Roger Livesey: Movies & Box Office

Roger Livesey (25 June 1906 – 4 February 1976) was a British stage and film actor renowned for his rich, husky voice and commanding presence. Born in the coastal town of Barry, Wales, he was the son of actor Joseph Livesey and Mary Catherine Edwards, and was educated at Westminster City School in London before training under Italia Conti. Livesey made his theatrical debut as an office boy in Loyalty at St James’s Theatre in 1917 and quickly progressed to a wide repertoire ranging from Shakespeare to contemporary comedy, performing across the West End, the West Indies, South Africa, and later with the Old Vic/Sadler’s Wells company between 1932 and 1934. In 1936 he appeared on Broadway in The Country Wife, where he met actress Ursula Jeans, whom he married the following year; the couple remained together until her death in 1973. During the Second World War, Livesey and Jeans were among the first entertainers to volunteer for troop morale, and although his attempt to join the Royal Air Force was rejected due to age, he contributed to the war effort by working in an aircraft factory at Desford. His breakthrough on screen came when director Michael Powell cast him as the charismatic Clive Candy in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), a role that cemented his international reputation. He subsequently starred in Powell & Pressburger classics such as I Know Where I’m Going! (1945) and A Matter of Life and Death (1946). Livesey continued to balance stage and screen, touring Australia in the late 1950s, appearing in television series like The Pallisers (1974), and delivering his final performance in Benjamin Franklin (1975). He died of colorectal cancer in Watford, England, at the age of 69, leaving behind a legacy of versatile performances that continue to influence British acting.