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Bruce Belfrage
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Bruce Belfrage (30 October 1900 – August 1974) was an English actor and BBC radio newsreader.[1] He was a casting director at the BBC between 1936 and 1939, and founded the BBC Repertory Company in 1939.[2]
Key Information
Early life
[edit]Bruce Belfrage was born in Marylebone, London, the son of Frances Grace (née Powley) and Sydney Henning Belfrage, a physician and author.[1] His younger brother was the author and journalist Cedric Belfrage.[3] He was educated at Gresham's School before taking an honours degree in modern languages at St John's College, Oxford.[4]
Career
[edit]Belfrage is reported as performing on stage in London with The Strolling Players in February 1923.[5] He played in a notable triumph—A Sleeping Clergyman—with Robert Donat in 1933 and in BBC radio plays in 1934.[6] He appeared in his first film in 1932.[2] He was a broadcaster in the early days of 2LO at Savoy Hill, and in 1935 joined the BBC as a casting director, later becoming a newsreader and announcer.[1][7]
In a famous incident on 15 October 1940, the BBC's Broadcasting House took a direct hit from a delayed-action German bomb, which eventually exploded during the nine o'clock radio news read by Belfrage.[1][8] Seven people were killed, and Belfrage, covered with plaster and soot, carried on reading the news as if nothing had happened.[1][8] Listeners at home heard just a dull thud.[8]
In 1942, he enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve and was demobilised with the rank of Lieutenant-Commander.[1]
Belfrage was an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the South Buckinghamshire division at the 1950 general election.[9] He polled 16.5%, and did not contest another election.[1]
Migration to Australia
[edit]In September 1958, for health reasons, Belfrage migrated to Australia with his second wife Joyce, a TV producer.[10] They lived in Melbourne for seven months and transferred to Sydney in 1959.[11] Joyce Belfrage resigned from ABC in 1962 to work in the advertising industry. She initiated a media studies programme at Macquarie University.[12]
Death
[edit]Bruce Belfrage died in Sydney at the age of 73.[1] He was married to the actress Joan Henley, with whom he had a son, Julian Rochfort Belfrage.[13] After his divorce from Henley, Belfrage married Joyce Belfrage.[14][clarification needed]
Filmography
[edit]- C.O.D.. (1932) - Philip[15]
- The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) - Pitt[16]
- Too Many Millions (1934)[17]
- Full Circle (1935) - Clyde Warren[18]
- War Front (1941) - Newspaper editor[19]
- Hue and Cry (1947) - BBC announcer[20]
- Man on the Run (1948) - BBC Newscaster[21]
- I Killed the Count (1948) - Viscount Sorrington[22]
- Corridor of Mirrors (1948) - Sir David Conway[23]
- Black Magic (1949) - Crown Prosecutor[24]
- Warning to Wantons (1949) - Archimandrite[25]
- Ten Little Niggers (1949) - Sir Lawrence Wargrave[26]
- The Case of Charles Peace (1949) - Prosecution Counsel[27]
- Miss Pilgrim's Progress (1950) - Manager[28]
- Mister Drake's Duck (1951) - Air Vice Marshal[29]
- Home to Danger (1951) - Solicitor[30]
- The Galloping Major (1951) - Himself/Radio Commentator[31]
- Never Look Back (1952) - Judge[32]
Publication
[edit]One Man In His Time, by Bruce Belfrage. Published by Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1951[33]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h Obituary in The Times, Mr Bruce Belfrage, 17 August 1974, p.14
- ^ a b McFarlane, Brian; Slide, Anthony (2013). "Belfrage, Bruce". The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth Edition. Manchester University Press. p. 62. ISBN 9780719091391. Retrieved 6 July 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Maxford, Howard (2 November 2018). Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. McFarland. p. 44. ISBN 9781476629148 – via Google Books.
- ^ Britain), Liberal Party (Great (24 June 2019). "Who's who of 475 Liberal Candidates Fighting the 1950 General Election". Liberal Party; Scottish Liberal Party. p. 10. Retrieved 24 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Chapin, Harold (17 February 1923). "The Marriage of Columbine: Performance by The Strolling Players". The Times. p. 24.
- ^ "BBC Programmes—Home Stations, National". The Times. 15 February 1934. p. 8.
- ^ "House of Commons: With Full Results of the Polling, Biographies of Members and Unsuccessful Candidates, Photographs of All Members, and a Complete Analysis, Statistical Tables, and a Map of the General Election". Times Office. 30 June 2019. p. 165. Retrieved 30 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c Harvey, A. D. (1 January 1992). Collision of Empires: Britain in Three World Wars, 1793-1945. A&C Black. p. 674. ISBN 9781852850784. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Craig, Fred W. S (29 June 1971). British parliamentary election results, 1950-1970. Political Reference Publications. ISBN 9780900178023. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Open WorldCat.
- ^ British Theatre Review. Vance-Offord Publications Limited. 29 June 1975. ISBN 9780903931076. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Sitsky, Bob. Extract of interview by Graham Shirley, Joyce Belfrage Talks about the ABC, at website of ABC TV, Gore Hill.
- ^ "[Biographical cuttings on Joyce Belfrage, University Lecturer, Macquarie University, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals]". 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Trove.
- ^ "OBITUARIES: JULIAN BELFRAGE". The Independent. 6 January 1995. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
- ^ Maxford, Howard (2 November 2018). Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. McFarland. ISBN 9781476629148. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Powell, Michael (29 June 2019). Michael Powell: Interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781578064984. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Slide, Anthony (18 January 2013). Fifty Classic British Films, 1932-1982: A Pictorial Record. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486148519. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Slide, Anthony (18 January 2013). Fifty Classic British Films, 1932-1982: A Pictorial Record. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486148519. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ McFarlane, Brian; Slide, Anthony (29 June 2019). The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth Edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780719091391. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Bruce Belfrage". BFI. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019.
- ^ "Radio Times". G. Newnes. 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Mayer, Geoff (29 June 2019). Guide to British Cinema. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313303074. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ "The Film Daily Year Book of Motion Pictures". Film Daily. 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Palmer, Scott (29 June 1993). The films of Agatha Christie. Batsford. ISBN 9780713472059. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Internet Archive.
bruce belfrage ten little niggers.
- ^ Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Warren, Bill (12 January 2017). Keep Watching the Skies!: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties, The 21st Century Edition. McFarland. ISBN 9781476625058. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Hutchings, Peter (29 June 2019). Terence Fisher. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719056376. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Gifford, Denis (1 January 1998). Entertainers in British Films: A Century of Showbiz in the Cinema. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313307201. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Maxford, Howard (2 November 2018). Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. McFarland. ISBN 9781476629148. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Belfrage, Bruce (3 July 1951). One man in his time. Hodder and Stoughton. OCLC 7897336.