Terry Kilburn | |
---|---|
Born | Terence E. Kilburn [1] 25 November 1926 |
Education | UCLA |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1934–1969 |
Partner(s) | Charles Nolte (1957–2010, his death) [3] |
Terence E. Kilburn [1] (born 25 November 1926), known for his acting work prior to 1953 as Terry Kilburn, is an English-American actor. Born in London, he moved to Hollywood in the U.S. at the age of 10, and is best known for his roles as a child actor during the Golden Age of Hollywood, in films such as A Christmas Carol (1938) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) in the late 1930s and the early 1940s.
Kilburn was born in 1926 in West Ham, Essex, in Greater London [2] to working-class parents Tom and Alice Kilburn. [4] [5]
He did some unpaid acting as a young child, and an agent encouraged him to go to Hollywood. Kilburn and his mother immigrated to the U.S. in 1937, and his father arrived the following year. [5] A talent scout for MGM discovered him rehearsing for Eddie Cantor's radio show, and he was cast in the British-set film Lord Jeff (1938). [6]
Known for his innocent, dreamy, doe-eyed look, Kilburn achieved fame at the age of 11 portraying Tiny Tim in the 1938 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film version of A Christmas Carol , and also as four generations of the Colley family in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939).
As a child actor, Kilburn also played leading roles in two films which starred Freddie Bartholomew: Lord Jeff (1938) and Swiss Family Robinson (1940). He was featured in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) with Basil Rathbone. In addition to Lord Jeff (1938), Kilburn worked alongside Mickey Rooney in Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (1939), A Yank at Eton (1942), and National Velvet (1944). In 1946 he was Joe, the horse's groom, in Black Beauty . In his early 20s, in 1947 and 1948, he was in four back-to-back Bulldog Drummond films, as Seymour, a reporter; and in 1950 he had small roles in two seagoing films.
After high school, Kilburn concentrated on stage work, and studied drama at UCLA. [7] He made his Broadway debut, credited as Terrance Kilburn, portraying Eugene Marchbanks in a 1952 revival of George Bernard Shaw's Candida . [7] [8] [9] He thereafter remained committed to live performances, as both actor and director. [7]
After 1952, Kilburn was credited on screen as Terence Kilburn. His final feature film role was a small part in Lolita (1962). Between 1951 and 1969, he was also in nearly a dozen teleplays, television movies, and television series episodes.
From 1970 to 1994, Kilburn was artistic director of Oakland University's Meadow Brook Theatre in Rochester, Michigan. [10] [11] Meadow Brook Theatre is Michigan's only LORT theatre. It presents classic plays, comedies, and musicals, and is known for its annual production of Dickens' A Christmas Carol , adapted by Kilburn's partner, Charles Nolte. [12]
Since 1994 Kilburn has resided in Minneapolis, Minnesota. [5] [13] His partner of over 50 years, actor Charles Nolte, died in January 2010. [14]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1934 | No Greater Glory | Paul Street Boy | Film debut |
1938 | Lord Jeff | Albert Baker | |
A Christmas Carol | Tiny Tim | ||
Sweethearts | Brother | ||
1939 | The Great Man Votes | Student | |
Goodbye, Mr. Chips |
| ||
Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever | 'Stickin' Plaster | ||
They Shall Have Music | Limey | ||
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Billy | ||
1940 | Swiss Family Robinson | Ernest Robinson | |
1941 | Mercy Island | Wiccy | |
1942 | A Yank at Eton | Hilspeth | Uncredited |
1944 | National Velvet | Ted | |
1946 | Black Beauty | Joe | |
1947 | Song of Scheherazade | Midshipman Lorin | |
Bulldog Drummond at Bay | Seymour | ||
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back | Seymour | ||
1948 | The Challenge | Seymour | |
13 Lead Soldiers | Seymour | ||
1950 | Tyrant of the Sea | Dick Savage | |
Fortunes of Captain Blood | Kenny Jensen | ||
1951 | Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration | Stephen | Teleplay, Family Theatre |
Only the Valiant | Trooper Saxton | ||
1953 | Slater's Dream | Samuel Slater | Teleplay, Cavalcade of America |
Slaves of Babylon | King Cyrus | ||
1954 | King Richard II | Harry Percy | TV movie |
Night Must Fall | Dan | Ponds Theater | |
You Touched Me! | Kraft Theatre | ||
1956 | The Honor Code | Cadet Eddie Garley | Teleplay, West Point |
Miss Mabel | Peter | Lux Video Theatre | |
1957 | The New Adventures of Martin Kane | Bill Wright | TV series, episode "The Railroad Story" |
The Long Christmas Dinner | Sam | TV adaptation of play | |
1958 | Fiend Without a Face | Capt. Al Chester | |
The New Adventures of Charlie Chan | Col. Arthur Ross | TV series, episode "Safe Deposit" | |
1962 | Lolita | Man | Final film |
1969 | Get Smart | Shirtsinger | TV series, episode "Hurray for Hollywood" |
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul (1931), and is known to modern audiences for the role of villainous Mr. Potter in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.
