Basil Radford

English actor (1897–1952)

Shirley Deuchars

(m. 1926)

Children1

Arthur Basil Radford^[1] (25 June 1897 – 20 October 1952) was an English character actor who featured in many British films of the 1930s and 1940s.

He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his first stage appearance in July 1924. He is probably best remembered for his appearances alongside Naunton Wayne as two cricket-obsessed Englishmen in several films from 1938 to 1949.

Early life

Radford was born in Chester, England, on 25 June 1897.^[1]

First World War

He was a commissioned officer in the South Staffordshire Regiment in the First World War, in 1918 transferring into the Royal Air Force, ending the war as a subaltern when he was demobilised in 1920.^[2] Radford had a crescent-shaped scar on his right cheek from a wound sustained during his time in the trenches. Depending on the lighting and camera angle it varied from barely perceptible to prominent.^[3]

Film career

Radford first appeared with Naunton Wayne as their characters Charters and Caldicott in Alfred Hitchcock's 1938 thriller The Lady Vanishes. They were popular enough to reprise their roles in Night Train to Munich, which was again scripted by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat.

They appeared together in several other 1940s films, including Crook's Tour (1941), The Next of Kin (1942), Millions Like Us (1943), Dead of Night (1945), Quartet (1948), It's Not Cricket (1949), Stop Press Girl (1949), and Passport to Pimlico (1949).

Apart from his long-running partnership with Naunton Wayne, Radford made many other memorable film appearances in character roles. His other films included Young and Innocent (also for Hitchcock) (1937), The Way to the Stars (1945), The Captive Heart (1946), The Winslow Boy (1948) and Whisky Galore! (1949).

Personal life

In 1926, he married Shirley Deuchars. They had one son.^[4]

Death

Radford's health began seriously to fail in the summer of 1951, forcing him to take a long break from acting. He died at St George's Hospital, Westminster, London, on 20 October 1952, from liver failure due to cirrhosis of the liver.^[1]

Complete filmography

Barnum Was Right (1929) as Standish
Woman to Woman (1929) as Officer in Street (uncredited)
Seven Days Leave (1930) as Corporal
There Goes the Bride (1932) as Rudolph (uncredited)
Leave It to Smith (1933) as Sir John Moynton
A Southern Maid (1934) as Tom
Foreign Affaires (1935) as Basil Mallory
Broken Blossoms (1936) as Mr. Reed
Dishonour Bright (1936) as Henry Crane
Jump for Glory (1937) as Defending Counsel
Young and Innocent (1937) as Erica's Uncle
Captain's Orders (1937) as Murdoch
Convict 99 (1938) as Deputy Governor
The Lady Vanishes (1938) as Charters
Climbing High (1938) as Reggie
The Royal Family of Broadway (1939) as Gilbert Marshall (TV Movie)
Let's Be Famous (1939) as Watson
Trouble Brewing (1939) as Guest at Madame Berdi's (uncredited)
Shall We Join the Ladies? (1939) as Mr. Preen (TV Movie)
Jamaica Inn (1939) as Lord George
Secret Journey (1939) as Reggie
The Four Just Men (1939) (uncredited)
The Girl Who Forgot (1940) as Mr. Barradine
She Couldn't Say No (1940) as Lord Pilton
Spies of the Air (1940) as Bill Madison
Just William (1940) as Mr. Sidway
Girl in the News (1940) as Dr. Threadgrove
Night Train to Munich (1940) as Charters
The Flying Squad (1940) as Sederman
Room for Two (1940) as Robert Spencer
Crook's Tour (1941) as Charters
Save Rubber (1942) (government Information film short)
Flying Fortress (1942) as Captain Wilkinson
The Next of Kin (1942, cameo, with Naunton Wayne) as Careless talker on train (last scene)
Unpublished Story (1942) as Lamb
London Scrapbook (1942) as Himself
Dear Octopus (1943) as Kenneth
Millions Like Us (1943) as Charters
Twilight Hour (1945) as Lord Chetwood
The Way to the Stars (1945) as Tiny Williams
Dead of Night (1945) as George Parratt
The Captive Heart (1946) as Major Ossy Dalrymple
A Girl in a Million (1946) as Prendergast
The Winslow Boy (1948) as Desmond Curry
Quartet (1948) as Henry Garnet (segment "The Facts of Life")
It's Not Cricket (1949) as Major Bright
Passport to Pimlico (1949) as Gregg
Stop Press Girl (1949) as The Mechanical Type
Whisky Galore! (1949) as Captain Paul Waggett
Helter Skelter (1949) as Maj. Bright (uncredited)
Chance of a Lifetime (1950) as Dickinson
Ha'penny Breeze (1950) as Shopkeeper (uncredited)
The Galloping Major (1951) as Major Arthur Hill (also based on a story written by Radford)
White Corridors (1951) as Retired Civil Servant (final film role)

* Charters and Caldicott films

Selected stage appearances

Night Must Fall by Emlyn Williams (1935)
Someone at the Door by Campbell Christie (1935)
Blondie White by Bernard Merivale and Jeffrey Dell (1937)
The Innocent Party by H.M. Harwood (1938)
Warn That Man! by Vernon Sylvaine (1941)
The Blind Goddess by Patrick Hastings (1947)
A Penny for a Song by John Whiting (1951)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Adam Greaves, "Radford, (Arthur) Basil (1897–1952)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, May 2014 available online. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
^ WO/372/16/126396, W.W.1 Medal Index Card for Radford, The National Archive, Kew.
^ Sweet, Matthew (29 December 2007). "Mustard and Cress". The Guardian. London.
^ "Obituary: Basil Radford - The Times (21 October 1952)". The Alfred Hitchcock Wiki. 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015.