Stephen Haggard
| Stephen Haggard | |
|---|---|
Stephen Haggard
|
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| Born |
21 March 1911 Guatemala City, Guatemala |
| Died | 25 February 1943 (aged 31) Egypt |
| Cause of death | Suicide |
| Resting place | Heliopolis War Cemetery |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | actor, writer, poet, intelligence officer |
| Years active | 1930s–1940s |
Stephen Hubert Avenel Haggard (21 March 1911 – 25 February 1943) was a British actor, writer and poet.
Haggard was born on 21 March 1911 in Guatemala City, Guatemala and was the son of Sir Godfrey Digby Napier Haggard, a British diplomat, and his wife Georgianna Ruel Haggard. He was the grandnephew of author H. Rider Haggard, and the brother of photographer and author Virginia Haggard, the companion of the painter Marc Chagall. He was also the father of the film director Piers Haggard. Haggard was educated at Haileybury College, where he became close to the artist-schoolmaster Wilfrid Blunt.
After an initial foray into journalism, and determined to obtain some overseas experience, Haggard moved to Munich, where he studied for stage at the Munich State Theatres under Frau Magda Lena. He made his stage debut at the Schauspielhaus in October 1930 in the play Das Kluge Kind directed by Max Reinhardt. He later appeared as Hamlet at the same theatre.
Returning to the United Kingdom in 1931, Haggard's career path was initially discouraging: he received only small parts in various London plays and worked in repertory in Worthing. He undertook further study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. and subsequently received good notices when he played Silvius in Shakespeare's As You Like It in London in 1933. He was noticed by the playwright Clemence Dane and Haggard made his first appearance in New York in 1934 as the poet Thomas Chatterton in her play Come of Age. Returning to Britain, he had successful roles in a number of plays, including Flowers of the Forest, a production of Mazo de la Roche's Whiteoaks, and he appeared as Konstantin in Chekhov's The Seagull, and was hailed as one of the most promising and handsome classical actors of the era.
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