Tony Britton

Presenter0:00

This download is the only extract the BBC has of this edition of Desert Island Discs. The presenter was Roy Plumley.

Presenter0:08

I was born in Birmingham.

Presenter0:10

Uh where my roots lie. But I uh moved when I was quite young to Gloucestershire and spent a few years there in the sort of formative years of boyhood, where I formed a very strong love of countryside.

Presenter0:23

And then we moved at the beginning of the war down to Somerset. Any theatrical background in the family? None at all, no. I believe one of my many aunts had a good voice, but she never used it professionally. As a schoolboy, what did you want to be?

Presenter0:36

not merely as a schoolboy, but uh ever since I was old enough to think.

Presenter0:39

I've always wanted to be an actor. Ever since I became aware of the world, I wanted simply to be an actor. I couldn't tell you why, it was just there. What happened when you left school? Did you start in the theater straight away? Uh

Presenter0:50

In a sense I did, yes, in that I joined uh two amateur dramatic societies. Two, yes, in the town where I lived. Good. Uh which was Western Supermare.

Presenter1:02

What we were doing in the daytime.

Presenter1:04

In the daytime, uh first of all I I I was articled to an estate agent for a while and I got very bored with that.

Presenter1:11

And then I went to work in a local aircraft factory and uh that was pretty boring too. But then I was called up.

Presenter1:18

uh and and joined the army and spent four the next four and a half years in the artillery. Any chance of any acting there? Yes. Uh w when I was taking officer training uh we we formed our own sort of little theatre group.

Presenter1:32

And we did some scripts written by a rather clever friend of mine who was

Presenter1:36

A cadet with me.

Presenter1:38

Based on the the Itmar series, and he did it with a sort of army version, and he had a great talent for it, and very funny. We even had the colonel falling about doing it.

Tony Britton1:44

It has

Presenter1:46

And when you would have mobilized?

Presenter1:48

Well, when I was demobbed the great question was how and where to start, because as you know, it's it's not easy getting into the theatre, and never has been.

Presenter1:56

And I wrote around and I met people, and finally I I met someone who gave me an introduction to um Peter Coates.

Presenter2:03

who gave me a job as an assistant stage manager at the Library Theatre in Manchester. Yes. Wi did you have some parts to play as well?

Presenter2:10

As well as making the tea?

Tony Britton2:10

What is

Presenter2:19

A small part.

Presenter2:20

to play. Yes. Um and was saved by the skin of my teeth apparently from the sack.'Cause I was the worst stage manager on on earth. But uh I was given this part and saved myself and finally wound up the season playing a lead. Did you? Yes.

Tony Britton2:25

That was the list.

Presenter2:33

How long did you stay at the Library Theatre, Manchester?

Presenter2:36

We it was a nine-month season. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And where did you move on to? And then I went to Edinburgh. I had a period out of work.

Presenter2:43

And then a friend of mine, another actor, rang me up one day and said I've been offered a job in Edinburgh, and a new rep that's starting there, and I can't take it. It's being run by a man called Noel Iliffe of whom BBC knows well.

Presenter2:54

And uh

Presenter2:55

I went uh uh and saw Noel and he gave me the job and I stayed with that company for about a year, I suppose. Yes. Yeah.

Presenter3:02

Uh then I had a a long period out of work. I was about to work about seven or eight months, I think.

Presenter3:08

And I was married and I had a small baby, and it was a bit worrying.

Presenter3:12

Finally I got a job.

Presenter3:14

At the Brusselovic.

Presenter3:15

And I had um two very good parts in the last two plays of that season.

Presenter3:21

Um

Presenter3:23

And then I was out of work again for quite a long time.

Presenter3:26

And then came what is called The Big Break. What was it? Well, it it was a play of Christopher Frye's called The Firstborn.

Presenter3:33

Yes. Um part of Ramesses, the juvenile lead in in in this play and Alec Clunes is putting it on at the Winter Garden Theatre. So there you were in the west end of London for the first time.

Tony Britton3:44

Yes.

Presenter3:45

After The Firstborn I was put under contract to Alec Clunes, who was at that time running the Arts Theatre. From a very large theatre to a very small one. From a very large to a very small one, yes. And uh well working between the two actually, because he did another production of The Constant Couple after The Firstborn at the Winter Garden. Yes. And I was doing uh other plays as well. Um

Presenter4:04

At the Arts Theatre, too. Mhm. And after that?

Presenter4:08

After that I went to the Edinburgh Festival of nineteen fifty.

Presenter4:12

Two, I think it was, yes, nineteen fifty two.

Presenter4:15

to play the lead in a play called The Player King. Yes. Opposite Kathleen Nesbitt. And it was about then that you went up to Stratford on Avenue, wasn't it? Yep. Yes, I had uh

Presenter4:27

Two.

Presenter4:28

Very exciting years at Stratford on Haven.

Presenter4:31

Um

Presenter4:32

And that that came about because while I was doing um

Presenter4:36

The player king.

