…It is essential to keep one’s eye on the whole story: dialogue, actions and situation.
– Peter Glenville
Peter began his trajectory to stardom at an early age. Bolstered by his family’s acting legacy and blessed with many talents, Peter’s path took him from London’s most famous stages to the lights of Broadway and the glamour of Hollywood in its heyday.
London
The lure of the London stage
After leaving Oxford, Peter immediately went to London to begin his acting career. He joined the leading Shakespearean company, and worked at Stratford and the Old Vic before venturing into the fledgling British film industry. During World War II, he stayed in London during the Blitz to perform in the West End opposite stars like Vivien Leigh and had his first chance to direct at the Old Vic where he eventually was appointed as Director.
New York
The call of the Great White Way
Peter realized that his calling and real talent was in directing, and by the mid-1940s, he established himself as a prominent West End director. He worked with some of the 20th Century’s most important writers, including Jean-Paul Sartre, Graham Greene, Tennessee Williams and Terence Rattigan. His star shone brightly in the West End but the challenges and lights of Broadway beckoned, so in 1949 he headed to New York. There he produced a string of successful stage productions starring Henry Fonda, Laurence Olivier, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Vivien Leigh, and many more. Peter also directed Olivia de Havilland and Tommy Lee Jones in their Broadway debuts. He directed award-winning musicals, comedies and serious drama.
Hollywood
Taking Tinseltown by storm
Having established himself as “one of the most sought-after stage directors in America,” Peter set his sights on Hollywood. Peter was in the prime of his career and Hollywood A-listers were clamoring to work with him. He directed Alec Guinness in The Prisoner (1955), Danny Kaye in Me and the Colonel (1958), Summer and Smoke with Geraldine Page (1961), and Term of Trial with Laurence Olivier and Simone Signoret (1962). In 1964, his adaptation of Becket, starring Peter O’Toole, Richard Burton and John Gielgud, was nominated for 12 Academy Awards. He continued his stellar film career starring with Alec Guinness and Gina Lollobrigida in Hotel Paradiso (1966), and directing Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Alec Guinness, James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Lillian Gish and Peter Ustinov in the star-studded film, The Comedians (1967).
17 November 1933 – The Masterpiece
by Paul Dehn for the OUDS at the University of Oxford
23 November 1933 – Rope
by Patrick Hamilton for the St. John’s Mummers at the University of Oxford, Oxford
December 1933 – King Richard II
by William Shakespeare for the OUSDS at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire
Peter directs and plays King Richard II
7 March 1934 – Pass The Salt
by Peter Glenville for the O.U.D.S. at the University of Oxford, Oxford
Peter writes, directs and plays The Husband and Doctor Faustus
16 August 1944 – John Gabriel Borkman
by Henrick Ibsen for the Old Vic Company at the Liverpool Playhouse, Lancashire
6 September 1944 – Lisa
an adaptation by Peter Glenville of A House of Gentlefolk by Ivan Turgenev for the Old Vic
Company at the Liverpool Playhouse, Lancashire
18 October 1944 – Point Valaine
by Noël Coward for the Old Vic Company at the Liverpool Playhouse, Lancashire
20 December 1944 – The School for Scandal
by Richard Brinsley Sheridan for the Old Vic Company at the Liverpool Playhouse, Lancashire
31 January 1945 – Anna Christie
by Eugene O’Neill for the Old Vic Company at the Liverpool Playhouse, Lancashire
9 May 1945 – His Excellency the Governor
by Robert Marshall for the Old Vic Company at the Liverpool
Playhouse, Lancashire
14 February 1946 – The Time of Your Life
by William Saroyan at the Lyric Theatre, London
3 September 1947 – Point Valaine
by Noël Coward at the Embassy Theatre, London
30 March 1948 – Major Barbara
by George Bernard Shaw at the Arts Theatre, London
11 December 1955 – The Prisoner
from London Independent Producers Limited, B&D Film Corporation and Columbia Pictures Corporation
