Editing Alec McCowen (section)

==Career==

===Early theatre work===
McCowen first appeared on stage at the [[Macclesfield]] [[repertory theatre]] in August 1942 as Micky in ''Paddy the Next Best Thing''. He appeared in repertory in [[York]] and [[Birmingham]] 1943–45, and toured India and [[Burma]] in a production of [[Kenneth Horne (writer)|Kenneth Horne]]'s West End comedy ''[[Love in a Mist (play)|Love in a Mist]]'' during 1945 with the Entertainments National Service Association ([[ENSA]]). He continued in repertory 1946–49, during which time he played a season at [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St John's]], [[Newfoundland]], Canada.

McCowen made his London debut on 20 April 1950, at the [[Arts Theatre]] as Maxim in [[Anton Chekhov]]'s ''[[Ivanov (play)|Ivanov]]'', and made his first appearances on the New York City stage at the [[Ziegfeld Theatre (1927)|Ziegfeld Theatre]] on 19 December 1951, as an Egyptian Guard in ''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (play)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]'', and on 20 December 1951, as the Messenger in ''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]''. Following a series of roles at the Arts and with the Repertory Players, he had rising success as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in ''Moulin Rouge'' at the then New Theatre, [[Bromley]], and appeared as Barnaby Tucker in ''[[The Matchmaker]]'' at the [[Theatre Royal Haymarket]], both 1954.

After appearances as Dr Bird in ''[[The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (play)|The Caine Mutiny Court Martial]]'' at the [[London Hippodrome]] in 1956, and Michael Claverton-Ferry in [[T. S. Eliot]]'s ''[[The Elder Statesman (play)|The Elder Statesman]]'', first at the [[Edinburgh Festival]] in 1958, then at the [[Cambridge Theatre]], he joined the [[Old Vic]] Company for its 1959–60 season, among several parts taking the title role in ''[[Richard II (play)|Richard II]]'', then stayed on for the 1960–61 season to play Mercutio in ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', Oberon in ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' and Malvolio in ''[[Twelfth Night]]''.

McCowen joined the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] in September 1962, appearing at [[Stratford-upon-Avon]] playing Antipholus of Syracuse in ''[[The Comedy of Errors]]'' and the Fool to [[Paul Scofield]]'s ''[[King Lear]]'', subsequently appearing in both plays at the [[Aldwych Theatre]] in December 1962 – performing these roles again for a [[British Council]] tour of the [[Soviet Union]], Europe and the United States from February to June 1964. With the RSC he also played "the gruelling role"<ref>''Double Bill'' by Alec McCowen, Elm Tree Books (1980), {{ISBN|0-241-10395-9}}, page 7.</ref> of Father Riccardo Fontana in [[Rolf Hochhuth]]'s controversial play ''[[The Deputy|The Representative]]'' at the Aldwych in December 1963.

===Later theatre work===
McCowen enjoyed a career breakthrough at the [[Mermaid Theatre]] in April 1968 as Fr. William Rolfe in ''[[Hadrian the Seventh]]'', winning his first [[Evening Standard Award|''Evening Standard'' Award]] as Best Actor for the London production and a [[Tony Award|Tony nomination]] after the transfer to [[Broadway theatres|Broadway]].

At the [[Royal Court Theatre|Royal Court]] in August 1970, McCowen was cast to play the title role in [[Christopher Hampton]]'s sophisticated comedy, ''[[The Philanthropist (play)|The Philanthropist]]''. If a philanthropist is literally someone who likes people, McCowen's Philip was a philologist with a compulsive urge not to hurt people's feelings – the inverse of [[Molière]]'s ''The Misanthrope''. Following enthusiastic reviews the production played to packed houses and transferred to the Mayfair Theatre where it ran for a further three years, making it the Royal Court's most successful straight play. McCowen and his co-star [[Jane Asher]] went with it to Broadway in March 1971 where he won the 1971 [[Drama Desk Award]] for Outstanding Performance.

McCowen's next big successes were in [[National Theatre Company]] productions at the [[Old Vic]]. In February 1973 he co-starred with [[Diana Rigg]] in Molière's ''[[The Misanthrope]]'' for which he won his second ''Evening Standard'' award; followed in July 1973 by the role of [[psychiatrist]] Martin Dysart ("played on a knife edge of professional skill and personal disgust by McCowen", according to [[Irving Wardle]] reviewing for ''The Times'') in the world premiere of [[Peter Shaffer]]'s ''[[Equus (play)|Equus]]''. McCowen took part in the first professional UK staging of Weill's ''[[Street Scene (opera)|Street Scene]]'', at the [[Palace Theatre, London|Palace Theatre]], London on 26 April 1987 (as Harry Easter), a charity performance in aid of [[London Lighthouse]] conducted by [[John Owen Edwards]].<ref>[[Milnes, Rodney]]. At the Musical - Street Scene. ''[[Opera (British magazine)|Opera]]'', July 1987, p840-841.</ref>

McCowen devised and directed his own solo performance of the complete text of the [[Gospel of Mark|St. Mark's Gospel]], for which he received international acclaim and another [[Tony Award|Tony]] nomination. It opened first at the [[Riverside Studios]] in January 1978 before beginning a long West End season at the [[Mermaid Theatre]] then at the [[Comedy Theatre]]. Taking the production to New York, he appeared at the [[Marymount Manhattan]] and Playhouse theatres.

