George Relph

George Relph (27 January 1888 – 24 April 1960) was an English actor born in Cullercoats, England, whose career spanned stage and screen across more than five decades. His Broadway appearances ran from 1911 to 1958, and his work in film extended to more than a dozen productions.

Relph's stage career began in the early 1900s, with an appearance in The Silver King at the Prince's Theatre, Bristol, in 1902–1903. His Broadway debut came with Kismet at the Knickerbocker Theatre in 1911–1912, where he played Kafur. He returned to New York the following season to appear as Wu Hoo Git in The Yellow Jacket at the Fulton Theatre, and in 1915 he played Romeo at the 44th Street Theatre in a production directed by Herbert Beerbohm Tree. His early career was interrupted by service in the British Army during the First World War, during which he sustained a gunshot wound to the leg that delayed his return to the stage. He eventually resumed his career and continued performing for decades afterward.

Much of Relph's most sustained stage work came through his association with the Old Vic Company. During the mid-1940s he appeared in a succession of productions at the New Theatre, taking on roles including Telegin in Uncle Vanya, the Herdsman in Oedipus Rex, Mr. Dangle in The Critic, the Earl of Gloucester in King Lear, Pistol in Henry IV, Part 2, and George, Duke of Clarence in Richard III, among others. He also appeared as Creon in Antigone and as the Duke of Buckingham in a 1949 revival of Richard III. In 1950 he played Herbert Reedbeck in Venus Observed at St. James's Theatre and Dr. Libbard in The Gioconda Smile, a production that transferred to the Lyceum Theatre and then to the Fulton Theatre in New York. His final Broadway credit came with The Entertainer in 1957–1958, in which he played Billy Rice, a role that earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1958.

Relph's film career began in 1915 with The Lure of Woman and The Butterfly on the Wheel, followed by several additional silent-era productions. After a gap of many years, he returned to film in 1933 with an uncredited role in The Ghoul. Subsequent screen appearances included Nicholas Nickleby in 1947, The Titfield Thunderbolt in 1953, in which he played Vicar Sam Weech, and Doctor at Large in 1957. His final film role was Tiberius Caesar in the 1959 production of Ben-Hur, released five months before his death on 24 April 1960. His son, Michael, went on to become a producer in the British film industry.