Maurice Herbert Evans (3 June 1901 â€" 12 March 1989) was an English
actor, noted for his interpretations of Shakespearean characters. His
best-known screen roles are Dr. Zaius in the 1968 film Planet of the
Apes, and as Samantha Stephens' father, Maurice, on Bewitched.Evans
was born at 28 Icen Way (where there is now a memorial plaque,
unveiled in 2013 by Tegen Evans, his great-great niece) in Dorchester,
Dorset. He was the son of Laura (Turner) and Alfred Herbert Evans, a
Welsh dispensing chemist and keen amateur actor who made adaptations
of novels by Thomas Hardy for the local amateur company. Hardy lived
in Dorchester and thought highly of Evans's adaptations and
productions. Young Maurice made his first stage appearance as a small
boy in Far from the Madding Crowd.He first appeared on the stage in
1926 at the Cambridge Festival Theatre and joined the Old Vic Company
in 1934, playing Hamlet, Richard II, and Iago. He was selected by
Terence Gray to appear in the opening production in November 1926 at
the Festival Theatre, taking the part of Orestes in two parts of the
sensational production of the Oresteia of Aeschylus. This was followed
by Lord Belvoir in The Man Who Ate the Popomack by W. J. Turner, and
Saint Anthony in Maeterlinck's The Miracle of Saint Anthony.
actor, noted for his interpretations of Shakespearean characters. His
best-known screen roles are Dr. Zaius in the 1968 film Planet of the
Apes, and as Samantha Stephens' father, Maurice, on Bewitched.Evans
was born at 28 Icen Way (where there is now a memorial plaque,
unveiled in 2013 by Tegen Evans, his great-great niece) in Dorchester,
Dorset. He was the son of Laura (Turner) and Alfred Herbert Evans, a
Welsh dispensing chemist and keen amateur actor who made adaptations
of novels by Thomas Hardy for the local amateur company. Hardy lived
in Dorchester and thought highly of Evans's adaptations and
productions. Young Maurice made his first stage appearance as a small
boy in Far from the Madding Crowd.He first appeared on the stage in
1926 at the Cambridge Festival Theatre and joined the Old Vic Company
in 1934, playing Hamlet, Richard II, and Iago. He was selected by
Terence Gray to appear in the opening production in November 1926 at
the Festival Theatre, taking the part of Orestes in two parts of the
sensational production of the Oresteia of Aeschylus. This was followed
by Lord Belvoir in The Man Who Ate the Popomack by W. J. Turner, and
Saint Anthony in Maeterlinck's The Miracle of Saint Anthony.
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