Siddhesh Joshi (Editor)

Peter Godfrey (director)

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Occupation
  
Director, Actor

Children
  
Bobbie Poledouris

Role
  
Actor

Name
  
Peter Godfrey

Years active
  
1930-1958 (film)


Peter Godfrey (director) wwwgeniimagazinecomwikiimagesthumbbb6Genii

Born
  
16 October 1899 (
1899-10-16
)
London, England, UK

Died
  
March 4, 1970, Hollywood, California, United States

Spouse
  
Renee Godfrey (m. 1941–1964), Molly Veness (m. 1923)

Books
  
Report by the Committee of Inquiry Appointed by the Minister of Overseas Development Into the Circumstances which Led to the Crown Agents Requesting Financial Assistance from the Government in 1974

Movies
  
Christmas in Connecticut, The Two Mrs Carrolls, Cry Wolf, Escape Me Never, The Woman in White

Similar People
  
Dennis Morgan, Alexis Smith, Sydney Greenstreet, Renee Godfrey, Barbara Stanwyck

Peter Godfrey (16 October 1899 – 4 March 1970) was an English actor and film director. Founder of the experimental Gate Theatre Studio in 1925, he staged London's first expressionistic production in the following year. Eventually moving to Hollywood, he established a career as a film actor and director.

Contents

Life and career

Godfrey began his career as a conjuror, clown, actor and director in repertory theatres around the United Kingdom. However, he became increasingly dissatisfied with the standard repertory plays, being himself attracted to the experimental works of American and Continental directors, and the avant-garde playwrights of the 1920s. To stage such plays, he and his wife, the actress Molly Veness, rented a room in Floral Street, Covent Garden, which they were forced to run as a private club since London City Council refused to grant a licence for their "theatre", which, according to Edna Antrobus, had only "one entrance and exit and a rickety wooden staircase".

The Gate Theatre Studio opened on 30 October 1925, and after staging plays by Molière and Strindberg established its reputation with a production staged in 1926 of Georg Kaiser's From Morn to Midnight, London's first expressionistic production. In 1927 the theatre club moved to Villiers Street, where it reached the peak of its success in the 1930-31 season.

Godfrey directed two British films in the early 1930s. In 1936 he directed a production of C. L. R. James's play Toussaint Louverture at the Westminster Theatre. Godfrey moved to New York City in around 1937, where he continued to write and produce plays. In 1939, now in Hollywood, he took up directing more permanently. In 1942 he became a dialogue director for RKO and Columbia Pictures. By the late 1940s Godfrey was a prominent director, working on films such as the Errol Flynn vehicles Cry Wolf and Escape Me Never. In the 1950s he switched to television and directed episodes for a variety of shows. He died on 4 March 1970, at the age of 70.

He is interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery near his wife, actress, Renee Godfrey.

