Anthony Sharp

Dennis Anthony John Sharp (16 June 1915 – 23 July 1984) was an English actor, writer and director.

Anthony Sharp was a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and made his stage debut in February 1938 with HV Neilson's Shakespearean touring company, playing the Sergeant in Macbeth at the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea. Repertory engagements in Wigan, Hastings, Peterborough and Liverpool were followed by war service, after which he resumed his stage career at the Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate in September 1946, playing Hansell in Tangent.

He first appeared in the West End in Family Portrait at the Strand Theatre in February 1948. Among his many subsequent appearances were Cry Liberty (Vaudeville Theatre 1950), Who Goes There! (Vaudeville Theatre 1951), For Better, For Worse (Comedy Theatre 1952), Small Hotel (St Martin's Theatre 1955), No Time for Sergeants (Her Majesty's Theatre 1956), The Edwardians (Saville Theatre 1959), She's Done It Again (Garrick Theatre 1969), The Avengers (Prince of Wales Theatre 1971) and Number One (Queen's Theatre 1984).

Other London credits included The Rivals (Sadler's Wells 1972), She Stoops to Conquer (Lyric Hammersmith 1982) and several appearances at the Open Air Theatre Regent's Park. There he played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing in 1958 and Malvolio in Twelfth Night the following year, rejoining the company in 1978 for such plays as The Man of Destiny.

Sharp was also a playwright. His stage version of the Thomas Love Peacock novel Nightmare Abbey was a big hit at the Westminster Theatre in 1952, opening there on 27 February. "Anthony Sharp's altogether delightful adaptation provided one of the most unusual as well as most amusing offerings of the season," commented Theatre World editor Frances Stephens. After a try-out in Sheffield, the historical drama The Conscience of the King was remounted at the Theatre Royal Windsor, starting on 14 March 1955; Sharp himself played 17th century parliamentarian John Hampden. A third play, Tale of a Summer's Day, was written in 1959.

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