William Devlin (actor), Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

William Devlin (actor)

British actor (1911-1987)

Date of Birth: 05-Dec-1911

Place of Birth: Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom

Date of Death: 25-Jan-1987

Profession: actor, television actor, film actor

Nationality: United Kingdom

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

William Devlin (5 December 1911 – 25 January 1987) was a Scottish actor who appeared widely in films and television in a screen career that lasted from 1937 until 1967.
The son of an architect, he was born in Aberdeen in 1911.
His first stage appearance was with Nancy Price in the play Nurse Cavell by C.
S.
Forester and C.
E.
Bechhofer Roberts.
In this play he had the role of the spy who betrayed Edith Cavell. A noted Shakespearean actor, Devlin first played King Lear aged 22.
He was one of the youngest actors to undertake a major portrayal of what was considered the most difficult of Shakespearean roles; critic James Agate wrote of Devlin's performance at the Westminster Theatre, "His understanding of the text and his sense of beauty are everywhere apparent,".
Devlin won further acclaim with his performance as Peer Gynt and in historical roles.
In 1936, he played French politician Georges Clemenceau in The Tiger, the first play to be televised by the BBC.
He made his first film appearance in 1937 in The Mill on the Floss, and soon built up steady work as a character actor, particularly after appearing in Jamaica Inn.Devlin retired from acting in 1967, but reprised his King Lear role in Episode 6 ("Protest and Communication") of Kenneth Clark's 1969 BBC-TV series Civilisation.Devlin died in 1987 in Somerset, England.