Denville Hall
{{Short description|British retirement home for actors and actresses}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Denville Hall
| former_names = {{Plainlist|
- Maze Farm
- Northwood Hall
}}
| image = File:Denville Hall.JPG
| caption = The building in December 2013
| owner = Denville Hall Ltd.
| address = 62 Ducks Hill Road
| location_town = Northwood, London
| location_country = England
| coordinates = {{coord|51.61029|-0.44049|type:landmark_region:GB-RIC|display=inline,title}}
| renovation_date = 2004
| designations = Locally listed
| website = {{URL|denvillehall.org.uk}}
}}
Denville Hall is a historic building in Northwood, a town in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, which is used as a retirement home for professional actors, actresses and members of other theatrical professions. The present building incorporates part of a 16th-century house, which was substantially rebuilt in 1851 and later considerably extended after becoming a retirement home in 1926. Many well-known British actors and actresses have lived there.
History and description
The hall includes part of a 16th-century house called Maze Farm.{{cite web |url=https://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/media/19281/147-Denville-Hall-62-Ducks-Hill-Road-Northwood/pdf/147_Denville_Hall__62_Ducks_Hill_Road__Northwood.pdf |title=Review of Local List of Buildings of Architectural or Historic Importance: Denville Hall |date=May 2010 |website=Hillingdon London Borough Council |access-date=5 December 2013}} In the 18th century it belonged to the judge Sir John Vaughan.{{cite web |url=http://www.denvillehall.org.uk/history.html |title=History |website=Denville Hall |access-date=5 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204075851/http://www.denvillehall.org.uk/history.html |archive-date=4 December 2013 |url-status=dead}} In 1851 it was rebuilt in Victorian Gothic style by Daniel Norton, and renamed Northwood Hall. Alfred Denville, impresario, actor-manager and MP,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5-hYAAAAIBAJ&pg=2610,6198692&dq=denville-hall&hl=en |title=Rep. Pioneer left £57,400 |newspaper=The Bulletin |date=15 June 1955 |page=12 |quote=He left £5,000 to Denville Hall in his will. |access-date=17 January 2019}} bought the hall in 1925 and dedicated it to the acting profession in memory of his son Jack, who had died at the age of 26 after onstage complications with re-aggravated World War I injuries. He renamed the building Denville Hall and created a charity in the same name. It was opened formally as a rest home in July 1926 by Princess Louise, the then Princess Royal.{{cite web |url=http://www.britishpathe.com/video/denville-hall |title=Denville Hall 1926 |website=British Pathe |access-date=5 December 2013}}
The building, heavily extended in the intervening years, is locally listed. A further remodelling and expansion project with landscaping, by Acanthus LW Architects, was completed in 2004.{{cite web |url=https://acanthuslw.com/health/denville-hall/ |title=Projects: Denville Hall |website=Acanthus LW Architects |access-date=28 November 2013}}
Facilities and services
Though actors and actresses have priority,{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/property-home/article/for-my-final-act-6msvx3q6f8c |title=For my final act |last=Pearson |first=Katie |date=18 April 2005 |newspaper=The Times |page=6 |access-date=5 December 2013 |url-access=subscription}} the home is available to other people in the entertainment industry (including the circus),{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kEBAAAAAIBAJ&pg=5555,4493178&dq=denville-hall&hl=en |title=Religious service in circus ring at Glasgow |newspaper=The Glasgow Herald |page=9 |date=29 September 1938 |access-date=17 January 2019}} such as agents and dancers, and their spouses{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/5804497/Ageing-thespians-should-stick-together.html |title=Ageing thespians should stick together |last=Simkins |first=Michael |date=11 July 2009 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=17 January 2019}} over the age of 70 and offers residential, nursing, convalescent, dementia and palliative care. Residents can stay on a long-term or short-term basis, and physiotherapy is provided.{{cite web |url=http://www.denvillehall.org.uk |title=Home |website=Denville Hall |access-date=17 January 2019}}{{cite web |url=http://www.carehome.co.uk/carehome.cfm/searchazref/20001010DANA |title=Denville Hall care home, Northwood |website=Carehome.co.uk |access-date=17 January 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201155514/http://www.carehome.co.uk/carehome.cfm/searchazref/20001010DANA |archive-date=1 December 2008}} There is also a subsidised bar.{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/a-modest-man-but-certainly-not-retiring-dwr30zvhqkq |title=A modest man but certainly not retiring |last=Grove |first=Valerie |date=10 June 2010 |newspaper=The Times |url-access=subscription |quote=I wonder how West, at 75, regards the prospect of the actors' retirement home, Denville Hall, north of London. 'Well, the bar opens sometime after breakfast'. |access-date=17 January 2019}}
Notable residents
