Cyril Raymond


Cyril William North Raymond MBE was a British character actor. He maintained a stage and screen career from his teens until his retirement, caused by ill health, in the 1960s.
His many stage, film and television roles include Fred Jesson, the husband of Celia Johnson's Laura Jesson in Brief Encounter.

Life and career

Raymond was the son of Herbert Linton Raymond and his second wife, Rose. Herbert died in 1906 at the Grand Hotel, Broad Street, Bristol, which he and his wife ran.
Raymond became a pupil at Sir Herbert Tree's Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his professional debut in 1914 at the Garrick Theatre, London, playing the Second Spanish Gentleman in Bluff King Hal.
As Little Billee in Trilby he supported Tree's Svengali at His Majesty's Theatre in 1915. While still a boy actor he appeared in plays by Louis N. Parker, Edward Knoblock and Harold Brighouse. In 1916, he played a major juvenile role, Lord Deerford, in Parker's Disraeli. The Observer reported that he "played very cleverly". A film was made of the play; he repeated his role of Deerford.
In 1922 Raymond married the actress Iris Hoey. They had one child, John Raymond, who became an author and critic. The couple co-starred in several West End plays in the 1920s; Raymond also worked extensively with the producer Basil Dean. He and Hoey divorced in 1936 and the following year he married the actress Gillian Lind.
In the view of Raymond's obituarist in The Times it was in the mid-1930s that "he found what might be called his vocation, in contributing balanced, controlled, humorous pieces of acting as foils to more flamboyant performances by highly accomplished leading ladies".
He co-starred as the spouse or partner of a range of leading ladies over the next twenty or so years, including Sybil Thorndike in Short Story, Ruth Chatterton in The Constant Wife, Gertrude Lawrence in September Tide, Edith Evans in Waters of the Moon and Yvonne Arnaud in Mrs Willie.
During the Second World War Raymond served in the Royal Air Force from 1939 to 1945, and was awarded the MBE. In the cinema he appeared as Celia Johnson's character's husband in the 1945 film Brief Encounter. In The Observer, C. A. Lejeune praised "the sweetness, the sobriety, and the fresh delicacy" of his performance and those of Johnson and Trevor Howard.
On television, he appeared in the 1961 Danger Man episode entitled "Name, Date and Place" as Nash. http://danger-man.co.uk/episodeDetails.asp?episodeID=19&seriesNo=1
In the 1960s, Raymond appeared in plays by writers of the younger generation, including Nigel Dennis, Giles Cooper and John Osborne. In Osborne's Inadmissible Evidence in 1965 he appeared with Nicol Williamson and John Hurt. This was one of his last appearances, and ill health obliged him to retire several years before his death.

Filmography (incomplete)

The Hypocrites – Leonard WilmoreDisraeli – Lord DeefordI Will – Harris GilesHis Last Defence – David HislopThe Scarlet Kiss Wuthering Heights – HaretonSonia – Tom DaintonSingle Life – John HentyMoth and Rust – Fred BlackCocaine The Faithful Heart – Albert OughtersonThese Charming People – Miles WinterThe Ghost Train – Richard WinthropThe Happy Ending – Anthony FenwickA Man of Mayfair – CharlesCondemned to Death – Jim WrenchThe Frightened Lady – Sergeant FerrabyThe Shadow – Jim SilvertonThe Lure – Paul DaneStrike It Rich – SlaughterThe Man Outside – Captain FordyceMixed Doubles – Reggie IrvingHome, Sweet Home – John FalkirkKeep It Quiet – JackRoyal Cavalcade – Undetermined Minor Role The Tunnel – HarrimanIt's Love Again – MontagueTomorrow We Live – George WarnerAccused – Guy HenryThunder in the City – JamesDreaming Lips – PCStardust – Jerry SearsNight Alone – TommyThe Spy in Black – The Rev. John HarrisGoodbye, Mr. Chips – Teacher Come On George! – Jimmy TaylorSaloon Bar – Harry SmallThe First of the Few – Radio Control Officer Brief Encounter – Fred JessonMen of Two Worlds – Education OfficerThis Was a Woman – Austin PenroseQuartet – Railway Passenger The Jack of Diamonds – Roger KeenAngels One Five – Squadron Leader Barry ClintonRough Shoot – CartwrightThe Heart of the Matter – Carter The Gay Dog – Rev. GowlandThe Crowded Day – Philip StantonOne Just Man Lease of Life – The HeadmasterCharley Moon – BillThe Baby and the Battleship – P.M.O.The Safecracker – Inspector FrankhamDunkirk – General The Viscount Gort V.C.No Kidding – Col. MatthewsCarry On Regardless – Army OfficerDon't Talk to Strange Men – Mr. PainterNight Train to Paris – Insp. Fleming

Selected stage credits

Summertime by Louis N. Parker The Last Hour by Charles Bennett The Return of the Soldier by John Van Druten There's Always Juliet by John Van Druten Tony Draws a Horse by Lesley Storm Under the Counter by Arthur Macrae Happy with Either by Margaret Kennedy Towards Zero by Agatha Christie and Gerald Verner Aunt Edwina by William Douglas Home