Anthony Quayle

 ( 1913 Births ) 

Later Quayle joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and served as a liaison officer with the partisans in Albania. Reportedly, his service with the SOE seriously affected him and he never felt comfortable talking about it. He described his experiences in a fictional form in Eight Hours from England.

He was an aide to the Governor of Gibraltar at the time of the air crash of General Władysław Sikorski's aircraft on 4 July 1943. He wrote of his Gibraltar experience in his second novel On Such a Night, published by Heinemann.

By the end of the war, he held the rank of Temporary rank major. In May 1946, it was published that he had been mentioned in despatches "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the Mediterranean Theatre".

Quayle made his Broadway theatre in The Country Wife in 1936. Thirty-four years later, he won critical acclaim for his starring role in the highly successful Anthony Shaffer play Sleuth, which earned him a Drama Desk Award.

Quayle played James Tyrone in the first UK production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night (Gielgud Theatre, London, 1958).

Quayle was artist-in-residence at the University of Tennessee in the mid-70s. He came to Knoxville in spring 1974, through a partnership with the Kennedy Center, starring in Henry Denker's The Headhunters, which rehearsed and opened at the Clarence Brown Theatre and then moved on to the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theatre. Quayle was appointed as professor in theatre in 1974. He taught classes as an artist in residence and served as artistic director of the Clarence Brown Company—a professional theatre company in residence at UT. He played in Everyman the same year.

In 1984, he founded Compass Theatre Company, that he inaugurated with a tour of The Clandestine Marriage, directing and playing the part of Lord Ogleby. This production had a run at the Albery Theatre, London. With the same company he subsequently toured with a number of other plays, including Saint Joan, Dandy Dick and King Lear with himself in the title role.

Often cast as the decent British officer, Quayle drew upon his wartime experiences, bringing a degree of authenticity to the parts absent from the performances of some non-combatant stars. But he memorably - and convincingly - played a German Panzer officer and spy in Ice Cold in Alex. One of his best friends from his days at the Old Vic was fellow actor Alec Guinness, who appeared in several films with him. He was also a close friend of Jack Hawkins and Jack Gwillim; all four actors appeared in Lawrence of Arabia.

Television appearances include the Armchair Theatre episode "The Scent of Fear" (1959) for ITV, the title role in the drama series Strange Report (ITC, 1969) and as French General Villers in the television film adaptation of The Bourne Identity (1988). He starred in the miniseries Masada (1981) as Rubrius Gallius. Also he narrated the BBC drama serial The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), and the acclaimed aviation documentary series Reaching for the Skies (1988). Quayle also starred in the 'Last Bottle in The World' episode of Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)