André van Gyseghem (18 August 1906 – 13 October 1979) was an English actor and theatre director who also appeared in many British television programmes.[1][2]
Van Gyseghem was born on 18 August 1906 in Eltham, Kent, the son of Georges Emil van Gyseghem and his wife Minnie Evison (née Offord).[3] He went to school in Greenwich, then studied for the stage at RADA. He worked initially in a music-publishing business.[4]
He made his stage debut at the Theatre Royal, Bognor, in September 1927, as Peveril Leyburn in The Constant Nymph, then in January 1928 toured as Lewis Dodd in the same play. From September 1928 to July 1930 he was engaged at the Hull Repertory Theatre, then under the direction of A.R. Whatmore, playing a round of leading juvenile parts.[4]
At the 4Arts Theatre in July 1930 he played Vitek in The Macropulos Secret.[5] He then joined the repertory company at the Embassy Theatre, and remained there from September 1930 until October 1934.[6] He continued to take parts in plays, such as Florindo in The Liar and Master Klaus in The Witch, but also began his long career as director, starting with the Agatha Christie play Black Coffee in December 1930.[7]
Other subsequent productions which he directed at the Embassy included:
Between 1933 and 1935 he made several trips to the Soviet Union, including a year's work at Nikolay Okhlopkov's Realistic Theatre in Moscow. He attributed much of his own acting expertise to the education he received there.[9] He became a member of the Communist Party and president of the Unity Theatre's "Management Committee".[10]
In 1939 he appeared in a short BBC television play Rehearsal for a Drama.[11] In 1944 played Cecil Tempest in the film Candles at Nine, and in 1949 Oblensky in Warning to Wantons.[1] In 1953 he played the Stage Door Keeper in The Limping Man.[12] Between 1951 and his death in 1979 he appeared in over 50 British television dramas. [13] These included in 1963 as Vennekohl in Rudolph Cartier's production of Stalingrad for the BBC's Festival series.[14][15] He appeared in The Adventures of William Tell as the Grand Duke in episode 24, "The Ensign". He also appeared in several episodes of the TV series Crown Court as the presiding Judge Mr. Justice Barclay.
In the 1960s, Van Gyseghem was one of several actors to portray Number Two on the cult classic television series The Prisoner.[16] He portrayed the retiring Number Two in the December 1967 episode "It's Your Funeral".[17] Van Gyseghem also appeared in an episode of The Saint in 1968 with Roger Moore.[18]
He married actress Jean Forbes-Robertson in 1940.[3] Actress Joanna Van Gyseghem is their daughter.[19]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | Candles at Nine | Cecil Tempest | |
| 1949 | Warning to Wantons | Oblensky | |
| Stop Press Girl | Ex-Editor of Evening Comet | uncredited | |
| 1953 | The Limping Man | Stage Door Keeper | |
| 1957 | Face in the Night | Bank Manager | |
| The Surgeon's Knife | Mr. Dodds | ||
| 1959 | The House of the Seven Hawks | Hotel Clerk | |
| 1965 | Rotten to the Core | Field Marshal von Schneer | |
| 1970 | Cromwell | Archbishop Rinucinni | |
| 1972 | The Pied Piper | Friar | |
| 1979 | Prince Regent | Lord Liverpool |
