Michael Redgrave's memory has been partially eclipsed by the acting dynasty he left behind. Yet, compared to the other great acting knights of his generation, he's left more good performances in good films than any of them. Where they played characters, he played people.
He was born into a theatrical family, the result of a short-lived marriage between Roy Redgrave and Margaret Scudamore (best remembered as the JP's mother in A Canterbury Tale). His mother's second marriage gave Redgrave the financial security necessary in those days for a decent education. He attended Cambridge, and then tried journalism and teaching before giving acting a go.
His acting career took off quickly and by the mid-thirties he was at the Old Vic. He was also married, having met Rachael Kempson while working together in rep in Liverpool. His stage work lead to a Gainsborough contract, the first film of which was a huge success: The Lady Vanishes. With the best possible start, his film career was secure.
War service put a temporary halt to his career, but even before that his involvement in the short-lived People's Convention (a Communist Party-backed anti-war movement) threatened to harm his standing. He served in the navy for a couple of years before he was invalided out with an injured arm. The rest of the war was spent in the theatre, though as the war drew to a close he made a film come-back in The Way to the Stars.
He made a trip to Hollywood, but like so many British actors, his time there was not happy. His performance in Mourning Becomes Electra got him an Oscar nomination, but the film was so poor it didn't get a theatrical release in Britain until many years later. On his return from Hollywood, he gave what is probably his finest film performance in The Browning Version. At the same time he was in a season at Stratford.
He continued to divide his time between film and the stage, though in the late 50s tax difficulties made him concentrate on film to get himself out of trouble. Though his film work became less distinguished as time went on, his theatre work continued its high standard. He toured extensively in the 70s, until the effects of Parkinson's disease grew too great.
| 1938 | The Lady Vanishes |
| 1938 | Climbing High |
| 1939 | A Stolen Life |
| 1939 | A Window in London |
| 1939 | The Stars Look Down |
| 1941 | Kipps |
| 1941 | Atlantic Ferry |
| 1941 | Jeannie |
| 1942 | Thunder Rock |
| 1942 | The Big Blockade |
| 1945 | The Way to the Stars |
| 1945 | Dead of Night |
| 1946 | The Captive Heart |
| 1946 | The Years Between |
| 1947 | The Man Within |
| 1947 | Fame is the Spur |
| 1947 | Mourning Becomes Electra (US) |
| 1948 | The Secret Behind the Door (US) |
| 1950 | The Browning Version |
| 1951 | The Magic Box |
| 1952 | The Importance of Being Earnest |
| 1954 | The Sea Shall Not Have Them |
| 1954 | The Green Scarf |
| 1955 | Oh... Rosalinda!! |
| 1955 | Confidential Report |
| 1955 | The Night My Number Came Up |
| 1955 | The Dam Busters |
| 1956 | Nineteen Eighty-Four |
| 1957 | Time Without Pity |
| 1958 | The Quiet American |
| 1958 | Law and Disorder |
| 1958 | Behind the Mask |
| 1959 | Shake Hands With the Devil |
| 1960 | No My Darling Daughter |
| 1961 | The Innocents |
| 1963 | The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner |
| 1964 | Young Cassidy |
| 1965 | The Hill |
| 1965 | The Heroes of Telemark |
| 1967 | Assignment K |
| 1969 | Oh What a Lovely War |
| 1969 | Goodbye Mr Chips |
| 1969 | The Battle of Britain |
| 1969 | David Copperfield |
| 1969 | Connecting Rooms |
| 1970 | Goodbye Gemini |
| 1971 | Nicholas and Alexander |
| 1971 | The Go-Between |
