Leslie French

Leslie French (23 April 1904 – 21 January 1999) was a British actor, director, singer, and dancer born in Bromley, Kent, whose career encompassed classical theatre, musical revue, pantomime, ballet, film, and television. Educated at the London School of Choristers, he made his first stage appearance as a child actor in a Christmas production at the Little Theatre in 1914, the same year he left school to join the touring Ben Greet Company as a stagehand and prompter. He subsequently understudied Bobby Howes in the West End musical Mr. Cinders and took on the title role when the production moved to regional tour.

French joined the Old Vic company in 1930, where he built the foundation of his classical reputation. Among the roles he played there were Poins in Henry IV, Part I, Eros in Antony and Cleopatra, and the Fool in King Lear. It was his portrayal of Ariel in The Tempest, however, that became the defining role of his career. That production placed him on stage alongside John Gielgud as Prospero and Ralph Richardson as Caliban, marking the first time those two actors appeared together on stage. French performed the role wearing only a small loincloth, making the production a subject of considerable public attention, and he was among the first male actors to take on the part in many years. His work in that production also had a lasting visual legacy: he and Gielgud served as the inspiration for Eric Gill's carving of Prospero and Ariel installed above the entrance to Broadcasting House on Portland Place.

He continued performing Shakespeare's spirits and clowns — including Puck, Feste, and Touchstone, in addition to Ariel — at the Old Vic and later at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, where his abilities as a singer and dancer informed his interpretations of those roles. He also directed productions including The Taming of the Shrew and As You Like It, and appeared in musicals such as Fritzi in 1935. In 1938, French brought his stage work to New York, appearing on Broadway in The Two Bouquets. In 1955, he traveled to Cape Town, South Africa, to help establish Shakespearean seasons at the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre, which had opened on 1 December 1950 and operated with multi-racial casts performing to multi-racial audiences. For his contributions to that theatre, French was awarded the key to the city of Cape Town in 1963.

His screen career, while secondary to his stage work, produced a number of notable credits. He played Mr. Woodhouse in the BBC serial adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma in 1960, a performance regarded as one of his most memorable on television. He appeared in two films directed by Luchino Visconti: The Leopard in 1963, in which he played Cavalier Chevally, and Death in Venice in 1971, in which he appeared as a travel agent. His television work included appearances in Dixon of Dock Green, Armchair Theatre, Z-Cars, The Avengers, Jason King, and The Singing Detective. French was at one point considered for the role of the First Doctor in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, a part that ultimately went to William Hartnell. He did eventually appear in the programme in its 1988 serial Silver Nemesis, playing the Mathematician. Additional film credits include Orders to Kill (1958), The Scapegoat (1959), The Singer Not the Song (1961), More Than a Miracle (1967), Invitation to the Wedding (1983), and The Living Daylights (1987), in which he played a lavatory attendant.