Philip Merivale (2 November 1886 – 12 March 1946) was an English film and stage actor and screenwriter.
Contents
Early years
Merivale was born on 2 November 1886 in Rehutia, Manickpur, India, to railway engineer Walter Merivale (1855–1902) and Emma Magdalene Merivale ("Maggie"; née Pittman; 1854–1940); his father's profession meant the family lived in India, Costa Rica, and Barbados (where he was Manager of the Barbados Railway) before settling at Chiswick. Philip's sister, Dorothea, was married to the civil servant Sir Henry Bunbury, Accountant-General of the Post Office. His uncle, Herman Charles Merivale, was an English dramatist.
Merivale graduated from St Edward's School, Oxford. He planned to have a career in business and worked as an office boy in London before an interest in the stage took priority.
Career
Merivale was a respected stage actor who entered the cinema during the silent era. Merivale appeared in 20 films and also scripted one.
Merivale's professional stage debut came in 1906 in the F. R. Benson company's production of the Orestean Trilogy of Aeschylus. His Broadway debut came in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1910), and he was in Henry of Navarre (1910) on Broadway before he returned to England. He appeared in approximately 50 plays before returning to the United States in 1914 in a production of Pygmalion. Much of his theatrical training in England came under Herbert Beerbohm Tree.
Merivale's career was interrupted by his service in the Canadian Air Force during World War I, after which he came back to the United States in 1919, touring with George Arliss. After a return to England, he performed again in the United States, this time portraying Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice.
Merivale's radio debut occurred on February 11, 1930, when he starred in "Death Takes a Holiday", the premiere episode of Play of the Month on CBS.
Personal life and death
Merivale was twice married to:
the actress Viva Birkett (23 July 1912 – 27 June 1934); (four children: two daughters and two sons, including the actor John Merivale)
the actress Gladys Cooper (30 April 1937 – 12 March 1946).
He died from a heart ailment aged 59.
Broadway roles
Pygmalion (1914) – Henry Higgins
Pollyanna (1916) – John Pendleton
The Swan (1923) – Prince Albert
The Road to Rome (1927) – Hannibal
Mary of Scotland (1933) – James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
Valley Forge (1934) – George Washington
Filmography
Trilby (1914) – Taffy Wynne
Whispering Shadows (1921) – Stephen Pryde
I Loved You Wednesday (1933) – (uncredited)
Give Us This Night (1936) – Marcello Bonelli
All In (1936, Writer)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) – Mr. Ashley Custer
Rage in Heaven (1941) – Mr. Higgins
Pacific Blackout (1941) – John Runnel
Lady for a Night (1942) – Stephen Alderson
This Above All (1942) – Dr. Roger Cathaway
Crossroads (1942) – Commissaire
Hangmen Also Die! (1943) – Policeman (uncredited)
This Land Is Mine (1943) – Professor Sorel
Lost Angel (1943) – Professor Peter Vincent
The Hour Before the Dawn (1944) – Sir Leslie Buchanon
Nothing But Trouble (1944) – Prince Saul
Tonight and Every Night (1945) – Reverend Gerald Lundy
Adventure (1945) – Old Ramon Estado
The Stranger (1946) – Judge Adam Longstreet
Sister Kenny (1946) – Dr. Brack (final film role)
