Jack Hawkins

Born

John Edward Hawkins , Wood Green, London, England, UK

Birthday

1910-09-14

Occupation

Actor

Spouse(s)

Doreen Lawrence (31 October 1947 - 18 July 1973) (his death) (3 children)
Jessica Tandy (22 October 1932 - 2 January 1940) (divorced) (1 child)

Years Active

1930–1973

John Edward "Jack" Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s.

He was born at Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, now in Haringey, London, the son of a builder. He was educated at Wood Green’s Trinity County Grammar School, where, aged eight, he joined the school choir. By the age of ten Hawkins had joined the local operatic society, and made his stage debut in Patience by Gilbert and Sullivan. His parents enrolled him in the Italia Conti Academy and whilst he was studying there he made his London stage debut, when aged eleven, playing the Elf King in Where the Rainbow Ends at the Holborn Empire on Boxing Day, December 1923, a production that also included the young Noël Coward. He appeared on Broadway in Journey's End by the age of 18. Although he appeared in several films during the 1930s, it was only after service in World War II, during which he had become a colonel in ENSA for India and Southeast Asia, that he began to build a successful career in the cinema.

Hawkins became a star with the release of three successful films in which he played stern but sympathetic authority figures: Angels One Five (1951), The Planter's Wife (1952), and Mandy (1952). In 1952 British exhibitors voted him the fourth most popular local star at the box office. He consolidated this status with The Cruel Sea, which was the most successful film of the year and saw Hawkins voted the most popular star in Britain regardless of nationality.

Hawkins' popularity declined with a series of less successful movies, but his authoritative presence meant he was always in demand. From the late 1950s, he mostly appeared in character roles, often in epic films like The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia (playing General Edmund Allenby), Lord Jim, and Oh! What a Lovely War. For The Bridge on the River Kwai, he had to persuade good friend Alec Guinness to take the lead role, which would ultimately win Guinness an Oscar.

Some of Hawkins' more unusual roles included an Egyptian Pharaoh in Land of the Pharaohs, Ben Hur's adoptive Roman father Quintus Arrius in Ben-Hur, and Zulu, where he played against type as the fanatical pacifist, Reverend Otto Witt.

He appeared as one of The Four Just Men (1959) in the Sapphire Films TV series for ITV.

In reality Hawkins was politically liberal, and an emotional man, in sharp contrast to his conservative screen image. One of his favourite films, The League of Gentlemen, was considered quite groundbreaking for its time in its references to sex. However, though initially sought for the role of a gay barrister in Victim, he turned it down fearing that it might conflict with his masculine image. The role was eventually played by Dirk Bogarde.

Hawkins also produced the film adaptation of Peter Barnes's The Ruling Class (1972), with Peter O'Toole and Alastair Sim.

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