Charles Boyer was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American films during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised, in romantic dramas such as The Garden of Allah (1936), Algiers (1938), and Love Affair (1939), as well as the mystery-thriller Gaslight (1944). He received four Oscar nominations for Best Actor. He also appeared as himself on the CBS sitcom I Love Lucy.
William Joseph Shields, known professionally as Barry Fitzgerald, was an Irish stage, film and television actor. In a career spanning almost forty years, he appeared in such notable films as Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Long Voyage Home (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), The Sea Wolf (1941), Going My Way (1944), None but the Lonely Heart (1944) and The Quiet Man (1952). For Going My Way, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and was simultaneously nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was the older brother of Irish actor Arthur Shields. In 2020, he was listed at number 11 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
George Emlyn Williams, CBE was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor.
Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall was a British-American actor, whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across over 60 years. Born in London, he began his acting career as a child in his native England, before moving to the United States at the outbreak of World War II. He achieved prominence for his starring roles in How Green Was My Valley (1941), My Friend Flicka (1943), and Lassie Come Home (1943). Unlike many of his contemporaries, McDowall managed to transition his child stardom into adulthood, and began to appear on Broadway as well as in films, winning a Tony Award for his performance in Jean Anouilh's The Fighting Cock. For portraying Octavian in the historical epic Cleopatra (1963), he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Edmund Gwenn was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street (1947), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the corresponding Golden Globe Award. He received a second Golden Globe and another Academy Award nomination for the comedy film Mister 880 (1950). He is also remembered for his appearances in four films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Garson Kanin was an American writer and director of plays and films.
Edwin Eugene Lockhart was a Canadian-American character actor, playwright, singer and lyricist. He appeared in over 300 films, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Regis in Algiers (1938), the American remake of Pepe le Moko.
Man and Boy is a play by Terence Rattigan. It was first performed at The Queen's Theatre, London, and Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York, in 1963, with Charles Boyer starring as Gregor Antonescu. It was poorly received, with a limited London run and only 54 performances on Broadway; but was revived by Maria Aitken in 2005 at the Duchess Theatre, London, with David Suchet as Gregor Antonescu, to great acclaim. Maria Aitken again directed the play for Roundabout Theatre Company on Broadway in the fall of 2011 at the American Airlines Theatre starring Tony Award winner Frank Langella as Antonescu.
Ronald Egan Randell was an Australian actor. After beginning his acting career on the stage in 1937, he played Charles Kingsford Smith in the film Smithy (1946). He also had roles in Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947), Kiss Me Kate (1953), I Am a Camera (1955), Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961) and King of Kings (1961).
Kathleen Lockhart was a prolific English-American actress during the early-mid 20th century.
Richard Dutoit Carlson was an American actor, television and film director, and screenwriter.
Robert Coote was an English actor. He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of My Fair Lady.
Eric Harold Portman was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in three films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s.
Donald Woods was a Canadian-American film and television actor whose career in Hollywood spanned six decades.
Alan Marshal was an Australian-born actor who performed on stage in the United States and in Hollywood films. He was sometimes billed as Alan Marshall or Alan Willey.
Roman Aloys Bohnen was an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films Of Mice and Men (1939), The Song of Bernadette (1943), and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).
Charles Nolte was an American stage and film actor, director, playwright, and educator.
Arlington Rand Brooks Jr. was an American film and television actor.
Jed Buell was an American film producer, director, and screenwriter who specialized in low-budget B pictures in a variety of subjects including singing cowboy films featuring midgets and black actors.