Michael Denison(1915-1998)
- Actor
One of the finest exponents of the art of light comedy acting, Michael
Denison enjoyed a highly successful career both on stage and screen. He
and his wife, actress Dulcie Gray, appeared
in over 100 West End shows and their marriage, which lasted nearly
sixty years, was regarded as one of the happiest in British show
business.
Denison was born in Doncaster, the son of a paint manufacturer, and was
brought up by aunt and her husband. He was educated at Harrow and
Magdalen College, where he read modern languages. He trained for the
stage at Webber Douglas School in London where he met and married
Dulcie Gray in 1939.
During World War Two, he served in the Royal Intelligence Corps and, by
the time he had returned to the theatre, his wife was already a major
film star in Britain. She secured him a role in the 1947 film
My Brother Jonathan (1948).
The following year, they appeared together in
The Glass Mountain (1949),
which became an international hit.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the couple were rarely off the West End
stage where they attracted a loyal following. Denison appeared solo
with great success in the TV series
Boyd Q.C. (1956) (1956-63).
He appeared on Broadway in Oscar Wilde's,
"An Ideal Husband", and, shortly before he died, he and his wife
appeared in a two-hander production "Curtain Up" in a London fringe
theatre.
Denison published two volumes of memoirs, "Overture and Beginners"
(1973) and "Double Act" (1985). He also contributed many entries to the
Dictionary of National Biography. He and
Dulcie Gray were appointed CBE in 1983.
Denison enjoyed a highly successful career both on stage and screen. He
and his wife, actress Dulcie Gray, appeared
in over 100 West End shows and their marriage, which lasted nearly
sixty years, was regarded as one of the happiest in British show
business.
Denison was born in Doncaster, the son of a paint manufacturer, and was
brought up by aunt and her husband. He was educated at Harrow and
Magdalen College, where he read modern languages. He trained for the
stage at Webber Douglas School in London where he met and married
Dulcie Gray in 1939.
During World War Two, he served in the Royal Intelligence Corps and, by
the time he had returned to the theatre, his wife was already a major
film star in Britain. She secured him a role in the 1947 film
My Brother Jonathan (1948).
The following year, they appeared together in
The Glass Mountain (1949),
which became an international hit.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the couple were rarely off the West End
stage where they attracted a loyal following. Denison appeared solo
with great success in the TV series
Boyd Q.C. (1956) (1956-63).
He appeared on Broadway in Oscar Wilde's,
"An Ideal Husband", and, shortly before he died, he and his wife
appeared in a two-hander production "Curtain Up" in a London fringe
theatre.
Denison published two volumes of memoirs, "Overture and Beginners"
(1973) and "Double Act" (1985). He also contributed many entries to the
Dictionary of National Biography. He and
Dulcie Gray were appointed CBE in 1983.