George Alexander Cassady Devine CBE (20 November 1910 â€" 20 January
1966) was an English theatrical manager, director, teacher, and actor
based in London from the early 1930s until his death. He also worked
in TV and film.Devine was born in Hendon, London. His father, Georgios
Devine, a clerk in Martins Bank, was the son of an Irish father and a
Greek mother; Devine's own mother, Ruth Eleanor Cassady, came from
Vancouver, Canada. His mother became mentally unstable after Devine's
birth, and his parents' marriage, deeply unhappy throughout his early
childhood, had broken down by the time he was in his early teens. At
this time he was sent to Clayesmore School, an independent boys'
boarding school founded by his uncle Alexander Devine, known as Lex,
who took his nephew under his wing hoping that he would take over the
running of the school. In 1929 Devine went to Oxford University to
read for a degree in history at Wadham College. It was at Oxford that
his interest in theatre, which had begun at school, came to fruition,
and in 1931 he became president of the prestigious Oxford University
Dramatic Society, or OUDS. In early 1932, he invited the young actor
John Gielgud to direct a production of Romeo and Juliet and, as the
OUDS did not admit women, invited Peggy Ashcroft and Edith Evans to
play Juliet and the Nurse. Gielgud insisted on having the costumes
designed by Motley, a newly formed theatre-design team consisting of
Sophie Harris, her sister Margaret Harris (known as Percy), and
Elizabeth Montgomery. The great success of the production encouraged
Devine to abandon his degree before sitting his finals and move to
London to begin an acting career. He also worked for Motley as their
business manager.Although Devine managed to get some work as an actor,
both at the Old Vic and for John Gielgud (whose directing career had
taken off after the OUDS Romeo and Juliet), he was initially not a
great success. Rather overweight, dark and foreign-looking, he did not
fit the conventional stereotype and tended to play relatively small
character parts. Always interested in France (he spoke the language
perfectly) and in French theatre, he suggested to Gielgud that they
should invite the French director Michel Saint-Denis to London in 1935
to direct a version of his successful production of Andre Obey's Noé
(Noah). This proved to be the beginning of a close and fruitful
partnership between the two men. Saint-Denis remained in London and,
together with Devine and their friends Marius Goring and Glen Byam
Shaw, founded the London Theatre Studio in 1936, which offered
training not only to actors and directors but also to stage designers.
Run by Motley, this was the first course in Britain to offer training
in set and costume design. Jocelyn Herbert, who was later to become
part of Devine's life, was a student on the course. At the end of the
1930s Devine finally got the chance to direct a play himself. His
first professional production was an adaptation by Alec Guinness of
Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations, which played at the Queen's
Theatre in 1939 and was later adapted into the celebrated 1946 film of
the same name, directed by David Lean. Devine also directed a
successful production of a stage version of Daphne du Maurier's
Rebecca at the Queen's Theatre in 1939.
1966) was an English theatrical manager, director, teacher, and actor
based in London from the early 1930s until his death. He also worked
in TV and film.Devine was born in Hendon, London. His father, Georgios
Devine, a clerk in Martins Bank, was the son of an Irish father and a
Greek mother; Devine's own mother, Ruth Eleanor Cassady, came from
Vancouver, Canada. His mother became mentally unstable after Devine's
birth, and his parents' marriage, deeply unhappy throughout his early
childhood, had broken down by the time he was in his early teens. At
this time he was sent to Clayesmore School, an independent boys'
boarding school founded by his uncle Alexander Devine, known as Lex,
who took his nephew under his wing hoping that he would take over the
running of the school. In 1929 Devine went to Oxford University to
read for a degree in history at Wadham College. It was at Oxford that
his interest in theatre, which had begun at school, came to fruition,
and in 1931 he became president of the prestigious Oxford University
Dramatic Society, or OUDS. In early 1932, he invited the young actor
John Gielgud to direct a production of Romeo and Juliet and, as the
OUDS did not admit women, invited Peggy Ashcroft and Edith Evans to
play Juliet and the Nurse. Gielgud insisted on having the costumes
designed by Motley, a newly formed theatre-design team consisting of
Sophie Harris, her sister Margaret Harris (known as Percy), and
Elizabeth Montgomery. The great success of the production encouraged
Devine to abandon his degree before sitting his finals and move to
London to begin an acting career. He also worked for Motley as their
business manager.Although Devine managed to get some work as an actor,
both at the Old Vic and for John Gielgud (whose directing career had
taken off after the OUDS Romeo and Juliet), he was initially not a
great success. Rather overweight, dark and foreign-looking, he did not
fit the conventional stereotype and tended to play relatively small
character parts. Always interested in France (he spoke the language
perfectly) and in French theatre, he suggested to Gielgud that they
should invite the French director Michel Saint-Denis to London in 1935
to direct a version of his successful production of Andre Obey's Noé
(Noah). This proved to be the beginning of a close and fruitful
partnership between the two men. Saint-Denis remained in London and,
together with Devine and their friends Marius Goring and Glen Byam
Shaw, founded the London Theatre Studio in 1936, which offered
training not only to actors and directors but also to stage designers.
Run by Motley, this was the first course in Britain to offer training
in set and costume design. Jocelyn Herbert, who was later to become
part of Devine's life, was a student on the course. At the end of the
1930s Devine finally got the chance to direct a play himself. His
first professional production was an adaptation by Alec Guinness of
Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations, which played at the Queen's
Theatre in 1939 and was later adapted into the celebrated 1946 film of
the same name, directed by David Lean. Devine also directed a
successful production of a stage version of Daphne du Maurier's
Rebecca at the Queen's Theatre in 1939.
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