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William Inglis Lindon Travers (3 January 1922 – 29 March 1994) was a British actor, screenwriter, director and animal rights activist. Before his show business career, he served in the British Army with Gurkha and special forces units.
He served in the Long Range Penetration Brigade 4th Battalion 9th Gorkha Rifles in Myanmar, attached to Orde Wingate's staff, during which he came to know John Masters, his brigade major. (Travers later acted in the film Bhowani Junction, written by Masters.) While deep behind enemy lines, he contracted malaria and volunteered to be left behind in a native Burmese village. To avoid capture, he disguised himself as a Chinese national and walked hundreds of miles through jungle territory until he reached an Allied position. He later joined Force 136 Special Operations Executive and was parachuted into British Malaya. He was responsible for training and tactical decisions with the main resistance movement, the communist-led Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA). On 20 December 1944, he was promoted war-substantive captain and temporary major.
Travers was one of the first allied operatives to enter the Japanese city of Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb. He wrote about his experience in his diary, registering profound horror at the destruction and loss of life. On 7 November 1946, Travers was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished service whilst engaged in Special Operations in South East Asia". He left the armed forces in 1947.
He was a supporting player in Counterspy (1953), and appeared in Romeo and Juliet (1954) as Benvolio, and in Footsteps in the Fog (1955) starring Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons.
MGM cast him in the expensive epic Bhowani Junction (1956), with Granger and Ava Gardner. He followed this as the romantic lead in a remake of The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957), opposite Jennifer Jones. Powell and Pressburger wanted him to star in the lead of Ill Met by Moonlight Library login required but the role went to Dirk Bogarde. Travers briefly returned to Britain to make a comedy, The Smallest Show on Earth (1957), with his second wife Virginia McKenna, whom he had married in 1957. Library login required
Back in Hollywood, he was Eleanor Parker's character's love interest in The Seventh Sin (1957), a remake of a Greta Garbo film. MGM tested him for the lead in Ben-Hur (1959) and he wrote a swashbuckler to star himself, The Falcon. Library login required However his MGM films all performed disappointingly at the box office – Barretts and Seventh Sin were notable flops – and enthusiasm for Travers in Hollywood cooled.
Travers returned to the UK in March 1957 to attend to divorce proceedings and marry Virginia McKenna after which he went back to America in October, for "A Cook for Mr. General" for Kraft Theatre (1958) on TV.
In the second half of 1959, Travers made a British monster film, Gorgo. In America he recorded "Born a Giant" for Our American Heritage (1960) on TV, then returned to Britain where Travers and McKenna reteamed on a thriller, Two Living, One Dead (1961). He then starred in a race car drama for MGM, The Green Helmet (1961), and a comedy with Spike Milligan, Invasion Quartet (1961).
He was in a Broadway production of A Cook for Mr General (1961). Library login required Library login required Travers starred in a TV adaptation of Lorna Doone (1963).
He returned to Hollywood to do some episodes of The Everglades, Rawhide ("Incident at Two Graves") and Espionage ("A Camel to Ride"). Back on Broadway he played the title role in Abraham Cochrane which had a short run. Library login required
Travers received an offer to play a support role in Duel at Diablo (1967); during filming he broke a leg and dislocated a shoulder. Library login required He played the title role in a British TV version of The Admirable Crichton (1968), alongside his wife, and had a small part in Peter Hall's adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968).
Travers and McKenna made another "animal movie", Ring of Bright Water (1969) for which he also wrote the script. They followed this with An Elephant Called Slowly (1970), which Travers helped write and produce with James Hill, who directed. In 1969, he played Captain Hook on a stage production of Peter Pan. Library login required
Travers worked as an actor only on Rum Runners (1971) with Brigitte Bardot and Lino Ventura. He directed and appeared in a documentary, The Lion at World's End (1971), about Christian the lion, an animal bought in Harrods and then returned to Africa.
He was reunited with James Hill on The Belstone Fox (1973) and co-wrote a documentary, "The Wild Dogs of Africa", for The World About Us (1973). He later produced "The Baboons of Gombe" (1975) for the same show.
He and Hill wrote and produced The Queen's Garden (1977) together, and Travers helped produce Bloody Ivory (1980).
One of his last credits was "Highland Fling" on Lovejoy (1992).
Travers spent his last three years travelling around Europe's slum zoos and a TV documentary that he made exposed the appalling suffering of thousands of animals.
Acting career
Early work
After leaving the army, Travers decided to become an actor. State Library of New South Wales login required He began working on stage in 1949 appearing in John Van Druten's The Damask Cheek, and a year later made his film debut in Conspirator (1949). He had unbilled parts in Trio (1950) and The Wooden Horse (1950). He had a slightly bigger part in The Browning Version (1951) and a good role on TV in "Albert" (later filmed as Albert R.N.) for BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1951).
Supporting player
Travers appeared in Hindle Wakes (1952), The Planter's Wife (1952), The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952), It Started in Paradise (1952), Mantrap (1953), Street of Shadows (1953), and The Square Ring (1953). He was in "The Heel" for Douglas Fairbanks Presents.
Geordie and MGM
Travers's breakthrough came when he was cast in the title role of Geordie (1955), directed by Frank Launder. This was popular in Britain and the US and saw him contracted by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which thought he was going to be a big star and brought him to Hollywood.
Return to Britain
Travers and McKenna starred in a melodrama for the Rank Organisation, Passionate Summer (1958). He tried to get up a war film set in Greenland, The Sledge Patrol, but it does not appear to have been made. Library login required He and Launder tried to repeat the success of Geordie with The Bridal Path (1960), but the film was not a success.
Born Free
His most famous film role was that of game warden George Adamson in the highly successful 1966 film Born Free, about which experience the two co-wrote the book On Playing with Lions. He co-starred with McKenna and the experience made him and his wife conscious of the many abuses of wild animals in captivity that had been taken from Africa and other natural environments around the world.
Documentaries
Travers teamed up with James Hill, the director of Born Free, to make the documentary, The Lions Are Free (1969), which both men directed. Library login required
Later years
Travers appeared in "Tramps and Poachers", an episode of To the Manor Born (1980). In (1984) he and McKenna played the parents of Edwin Flack.
Animal rights campaigner
The importance of animal rights led to Travers and his wife becoming involved in the "Zoo Check Campaign" in 1984 that evolved to their establishing the Born Free Foundation in 1991.
Death
Travers died from a coronary thrombosis in his sleep at his home in the village of South Holmwood, near Dorking, Surrey, aged 72. He was survived by his wife and children. His widow, Virginia McKenna, carries on his work to help suffering animals, as does their son, Will Travers, who is president of the Born Free Foundation.
Credits
Filmography
Television
External links
Categories: 1922 Births, 1994 Deaths, Deaths From Coronary Thrombosis, British Indian Army Officers, English Activists, English Male Film Actors, English Male Stage Actors, Male Actors From Newcastle Upon Tyne, Military Personnel From Newcastle Upon Tyne, Male Actors From Northumberland, Members Of The Order Of The British Empire, 20th-century English Male Actors, Special Operations Executive Personnel, British Army Soldiers, British Army Personnel Of World War Ii, Indian Army Personnel Of World War Ii, Metro-goldwyn-mayer Contract Players
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