[[Christopher Hampton]]'s stage adaptation of [[George Steiner]]'s novel ''[[The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H.]]'' at the Mermaid in 1982 gave McCowen a great final speech, an attempted vindication of racial extermination delivered by [[Adolf Hitler]], which for ''[[The Guardian|Guardian]]'' critic [[Michael Billington (critic)|Michael Billington]] was "one of the greatest pieces of acting I have ever seen: a shuffling, grizzled, hunched, baggy figure, yet suggesting the monomaniac power of the [[Nuremberg Rallies]], inhabiting the frail vessel of this old man's body." It was a performance that also won him his third ''Evening Standard'' Best Actor award, a record equalled only by [[Laurence Olivier]] and [[Paul Scofield]].

Two years later, again at the Mermaid, McCowen gave a portrayal of the British poet [[Rudyard Kipling]] in a one-man play by Brian Clark, performed in a setting that exactly matched Kipling's own study at [[Bateman's]] (his Jacobean rustic haven in [[Sussex]]) "and turning", as Michael Billington wrote, "an essentially private man into a performer." McCowen appeared in the play on Broadway and on television for [[Channel 4]].

===Directing===
While preparing to co-star as Vladimir to [[John Alderton]]'s Estragon in [[Michael Rudman]]'s acclaimed production of ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'' at the [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]] in November 1987, McCowen also spent a busy autumn staging [[Martin Crimp]]'s trilogy of short plays ''Definitely the Bahamas'' at the [[Orange Tree Theatre]] in [[Richmond upon Thames]], having previously enjoyed Crimp's style of writing in a BBC radio version of ''Three Attempted Acts''. As [[Charles Spencer (journalist)|Charles Spencer]] wrote in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'': "As a director McCowen captures both the subtlety and the richness of these three original and beautifully written plays."

At the [[Hampstead Theatre]] in December 1972 he directed a revival of [[Terence Rattigan]]'s wartime London comedy ''While the Sun Shines''.

===Film and television===
McCowen made his film debut in ''[[The Cruel Sea (1953 film)|The Cruel Sea]]'' released in 1953. His other film credits include roles in ''[[Town on Trial]]'' (1957), ''[[A Night to Remember (1958 film)|A Night to Remember]]'' (1958), ''[[The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (film)|The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner]]'' (1962), ''[[The Witches (1966 film)|The Witches]]'' (1966), [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Frenzy]]'' (1972), ''[[Travels with My Aunt (film)|Travels with My Aunt]]'' (1972, for which he received a [[Golden Globe]] nomination), ''[[Never Say Never Again]]'' (1983) in which he played the opinionated secret service quartermaster, "Q", named Algynon, ''[[Personal Services]] '' (1987) and ''[[Henry V (1989 film)|Henry V]]'' (1989).

McCowen's television roles included the BBC's [[Angel Pavement (1957 TV series)|four-part adaptation]] of [[J. B. Priestley]]'s ''[[Angel Pavement]]'' (1958), and his one-man stage performance of ''The Gospel According to Saint Mark'', transferred to television by [[Thames Television|Thames]] for Easter 1979.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/222630 |title=BFI &#124; Film & TV Database &#124; The GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK (1979) |publisher=British Film Institute |date=16 April 2009 |access-date=1 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802163619/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/222630 |archive-date=2 August 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

McCowen appeared alongside [[Maureen Lipman]] and [[Arthur Askey]] performing comic monologues in ''[[The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog]]'', which was recorded 1982, and broadcast by [[Channel 4]] in 1983.<ref>[https://www.bright-thoughts.co.uk/monologues-02.html] The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog production website</ref>

McCowen appeared in the BBC Television Shakespeare series as Malvolio in ''[[BBC Television Shakespeare|Twelfth Night]]'' and as Chorus in ''[[BBC Television Shakespeare|Henry V]]''. In 1984 and 1985 McCowen starred in the ten episodes of the short-lived television series ''[[Mr Palfrey of Westminster]]'' as a "spy catcher" working for British intelligence under the direction of a female boss (played by [[Caroline Blakiston]]).

McCowen's one-man performance as [[Rudyard Kipling]] was broadcast on television in 1984.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} His later appearances included playing [[Albert Speer]] and [[Rudolf Hess]] in the BBC docudramas ''The World Walk'' in 1984 and 1985, and as astronomer [[Sir Frank Dyson]] in ''[[Longitude (TV serial)|Longitude]]'' in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |title=Longitude © (1999) |url=http://movie-dude.com/[Film]%20Longitude%20(1999).htm |access-date=22 June 2021}}</ref> He was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in 1989, when he was surprised by [[Michael Aspel]] at the [[Novello Theatre|Strand Theatre]] in London.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} He was annoyed when no mention was made of his long-term male partner, fellow actor [[Geoffrey Burridge]] and threatened to stop the show from being broadcast. The dispute was resolved by the host, Michael Aspel, adding a voiceover over the final credits acknowledging the relationship.

McCowen was the narrator in a recording of [[Roberto Gerhard|Gerhard]]'s cantata (after Camus) ''The Plague'', with the [[National Symphony Orchestra|Washington National Symphony Orchestra]] conducted by [[Antal Doráti]] in 1973, and also took the part of the Narrator in Stravinsky's ''[[Oedipus rex (opera)|Oedipus Rex]]'', with [[Peter Pears]], [[Kerstin Meyer]] and the [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]] conducted by [[Georg Solti]]; the music for this was recorded in March 1976, his spoken part later and the first issue was in February 1978.<ref>Stuart, Philip. "Decca Classical, 1929-2009". July 2009, Entries U024 and 2370. Retrieved 28 August 2018.</ref>

===Literature===
McCowen published his first volume of autobiography, ''Young Gemini'' in 1979, followed a year later by ''Double Bill'' (Elm Tree Books).