26 August 1958 – Me and the Colonel
from William Goetz Productions and Columbia Pictures (Peter also plays British Submarine Commander)
16 November 1961 – Summer and Smoke
from Hal Wallis Productions and Paramount Pictures
16 August 1962 – Term of Trial
from Romulus Films and Warner Brothers Pictures (Peter also adapts)
11 March 1964 – Becket
from Hal Wallis and Paramount Pictures
14 October 1966 – Hotel Paradiso
from M.G.M. (Peter also adapts, produces and plays Georges Feydeau)
31 October 1967 – The Comedians
from Maximilian Productions, M.G.M. and Trianon Films (Peter also produces)
9 February 1933 – Edward II
Edward II by Christopher Marlowe for the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS)
16 February 1933 – Cardinal Pandulph
King John by William Shakespeare for the OUDS at the New Theatre, Oxford
15 June 1933 – Puck
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare for the OUDS at South Park, Headington
Hill, Oxford
December 1933 – King Richard II (Peter also directs)
King Richard II by William Shakespeare for the Oxford University Stonyhurst Dramatic Society at
Stonyhurst College, Lancashire
20 February 1934 – Mephistopheles
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe for the OUDS at Oxford Town Hall, Oxford
7 March 1934 – The Husband and Doctor Faustus (Peter also writes and directs)
Pass The Salt by Peter Glenville for the O.U.D.S. at the University of Oxford, Oxford
13 June 1934 – Richard III
Richard III by William Shakespeare for the OUDS at Oxford University
26 June 1934 – Richard III
Richard III by William Shakespeare for the OUDS at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London
September, October and Christmas Season, 1934
Manchester Repertory Company, Manchester
Dr. Agi in The Swan by Ferenc Molnár
Tony Pirelli in On the Spot by Edgar Wallace
Jack Maitland in The Maitlands by Ronald Mackenzie
Eugene Marchbanks in Candida by George Bernard Shaw
Jim Nolan in To What Red Hell by Percy Robinson
19 February 1935 – Hamlet
Hamlet by William Shakespeare for the OUDS at the New Oxford Theatre, Oxford
May 1935 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Rossetti by R. L. Mégroz and Herbert de Hamel for the People’s National Theatre at the Arts Theatre
Club, London
18 June 1935 – Orsino, Duke of Illyria
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London
12 August 1935 – Octavius Robinson
Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw for the Macdona Players at the Cambridge Theatre, London
21 October 1935 – Bödeln
The Hangman by Pär Lagerkvist at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London
14 November 1935 – Anthony Cavendish
Theatre Royal by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber at the Oxford Playhouse, Oxford
13 April – 26 September, 1936
Shakespeare Festival for the New Shakespeare Company at The Memorial Theatre
(now Royal Shakespeare Theatre), Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, Peter plays Petruchio
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Peter plays Marcus Antonius
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Peter plays Romeo
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, Peter plays Feste
King Lear by William Shakespeare, Peter plays Edgar
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Peter plays Claudio
Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare, Peter plays Hector
May – August 1937
For Margate Repertory at the Theatre Royal, Margate, Kent
Tony Pirelli in On the Spot by Edgar Wallace
Harry Witzel in White Cargo by Leon Gordon
Alec Harvey in Still Life by Noël Coward
Mat Burke in Anna Christie by Eugene O’Neill
6 September – December 1937
For John Baxter-Somerville’s Repertory Players at the Springfield Theatre, St. Helier, Jersey
Dr. Clitterhouse in The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse by Barré Lyndon
Lord Peter Wimsey in Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers and M. St. Clare Byrne
28 March – July 1938
For the Q theatre company at the Q Theatre, Kew, Surrey
Robert Mayo in Beyond the Horizon by Eugene O’Neill
Wyn Hayward in Diversion by John van Druten
19 February 1939 – Martin Diggle
