Wolfit, Donald, 1902-1968

Donald Wolfit was born in Nottinghamshire in 1902. As a young man he worked as an assistant stage manager with Charles Doran's Shakespeare Company, and began to pick up small parts on the stage. He later went on to work with Alexander Marsh and with Matheson Lang, and gradually built up a name for himself as a respected actor. He worked at the Old Vic and began working in films, saving this profits in order to start his own company, which he formed in 1937. He played most of the major Shakespearean roles with his company and was known abroad as well as in Britain. He also worked for film and television, and was knighted in 1957. He died in 1968.

From the guide to the Donald Wolfit Scrapbooks, 1921-1967, (V&A Department of Theatre and Performance)

British actor-manager.

From the description of Donald Wolfit Papers, 1803-1984 (bulk 1937-68). (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (HRC); University of Texas at Austin). WorldCat record id: 122452865

Donald Wolfit was born in 1902 in the village of Balderton in Nottinghamshire. When he was sixteen he had an audition with the actor-manager Fred Terry who did not hire him. Unruffled, he began studying elocution and the broadsword and in 1920 won an unpaid position as an assistant stage manager with Charles Doran's Shakespeare Company. Walk-on parts quickly led to speaking roles and a small salary. After the company disbanded two years later, Wolfit was engaged for a tour of Shakespeare with Alexander Marsh's company. A second interview with Fred Terry led to a one-year stint touring the provinces and Ireland, followed by engagements with Frank Cariello and Matheson Lang. The latter's generosity toward Wolfit propelled him from anonymity to moderate recognition as an actor.

Wolfit made his first appearance at the Old Vic Theater in 1929, where he scored an important success as Claudius. A cranky sort, his difficulty in getting along with fellow actors resulted in his staying for only one season. In the early 1930s he began to save his earnings from working in films so he could start his own theater company. His first attempt at management was a week-long drama festival in his hometown in 1934. In 1937, a year after his Hamlet at Stratford-upon-Avon had lifted him to the ranks of the leading players of the day, Wolfit formed the Donald Wolfit Shakespeare Company. Although he was generally believed to be a better actor than manager, his productions were initially a financial success.

From 1938 to 1943 Wolfit played most of the major Shakespeare roles in his own company's productions. The start of World War II disrupted theatrical activity in Britain but he was able to turn the upheaval into triumph by performing during the London blackout to good reviews, a courageous effort for which he was belatedly recognized when the Queen made him a Commander of the British Empire in 1950. Wolfit's 1944 Lear marked the first time he was broadly recognized as a great actor. By this time, though, critics were condemning his company's poor supporting players and tasteless costumes. After the war he attempted to lease the Lyceum Theatre but was thwarted in this venture and also in his efforts to obtain state support for a tour to Canada. He eventually made the trip abroad on his own funds, an act which solidified his reputation as an outsider in the London theatrical circle. In 1948 Wolfit married his leading lady Rosalind Iden, the daughter of the British director, actor, and educator B. Iden Payne. Payne was internationally known as a Shakespearean director and for his modified Elizabethan staging.

In 1951 Wolfit was again engaged at the Old Vic which had just been placed under Tyrone Guthrie's administration. Troubles soon arose and Wolfit resigned, never to appear on the boards of the Old Vic again. Short on funds, he resorted to film and television work. In the spring of 1953 he mounted a season of classical plays in London; that fall he staged a season at the King's Theatre, Hammersmith, but he was overworked and did not perform at his best. However, the proceeds from his film and television work allowed him to continue presenting financially risky works.

Wolfit's lifetime of service to the theater and to Shakespeare was rewarded with a knighthood in 1957; although he announced his retirement the following year, he persisted with his stage work. Between 1959 and 1963 he and Rosalind presented recitals in Africa, the United States, Australia, and Asia. Wolfit attracted national attention during the Actors' Equity strike of 1962 when he sided with the management. In the 1960s he made fewer appearances; his dream of a National Theatre for Britain was finally realized but it was too late for him to be involved to a significant degree. Wolfit died in February of 1968 after a brief illness.

The Donald Wolfit Papers were purchased from the Wolfit family via Bertram Rota Ltd. in 1991. Other Wolfit papers are held at the Theatre Museum in London.

Bibliography:

Harwood, Ronald. Sir Donald Wolfit C.B.E.: His Life and Work in the Unfashionable Theatre. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1971.

From the guide to the Donald Wolfit Papers TXRC00-A19., 1803-1984, (bulk 1937-68), (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin)

Epithet: actor-manager

Title: Knight

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000210.0x0001d2