the money come from? Michael toured the country as Orsino in "Twelfth Night" with a Shakespeare company. After a year of struggling to get the project off the ground, Mike and Judy were invited back to Cape Town to play in "King Lear". He then heard that brave, intrepid American actor, Sam Wannamaker was raising funds from some Texan millionaires...and over thirty years later, in 1997...his grand achievement opened, but the ordeal killed him alas, prior to its opening, for which his daughter, actress Zoe Wannamaker spoke the Prologue from "Henry V" that opening night. Canadian actor Christopher Plummer tells in his autobiography, how he too, became enthused with the idea, but gave up on it when he heard how far advanced Sam Wannamaker's plans were. Following "King Lear" in Cape Town, Mike and Judy played in more Shakespearean productions, "MacBeth" and "Antony and Cleopatra". The couple had a daughter, in 1968, named Amanda, after their Thames houseboat!.
Michael then became very involved in his other great interest... house design, interior design and landscaping...creating many lovely homes in Cape Town, the Natal coast and Johannesburg...and ultimately becoming a successful Real Estate agent, handling the sales of fine homes in South Africa, England, Spain, Portugal, California and North Carolina...winning several achievement awards with RE/MAX. In 2002, the couple emigrated to America to join their daughter, and having retired at 80, he and his wife of over 50 years, live in rural Virginia, near Richmond, with their daughter and their two grandchildren. Since his retirement, he has written several eBooks. Over the years a great deal of travel was enjoyed. touring Europe, the Middle East, the length and breadth of Africa--plus India, Australia, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro.
Summary of some of actor Michael Newell's work on stage, television, radio and films:
Various films and commercials from age nine.
1942 "The Great Mr Handel", Denham Studios, with Wilfred Lawson.
1942 "Went the Day Well?", Ealing Studios, with Leslie Banks and Marie Lohr.
1943 "The Silver Fleet", with Sir Ralph Richardson.
1944 "Lifeboat" The Watergate Theatre, London.
1945 Arthur in "The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden" at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London
1946 and 1947 Title role in Terence Rattigan's "The Winslow Boy" with Emlyn Williams, Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London.
1947 and 1948, the success was repeated at the Empire Theater, Broadway...almost a three year run in all.
1948 "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" Children's series, Chicago TV
1948 Radio production of "The Winslow Boy" US national broadcast for NBC
1949 BBC Radio, London, "Nicholas Nickelby"
1949 BBC radio "Johnny Appleseed"
1949 Dennis in "Murder at the Vicarage" by Agatha Christie, with Barbara Mullen, at the Playhouse Theatre, London.
1950 Dennis in "Murder at the Vicarage' again, at the Theatre Royal, Windsor
1950 Silvius in "As You Like It" Bromley Theatre
1950 Roger in "Larger Than Life" by W Somerset Maugham, with Jessie Royce Landis
1950 Roger again in "Larger Than Life" on BBC TV, again with Jessie Royce Landis
1951 Finch in "Whiteoaks" with Nancy Price on BBC TV
1951 Bryant in "The Browning Version" Pinewood Studios, with Sir Michael Redgrave and Jean Kent.
1951 Rodolpho in "The View from the Bridge" by Arthur Miller, with Frank Finlay, Theatre Royal, Windsor.
1952 Eddie in "Saturday Island" Denham Studios...he died in Linda Darnel's arms! Tab Hunter's first film.
1952 BBC TV Titus Rembrandt in "Portrait by Rembrandt" with Walter Fitzgerald
1952 Bilaphadorus, The Man from Mars in the very first SCI-FI saga on BBC TV: "Stranger from Space".
1953 The Stranger In the BBC TV two year series: had pointed ears, 13 years before Spock in "Star Trek"!
1954 Lieutenant Stirling in "Seagulls Over Sorrento" MGM Elstree, with Gene Kelly. Mike died heroically, half way through!
1954 Georges Dupont in "Tovarich" with Ann Todd and Peter Cushing om BBC TV
1954 Jesus Christ's youngest brother.in "Family Portrait" with Fay Compton as Mary.
1955 Juvenile lead in "The River Run" with Robert Shaw and Patrick McGoohan.
!955 Richard in "The Lady's Not for Burning by Christopher Fry, with Jean Kent.
1955 "The Lady's Not for Burning" another production of the play with Jean Kent, directed by Esme Percy.
1956 BBC TV "Home is where the Heart is" with Pauline Jamieson.
1957 Leander in "Hero and Leander"...a two hander with Yvonne Mitchell at The Watergate Theatre, London.
1958 The youth in "The Youth I Left Behind Me"...a two hander with Carlton Hobbs on BBC Radio
1959 "The Grove Family" ITV series.
1960 "Emergency Ward 10" ITV series.
1961 Year's contract at the Donovan Maule Theatre, Nairobi, Kenya. Quality Monthly Rep."Arsenic and Old Lace",etc
1962 "Oliver!" , "Bus Stop", "Laura", "The Irregular Verb to Love", Rattigan's "The Deep Blue Sea", etc.
1962 various theatre productions in Johannesburg.
1962 Malcolm in "King Lear" with Sir Donald Wolfit, SABC Radio.
1963 Rolf in "The Sound of Music" at the Brook Theatre, Johannesburg.
1964 Laertes in "Hamlet", directed by Leslie French. Maynardville Open Air Theatre, Cape Town.
1064 Hugo and Frederick, the twin brothers, in "Ring Round the Moon" by Jean Anouilh and Christopher Fry. Hoffmeyer Theatre, Cape Town.
1964 Orsino in "Twelfth Night" Shakespeare tour of England.
1965 Edgar in "King Lear", directed by Leslie french. Maynardville, Cape Town.
1967 Malcolm in "MacBeth" at Maynardville.
1968 Eros in "Antony and Cleopatra"at Maynardville.
1968 The lover in "The Affair". Hoffmeyer Theatre, Cape Town .
2003 The ghost of Humphrey Bogart in "Play It Again, Sam" by Woody Allen, Cabrillo Playhouse, San Clemente, California.
From age 9 to age 39, he was an actor...and from age 40 to age 80 he worked in Real Estate.
References:
New York Times 26th October, 1947
Life Magazine 24th November, 1947
Punch Magazine, November 1945
The American Mercury, George Jean Nathan. American theatrical season 1947--1948 External link https://ia802308.us.archive.org/34/items/TheaterGuildonthe Air/Tgoa 48-11-21_ ep131-The_Winslow Boy.mp3
