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Robert Donat
Friedrich Robert Donat (/ˈdoʊnæt/ DOH-nat; 18 March 1905 – 9 June 1958) was an English actor. Making his breakthrough film role in Alexander Korda's The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), today he is best remembered for his roles in The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935), and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor as the gentle English schoolmaster Mr. Chips.
Beginning his career in theatre, Donat made his stage debut in 1921 playing Lucius in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, and in 1928 he appeared in productions at the Liverpool Playhouse, starring in plays by John Galsworthy, George Bernard Shaw among others, before moving to London in 1930. He appeared in the West End when he starred in A Sleeping Clergyman in 1933, and in 1936 he took on the management of the West End's Queen's Theatre.
In his book, The Age of the Dream Palace, Jeffrey Richards wrote that Donat was "British cinema's one undisputed romantic leading man in the 1930s". "The image he projected was that of the romantic idealist, often with a dash of the gentleman adventurer."
Donat suffered from chronic (and possibly psychosomatic) asthma, which affected his career and limited him to appearing in only 19 films.
Friedrich Robert Donat was born and baptised in Withington, Manchester, the fourth and youngest son of Ernst Emil Donat, a civil engineer of German origin from Prussia, and his wife, Rose Alice Green. He was of English, Polish, German and French descent and was educated at Manchester Central Grammar School for Boys. His older brother was Philip Donat, father of actors Richard and Peter Donat.
To cope with a bad stammer, he took elocution lessons with James Bernard, a leading teacher of "dramatic interpretation". He left school at 15, working as Bernard's secretary to fund his continued lessons.
Donat made his first stage appearance in 1921, at the age of 16, with Henry Baynton's company at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Birmingham, playing Lucius in Julius Caesar. His break came in 1924 when he joined the company of Shakespearean actor Sir Frank Benson, where he stayed for four years.
In 1928, he began a year at the Liverpool Playhouse, starring in plays by John Galsworthy, George Bernard Shaw and Harold Brighouse, among others. In 1929, he played at the Festival Theatre in Cambridge under the direction of Tyrone Guthrie. He appeared in a number of plays, some with Flora Robson, and also directed.
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Robert Donat
Friedrich Robert Donat (/ˈdoʊnæt/ DOH-nat; 18 March 1905 – 9 June 1958) was an English actor. Making his breakthrough film role in Alexander Korda's The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), today he is best remembered for his roles in The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935), and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor as the gentle English schoolmaster Mr. Chips.
Beginning his career in theatre, Donat made his stage debut in 1921 playing Lucius in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, and in 1928 he appeared in productions at the Liverpool Playhouse, starring in plays by John Galsworthy, George Bernard Shaw among others, before moving to London in 1930. He appeared in the West End when he starred in A Sleeping Clergyman in 1933, and in 1936 he took on the management of the West End's Queen's Theatre.
In his book, The Age of the Dream Palace, Jeffrey Richards wrote that Donat was "British cinema's one undisputed romantic leading man in the 1930s". "The image he projected was that of the romantic idealist, often with a dash of the gentleman adventurer."
Donat suffered from chronic (and possibly psychosomatic) asthma, which affected his career and limited him to appearing in only 19 films.
Friedrich Robert Donat was born and baptised in Withington, Manchester, the fourth and youngest son of Ernst Emil Donat, a civil engineer of German origin from Prussia, and his wife, Rose Alice Green. He was of English, Polish, German and French descent and was educated at Manchester Central Grammar School for Boys. His older brother was Philip Donat, father of actors Richard and Peter Donat.
To cope with a bad stammer, he took elocution lessons with James Bernard, a leading teacher of "dramatic interpretation". He left school at 15, working as Bernard's secretary to fund his continued lessons.
Donat made his first stage appearance in 1921, at the age of 16, with Henry Baynton's company at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Birmingham, playing Lucius in Julius Caesar. His break came in 1924 when he joined the company of Shakespearean actor Sir Frank Benson, where he stayed for four years.
In 1928, he began a year at the Liverpool Playhouse, starring in plays by John Galsworthy, George Bernard Shaw and Harold Brighouse, among others. In 1929, he played at the Festival Theatre in Cambridge under the direction of Tyrone Guthrie. He appeared in a number of plays, some with Flora Robson, and also directed.