Evans, Maurice

Evans, Maurice,

1901–89, Welsh-American actor. Evans came into prominence in 1928 and in 1934 was a leading man with the Old Vic. He first appeared on Broadway in 1936 in Romeo and Juliet with Katharine Cornell. Evans gained acclaim as a Shakespearean actor in such roles as King Richard II (1937), Hamlet (1938), and Macbeth (1941). He was also noted for his productions of Shaw's works. Evans's films include Androcles and the Lion (1952), Macbeth (1959), and Planet of the Apes (1967). He performed in many classic dramas on television.

Evans, Maurice

(1901–89) stage/movie/television actor; born in Dorchester, England. After his professional stage debut in London in 1926, he enjoyed his first success with Journey's End (1929); he went on to the Old Vic, then made his Broadway debut in Romeo and Juliet (1936) with Katharine Cornell. Thereafter he settled in the U.S.A., playing mainly in Shakespeare, Shaw, and such classic plays but also making several movies and appearing on television, most regularly in "Bewitched." During World War II he was in charge of the U.S. Army's Entertainment Section in the Central Pacific and performed a famous modern-dress version of Hamlet for the troops.