Alexander Archdale

Alexander Mervyn Archdale was a British actor, manager and theatre producer. He had a very long career in both the theatre and in film, stretching from the 1930s to the 1980s. He spent the latter part of his life and career in Australia.

Biography

He was born Alexander Mervyn Archdale in Jhansi, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India, to British parents Theodore Montgomery Archdale and Helen Alexandra Russell, the famous suffragette and educationalist. His younger sister was the educationalist and cricketer Betty Archdale.
In 1934 he was in a Broadway production of The Wind and the Rain at the Ritz Theatre, New York City.
In 1937 he acted in Jeffrey Dell's play Night Alone at the Embassy Theatre in London, with Richard Bird, Julian Somers, and Anna Konstam in the cast. In the same year he acted in J. B. Priestley's play Time and the Conways at the Duchess Theatre in London, with Jean Forbes-Robertson, Raymond Huntley, Barbara Everest, Mervyn Johns, Helen Horsey, Eileen Erskine, Wilfred Babbage, Molly Rankin, Rosemary Scott, and Irene Hentschel in the cast.
He appeared in British films of the 1930s and 1940s, for instance Lucky Days and House of Darkness before going on to appear in TV series such as Ivanhoe, No Hiding Place and Emergency Ward 10.
Later in his career he was a regular on Australian television performing in Hunter, Skippy and Division 4.
He was Sir Charles in Newsfront, a 1978 film directed by Phillip Noyce, which tells the story of rival companies making newsreels in the pre-television Australia of the late 1940s and 1950s.
He played the part of retired Professor B. C. Simmonds in the 1981 Australian thriller The Killing of Angel Street, which won an Honourable Mention at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1982.
His last credited appearance was in Runaway Island, which was set in 1830s Sydney.
He died on 13 May 1986 at the age of 80 in Sydney.

Selected filmography

Film

Lucky Days as AlecHouse of Darkness as JohnFloodtide as 2nd DirectorHis Majesty O'Keefe Three in One as Firbank The Scapegoat as GamekeeperThe Headless Ghost as RandolphMarriage of Convenience as GovernorVillage of the Damned Invasion Quartet as Brigadier, War OfficeI Have Been Here Before as Walter OrmondThe Adventures of Barry McKenzie The Night the Prowler Newsfront as Sir Charles The Killing of Angel Street as B.C. Simmonds

''Runaway Island''

Television

The Twelve Pound Look Redheap Hunter as regular castSkippy the Bush Kangaroo as regular castDivision 4 as regular castIvanhoe No Hiding Place
''Emergency Ward 10''

Theatre

The Mews at Arts Theatre Club The Wind and the Rain at Ritz Theatre, New YorkNight Alone at Embassy Theatre, LondonTime and the Conways at Duchess Theatre, LondonCharley's Aunt at St James' Hall with Mercury TheatreNight on Bald Mountain as Professor Hugo SwireNo Man's Land with The Actors' Company

External sources

Photos of
A Who's who of Australian and New Zealand Film Actors: The Sound Era
Theatre Australia limited: Australian Theatre Since the 1950s
The importance of Marian Street Theatre – images of Alexander Archdale http://www.savemariansttheatre.com/a-brief-history/