Life and career Binkie Beaumont

1 life , career

1.1 years
1.2 tennent s
1.3 postwar

life , career
early years

throughout life beaumont evasive background, given, 1 biographer wrote, disseminating fanciful accounts of origins . not until 1989 biography richard huggett facts became known. born hughes griffiths morgan, in hampstead, london, son of morgan morgan, barrister, , wife mary frances, née brewer. morgan divorced wife adultery when boy two. mary morgan married co-respondent, william sugden beaumont, cardiff timber merchant, whom young beaumont brought believing real father. boy formally known hugh, called binkie . origin of nickname uncertain; john elsom in 1991 book cold war theatre suggests binkie cardiff slang black child or ragamuffin. william beaumont died while binkie still boy. mary beaumont let rooms lodger, major harry woodcock, former army entertainments officer , latterly general manager of cardiff playhouse.

at age of fifteen beaumont left penarth grammar school , became box-office assistant @ playhouse; appointed assistant manager of prince of wales theatre in cardiff year later. subsequently business manager aubrey smith s touring company , of barnes theatre in london producer philip ridgeway. barnes theatre famous productions of chekhov , other russian classics, directed theodore komisarjevsky. during beaumont s time company 5 of productions transferred west end, giving him valuable managerial experience in 5 west end theatres. during time ridgeway, beaumont met john gielgud first time. went onto have long-term relationship actor john perry, gielgud s ex-lover.

tennent s

beaumont appointed assistant harry tennent, senior executive in moss empires theatre chain. in 1933 tennent engineered merger of moss howard & wyndham group , became general manager. tennent , beaumont unimpressed quality of many shows offered producers staging in group s theatres. @ beaumont s instigation, , tennent went production , management on own account in 1936, setting h m tennent limited. tennent concentrated on business side of enterprise, beaumont producer, choosing plays , engaging directors, actors , designers.

their first production, ante room, kate o brien @ queen s theatre in 1936, failure. firm suffered series of further flops, running short of capital before finding success 1937 production of gerald savory s george , margaret, ran 799 performances. followed dodie smith s dear octopus (373 performances) , other long-running shows established tennent highly profitable concern. when chamberlain government closed theatres in britain on outbreak of second world war in 1939, beaumont had enough clout persuade prime minister cancel closures less week later.

john gielgud

tennent died in 1941, leaving beaumont in sole control, , next twenty years 1 of powerful men in british theatre. maintained low profile, shunning limelight partly natural reticence (saying, haven t temperament cochran or diaghilev ) , partly belief operate more behind scenes. first full-length biography of beaumont, published in 1989, subtitled éminence grise of west end theatre, 1933–1973 .

beaumont gained strong commercial advantage on rivals setting subsidiary company present classic plays: maintained operation qualified educational , , exempt tax. productions such importance of being earnest, gielgud , edith evans, , hamlet, gielgud , peggy ashcroft, beaumont made large profits ostensibly charitable enterprise. gielgud strong influence on beaumont s aesthetic development, , maintained mutually beneficial association survived despite personal crisis when gielgud s partner john perry fell , moved in beaumont. perry remained , professionally involved beaumont rest of latter s life, , 3 remained on close terms. close associate noël coward. in play present laughter, caricatured himself , friends, including beaumont, portrayed henry lyppiatt , shrewd man of business. despite heavy entertainment tax paid on productions main tennent organisation, beaumont made substantial profits such new plays coward s blithe spirit, ran 1,997 performances.

postwar

beaumont careful balance innovation , box-office appeal. combined both in london premiere of oklahoma! in 1947, ran @ drury lane 1,543 performances. promoted works of new dramatists, including christopher fry, tennessee williams, , later robert bolt , peter shaffer, , engaged promising young directors , performers including peter brook , richard burton.

noël coward

the rise of state-subsidised theatre, , emergence of kitchen sink drama undermined beaumont s pre-eminence beginning in 1950s. disapproved of both, , stuck style of lavish, starry west end productions, when began go out of fashion. alienated both coward , terence rattigan arrogant , duplicitous behaviour. beaumont attempted sabotage former s new play waiting in wings telling him actresses coward wanted cast refused play in it, whereas in reality beaumont had not consulted them. continued have enormous successes: in 1958, presented first british productions of both west side story (1040 performances) , fair lady (2281 performances). latter cost unprecedented sum stage, but, sustained publicity campaign tennent s, advance bookings meant show in net profit 2 months before opened.

beaumont sufficiently overcame suspicion of subsidised theatre founder member of board of national theatre, on served energy , commitment during last ten years of life. continued run h m tennent until death. in last few years produced many productions play again sam , winslow boy , bequest nation , promises, promises . last production tennent s 1973 revival of maugham s constant wife, starring ingrid bergman, directed gielgud, opened after beaumont s death.

beaumont died @ house in lord north street, westminster, @ age of 64.