Bruce Belfrage
Photo by Lafayette, 1930
Born(1900-10-30)30 October 1900
Marylebone, London
DiedAugust 1974
Sydney, Australia
NationalityBritish
EducationGresham's School
Alma materSt John's College, Oxford
Occupation(s)Actor, broadcaster
Known forBBC newsreader during World War II
RelativesSydney Henning Belfrage, father
Frances Grace Powley, mother
Joan Henley, first wife
Joyce Belfrage, second wife
Julian Belfrage, son
Cedric Belfrage, brother
Sally Belfrage, niece
Nicolas Belfrage, nephew
Bryan Powley, uncle

Bruce Belfrage (30 October 1900 – August 1974) was an English actor and BBC radio newsreader.[1] He was casting director at the BBC between 1936 and 1939, and founded the BBC Repertory Company in 1939.[2]

Early life

Bruce Belfrage was born in Marylebone, London, the son of Sydney Henning Belfrage and Frances Grace (née Powley).[1] His younger brother was the author and journalist Cedric Belfrage.[3] He was educated at Gresham's School before taking an honours degree in modern languages at St John's College, Oxford.[4]

Career

Belfrage is reported as performing on stage in London with The Strolling Players in February 1923.[5] He played in a notable triumph—A Sleeping Clergyman—with Robert Donat in 1933 and in BBC radio plays in 1934.[6] He appeared in his first film in 1932.[2] He was a broadcaster in the early days of 2LO at Savoy Hill, and in 1935 joined the BBC as a casting director and later became a news reader and announcer.[1][7]

In a famous incident on 15 October 1940, the BBC's Broadcasting House took a direct hit from a delayed-action German bomb, which eventually exploded during the nine o'clock radio news read by Belfrage.[1][8] Seven people were killed, and Belfrage, covered with plaster and soot, carried on reading the news as if nothing had happened.[1][8] Listeners at home heard just a dull thud.[8] He enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve in 1942, and was demobilized with the rank of lieutenant-commander.[1]

Belfrage was an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the South Buckinghamshire division at the 1950 general election.[9] He polled 16.5%, and never contested another election.[1]

Migration to Australia

In September 1958, for health reasons, Belfrage migrated to Australia with his second wife Joyce, a TV producer.[10] They lived in Melbourne for seven months and transferred to Sydney in 1959.[11] Joyce Belfrage quit the ABC in 1962 to work in the advertising industry and initiate a programme of media studies at Macquarie University.[12]

Death

Bruce Belfrage died in Sydney at the age of 73.[1] He was married to the actress Joan Henley, with whom he had a son, Julian Rochfort Belfrage.[13] After his divorce from Henley, Belfrage married Joyce Belfrage.[14]

Filmography

Publication

One Man In His Time, by Bruce Belfrage. Published by Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1951[33]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Obituary in The Times, Mr Bruce Belfrage, 17 August 1974, p.14
  2. 1 2 McFarlane, Brian; Slide, Anthony (2013). "Belfrage, Bruce". The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth Edition. Manchester University Press. p. 62. ISBN 9780719091391. Retrieved 6 July 2019 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ Maxford, Howard (2 November 2018). Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. McFarland. p. 44. ISBN 9781476629148 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Britain), Liberal Party (Great (24 June 2019). "Who's who of 475 Liberal Candidates Fighting the 1950 General Election". Liberal Party; Scottish Liberal Party. p. 10. Retrieved 24 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ Chapin, Harold (17 February 1923). "The Marriage of Columbine: Performance by The Strolling Players". The Times. p. 24.
  6. ↑ "BBC Programmes—Home Stations, National". The Times. 15 February 1934. p. 8.
  7. ↑ "House of Commons: With Full Results of the Polling, Biographies of Members and Unsuccessful Candidates, Photographs of All Members, and a Complete Analysis, Statistical Tables, and a Map of the General Election". Times Office. 30 June 2019. p. 165. Retrieved 30 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  8. 1 2 3 Harvey, A. D. (1 January 1992). Collision of Empires: Britain in Three World Wars, 1793-1945. A&C Black. p. 674. ISBN 9781852850784. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ Craig, Fred W. S (29 June 1971). British parliamentary election results, 1950-1970. Political Reference Publications. ISBN 9780900178023. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Open WorldCat.
  10. ↑ British Theatre Review. Vance-Offord Publications Limited. 29 June 1975. ISBN 9780903931076. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  11. ↑ Sitsky, Bob. Extract of interview by Graham Shirley, Joyce Belfrage Talks about the ABC, at website of ABC TV, Gore Hill.
  12. ↑ "[Biographical cuttings on Joyce Belfrage, University Lecturer, Macquarie University, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals]". 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Trove.
  13. ↑ "OBITUARIES: JULIAN BELFRAGE". The Independent. 6 January 1995. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  14. ↑ Maxford, Howard (2 November 2018). Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. McFarland. ISBN 9781476629148. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  15. ↑ Powell, Michael (29 June 2019). Michael Powell: Interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781578064984. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  16. ↑ Slide, Anthony (18 January 2013). Fifty Classic British Films, 1932-1982: A Pictorial Record. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486148519. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  17. ↑ Slide, Anthony (18 January 2013). Fifty Classic British Films, 1932-1982: A Pictorial Record. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486148519. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  18. ↑ McFarlane, Brian; Slide, Anthony (29 June 2019). The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth Edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780719091391. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  19. ↑ Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  20. ↑ Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  21. ↑ "Bruce Belfrage". BFI. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019.
  22. ↑ "Radio Times". G. Newnes. 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  23. ↑ Mayer, Geoff (29 June 2019). Guide to British Cinema. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313303074. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  24. ↑ "The Film Daily Year Book of Motion Pictures". Film Daily. 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  25. ↑ Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  26. ↑ Palmer, Scott (29 June 1993). The films of Agatha Christie. Batsford. ISBN 9780713472059. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Internet Archive. bruce belfrage ten little niggers.
  27. ↑ Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  28. ↑ Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  29. ↑ Warren, Bill (12 January 2017). Keep Watching the Skies!: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties, The 21st Century Edition. McFarland. ISBN 9781476625058. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  30. ↑ Hutchings, Peter (29 June 2019). Terence Fisher. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719056376. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  31. ↑ Gifford, Denis (1 January 1998). Entertainers in British Films: A Century of Showbiz in the Cinema. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313307201. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  32. ↑ Maxford, Howard (2 November 2018). Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. McFarland. ISBN 9781476629148. Retrieved 29 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  33. ↑ Belfrage, Bruce (3 July 1951). One man in his time. Hodder and Stoughton. OCLC 7897336.
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