Roy Royston

Roy Royston, born Roy Charles Crowden on 5 April 1899 in Mill Hill, North London, was an English actor whose career spanned stage, film, and military service across more than five decades. He adopted the stage name Roy Royston as a boy and was educated at Lynton College as well as through private instruction. He died on 7 October 1976 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey.

Royston made his stage debut on 19 December 1910 in a revival of Maurice Maeterlinck's The Blue Bird at the Haymarket Theatre. Between 1912 and 1914 he worked as a child film actor, starring in a large number of silent pictures, the majority of which were directed by Lewis Fitzhamon. His younger brother also pursued an acting career under the stage name Gerald Royston. During the final stages of the First World War, Royston served under his birth name Roy Charles Crowden, commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the British Army before joining the Royal Flying Corps. In June 1918 he was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. His citation described an engagement in which he descended to low altitude to bomb a column of enemy troops, causing complete confusion, later attacked enemy infantry advancing across open country, and on a separate occasion destroyed one of six enemy scout aircraft, demonstrating what the citation called great determination and a splendid offensive spirit.

Following the war, Royston returned briefly to silent film, taking leading roles in Mr. Wu in 1919 and The Magistrate in 1921, before redirecting his focus toward musical theatre. From February to April 1923 he appeared in The Cousin from Nowhere at the Prince's Theatre in London. That performance led to his casting as one of two leading men in C. B. Cochran's London production of the Broadway musical Little Nellie Kelly, which ran at the New Oxford Theatre from July 1923 to February 1924. In that production Royston played Jack Lloyd, a New York millionaire in pursuit of the title character.

Having established himself in London musical theatre playing an American character, Royston moved to Broadway, where he performed from 1924 to 1932. In May 1924 he opened at the Jolson Theatre playing Jerry in Peg-O'-My-Dreams, and in August of the same year appeared at the Shubert Theatre as Brian Valcourt in Marjorie. From August 1925 he performed in June Days, playing Austin Bevans, a young man who inherits a school for girls and holds the theory that girls need learn nothing except charm. On 8 October 1928 Royston opened in Ups-a-Daisy at the Shubert Theatre, portraying Roy Lindbrooke, an adventurous young author. Bob Hope appeared in the same production in the role of a butler. The show ran for 64 performances. His Broadway credits also include the musical Smiling Faces.

Royston continued working in British film and theatre through the 1930s. In 1930 he starred opposite Lillian Hall-Davis in Michael Balcon's British musical film Just for a Song, and in 1935 appeared in the comedy The Big Splash. He became a regular member of a company that included Leslie Henson, Richard Hearne, Louise Brown, and Fred Emney. In 1937 he had a leading part in Going Greek, and in 1938 he starred in Douglas Furber's Running Riot, playing a film stunt man in love with an out-of-work actress.

During the Second World War, Royston again used his birth name Crowden and served in the Balloon Branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. On 1 March 1942 he was promoted from Flying Officer to temporary Flight Lieutenant, and he returned to the theatre in 1943. After approximately thirty years away from film, he closed his screen career with a role as an elderly clergyman in the Hammer Horror production The Plague of the Zombies in 1966.

Royston was married twice. His first marriage, to Laura Marguerite Gould, ended in divorce following his wife's petition. He subsequently married Dorothy Evelyn Taylor.