Many British actors and actresses have spent their retirement years at Denville Hall,{{cite web |url=http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=46454 |title=Stars then and now |date=28 April 1947 |website=British Pathe |access-date=17 January 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611083723/https://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=46454 |archive-date=11 June 2011}} including: (Note: All actors and actresses listed here are deceased)
{{Div col|colwidth=12em}}
- Nicholas Amer{{cite news|title=Obituaries|newspaper=The Stage|date=28 November 2019|page=40}}
- Richard Attenborough{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/residents-at-richard-attenborough-s-care-home-given-wrong-drug-doses-9845014.html |title=Residents at Richard Attenborough's care home 'given wrong drug doses' |first=Paul |last=Gallagher |date=6 November 2014 |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=26 January 2018}}
- Gabrielle Blunt
- Jean Boht{{Cite news |date=2023-09-13 |title=Jean Boht: Bread actress dies at 91 |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66797606 |access-date=2023-09-13}}
- Margot Boyd{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2027640/Margot-Boyd.html |title=Margot Boyd |date=25 May 2008 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Nan Braunton
- Alan Brien{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2242404/Alan-Brien.html |title=Obituaries: Alan Brien |date=3 July 2008 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Tony Britton
- Maurice Browning
- Douglas Byng{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_BI1AAAAIBAJ&pg=6367,6090482&dq=denville-hall&hl=en |title=Risque panto dame dies at 94 |date=26 August 1987 |newspaper=The Glasgow Herald |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Patsy Byrne{{cite magazine |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/patsy-byrne-dead-blackadder-actress-713889 |title='Blackadder' Actress Patsy Byrne Dies at 80 |date=21 June 2014 |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Peter Byrne{{cite web |url=https://ibygreenroom.wordpress.com/2018/05/15/peter-byrne-1928-2018/ |title=Peter Byrne 1928–2018 |date=15 May 2018 |website=It's Behind You Dot Com – Green Room |access-date=22 May 2018}}
- Kathleen Byron{{cite book |title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons |last=Wilson |first=Scott |date=2016 |edition=3rd |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0-78647-992-4}}
- Brian Cant{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40335213 |title=Brian Cant, Play School presenter, dies at 83 |date=20 June 2017 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=20 June 2017}}
- Pat Coombs{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2010748.stm |title=Actress Pat Coombs dies |date=27 May 2002 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Brenda Cowling[https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2010/nov/11/brenda-cowling-obituary Obituary in The Guardian]
- Aimée DelamainObituary in The Stage, 15 July 1999 (pg.27)
- Maurice Denham{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2151794.stm |title=Veteran actor Maurice Denham dies |date=25 July 2002 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Leonard Fenton{{cite web |first=Gillian |last=Tindall |author-link=Gillian Tindall |url=https://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/03/09/leonard-fenton-actor/ |title=Leonard Fenton, actor |website=Spitalfields Life |date=9 March 2017 |access-date=23 July 2020}}
- Dulcie Gray{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/theater/dulcie-gray-stalwart-british-actress-dies-at-95.html |title=Dulcie Gray, Stalwart British Actress, Dies at 95 |last=Hevesi |first=Dennis |date=17 November 2011 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Peter Hall{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/sep/12/peter-hall-obituary-british-theatre-rss-national |title=Sir Peter Hall obituary: powerful force in British theatre |last=Billington |first= Michael |date=12 September 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Margaret Harris
- Robert Hardy{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40818839 |title=Robert Hardy: Harry Potter and All Creatures Great and Small star dies |date=3 August 2017 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Doris Hare{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/770685.stm |title=On the Buses star dies |date=31 May 2000 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Rose Hill{{cite web |url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/features/2017/12/14/38685/allo_allo%3A_where_are_they_now%3F |title=Allo 'Allo: Where are they now? |date=14 December 2017 |website=Chortle |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- John Horsley{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/john-horsley-character-actor-whose-comedic-talent-brought-him-fame-as-doc-morrissey-in-the-fall-and-9081502.html |title=John Horsley: Character actor whose comedic talent brought him fame as Doc Morrissey in 'The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin' |first=Simon |last=Farquhar |date=23 January 2014 |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=22 May 2018}}
