Christopher Gable
{{short description|English ballet dancer, choreographer, and actor (1940–1998)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Christopher Gable
|honorific_suffix=CBE
| image = Christopher_Gable.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name = Christopher Michael Gable
| birth_date = {{birth date|1940|3|13|df=yes}}
| birth_place = London, England, U.K.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1998|10|23|1940|3|13|df=yes}}
| death_place = Yorkshire, England, U.K.
| occupation = Actor
Dancer
| spouse = {{marriage|Carole Needham|1961}}
| children = 2
}}
Christopher Michael Gable, CBE (13 March 1940{{spaced ndash}}23 October 1998) was an English ballet dancer, choreographer and actor.
Life and career
= Dance career =
Born in London, Gable studied at the Royal Ballet School, joining the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in 1957. He was promoted to soloist in 1959 and principal in 1961.
Gable's roles included Romeo in the Kenneth MacMillan production of Romeo and Juliet,{{Cite web|title=Christopher Gable|url=https://northernballet.com/biography/christopher-gable|url-status=live|access-date=9 March 2021|website=Northern Ballet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151217230745/http://northernballet.com:80/biography/christopher-gable |archive-date=17 December 2015 }} Mercury in Offenbach's comic operetta Orpheus in the Underworld, a production that was filmed and released on DVD, and Colas in La fille mal gardée.Gable biography on the DVD of Orpheus in the Underworld Gable frequently partnered with Lynn Seymour. Gable suffered from a chronic rheumatoid condition in his feet and left the Royal Ballet in 1967 to pursue a career in acting.
= Screen acting career =
Gable appeared in a number of television and film productions directed by Ken Russell. These included Song of Summer (1968) and Dance of the Seven Veils (1970) for BBC television, and the films Women in Love (1969), The Music Lovers (1971), The Boy Friend (1971), The Lair of the White Worm (1988), and The Rainbow (1989). His other roles included John, valet and friend of Prince Edward, in the Cinderella film musical The Slipper and the Rose (1976), the composer Peter Cornelius in Wagner (1983), Mercury in the BBC television production of Orpheus in the Underworld (1983),{{Cite web|title=Orpheus in the Underworld (1983)|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b75243f63|url-status=dead|access-date=9 March 2021|publisher=British Film Institute|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308235036/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b75243f63 |archive-date=8 March 2016 }} ambiguous villain Sharaz Jek in the Doctor Who serial The Caves of Androzani (1984),{{Cite web|last=Mulkern|first=Patrick|title=The Caves of Androzani ★★★★★|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-guide/the-caves-of-androzani/|url-status=live|access-date=9 March 2021|website=Radio Times|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506042012/https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-guide/the-caves-of-androzani/ |archive-date=6 May 2021 }} and Arthur Ainsley in the miniseries A Woman of Substance (1985).{{Cite web|title=A Woman of Substance: Episode 1 (1984)|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b78c09303|url-status=dead|access-date=9 March 2021|publisher=British Film Institute|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109003547/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b78c09303 |archive-date=9 January 2018 }}
= Return to dance =
In 1982, Gable founded the Central School of Ballet with Ann Stannard. Five years later he was appointed Artistic Director of Northern Ballet Theatre. He transformed the small regional troupe into a company of national renown by presenting imaginative new works and staging revivals of old classics. Among the productions mounted during his eleven-year regime were Swan Lake, A Christmas Carol, The Brontes, The Amazing Adventure of Don Quixote, Dracula, Giselle, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.{{Cite web|last=Brennan|first=Mary|date=21 November 1998|title=Christopher Gable|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12341629.christopher-gable/|url-status=live|access-date=9 March 2021|website=The Herald Scotland|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105172525/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12341629.christopher-gable/ |archive-date=5 November 2020 }} Many of the projects he created later were performed by other dance companies, including the Atlanta Ballet and the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
Personal life
Gable was married to dancer Carole Needham from 1961 until his death in 1998. They had two children, a son and a daughter.{{cite web|last=Oliver|first=Myrna|date=3 November 1998|title=Christopher Gable, 58; International Ballet Star and Film Actor|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-nov-03-mn-39008-story.html|url-status=live|work=Los Angeles Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617224243/http://articles.latimes.com/1998/nov/03/news/mn-39008 |archive-date=17 June 2015 }}
Death
Gable died of cancer near Halifax, Yorkshire, at the age of 58.{{Cite web|last=Dunning|first=Jennifer|date=1 November 1998|title=Christopher Gable, 58, Dancer Who Made Switch to Acting (Published 1998)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/01/arts/christopher-gable-58-dancer-who-made-switch-to-acting.html|url-status=live|work=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527073054/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/01/arts/christopher-gable-58-dancer-who-made-switch-to-acting.html |archive-date=27 May 2015 }}
Selected theatre performances
- Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Peter Brook's landmark production for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1970.{{cite web |last1=Meisner |first1=Nadine |title=Obituary: Christopher Gable |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-christopher-gable-1180734.html |website=The Independent |date=26 October 1998}}
- Laertes to Alan Howard's Prince Hamlet in Trevor Nunn's RSC production of Hamlet in 1970.
- Jack Absolute in The Rivals by Sheridan, one of the two opening productions at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, directed by Braham Murray in 1976, and Count Hohenzollern in The Prince of Homburg by Heinrich von Kleist, the other opening production, directed by Casper Wrede.
- John Rosmer in Rosmersholm by Henrik Ibsen, directed by Casper Wrede at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in 1981.
- Philinte in The Misanthrope by Moliere, directed by Casper Wrede at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in 1981.
He also appeared on stage in West End musical The Good Companions in 1974.{{Cite web|title=Christopher Gable|url=https://theatricalia.com/person/3wv/christopher-gable|url-status=live|access-date=9 March 2021|website=Theatricalia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926144708/https://theatricalia.com/person/3wv/christopher-gable |archive-date=26 September 2020 }}
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Song of Summer | Eric Fenby | |
| 1969 | Women in Love | Tibby Lupton | |
| 1970 | The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes | Danseur Nobel | Uncredited |
| rowspan=2 | 1971 | The Music Lovers | Count Anton Chiluvsky | |
| The Boy Friend | Tony | ||
| 1976 | The Slipper and the Rose | John | |
| 1988 | The Lair of the White Worm | Joe Trent | |
| 1989 | The Rainbow | Will Brangwen | (final film role) |
Honours and awards
In 1996 Gable was awarded a CBE for his services to British dance. The following year he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Bradford.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0300083|name=Christopher Gable}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gable, Christopher}}
Category:20th-century English male actors
Category:Actors educated at the Royal Ballet School
Category:Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Deaths from cancer in England
Category:English male ballet dancers
Category:English male film actors
Category:English male Shakespearean actors
Category:English male television actors