Presenter4:39

In Edinburgh, at the festival, I received a phone call from Glen Biamshaw, who was at that time directing the Shakespeare Theatre at Strafford on Avon, and he said, I'm coming up to Aberdeen next week, Britton, and he said, I'm going to see you up there, and I'm going to come down and talk to you afterwards.

Presenter4:53

So in high excitement I arrived in Aberdeen, and he saw the show, and he came round afterwards, and then

Presenter4:58

We had dinner together, and he offered me a line of parts for the following year at Stratford, and uh there was no more.

Presenter5:04

Happy actor in in the kingdom.

Tony Britton5:05

You did too.

Presenter5:07

And when you came back to London?

Presenter5:09

And then when I came back to London I went straight into uh a a play called The Night of the Ball with Wendy Hiller and dear Gladys Cooper and um after that

Presenter5:19

I did a play called Gishi with Leslie Carron. Oh, yes. Just before she made the picture. Mhm. Then you played Romeo on television. That was a performance that was quite a breakthrough for you. Yes, it was, because out of that production I uh got a film contract with British Lion.

Presenter5:36

I was seen one night by Roy Rich, who was at that time the executive producer at British Lion.

Presenter5:40

He arrived home late from the office, and his wife, Brenda Bruce, was watching, and said, You're looking for somebody to fill a a film contract, a romantic contract, and there he is. So he sat down and watched the last ten minutes of Romeo and Juliet.

Presenter5:51

And I did a screen test after that and and got my film contract. Yes. You were typed as the romantic heartthrob. Yeah. Yeah. You had a long film contract?

Presenter6:01

I had a four a four year phone contract, yes. Yes. Any good ones?

Presenter6:05

Yes, one or two good ones. Not many, one or two. Operation Amsterdam. Oh yes. They never stop showing on television.

Tony Britton6:10

Oh dear.

Presenter6:12

for which you never receive a penny. However. And uh another one called The Rough and the Smooth I quite enjoyed. There were others, but I think we we won't uh dwell on them particularly. Now, was it now all plain sailing, no setbacks?

Presenter6:24

Oh, far from it far from it. I don't think any actor's ever been able to say that. Suddenly the film thing dried up completely, and my contract came to an end.

Presenter6:32

Uh the leather jacket boys arrived, the boys on the on the motorbikes, you know, and we had a different genre of film.

Presenter6:39

We had a an the English new wave, in fact, so that all the sort of old English smoothies like me were were out, you know, at that time.

Presenter6:49

And

Presenter6:50

Suddenly from

Presenter6:52

living in film studios and

Presenter6:54

Working away like mad, you know. Suddenly there were no more films.

Tony Britton6:56

Uh

Presenter6:57

So one had to go back to theatre, television, and I was very lucky the theatre took me back.

Presenter7:02

Went to the Olvic, yes. And uh I played Tregorian in the Seagull and I played Hotspur in Henry.

Presenter7:08

Fall that one.

Presenter7:10

And uh then I went into the West End and did a play called Kill Two Birds. Yes. And you had a long engagement in a musical. Yes, I did. I I was very lucky. I I got one of the national tours of My Fair Lady.

Presenter7:22

A new production was set up, because the first one had been so successful.

Presenter7:26

And I played Professor Higgins for two and a half years, up and down the country. Two and a half years, that that was a a really long slog. It was a very long slog. It took me five weeks on the beach in Italy to overcome it afterwards.

Presenter7:38

And since then.

Presenter7:39

Um since then I've I've played constantly in the West End. I've been terribly lucky and I haven't been out of the West End since. Yes, Woman of No Importance, I remember that very distinguished revival. That's right. Cactus Flower, Margaret Layton. Yes. Lady Frederick. And Lady Frederick with Margaret Lockwood. Yes. You have done some films. Um Girl in My Soup, I remember, with Peter Sellers and Goldie Horne. Yes, yes. I started making films again and I've I've been involved with Girl in My Soup.

Presenter8:04

In uh Sunday, Bloody Sunday.

Presenter8:07

And recently I've uh finished making two other pictures, one with Elizabeth Taylor, a film called Night Watch.

Presenter8:13

Which I enjoyed very much.

Presenter8:15

And uh

Presenter8:16

One that I've just finished.

Presenter8:18

called The Day of the Jackwall. Those last two are still in the back line. And you're happily ensconced in a success which has been going, what, eighteen, twenty months? Oh, yes, yes. Uh we opened in in March nineteen seventy one. Move over, misses Markham.

Presenter8:33

Tony, is acting all important? What about writing or directing? Is there anything else you want to move over to? Yes, I'd love to I'd love to stretch myself. I'd like to go in other directions. I would like very much to direct. I don't know whether I have the courage.

Presenter8:45

Uh I should also like to produce. This is not so much a question of courage as finding enough money and a good enough property to do that.

Tony Britton8:51

Yeah.