Actor Corin Redgrave Passes On

Actor Corin Redgrave passed today at the age of 70.He had fallen ill on Sunday.

Corin Redgrave was born in Marylebone, London on 16 July, 1939, the son of actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. Acing was literally in his blood. His grandfather was silent actor Roy Redgrave. His sisters were Lynn and Venssa Redgrave.

Mr. Redgrave attended the Westminster School at King's College and the University of Cambridge. He made his acting debut in 1961 at the Royal Court, playing Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He made his television debut with a guest appearance in The Avengers episode "Lobster Quadrille (the last episode in which Honor Blackman appeared as Cathy Gale). He appeared in minor roles in the films Crooks in Cloisters (1964) and A Study in Terror (1965). He was a regular on the TV series The Big Spender. Throughout the Sixties he appeared in roles in such films as The Deadly Affair (1966), A Man For All Seasons (1966), The Magus (1968), and The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968). He appeared in such TV shows as Mystery and Imagination (as Jonathan Harker in that series' adaptation of Dracula), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Canterbury Tales, and Callan. He made his Broadway debut in 1963 in Chips with Everything.

The Seventies saw Corin Redgrave appear in such films as When Eight Bells Toll (1971), Von Richthofen and Brown (1971), and  Between Wars (1974). In the Eighties Mr. Redgrave appeared in the movies Excalibur ( 1981, as Cornwall), Eureka (1983), and The Fool (1990). In the Nineties he was in the films In the Name of the Father (1993), Four Wedding and a Funeral (1994), England, My England (1995), Persuasion (1995), and Honest (2000). On television he appeared on Performance (that show's adaptations of Measure for Measure and Henry IV). Dangerfield, Ultraviolet, and The Vice. In 1999 he returned to Broadway in Not About Nightingales.

The Naughts saw Mr. Redgrave appear in such films as Gypsy Woman (2001), Doctor Sleep (2002), To Kill a King (2003), and Enduring Love (2004). On television he appeared in the mini-series The Forsythe Saga, the shows  Waking the Dead, Trial & Retribution, Shameless, and Spooks (known as MI-5 in the Untied States), and in the television films Shackleton, Bertie and Elizabeth, and The Turn of the Screw (his last appearance on the screen).

Corin Redgrave appeared on the stage throughout his career. He appeared often at the Old Vic Theatre, as well as with other acting troupes in England. He won the Olivier award for his role in Tennessee Williams' Not About Nightingales in England and was nominated for a Tony when he repeated his performance on Broadway. He played opposite his sister Vanessa in a revival of A Song at Twilight. He also wrote and performed his own one man plays including Michael Redgrave, My Father. He played in such Shakespeare plays as King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry IV, Part 1, and The Tempest.

Corin Redgrave was a political activist with very left wing views. As a result he often found work difficult to obtain for much of his career, and even stated that the BBC had blackballed him for his political views. This was a shame as Mr. Redgrave was a very talented actor. He more often than not played strong, slightly sinister characters, such as Jolyon Forsyte in The Forsythe Saga and Dr. Kidson in The Woman in White, and adaptation of Wilkie Collins' novel of the same name. He was capable of playing other roles, such as the hapless Cornwall in Excalibur and straight arrow pilot Lanoe Hawker in Von Richthofen and Brown. In nearly everything he appeared Corin Redgrave gave impressive performances. It is a shame that many prevented him from practising his craft more often.