| Jack Hawkins | |
|---|---|
 from the trailer for the film Ben-Hur (1959). |
|
| Birth name | John Edward Hawkins |
| Born | September 14, 1910 Wood Green, London, England |
| Died | July 18, 1973 ( age 62 ) Chelsea, London, England |
John Edward "Jack" Hawkins (September 14, 1910 – July 18, 1973) was an English film actor of the 1950s and 1960s. Hawkins made his London stage debut aged 12, and was appearing on Broadway in Journey's End by the age of 18. Although he appeared in several films during the 1930s, it was only after service in World War II that he began to build a successful career in the cinema, often playing stern but sympathetic authority figures in films like Angels One Five (1952), The Long Arm (1956) and The Cruel Sea (1953), the film that made him a star. Ironically Hawkins was politically liberal and an emotional man, in sharp contrast to his conservative screen image. From the late 1950s he mostly appeared in character roles, often in epic films like The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) (playing General Edmund Allenby) and Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). For Kwai, he had to convince his good friend, Alec Guinness, to take the lead role, which would ultimately win Guinness an Oscar. Some of his more unusual roles included an Egyptian Pharaoh in Land of the Pharaohs (1955), Ben Hur's adoptive Roman father Quintus Arrius in Ben-Hur (1959), and Zulu (1964), where he played against type as the fanatical Rev. Otto Witt. He was married to Jessica Tandy from 1932 to 1942 and later to Doreen Lawrence from 1946 until his death in 1973. Hawkins' began experiencing voice problems in the late 1950s; unknown to the public he had undergone cobalt treatment in 1959 for what was then described as a secondary condition of the larynx, but which was probably cancer. In private, he used a mechanical larynx to aid his speech.[1] In December 1965 he was diagnosed with throat cancer and his entire larynx was removed in January of the following year; thereafter his performances were dubbed, often (and to Hawkins's approval) by actor Charles Gray. Hawkins died in 1973 at Chelsea, London [2], following an operation to insert an artificial voicebox. He was 62. His final appearance was in the television miniseries QB VII. His autobiography, titled "Anything For a Quiet Life", was published after his death.
Selected filmography
- Tales That Witness Madness (1973)
- Theatre of Blood (1973)
- Young Winston (1972)
- Kidnapped (1971)
- Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
- Jane Eyre (1970)
- Waterloo (1970)
- Monte Carlo or Bust (1969)
- Oh! What a Lovely War (1969)
- Lord Jim (1965)
- Guns at Batasi (1964)
- Zulu (1964)
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- Ben-Hur (1959)
- The League of Gentlemen (1959)
- Gideon's Day (USA: Gideon of Scotland Yard) (1958)
- The Two-Headed Spy (1958)
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- The Man in the Sky (1957)
- The Long Arm (1956)
- The Prisoner (1955)
- Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
- Front Page Story (1954)
- The Intruder (1954)
- Angels One Five (1953)
- The Cruel Sea (1953)
- Malta Story (1953)
- The Planter's Wife (1952)
- Mandy (1952)
- No Highway (1951)
- The Black Rose (1950)
- State Secret (1950)
- The Elusive Pimpernel (1950)
- The Small Back Room (1949)
- Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948)
- The Fallen Idol (1948)
- The Next of Kin (1942)
- Peg of Old Drury (1935)
- The Good Companions (1933)
- The Lodger (1932)
References
- ^ Hawkins, Jack (1975). Anything for a Quiet Life. London: Coronet. ISBN 0340198664.
- ^ GRO Register of Deaths: SEP 1973 5a 1339 CHELSEA - John Edward Hawkins, DoB = 14 Sep 1910