The Courageous Sex by Mary D. Sheridan at the Globe Theatre (now the Gielgud Theatre), London
19 March 1939 – Raymond Lefort
To Be or Not To Be by Eleanor Kalkowska at the Phoenix Theatre, London
28 March 1939 – Lucentio
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare for the Old Vic Company, Old Vic Theatre, London
8 January 1940 – Tony Howard
Behind the Schemes! by George H. Grimaldi at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London
30 January 1940 – Charlie Stubbs
Down Our Street by Ernest George for the People’s National Theatre at the Tavistock Little Theatre, London
22 July 1940 – Bill Sherry
Murder in Mayfair by Ivor Novello For the Q Theatre Company at the Q Theatre, Kew, Surrey
5 September 1940 – Oedipus
The Infernal Machine by Jean Cocteau at the Arts Theatre Club, London
3 October 1940 – Bertram
All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare at the Vaudeville Theatre, London
23 October 1940 – Prince Hall
Henry IV Part One by William Shakespeare at the Vaudeville Theatre, The Strand, London
Peter plays Prince Hall
4 June 1941 – Robert
The Light of Heart by Emlyn Williams at the Globe Theatre (now Gielgud Theatre), London
28 March 1942 – Louis Dubedat
The Doctor’s Dilemma by George Bernard Shaw at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London
22 November 1942 – Funny the Clown
Uneasy Laughter an adaptation by Judith Guthrie of He Who Gets Slapped by Leonid Andreyev for
the Old Vic Company at the Liverpool Playhouse, Lancashire
28 February 1945 – Hamlet
Hamlet by William Shakespeare for the Old Vic Company at the Liverpool Playhouse, Lancashire
16 April 1945 – Face
The Alchemist by Ben Jonson for the Old Vic Company at the Liverpool Playhouse, Lancashire
September 1945 to April 1946 – Stephen Cass
Duet For Two Hands by Mary Hayley Bell at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London
16 October 1946 – John Wilkes Booth
The Assassin by Peter Yates at the Lyric Theatre, London
27 January 1940 – Hicky Cornell
His Brother’s Keeper from Warner Brothers-First National Productions
19 October 1940 – Young Latin
Two For Danger from Warner Brothers-First National Productions
24 August 1942 – Charles Neele
Uncensored from Gainsborough Pictures
10 April 1944 – Donald McKay
Heaven Is Round the Corner from British National Films
18 December 1944 – Sandro Barucci
Madonna of the Seven Moons from Gainsborough Pictures
28 April 1948 – Jimmy Rosso
Good-Time Girl from Gainsborough Pictures
13 April 1934 – Mephistopheles
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe for the OUDS and the BBC
7 March 1934 – Pass The Salt
by Peter Glenville for the OUDS at the University of Oxford
Peter writes, directs and plays The Husband and Doctor Faustus
11 and 12 September 1933 – (role unknown)
The Fantastic Battle by Leslie Baily based on the story by C. R. Burns for the BBC
1 November – 6 December 1935
For the Swansea Repertory Company at the Fforestfach Cross Theatre (later Fforestfach Welfare Hall),
Swansea, Glamorgan
The Late Christopher Bean by Sidney Howard
The Shining Hour by Keith Winter
Payment Deferred an adaptation by Gilbert Miller of the novel by C. S. Forester
They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard
Private Lives by Noël Coward
May – August 1937
For Margate Repertory at the Theatre Royal, Margate, Kent
Tonight at 8.30 by Noël Coward
The Dominant Sex by Michael Egan
Someone at the Door by Dorothy and Campbell Christie
Heroes Don’t Care by Margot Neville
Anthony and Anna by St. John G Ervine
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Call it a Day by Dodie Smith
Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers and M. St. Clare Byrne
28 March – July 1938
For the Q theatre company at the Q Theatre, Kew, Surrey
Blind Corners by Mary Frances Flack
The Green Holly by Edward Percy and Reginald Denham
14 November 1938
Hassan by James Elroy Flecker for the BBC
24 April 1939
Othello by Shakespeare for the Old Vic Company, Old Vic Theatre, London
9 March 1940
Return to Yesterday from Ealing Studios
22 April 1940
Shakespeare’s Birthday Festival for the Old Vic Company, Old Vic Theatre, London
18 January 1942
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare at The Palladium, London