James Bernard (elocutionist)
| James Bernard | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| Born |
James Rudolph Bernhard von Schmoocke 11 April 1874 Chorlton upon Medlock, Manchester |
| Died | 5 March 1946 Withington, Manchester |
| Occupation | Reciter, elocutionist, author |
James Bernard (11 April 1874 - 5 March 1946) was a reciter, elocutionist, author, Primitive Methodist and Unitarian lay preacher. Bernard was well known for his frequent radio broadcasts of 'character sketches' in the 1920s and early '30s (from early BBC studios; Manchester 2ZY and Savoy Hill in London) and as a foremost teacher of 'dramatic interpretation' in the North West of England. He performed works by Shakespeare and Dickens and popular authors of the day. On radio, he was remembered for his rendition of excerpts from Hardy's epic-drama of the war with Napoleon, The Dynasts (1924, 1926, 1930). He was Professor of Elocution at the Leeds College of Music from about 1911 to 1929 and, most influentially, at the Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM) from 1929. From here and his studio in Lord Street (renamed White Oak Rd.), Fallowfield he taught a generation of northern actors. Following his death, he was succeeded at the RMCM (subsequently, the Royal Northern College of Music) by his student Sheila Barlow, MBE who through many successful years of collaboration with the Principal, Frederick Cox, developed the reputation of its Opera Department. For many years (1920 or earlier to about 1935), he also taught elocution at Hartley College, Manchester a major institution for training men for the Methodist ministry.
Bernard is best remembered as tutor and mentor to stage and screen actor, Robert Donat. Donat began taking elocution lessons in 1918 (aged 12 years) after being enthralled by a recital performance of Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ given by Bernard in Rusholme, a suburb of south Manchester. Interviewed in 1934, Donat said modestly: ‘Whatever success I may have gained has been entirely due to James Bernard, my elocution teacher in Manchester, who taught me all I know. He pushed me into my first stage job, and has always given me every possible help a man could give.’
James Bernard - full name, James Rudolph Bernhard von Schmoocke - was born in Chorlton upon Medlock, Manchester and died at his home in Withington (South Manchester). Little is known of his pre-recital years. As a young boy, he spent time with his uncle, James Lowe, in London and he worked for the in his youth. Bernard married Alexandra Oxley (1872–1944), the daughter of a local 'smallware manufacturer', 27 April 1915 at the Platt Unitarian Chapel, Fallowfield.
...
Wikipedia