John Edward "Jack" Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 â€" 18 July 1973)
was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s
until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the
1950s, he was best known for his portrayal of military men.He was born
at 45 Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, in what is now 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. The
following year aged 14 he played the page in a production of Saint
Joan by George Bernard Shaw. Five years later he was in a production
of Beau Geste alongside Laurence Olivier.
was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s
until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the
1950s, he was best known for his portrayal of military men.He was born
at 45 Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, in what is now 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. The
following year aged 14 he played the page in a production of Saint
Joan by George Bernard Shaw. Five years later he was in a production
of Beau Geste alongside Laurence Olivier.
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