Jack Hawkins

Jack Hawkins CBE
Hawkins in 1973, by Allan Warren
Born	John Edward Hawkins (1910-09-14)14 September 1910 Wood Green, Middlesex, England
Died	18 July 1973(1973-07-18) (aged 62) Chelsea, London, England
Cause of death	Cancer
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1930-1973
Spouse(s)	Jessica Tandy (m. 1932; div. 1940) Doreen Lawrence (m. 1947; his death 1973)
Children	4
Military career
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Rank	Colonel
Unit	Royal Welch Fusiliers, ENSA
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John Edward "Jack" Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was best known for his portrayal of military men in movies like Angels One Five (1951), The Cruel Sea (1953), Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Ben Hur (1959) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

According to one obituary he "exemplified for many cinemagoers the stiff upper lip tradition prevalent in post war British films. His craggy looks and authoritative bearing were used to good effect whatever branch of the services he represented."

He was born at 45 Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, now in Haringey, London, the son of a builder. He was educated at Wood Green’s Trinity County Grammar School, where, aged eight, he joined the school choir.

By the age of ten Hawkins had joined the local operatic society, and made his stage debut in Patience by Gilbert and Sullivan. His parents enrolled him in the Italia Conti Academy and whilst he was studying there he made his London stage debut, when aged eleven, playing the Elf King in Where the Rainbow Ends at the Holborn Empire on Boxing Day, December 1923, a production that also included the young Noël Coward. The following year aged 14 he played the page in a production of Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw. Five years later he was in a production of Beau Geste alongside Laurence Olivier.

He appeared on Broadway in Journey's End by the age of 18.