Filmography

Director
1959
Deadline (TV Series) (5 episodes)
- Birthday Present (1959)
- Lonely Hearts Killer (1959)
- Murderess (1959)
- Hot Stuff (1959)
- Extortion (1959)
1958
Adventures of the Sea Hawk (TV Series) (2 episodes)
- Fiery Opal (1958)
- Empire in the Sun (1958)
1955
Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal (TV Series) (9 episodes)
- The Mason Story (1957)
- Real Doll (1957)
- No Private Room (1957)
- Hospital Melodrama (1957)
- The Conroy Story (1956)
- The Don Burns Story (1956)
- Off the Pedestal (1956)
- Dr. Means' Surgery (1955)
- Carlton Story (1955)
1957
Code 3 (TV Series) (6 episodes)
- 999 (1957) - (directed by)
- The Man with Many Faces (1957)
- Charged Bottle (1957) - (directed by)
- The Water Skier (1957)
- Road Block (1957)
- The Rookie Sheriff (1957)
1957
The Court of Last Resort (TV Series) (1 episode)
- The James Dawson Case (1957)
1957
Goodyear Theatre (TV Series) (1 episode)
- Danger by Night (1957)
1957
The O. Henry Playhouse (TV Series) (5 episodes)
- Girl (1957)
- Vanity and Some Sables (1957) - (directed by)
- Sisters of the Golden Circle (1957)
- The World and the Door (1957)
- The Marionettes (1957)
1956
Studio 57 (TV Series) (1 episode)
- Palm Springs Incident (1956)
1955
TV Reader's Digest (TV Series) (8 episodes)
- The Only Way Out (1956)
- The Secret Weapon of Joe Smith (1956)
- The Case of the Uncertain Hand (1956)
- Return from Oblivion (1956)
- France's Greatest Detective (1955)
- A Million Dollar Story (1955)
- America's First Great Lady (1955)
- The American Master Counterfeiters (1955)
1956
Telephone Time (TV Series) (1 episode)
- Harry in Search of Himself (1956)
1955
The Star and the Story (TV Series) (4 episodes)
- The Lonely Ones (1956)
- The Difficult Age (1956)
- The True Confessions of Henry Pell (1955)
- Virtue (1955)
1956
Please Murder Me!
1956
Chevron Hall of Stars (TV Series) (2 episodes)
- The End of Night (1956)
- Cold Harbor (1956)
1956
The 20th Century-Fox Hour (TV Series) (1 episode)
- One Life (1956)
1955
Your Play Time (TV Series) (1 episode)
- Intolerable Portrait (1955)
1955
Stage 7 (TV Series) (2 episodes)
- Young Girl in an Apple Tree (1955)
- Down from the Stars (1955)
1955
The Ford Television Theatre (TV Series) (1 episode)
- Deception (1955)
1955
The Magical World of Disney (TV Series) (2 episodes)
- Cavalcade of Songs (1955)
- Monsters of the Deep (1955)
1955
Four Star Playhouse (TV Series) (1 episode)
- Breakfast in Bed (1955)
1954
Janet Dean, Registered Nurse (TV Series) (1 episode)
- The Gomez Case (1954)
1954
Your Favorite Story (TV Series) (1 episode)
- The Waltz (1954)
1953
Big Town (TV Series) (2 episodes)
- The Stranger (1954)
- On Their Own (1953)
1953
The Revlon Mirror Theater (TV Series) (1 episode)
- Key in the Lock (1953)
1953
Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) (3 episodes)
- Some Call It Love (1953)
- Lovely Day (1953)
- Something to Live For (1953)
1952
The Doctor (TV Series) (7 episodes)
- The Rocking Chair (1953)
- No-Rap Charlie (1953)
- Rendezvous (1953)
- Desk of Matthew Day (1953)
- Pile of Rocks (1952)
- The Trusting Heart (1952)
- The Fakir (1952)
1952
Your Jeweler's Showcase (TV Series) (1 episode)
- Marked X (1952)
1952
Cavalcade of America (TV Series) (1 episode)
- Poor Richard (1952)
1952
One Big Affair
1951
The Billy Rose Show (TV Series) (1 episode)
- The Old Flame (1951)
1950
He's a Cockeyed Wonder
1950
The Great Jewel Robber
1950
Barricade
1949
The Girl from Jones Beach
1949
One Last Fling
1948
The Decision of Christopher Blake
1948
The Woman in White
1947
Escape Me Never
1947
That Hagen Girl
1947
Cry Wolf
1947
The Two Mrs. Carrolls
1946
One More Tomorrow
1945
Christmas in Connecticut
1945
Hotel Berlin
1944
Make Your Own Bed
1942
Highways by Night
1941
Unexpected Uncle
1939
The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt
1931
Down River
1930
Thread O' Scarlet (Short)
Actor
1948
The Decision of Christopher Blake as
Butts (uncredited)
1947
The Two Mrs. Carrolls as
First Tout (uncredited)
1943
Forever and a Day as
Mr. Pepperdish (uncredited)
1942
Uncensored as
Lou
1941
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as
Poole
1940
Edison, the Man as
Ashton
1940
The Earl of Chicago as
Judson
1939
Raffles as
Crawshay
1939
The Hunchback of Notre Dame as
Monk (uncredited)
1938
Blockade as
Roderigo - Cafe Magician
1937
Good Morning, Boys! as
Cliquot
1933
The Charming Deceiver as
Fancourt
1933
Leave It to Me as
Siegffied Velour
Writer
1943
Forever and a Day (writer)
1939
Eternally Yours (uncredited)
Miscellaneous
1941
Father Takes a Wife (dialogue director)
1938
Blockade (dialogue director)
Self
1950
Movietown USA (TV Series) as
Self
- Episode #1.19 (1950) - Self
1937
Cabaret (TV Series) as
Self - Performer
- Episode dated 17 June 1937 (1937) - Self - Performer

References

Peter Godfrey (director) Wikipedia