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William Sherwood (Actor) (12 September 1898- 30 September 1986)

William Henry Sherwood had two successful careers: one in the army and the other in the theatre. As a young man he fought in WWI, joined the Indian Army in the 1920s and took part later in WWII. In the theatre he was a producer, actor, playwright and scenic designer, making a name in repertory of the 1930s and 1940s, while later working for two decades in TV and film.

Contents 1. Early years 2. Military career 3. Theatrical career 4. Personal life 5. Later years 6. Theatrical chronology: productions, West End, film, TV

Early years
Born in Dublin, his father, William McCausland Sherwood, was a successful furniture manufacturer, with a business at 55 Middle Abbey Street in Dublin.i As a child, William Sherwood attended St Patrick’s Cathedral school where he sang in the choir of the Chapel Royalii. In 1912 he crossed the Atlantic to Canada to give martial and acrobatic displays at the Canadian National Exposition at Toronto, as one of the youngest of the City of Dublin Cadet Corps.iii

Military Career
iv

First World War On 1st January 1915 he enlisted in the South Irish Horse.v On 23rd November he embarked at Southampton, and two days later landed in Le Havrevi to begin months of fighting in the trenches. In 1917 he was attached to the 25th Training Reserve Battalion of 3 Royal Dublin Fusiliersvii. He was hospitalised in France from 16th to 30th July 1917viii, and, in 1918, was discharged as a Private; having been commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Wiltshire Regiment.

Indian Army On 30 April 1918 he received his first commission as a Second Lieutenantix, and, on 5th February 1919 he was appointed to the Indian Army in the, 2nd Batallion of the 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Rajput Light Infantryx. On 1st May 1918 he was appointed as probationer to Indian Army with seniority and on 1st February 1920 was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. In 1922 he was attached to the Training Battalion 13th Rajputs (‘Rajputhana Rifles’)xi.

Second World War William Sherwood kept a detailed diary from 1941-1945xii, documenting his experiences in the Royal Engineers in Algiers and later in Palermo in the Educational Division of the Allied Control Commission (AMGOT). When war broke out, his theatrical career was already well established as a repertory producer. He joined ENSA, touring nightly in the UK, before joining the war effort; being posted first to Northern Ireland and thence to North Africa and later Sicilyxiii. Sherwood was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Messina University for his servicesxiv. His wartime assignments were completed in November 1944 and January 1945 in Paris and Versailles. By war’s end, his rank was that of Colonel.

Theatrical Career
Known in the theatre as ‘Sherry’, William Sherwood distinguished himself as a successful repertory producer, as well as being an actor, playwright and scenic designer. After WWII he continued his career in the West End, film and TVxv.

Gate Theatre, Dublin Sherwood worked at the Gate as a contemporary of the celebrated Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir, appearing in Flutter of Wings (1930), Bride (1931), Tzar Paul (1931)xvi.

Repertory Sherwood worked as a producer, actor (and sometimes playwright and scenic designer)xvii at many repertory theatres including Buxtonxviii, Cardiff, Northamptonxix, Sheffieldxx, Wolverhamptonxxi and York.

When he succeeded Bladon Peake in Northampton in 1938, he had already been associated with eighteen previous repertory companiesxxii. His production of Daddy-Long-Legs took place on the theatre’s 11th birthday and was the Repertory Players 500th productionxxiii.

During Northampton days Sherwood collaborated closely with the theatre’s celebrated scenic designer, Tom Osborne Robinsonxxiv and years later one of Osborne’s Robinson’s paintings, ‘Blue Sails’ hung above the dining room fireplace in the Sherwood family home in West Londonxxv.

Theatre, Film and TV In the 1950s and 1960s Sherwood appeared in a number of West End shows (notably Carousel at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane which opened on 7th June 1950 and ran until 13th October 1951)xxvi. He also worked as an actor on several films and numerous TV showsxxvii.

Personal life
William Sherwood’s first fiancée was drowned at seaxxviii. His first wife was Nancy Owen Newberry from whom he divorced in 1937xxix. It was during repertory days that William Sherwood met Rosemary Johnson who was his leading lady and a gifted character actress. They married on 11 January 1946 and their daughter, Caroline, was born in March 1951. After Rosemary’s death, in 1972, Sherwood married Suzanne Morgan-Davies, the widow of a former friend and theatrical colleague, Morgan Davies, with whom he had played in Carousel.

Sherwood was an enthusiastic and capable cook, as well as being an amateur painter (mainly in oils)xxx and an accomplished horseman (playing Polo during Indian Army days).

After mystical experiences as a younger man, he converted to Roman Catholicism having undergone instruction with the renowned Jesuit, Fr Joseph Christiexxxi. Inspired by St Augustine of Hippo, he added the new baptismal name of Augustine to his given names. As an older man he wrote a Nativity Play which was produced at his local church of St Aidan’s in East Acton, Londonxxxii. In this he wrote parts for himself as the Narrator and for his daughter, Caroline, who played his granddaughter. William Sherwood was a member and supporter of the Catholic Stage Guild.

Later years
Setting up an English Language School in Italy In the late 1960’s William Sherwood worked as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language for a school in Notting Hill in West Londonxxxiii and established a branch of the school in the Tuscan town of Pietrasanta.

Retirement as Curator of Muncaster Castle In the early 1970’s Sherwood responded to an advertisement in The Daily Telegraph for a new Curator of Muncaster Castle near Ravenglass in Cumbriaxxxiv. He got the job; employing his management and theatre skills to good effect. Rosemary Johnson (Sherwood) moved with him to Cumbria. She died in Whitehaven Hospital on 10 November 1972, and is buried in the churchyard of Muncaster Castle.

