Harold French
{{Short description|English director, screenwriter and actor (1897–1997)}}
{{for|the member of the New Hampshire Senate|Harold F. French}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Harold French
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1897|4|23|df=y}}
| birth_place = London, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1997|10|19|1897|4|23|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England
| othername =
| occupation = Actor
Film director
| years_active = 1920–1936 (actor)
1937–1963 (director)
| spouse = Phyllis Arnold (? – 1941);
Mary Parker (predeceased him)
| awards = {{Awd|Locarno International Film Festival
Most Entertaining Film|1949|Adam and Evelyne}}
}}
Harold French (23 April 1897 – 19 October 1997){{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/harold-french-14828|title=Harold French – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB|first=The Broadway|last=League|website=www.ibdb.com}} was an English film director, screenwriter and actor.
Biography
After training at the Italia Conti School, he made his acting debut age 12, in a production of The Winter's Tale.{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/65992%7C65907/Harold-French/|title=Overview for Harold French|website=Turner Classic Movies}} As an actor, most of his roles occurred between 1912 and 1936, not gaining as much attention as later he would as a director.{{cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/person/fxm/harold-french/past?page=3|title=Harold French - Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lXnXDQAAQBAJ&q=robert+freeman+The+Encyclopedia+of+British+Film%3A+Fourth+edition&pg=PA271|title=The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition|first=Brian|last=McFarlane|date=16 May 2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9781526111975|via=Google Books}}
He worked as a screenwriter on three of the four films produced by Marcel Hellman's and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.'s production company Criterion Film Productions in the late 1930s, before switching to film direction in 1937, often with Marcel Hellman as producer.{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f45c553|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160525223621/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f45c553|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 May 2016|title=Harold French}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ad86d61|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911034511/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ad86d61|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 September 2017|title=Jeannie (1941)}} From 1940 to 1955, he had several box-office successes as director. This successful period was clouded by the 1941 death of his wife Phyllis in a Luftwaffe bombing raid.[http://www.britmovie.co.uk/directors/Harold-French BritMovie: Harold French] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911232438/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/directors/Harold-French |date=11 September 2015 }} Linked 2012-10-14
Although he did some television work after 1955, he appears to have retired from directing and acting after 1963.{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/people/harold-french/|title=Harold French|last=TV.com|website=TV.com}} He directed the hit West End play Out of Bounds starring Michael Redgrave in 1962. He died in 1997 at the age of 100.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/artist/harold-french-p90535|title=Harold French - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}
He was a subject of the television programme This Is Your Life in May 1970 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}
Selected filmography
=Director=
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
- Dead Men are Dangerous (1939)
- The House of the Arrow (1940)
- The Day Will Dawn (1940)
- Jeannie (1941)
- Secret Mission (1942)
- Unpublished Story (1942)
- Talk About Jacqueline (1942)
- Dear Octopus (1943)
- English Without Tears (1944)
- Quiet Weekend (1946)
- Quartet (1948, with Ken Annakin, Arthur Crabtree and Ralph Smart)
- Adam and Evelyne (1949)
- Trio (1950, with Ken Annakin and Pat Jackson)
- Encore (1951, with Anthony Pelissier)
- The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (1952)
- The Hour of 13 (1952)
- Isn't Life Wonderful! (1953)
- Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953)
- Forbidden Cargo (1954)
- The Man Who Loved Redheads (1955)
{{div col end}}
=Actor=
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
- Sister Brown (1921)
- Jealousy (1931)
- East Lynne on the Western Front (1931)
- The Officers' Mess (1931)
- A Tight Corner (1932)
- The Callbox Mystery (1932)
- A Safe Proposition (1932)
- I Adore You (1933)
- Night of the Garter (1933)
- The Umbrella (1933)
- Yes, Madam (1933)
- The Diplomatic Lover (1934)
- Murder at the Inn (1934)
- Faces (1934)
- Two on a Doorstep (1936)
{{div col end}}
=Screenwriter=
- Accused (1936)
- Crime Over London (1936)
- Jump for Glory (1937)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0294094}}
- {{IBDB name|14828}}
- {{cite web |title=The British Entertainment History Project {{!}} Harold French {{!}} |url=https://historyproject.org.uk/interview/harold-french |website=historyproject.org.uk}}
{{Harold French}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Harold}}
Category:Male actors from London
Category:English men centenarians
Category:English male film actors
Category:English film directors