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Colin Keith-Johnston

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Colin Keith-Johnston
Publicity photo, dated 1950
Born(1896-10-08)8 October 1896
Died3 January 1980(1980-01-03) (aged 83)
London
OccupationActor
Years active1927-1959

Colin Keith-Johnston MC (8 October 1896 – 3 January 1980) was a British actor.

Keith-Johnston was born in London, the son of Robert Keith-Johnston and Jessy Macfie, and was a prominent actor of the stage.[1][2] As well as film appearances, he appeared onstage as Stanhope in the first production of Journey's End in the United States.[3]

He played hero Mr. Darcy in Helen Jerome's Broadway-hit adaptation of Pride and Prejudice at the Music Box Theatre in 1935.[4] This was a notable role, the first to make Darcy a central part of the love story and to emphasize throughout the play the character's passion for and physical attraction to heroine Elizabeth Bennet.[5] Colin married Margaret Cookson (cousin of actors Marjorie Browne and Joy Launor Heyes) and their son Hugo Keith-Johnston born in 1954 was a successful child actor who appeared in Not In Front of the Children (1968) for BBC Television with Ronald Hines and Wendy Craig.[6]

He fought in World War One as an officer in the Bedfordshire Regiment and was awarded an MC in the 1917 New Year Honours. The citation said that it was awarded for: "For conspicuous gallantry in action. He rallied men of several units, led them forward, and captured many prisoners. He continued at duty until relieved, although wounded three times."

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1927 Somehow Good Doctor
1929 Lucky in Love Captain Brian Fitzroy
1933 Berkeley Square Tom Pettigrew
1934 Open All Night Henry
1937 The Price of Folly Martin
1939 Q Planes Tower Controller Uncredited
1947 The Exile Captain Bristol
The Paradine Case Clerk of the Court Uncredited
1948 Kiss the Blood off My Hands Judge
Joan of Arc Philip, Duke of Burgundy
Enchantment The Eye
1949 Love Happy Actor Uncredited
1950 Rogues of Sherwood Forest Munster Uncredited
Fancy Pants Twombley
1958 The Left Handed Gun John Tunstall

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ "Colin Keith-Johnston | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  2. ^ "Colin Keith-Johnston – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
  3. ^ Bordman, p. 381
  4. ^ "Pride and Prejudice – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB".
  5. ^ Looser, Devoney (2017). The Making of Jane Austen. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-1421422824.
  6. ^ "Hugo Keith-Johnston". BFI. Archived from the original on 5 October 2019.

References

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  • Bordman, Gerald Martin (1995). American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1914-1930. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-509078-0.
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