- Geoffrey Keen
- Jo Kendall{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/breaking-jo-kendall-dead-26033218|title=Jo Kendall dead - I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again star dies as John Cleese pays tribute|date=30 January 2022|newspaper=Daily Mirror |publisher=Trinity Mirror|access-date=30 January 2022}}
- Annette Kerr{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10410237/Annette-Kerr.html |title=Obituaries: Annette Kerr |date=28 October 2013 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=22 April 2019}}
- Mark Kingston{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8851392/Mark-Kingston.html |title=Obituaries: Mark Kingston |date=26 October 2011 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- David Lodge{{cite web|url=http://www.gowr.co.uk/all-water-rats/v/158|title=Biography of a Water Rat}}
- Roger MacDougall{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/31/obituaries/roger-macdougall-a-screenwriter-82-and-a-playwright.html |title=Roger MacDougall, A Screenwriter, 82, And a Playwright |last=Pace |first=Eric |date=31 May 1993 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Elspeth March
- Betty Marsden{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/135786.stm |title=Comic actress Betty Marsden dies |date=20 July 1998 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Frank Middlemass
- Ernest Milton
- Jeanne Mockford[https://www.facebook.com/wearecaapa/posts/2217537981610250 Catholic Association of Performing Arts (CaAPA): Newsletter – December 2018]
- Peggy Mount{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1653875.stm |title=Actress Peggy Mount dies |date=13 November 2001 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Daphne Oxenford{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20908822 |title=Daphne Oxenford, voice of Listen With Mother, dies |date=4 January 2013 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Muriel Pavlow{{cite web |first=Josephine |last=Botting |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/muriel-pavlow-1921-2019 |title=Muriel Pavlow (1921–2019) |publisher=British Film Institute |date=4 February 2019}}
- Richard Pearson
- Joan Plowright{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/jan/17/joan-plowright-dies-after-long-stage-and-screen-career|title=Joan Plowright dies after long stage and screen career|last=Wiegand|first=Chris|publisher=The Guardian|date=17 January 2025|access-date=17 January 2025}}{{Cite news |date=2025-01-17 |title=Acting legend Dame Joan Plowright dies at 95 |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyppre55gyo |access-date=2025-01-18}}
- Arnold RidleyThe Times, death announcement, 13 March 1984
- Brian Rix{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/20/actor-and-disability-campaigner-lord-rix-dies-after-urging-for-a/ |title=Actor and disability campaigner Lord Rix dies after urging for assisted dying to be made legal |first=Cristina |last=Criddle |date=21 August 2016 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=31 January 2017}}
- Paul Rogers
- Clifford Rose{{cite news |last1=Sutherland |first1=Gill |title=Family of actor Clifford Rose launch appeal to help with care home fees |url=https://www.stratford-herald.com/news/family-of-actor-clifford-rose-launch-appeal-to-help-with-car-9215211/ |access-date=9 September 2021 |work=Stratford Herald |date=8 September 2021}}
- Andrew Sachs{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/02/dementia-left-andrew-sachs-unable-recognise-fawlty-towers-footage |title=Dementia left Andrew Sachs unable to recognise Fawlty Towers footage, actor's son reveals |last=Foster |first=Patrick |date=3 December 2016 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Peter Sallis{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40165443 |title=Peter Sallis: Last of the Summer Wine actor dies aged 96 |date=5 June 2017 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=5 June 2017}}
- Stuart Sherwin{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11691826/Stuart-Sherwin-actor-obituary.html|title=Stuart Sherwin, actor - obituary|work=The Telegraph|date=22 June 2015|access-date=17 February 2024}}
- Carmen Silvera{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2171839.stm |title='Allo 'Allo star dies |date=4 August 2002 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Gerald Sim{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/mar/04/gerald-sim |title=Gerald Sim obituary |date=4 March 2015 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Sheila Sim, Lady Attenborough{{cite news |first=Simon |last=Farquhar |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sheila-sim-lady-attenborough-winsome-actress-who-gave-up-her-blossoming-career-to-provide-a-cocoon-a6826606.html |title=Sheila Sim, Lady Attenborough: Winsome actress who gave up her blossoming career to provide a 'cocoon' for her husband, Richard Attenborough |newspaper=The Independent |date=22 January 2016}}
- Anthony Steel{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/mar/24/guardianobituaries.filmnews |title=Anthony Steel obituary |date=26 March 2001 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=3 April 2019}}
