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Derek Farr

Derek Farr
Born
Derrick Capel Farr

7 February 1912
Died21 March 1986(1986-03-21) (aged 74)
Hillingdon, Middlesex, England[2][3]
OccupationActor
Spouses
(m. 1939; div. 1945)
(m. 1947)

Derrick Capel Farr (7 February 1912 – 21 March 1986) was an English actor who appeared regularly in British films and television from 1938 until his death in 1986. His more famous roles include Group Captain John Whitworth in The Dam Busters.[4]

Career

After working as a schoolteacher, he took to the stage in 1937, and in 1938 got his first film role. He served in the Second World War, and after the war resumed his acting career, mainly in character parts.[4] He did, however, continue to appear as male leads and second male leads (with above-the-title billing) in a number of films in the late 1940s and 1950s, including Noose (1948), Murder Without Crime (1950) and Young Wives' Tale (1951). In 1952 he appeared in the West End in the thriller Murder Mistaken by Janet Green.

In the early 1980s he played 16 roles in The War of the Roses cycle in the BBC Television Shakespeare series.[5]

Personal life

His second marriage was in 1947 to actress Muriel Pavlow, whom he met in 1941 while filming Quiet Wedding, and again on the set of The Shop at Sly Corner (1947). Their maid of honour was Glynis Johns, with whom they had both performed in Quiet Wedding.[6] They remained married until Farr's death in March 1986, aged 74.[7][8]

Partial filmography

References

  1. ^ "Search Results for England & Wales Births 1837-2006".
  2. ^ "Search Results for England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007".
  3. ^ "British actor Derek Farr, 74". Lakeland Ledger. 25 March 1986. p. 7C. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  4. ^ a b Erickson, Hal. "Derek Farr". AllMovie. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  5. ^ Davies, Anthony; Stanley Wells (1994). Shakespeare and the Moving Image: The Plays on Film and Television. p. 89. ISBN 9780521435734.
  6. ^ "Muriel Pavlow (1921-2019)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  7. ^ Profile
  8. ^ IMDb entry