Eric Portman : A Chronology

This Foldout looks at some aspects of the life and work of Eric Portman

1923
He joined Robert Courtneidge's Shakespeare Company while it was playing at the Grand Theatre, Leeds

1924
He played his first speaking part with Courtneidge's company at the Victoria Theatre, Sunderland

1924
He made his first appearance on the London stage at the Savoy Theatre as Antipholus of Syracuse in Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors

1925
He appeared in White Cargo

1927
He joined the Old Vic Company, appearing as

February 1928
He first found fame as Romeo with the Old Vic Company at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith

1929
He appeared as Undershaft in Shaw's Major Barbara, at the Wyndham's Theatre

July 1932
He played John Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest

Other members of the cast included

This was the last production at the Theatre Royal, Halifax

1933
Film: The Girl from Maxim's

1933
Film: The Girl from Maxim's

1934
Film: Chu Chin Chow

1935
Film: Abdul the Damned

1935
Film: Maria Marten, or, The Murder in the Red Barn

1935
Film: Hyde Park Corner

1935
Film: Old Roses

1936
He signed a contract with Warner Brothers in the US

1936
His Lord Byron in Bitter-Harvest was hailed as an acting triumph

1936
Film: The Crimes of Stephen Hawke

1936
Film: The Cardinal

1936
Film: Hearts of Humanity

1937
Film: The Prince & the Pauper

1937
Film: The Singing Marine

1937
Theatre: The Great Romancer

Other members of the cast included

1937
Film: Moonlight Sonata

1938
Television: The Rivals

1938
Television: A Hundred Years Old

1938
Television: The Constant Nymph

Plot: A composer finds himself falling in love with a woman who has a short time to live

Other members of the cast included

1939
Television: Night at the Hardcastle's

1939
Television: She Stoops to Conquer

1939
Television: The Gamblers

1941
Film: 49th Parallel

1942
Film: One of Our Aircraft is Missing

1942
Film: Squadron Leader X

1942
Film: Uncensored

1943
Film: Millions like us

1943
Film: We Dive at Dawn

1943
Film: Escape to Danger

1944
Film: A Canterbury Tale

1945
Film: A Great Day

1946
Film: Men of Two Worlds

1946
Film: Wanted for Murder

1947
Film: The Mark of Cain

1947
Film: Dear Murderer

1948
He was voted one of the top 10 money-making stars in the British cinema, and won the Ellen Terry award for best actor

1948
Film: The Blind Goddess

1948
Film: Daybreak

1948
Film: Corridor of mirrors

1949
Film: The Spider & the Fly

1950
Film: Cairo Road

1951
Film: The Magic Box

1952
Film: His Excellency

1953
Film: South of Algiers

1955
Film: The Colditz Story

1955
Television: The Last Reunion

Plot: A ghost story about the annual reunion of a World War II RAF bomber squadron several years after their final operation. The crew are haunted by the memory of a ruthless murder which they committed over enemy territory during wartime, and they may be taking the secret to their graves sooner than they expected

Other members of the cast included

1955
Film: The Blue Sea

1955
Film: Television: A Double Life

March 1956
He brought a London production of Separate Tables – which Terence Rattigan had written specially for Eric – to raise funds to save the Grand Theatre, Halifax

Other members of the cast included

Members of the audience included

1956
Film: Child in the House

1957
Film: The Good Companions

October 1958
He opened in the original New York production of Eugene O'Neill's A touch of the poet. Click here to read The New York Times Review

1958
Television: The Pedigree Sheet

Plot: A seventeen-year-old girl survives a car crash, and is held by police when they learn that the driver had been shot just before the crash, and the other passenger was a well-known gunman

Other members of the cast included

1958
Television: A Tale of Two Cities

Plot: A TV version of the classic Dickens story

Eric played Dr Manette

1958
Television: The Terrible Clockman

1958
Television: We the Accused

Other members of the cast included

1959
Television: Oliver Twist

Plot: A TV version of the classic Dickens story

Eric played Fagin.

1960
Television: The Hero

Eric played Richard Musgrave.

1961
Film: The Naked Edge

1961
Television: A Call on Kuprin

Plot: A group of British spies plan to kidnap a Russian dissident

Other members of the cast included

1962
Film: Freud

1963
Film: The Man Who Finally Died

1963
Film: West 11

1965
He made a recording of Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well in New York for the Shakespeare Recording Society

Other members of the cast included

The production was directed by Howard Sackler

1965
Film: The Bedford Incident

1966
Film: The Spy With a Cold Nose

1967
Episode 4 of the cult TV drama series The Prisoner entitled Free for all

Eric played Number 2

Other members of the cast included

1967
He appeared in an episode of Anglia's TV drama series Play of the Week entitled Cross Fire written by Maurice Edelman

Plot: A doctor gets caught up in civil war in Algeria during the last days of the French Occupation

Other members of the cast included

1967
Film: The Whisperers

1967
Television: Free for all

1967
Television: Cross Fire

1968
Ill-health – a heart condition – forced him to retire while appearing in a production of John Galsworthy's Justice

1968
Film: Assignment to kill

1968
Film: Deadfall

1969
Television: The Strange Report series Report 0649: Skeleton: Let Sleeping Heroes Lie.

He was the guest star along with Hugh Burden, and the series regulars

This was a last filmed appearance, filmed in early October 1968.

1969
His very last professional engagement was to voice the commentary to a short film about the Brontës. He did this 3 days before he died

7th December 1969
Eric died at his home in St Veep, Cornwall

© Malcolm Bull 2021
Revised 15:05 / 12th May 2021 / 17691

Page Ref: P112_9

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