Denville Hall In later years, although still married, being increasingly infirm and his wife being herself elderly, William Sherwood managed to secure a place at Denville Hallxxxv, the luxurious residential home in Middlesex for retired members of the theatrical profession. He died in Mount Vernon Hospital, Norwood, on 30 September 1986.

Theatrical chronology
Sheffield 1936 – Squaring the Circle, Pygmalion, Duet in Floodlight, The Widow’s Cruise, Promise, Richard of Bordeaux; Squaring the Circle (1936), Ah! Wilderness (1937), Official Secret (1939), Goodness, How Sad (1940)xxxvi

Northampton 1938xxxvii January: Daddy-Long-Legs, Candida, Yellow Sands, White Cargo February: Mary Rose, The Silent House, The Celebrity, Nell Gwynn March: Squaring the Circle, Jew Süss, Queer Cargo, Caesar’s Wife April: Yes and No, A Man’s House, The Scarlet Pimpernel May: Theatre Royal, Peg O’ My Heart, People at Sea, Romeo and Juliet, The Trial of Mary Dugan June: Charley’s Aunt, The Cat’s Cradle, Blondie White, Square Pegs August: Lord Richard in the Pantry, Ghost for Sale, 	Black Swans, The Pursuit of Happiness, The Little Damozel September: Black Limelight, 	A Murder Has Been Arranged, The Circle of Chalk, I Killed the Count October: The Phantom Light, People of Our Class, The Insect Play, I Have Been Here Before, Comedienne November: Death on the Table, The Saint’s Husband, Interference, Time and the Conways December: To What Red Hell, The Love Game, ‘Twas Time She Wed [William Sherwood’s adaptation of an Italian play], Madame Beaucaire

Northampton 1939 January: The Private Secretary, Dangerous Corner, The Brontës, Whistling in the Dark February: The Farmer’s Wife, Official Secret, His House in Order, 	Glorious Morning March: George and Margaret, Give Me Yesterday, Poison Pen, Riddle of Life April: Outward Bound, Henry of Navarre, The Roundabout, The Queen Who Kept Her Head May: London Wall, Eight Bells, Tobias and the Angel, Pygmalion, A Cuckoo in the Nest June: Bees on the Boat Deck, Windfall, Victoria Regina July: Season at Buxton September: George and Margaret, The Wind and the Rain, Geneva October: Romeo and Juliet, The Magic Cupboard, Tony Draws a Horse, By Candlelight, The Man in Half-Moon Street November: Without the Prince, Escape Me Never, Printer’s Devil, The Apple December: What Happened to Jones, Ambrose Applejohn’s Adventure

Northampton 1940 January: Robert’s Wife, The Last of Mrs. Chaney, Gas Light, Spring Morning, After the Dance February: The Doctor’s Dilemma, Goodness, How Sad, When We Are Married, The Lilies of the Field March: Laburnum Grove, They Walked Alone, Hay Fever, The Doubtful Misfortune of Li Sing, St Joan April: Lover’s Leap, Quiet Wedding July: The Dark Lady of the Sonnets

Wolverhampton (Grand Theatre) 1941 May: And So to Bed, Accent on Youthxxxviii

West End 1951 	Carousel (Drury Lane)xxxix 1955 	The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (New Theatre)xl 1956 	The Quare Fellow (Comedy)

Filmsxli 1954 Man with a Million 1957 The Man without a Body 1958 Horror of Dracula (scenes deleted) 1958 Intent to Kill 1958 Dublin Nightmare 1961 The Girl on the Boat 1962 Dilemma 1966 Operation Third Form

TVxlii 1952 The Three Hostages, 2 episodes 1952 Jan at the Blue Fox, 1 episode 1957 The Royalty, 1 episode 1957-1963 Dixon of Dock Green, 3 episodes (1957, 1960, 1963) 1958 Starr and Company (BBC), 2 episodes. Played the lead in this soap about a family who made lifebuoys. [‘After the failure of the short-lived and largely forgotten attempt at a replacement for The Groves called Starr and Company, BBC television returned to the fray in 1962 with a more successful and memorable drama, Compact.’ BBC History of Soaps] 1959 The Men from Room 13, 2 episodes 1959 Probation Officer, 1 episode 1959 The Food of Love (TV movie) 1959 Dark Possession (TV movie) 1959 Saturday Playhouse, 1 episode 1959 The Widow of Bath, 5 episodes 1959 BBC Sunday Night Theatre, 1 episode 1959-1960 Emergency Ward 10, 2 episodes 1960 Maigret, 1 episode 1960 Barnaby Rudge, 1 episode 1960 Deadline Midnight, 1 episode 1961 Citizen James, 1 episode 1961 Hancock, 1 episode 1961 The Pursuers, 1 episode 1962 Somerset Maugham Hour, 1 episode 1961/62 Dilemma 1962 The Dark Island, 4 episodes 1963 Bootsie and Snudge, 1 episode 1963 Suspense, 1 episode 1963 Zero One, 1 episode 1963 Carry on Nylon 1963-1967 – ITV Play of the Week, 2 episodes 1964 The Sullavan Brothers, 2 episodes 1964 Public Mischief 1964 Ward of Court 1964 Curtain of Fear, 1 episode 1964 Mary Barton, 1 episode 1964 Rupert of Hentzau, 2 episodes 1964-1988 Crossroads (number of episodes unknown) 1965 An Enemy of the State 1965 The Trouble with Harry 1965 Dr Finlay’s Casebook, 1 Episode 1965 An Evening Out 1965 The Scarlet and the Black 1965 Entry into Society 1965 The Scales of Justice, 1 episode 1965 The Hidden Face 1965 Thursday Theatre, 1 episode 1967 The Investigation 1966 Operation Third Form 1966 Quick Before They Catch Us 1966 The Weasel Goes Pop Part 2 1969 Take Three Girls, 1 episode 1969 Start Working