Christopher Fry

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

 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Make a donation

Christopher Fry

by Angus McBean
bromide print, 1950
22 3/4 in. x 19 3/4 in. (578 mm x 502 mm)
Purchased, 1977
Primary Collection
NPG P67

Sitterback to top

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. 90 Read entry

    Between 1946 and 1954 Fry was one of Britain's most prolific and successful playwrights, with plays staged on both sides of the Atlantic and featuring the leading actors of the time. Composed in free verse, often with religious and mystic undertones, they included A Phoenix Too Frequent (1946) and The Dark is Light Enough (1954), which was written especially for Edith Evans. The Lady's Not For Burning was later famously paraphrased for one of Margaret Thatcher's speeches in the 1980s. The play was written in 1947 and first produced in 1948 with Jack Hawkins directing. A second production appeared a year later with a cast that included John Gielgud, Richard Burton, Pamela Brown and Claire Bloom. A production also ran successfully on Broadway and it was the first of Fry's plays to be televised, in the year this photograph was taken.

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Portrait setback to top

Subject/Themeback to top

Events of 1950back to top

Current affairs

Princess Anne is born at Clarence house, the only daughter of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip.

Art and science

C.S. Lewis publishes The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Lewis was an Oxford Don, specialising in Medieval Literature and its use of allegory. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is often seen as an allegory of the Christian struggle between good and evil.

International

Following the Soviet and American withdrawal from the occupation of North and South Korea respectively, the Korean War breaks out as each side seeks to unify Korea under its own political system. While the U.S.A., U.K and other UN nations came to the defence of South Korea, North Korea had support from the Soviet Union and China. The war continued until 1953.

Comments back to top

We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.

If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.