Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (October 1, 1914 - March 20, 1976) was an English actor best known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working class parts.
Goodliffe was born in Bebington, Cheshire (now Merseyside), the son of a vicar, and educated at St Edmund's School, Canterbury, and Keble College, Oxford. He started his career in repertory theatre in Liverpool before moving on to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon. He joined the British Army at the beginning of World War II, and received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in February 1940. He was wounded in the leg and captured at the Battle of Dunkirk. Goodliffe was incorrectly listed as killed in action, and even had his obituary published in a newspaper. He was to spend the rest of the war a prisoner in Germany.
Whilst in captivity he produced and acted in (and in some cases wrote) many plays and sketches to entertain fellow prisoners. These included two productions of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, one in Tittmoning and the other in Eichstätt, in which he played the title role. He also produced the first staging of Noel Coward's Post Mortem at Eichstätt. A full photographic record of these productions exists.
After the war he resumed his professional acting career. As well as appearing in the theatre he worked in film and television. He appeared in The Wooden Horse in 1950 and in other POW films. His best known film was A Night to Remember (1958) in which he played Thomas Andrews, builder of the RMS Titanic. His best known television series was Sam (1973-75) in which he played an unemployed Yorkshire miner. He also appeared with John Thaw and James Bolam in the 1967 television series Inheritance.
Suffering from depression, Goodliffe had a breakdown in 1976 during the period that he was rehearsing for a revival of Equus. He committed suicide a few days later by leaping from a hospital fire escape, whilst a patient at the Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon, London.
Selected filmography
To the Devil a Daughter (1976)
Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972)
The Fifth Day of Peace (1970)
The Jokers (1967)
The Night of the Generals (1967)
Von Ryan's Express (1965)
The 7th Dawn (1964)
The Gorgon (1964)
633 Squadron (1964)
Peeping Tom (1960)
Conspiracy of Hearts (1960)
Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
The 39 Steps (1959)
A Night to Remember (1958)
Carve Her Name With Pride (1958)
The One That Got Away (1957)
The Battle of the River Plate (1956)
The Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955)
The End of the Affair (1955)
Cry, the Beloved Country (1951)
The Wooden Horse (1950)
The Small Back Room (1949)
References
^ a b Michael Goodliffe: Wartime Shakespearean Actor and Producer
External links
Michael Goodliffe at the Internet Movie Database
Comprehensive site on Goodliffe's life and career including full photographic record of wartime productions
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Goodliffe"
Categories: 1914 births | 1976 deaths | English film actors | English television actors | English stage actors | People from Bebington | Alumni of Keble College, Oxford | Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers | British Army personnel of World War II | World War II prisoners of war held by Germany | Actors who committed suicide | Suicides by jumping from a height | Royal Shakespeare Company members
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