- Ronnie Stevens{{cite web |url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2006/11/14/4692/club_comedian_oates_dies |title=Club comedian Oates dies ...as does comic actor Stevens |date=14 November 2006 |website=Chortle |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- John Stuart
- Sylvia Syms{{Cite news |date=2023-01-27 |title=Sylvia Syms: Veteran British actress dies at 89 |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64426891 |access-date=2023-01-27}}
- Malcolm Terris
- Josephine Tewson{{Cite news |date=2022-08-19 |title=Josephine Tewson: Keeping Up Appearances actress dies at 91 |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66797606 |access-date=2022-08-19}}
- Geoffrey Toone
- Hazel Vincent Wallace{{cite web |title=Wallace, Hazel Beatrice [known as Hazel Vincent Wallace] (1919–2019), actress and theatre manager |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/90000381523 |website=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |access-date=18 April 2025 |language=en}}
- David Warner{{Cite news |date=2022-07-25 |title=Titanic and Omen actor David Warner dies at 80 |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-62219839 |access-date=2022-07-25}}
- Moray Watson{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/03/darling-buds-may-actor-moray-watson-dies-aged-88/ |title=Darling Buds of May actor Moray Watson dies, aged 88 |last=Harley |first=Nicky |date=3 May 2017 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=17 January 2019}}
- Elisabeth Welch{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/12062744/Kenneth-Partridge-interior-designer-obituary.html |title=Kenneth Partridge, interior designer |type=obituary |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=21 December 2015 |access-date=23 July 2020}}
- Robin Wentworth
- Billie WhitelawMichael Coveney, "Whitelaw, Billie Honor (1932–2014)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Feb 2018 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/108193 available online]. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- John Woodnutt{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/john-woodnutt-6110264.html|title=John Woodnutt|date=31 January 2006|website=The Independent}}
- Edgar Wreford{{cite news |url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/features/obituaries/2006/02/edgar-wreford/ |title=Obituaries: Edgar Wreford |last=Loxton |first=Howard |date=8 February 2006 |newspaper=The Stage |access-date=17 January 2019}}
{{Div col end}}
Supporters
The hall and charity have had a number of notable supporters. Lord Attenborough, who, like his widow Sheila, Lady Attenborough, resided at Denville Hall, was president.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KLJ9Zux6Rx0C&q=%22Denville+Hall%22+history&pg=PA8 |title=Eating Famously |last=Salvoni |first=Elena |publisher=WSM Wordsworth Limited |isbn=978-0-9556171-0-2 |page=8 |access-date=17 January 2019}} In the late 1960s and early 1970s, performers including Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Paul Scofield and Elizabeth Taylor (for her television debut) donated their fees to rebuilding the house.{{cite news |title=Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Paul Scofield pledged their wages to England's Theatrical Charity Council, primarily for the rebuilding of Denville Hall |date=5 January 1969 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HaRGAAAAIBAJ&pg=2134,6450785&dq=denville-hall&hl=en |title=Liz Taylor in dramatic TV debut |date=27 December 1969 |newspaper=Schenectady Gazette |page=15 |access-date=17 January 2019}} In 1999 the original set from The Mousetrap, after 47 years' continuous use, was auctioned to raise money for Denville Hall.{{cite web |url=http://www.whatsonstage.com/west-end-theatre/news/06-1999/original-mousetrap-set-auctioned-this-month_29408.html |title=Original Mousetrap Set Auctioned This Month |date=11 June 1999 |website=What's on Stage |access-date=17 January 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128040223/http://www.whatsonstage.com/west-end-theatre/news/06-1999/original-mousetrap-set-auctioned-this-month_29408.html |archive-date=28 November 2014}} Restaurateur Elena Salvoni donated a portion of the profits of her 2007 autobiography, Eating Famously, to the hall. Terence Rattigan left his estate to charity, with all royalties from his plays being donated to Denville Hall and the King George V Fund for Actors and Actresses.
See also
- Brinsworth House – retirement home for entertainers
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.denvillehall.org.uk/}}
- [https://www.flickr.com/photos/swampy3666/5150064634/ Postcard (1950s?) showing the hall]
- [http://www.britishpathe.com/video/denville-hall 1926 Pathe newsreel] (silent) showing the hall being opened by Princess Louise
Category:16th-century establishments in England
Category:Houses completed in the 16th century
Category:Houses completed in 1851
Category:1925 establishments in England
Category:Retirement communities
Category:Retirement homes in the United Kingdom
Category:Gothic Revival architecture in London
Category:History of the London Borough of Hillingdon