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The 39 Steps
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Birth Name: Kenneth Gilbert More
Born: September 20, 1914
Birth Place: Gerrard's Cross, Buckinghamshire, England
Parents: Charles Gilbert More and his wife Edith Winifred
(nee Watkins).
Nationality: English
Educated: Victoria College, Jersey in 1926.
Married (1) Beryl Johnstone (marriage dissolved) (2) Mabel Edith Barkby
(marriage dissolved) (3) Angela Douglas.
He had come to the Channel Island of Jersey when his father was appointed manager of the Jersey Eastern Railway, and began his acting career while at Victoria College. In 1957, as an Old Victorian he had presented the school with an oil painting of King Charles I, which hangs prominently in College Hall, but equally lasting a legacy was his institution in 1962 of the annual Kenneth More Prize for Drama.
During the War, 1939-1945, he served as a Lieutenant in the RNVR. Afterwards, he returned to the stage in November 1946 at the Aldwych Theatre:
He retained his comic ability in his film career and two of his most popular films were Genevieve (1953) and Doctor in the House (1954).
More made his starring film debut in "Genevieve", 1953 about a cross-country auto race at the turn of the century; he established himself as a popular star in the 1950s in both light comedies such as "Doctor in the House" 1954, the first in the series about the travails of a young doctor played by Dirk Bogarde; however, More could be versatile in such wartime dramas as "Reach for the Sky" 1956, as famous flying ace Douglas Bader, who lost his legs just prior to the war's outbreak while performing some acrobatics in a biplane, and in historical drama playing a leading part as Officer Lightoller on the Titanic in "A Night to Remember", 1957.
In his dramatic roles, he projected a matter-of-fact heroism or an ability to get the job done. Like many British actors, he commuted between film and theatre, playing the lead in both the stage and screen versions of Terence Rattigan's play The Deep Blue Sea (1955), his screen performance, recreating his stage role, winning him a Best Actor award at Venice.
Very much an icon of decency in the 1950s in cinema, he moved into television in the 1960s, renewing his popularity with his role in the BBC serialisation of The Forsyte Saga (1967), earning praise for his work as "Jolyon"
Kenneth More made his first appearance at the Kenneth More Theatre in April, 1977, in a an evening of poetry, prose and music entitled "Kenneth More Requests the Pleasure of Your Company". Appearing with him were Vivyan Ellacott, Roderick Elms, Edna Graham. Barbara Hills and Eleanor Thomas.
He was scheduled to appear at the Kenneth More Theatre in February 1979 in a programme called "Kenneth More and Friends". However, at the last minute he was unable to make this as he was too ill to appear. He was in the early stages of the Parkinson’s Disease which was to be the cause of his death on 12th July 1982.
| A Night to Remember |
North-West Frontier |
| Doctor in the House |
Reach for the Sky |
| The 39 Steps |
The Forsyte Saga |