Eric Portman

Eric Portman
Born	Eric Harrison Portman 13 July 1901(1901-07-13) Halifax, Yorkshire
Died	7 December 1969 (aged 68) St Veep, Cornwall

Eric Portman (born Halifax, West Yorkshire on 13 July 1901 and died St Veep, Cornwall on 7 December 1969) was a distinguished English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in several films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s. He was in the top ten of Britain's biggest box office draws in 1942.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Biography 2 Partial filmography 3 Honours 4 References 5 External links

Biography

He started work in 1922 as a salesman in the menswear department at Marshall and Snelgrove's department store in Leeds and acted in the amateur Halifax Light Opera Society . He made his professional stage debut in 1924, before he was engaged by Lilian Baylis for the Old Vic Company. In 1928 he starred as Romeo in the rebuilt Old Vic and he forged a reputation as a noted Shakespearian actor.

In the 1930s, he began appearing in films - in 1935, he appeared in four films, including Maria Marten or Murder in the Red Barn.

He died at the age of 68 at his home in St Veep, Cornwall. The phrase "he was a lifelong bachelor" was often used in articles about Portman in fan magazines and in some obituaries. It was a well-known euphemism intended to imply that he was homosexual, which he was.^{[citation needed]} Homosexuality was illegal in the UK until the passing of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act.

Partial filmography

• Maria Marten or Murder in the Red Barn (1935)
• Forty-Ninth Parallel (1941) stranded U-boat commander
• One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942) stranded RAF officer
• Squadron Leader X (1943) stranded Luftwaffe pilot
• We Dive at Dawn (1943) stranded RN submariner
• Millions Like Us (1943) factory manager
• A Canterbury Tale (1944) The Magistrate
• Wanted for Murder (1946) son of a hangman
• The Spider and the Fly (1949) Police Chief Fernand Maubert
• The Colditz Story (1955) Senior British officer
• The Deep Blue Sea (1955)
• The Good Companions (1957)
• The Naked Edge (1961)
• The Bedford Incident (1965) former U-boat commander-cum-advisor
• The Whisperers (1967)
• Deadfall (1968) thief
• Assignment to Kill (1968) notary

Honours

He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor (Dramatic) for his Broadway performance as the bogus Major, in Terence Rattigan's play Separate Tables in 1957.

References

External links

• Eric Portman at the Internet Movie Database
• Photographs and literature

Persondata
NAME	Portman, Eric
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Portman, Eric Harrison
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Actor
DATE OF BIRTH	1901-7-13
PLACE OF BIRTH	Halifax, Yorkshire
DATE OF DEATH	1969-12-7
PLACE OF DEATH	St Veep, Cornwall

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