Du Maurier, Gerald Hubert Edward Busson (Sir)

1873

1934

Gerald Du Maurier was born in Hampstead on 26 March 1873, the son of George Du Maurier, the novelist and prominent cartoonist of “Punch”, and his wife Emma (née Wightwick). Educated at Harrow, Gerald first appeared on the London stage in 1894, and then for almost 40 years continued as a favourite and distinguished actor, playing dozens of leading roles in many London theatres. Notable among them were Hamlet, Henry IV, Ernest Woolley in “The Admirable Crichton” (G0172), Capt Hook and Darling in “Peter Pan”, the title role in “Raffles”, Lee Randall in “Alias Jimmy Valentine”, Dearth in “Dear Brutus”, the Policeman in “A Kiss for Cinderella”, Ferdinand Gadd in “Trelawney of the Wells” and Drummond in “Bull-Dog Drummond”. Du Maurier practiced a style of acting that was described as delicately realistic, suggesting rather than stating the deeper emotions. With Frank Curzon he co-managed Wyndham’s Theatre from 1910 to 1925, and later the St James’s Theatre. He served as President of the Actors’ Orphanage Fund, of the Actors’ Benevolent Fund, and of Denville Hall, the home for aged actors and actresses. Du Maurier became a member of the Garrick Club in January 1903. He was knighted in 1922 and died in London on 11 April 1934. His daughter Daphne Du Maurier (b. 1907) was a dramatist and novelist, and wrote a biography of her father, “Gerald: a Portrait” (1934) and a history of the Du Mauriers (1937).