Moultrie Kelsall | |
|---|---|
_film-_caption_from_the_final_scenes_of_the_medical_officer_of_health.png) inSurprise Attack(1951) | |
| Born | Moultrie Rowe Kelsall (1904-10-24)24 October 1904 Bearsden, Scotland |
| Died | 13 February 1980(1980-02-13) (aged 75) Blairlogie, Scotland |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Other names | Moultrie R. Kelsall |
| Years active | 1949–1980 |
| Spouse | Ruby Duncan |
Moultrie Rowe Kelsall (24 October 1904 – 13 February 1980)[1] was a Scottish film and televisioncharacter actor, who began his career in the industry as a radio director and television producer. He also contributed towardsarchitectural conservation.[2]
Kelsall studied atGlasgow University and began acting with theScottish National Players before developing his acting career at the Westminster Theatre in London.[3] Towards the end of 1931 he accepted an offer to take over the running of the BBC's Aberdeen radio station2BD, which had become moribund, and re-invigorated it, putting on-air some of the best programmes in Scottish broadcasting, according to the BBC's then Scottish Regional Director, Melville Dinwiddie.
In 1937 he was transferred to the newBBC television service at Alexandra Palace, adapting aJ. M. Barrie one act play, "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals", for release in December of that year.[4] In all, Kelsall produced 19 shows for BBC television, ending in 1939 withThe Happy Hangman, a play byHarold Brighouse.[5] From 1943 he also adapted novels and plays for broadcast on BBC Radio's long-running drama strandSaturday Night Theatre.[6]
His acting career began in a 1949 film calledLandfall, which starredMichael Denison, and recounts the story of a pilot [Denison] who sinks a German U-boat, but which is believed by other officers to be a Royal Navy vessel. (The pilot is vindicated in the end of course !). Kelsall playedLieutenant James, the commander of a coastal defence vessel.[7]
In 1951, a busy year for him, he moved up thecast list to play another lieutenant (Crystal) in the filmCaptain Horatio Hornblower R.N., which featuredGregory Peck andVirginia Mayo as aRoyal Naval captain and a titledLady who become romantically involved whilst at sea inCentral America in 1807. The film was adapted byIvan Goff andBen Roberts from the Hornblower book "Beat To Quarters" byC. S. Forester.[8] In the same year, he appeared as theConstable of France in the BBC TV "Sunday Night Theatre" production ofShakespeare'sHenry V,[9] and played the role of the medical officer of health in the short filmSurprise Attack, produced by theCrown Film Unit and commissioned by theMinistry of Health.[10] That year he also played aDetective Superintendent in theEaling Studios comedy film,The Lavender Hill Mob, directed byCharles Crichton, and starringAlec Guinness andStanley Holloway.Audrey Hepburn had a very small part, indeed it may have been her debut.[11] He completed his year's work as aship's captain in theespionage film,High Treason, co-written and directed byRoy Boulting.
Kelsall then made an appearance as "MacCauley" inErrol Flynn's 1953Scottishswashbuckler,The Master of Ballantrae,[12] and, in the same year, played Commander Dawson in thewartime POW movie,Albert R.N., about the use of adummy to disguise the escape of a prisoner.[13] From then until 1956, he made seven more films, before switching to television once more, appearing in "The Quarrel", episode 2 of the six-part BBC adaptation ofRobert Louis Stevenson'sKidnapped, which starredPatrick Troughton, and in which Kelsall played Cluny Macpherson[14] (he would also go on to play a more prominent character, Prestongrange, in four of eleven episodes of the re-make of the same series by BBC television in 1963).[15]
Kelsall took time out in 1956 to write, adapting for TV a Marie Fawcett story,Mister Betts Runs Away, in theATV series "Lilli Palmer Theatre".[16] He later did the same (in 1968 forScottish Television) withD. K. Broster'sThe Flight of the Heron.[17]
In 1957, he continued on the small screen for the BBC, taking the role of Regan in one episode ("No Place Like Home") of the popular television seriesDixon of Dock Green, which starredJack Warner as theLondon 'bobby', George Dixon. Returning to the cinema in the same year,The Barretts of Wimpole Street saw him play Dr. Ford-Waterlow, with Edward and Elizabeth Barrett portrayed byJohn Gielgud andJennifer Jones.[18]
He was Dr. Robinson in the 1958 filmThe Inn of the Sixth Happiness, featuringRobert Donat andIngrid Bergman,[19] and then appeared regularly on television and in film throughout 1959, culminating with his part as Graham in the movieThe Battle of the Sexes oppositePeter Sellers.[20]
In 1961, theChildren's Film Foundation made a low-budget film calledThe Last Rhino, about a child who has to defend a woundedrhino against his uncle (thegame warden) and the local Kenyantribesmen. Before its release, this film was entirelyvoiced over by different actors to those who appeared in it, and Kelsall provided the audio presence for thedistrictcommissioner, who had been visually played by Tony Blane.Maurice Denham voiced the game warden.[21]
Kelsall was a member of the board of theEdinburgh Gateway Company from 1953 and served as chairman from 1960 to 1965.[22] During the 1960s, aside from his acting career, he was well known in Edinburgh as the man who ran the popular "Laigh Coffee House" in Hanover Street.
Between 1961 and 1969, Kelsall switched mainly to the medium of television, securing roles in various BBCanthology-style series, such asSuspense andOut of the Unknown, and other more mainstream sixties productions, including appearances inThe Saint andDr. Finlay's Casebook.[23] In 1962, he appeared in an episode ofThe DuPont Show of the Week (NBC) entitledThe Ordeal of Dr. Shannon, an adaptation ofA. J. Cronin's novel,Shannon's Way. Kelsall took the part ofboarding house owner Petey Bowles in the 1968 film version ofHarold Pinter'sThe Birthday Party, which starredRobert Shaw.[24]
In 1970, he took the lead role as Andrew Flaxton in all 13 episodes of season 2 ofThe Flaxton Boys, aYorkshire Television children's series set at Flaxton Hall in 1890.[25]
His last film was the 1970Sammy Davis Jr., comedy sequel,One More Time, in which Davis andPeter Lawford play swingingU.S.private investigatorsSalt and Pepper, investigating the murder in England of the titled twin brother of Chris Pepper (Lawford). Kelsall played achurch minister.[26]
Kelsall continued to work until the year of his death in 1980. His appearances included such programmes asThe Persuaders!,Doomwatch,Coronation Street, and the BBC epicEdward the Seventh, in which he played Sir James Clark.[27] From 1973 to 1976, he portrayed Sheriff Derwent in 7 episodes of the BBCScottishdrama seriesSutherland's Law, about aProcurator Fiscal, played byIain Cuthbertson.[28]
After appearing as Tradul in 1977 in a BBC television adaptation ofRosemary Sutcliff'sRoman saga,The Eagle of the Ninth (starringPatrick Malahide), Kelsall went into semi-retirement.[29] He made one final contribution to television, taking the part of Sir Archie in BBC TV's adaptation of theHenrik Ibsen novel,Enemy of the People, which featuredRobert Urquhart, and which was broadcast ten days before Moultrie Kelsall died on 13 February 1980.[30]
Kelsall was well known for his work in the field ofconservation, a leading example being his salvation and restoration ofMenstrie Castle inClackmannanshire, Scotland, between 1951 and 1964.[2][31] Menstrie Castle's own website pays tribute when it states "the building was so badly dilapidated that it was only saved from demolition after a campaign led by the actor".[32] Kelsall also established and ran the legendary Laigh coffee house and bakery in Hanover Street, Edinburgh. He was married to Ruby Duncan, a musician.[1]
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