John Gielgud

Angus McBean Photograph. © Harvard Theatre Collection, Harvard University.

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John Gielgud

by Angus McBean
bromide print, 1959
23 3/4 in. x 19 1/8 in. (603 mm x 486 mm)
Purchased, 1977
Primary Collection
NPG P60

Sitterback to top

  • Sir John Gielgud (1904-2000), Actor and theatre director. Sitter in 123 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Angus McBean (1904-1990), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 283 portraits, Sitter in 79 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Pepper, Terence, Angus McBean Portraits, 2006 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 July to 22 October 2006), p. 94 Read entry

    Along with Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud dominated British theatre in the first three-quarters of the twentieth century as an actor in both classical and modern plays. McBean began his career in the West End theatre by designing the shoes and some of the settings for Gielgud's highly popular production of Gordon Daviot's (Elizabeth Mackintosh's) Richard of Bordeaux (1933). He was to document most of Gielgud's productions and performances, from his 1939 appearance in The Importance of Being Earnest up until the late 1960s. This portrait dates from the time, between 1956 and 1964, when Gielgud toured the world with his triumphant one-man Shakespeare recital Ages of Man.

Events of 1959back to top

Current affairs

Harold Macmillan wins the general election with an increased majority, returning to office as Conservative prime minister. The victory was the result of perceived economic improvement under the Conservative government, and his (misquoted) boast: 'you've never had it so good.' During his premiership he earned the nickname 'Supermac', coined by cartoonist, Victor 'Vicky' Weisz.

Art and science

Claudia Jones organises the first West Indian-style carnival in the country, starting the tradition of the annual Notting Hill carnival. The event was a response to the race riots of 1958, and an attempt to celebrate West Indian culture and help overcome racial prejudice by giving the whole community the opportunity to join in the event.

International

Fidel Castro becomes leader of Cuba. After defeating the American-backed Batista government, Castro's revolutionary army arrived in Havana on 8th January where Castro proclaimed himself Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Within a month, Prime Minister José Miró Cardona had resigned, and Castro took over.
In Tibet, an uprising against Chinese rule is brutally crushed, and the Dalai Lama flees to India, beginning his long exile.

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