Michael Charles Gauntlet Wilding (23 July 1912 – 8 July 1979) was an English stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for a series of films he made with Anna Neagle; he also made two films with Alfred Hitchcock, Under Capricorn (1949) and Stage Fright (1950); and he guest starred on Hitchcock's TV show in 1963. He was married four times, including to Elizabeth Taylor, with whom he had two sons.
Biography
Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, and educated at Christ's Hospital, Wilding left home at age 17 and trained as a commercial artist. He went to Europe when he was 20 and supported himself in Europe by doing sketches. He wanted to get into designing sets for films and approached a London film studio in 1933 looking for work. They invited him to come to work as an extra.
Acting career
Wilding appeared as an extra in British films such as Bitter Sweet (1933), Heads We Go (1933), and Channel Crossing (1933). He caught the acting bug and decided to make it a career. He reportedly appeared in an Austrian film called Pastorale. The plays included Personal Appearance, Victoria Regina, Tonight at Eight Thirty and George and Margaret. While in Australia he filmed a prologue for Personal Appearance.
Back in England he appeared in the first Gate Revue, then followed this with another revue, Let's Face It and a pantomime, Who's Taking Liberty. Director Alfred Hitchcock then cast him in two consecutive films that he produced through his own film production company Transatlantic Pictures (distributed through Warner Brothers Pictures). The first, Under Capricorn (released in 1949), in which he played opposite Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotten, was shot mostly in London but had final retakes and overdubs filmed in Hollywood. It was one of Hitchcock's few flops. His second film for Hitchcock was the more popular Stage Fright (released in 1950), also filmed in London, with Marlene Dietrich and Jane Wyman. Thirteen years later, in 1963, Wilding starred in an Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode titled "Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans".
Wilcox used him in a film without Neagle, Into the Blue (1950) and the public response was considerably less enthusiastic than for the films they made together. He put Anouk Aimée under personal contract and announced plans to make a movie together but none resulted.
Hollywood
MGM made an offer for Wilding to appear opposite Greer Garson in The Law and the Lady (1951); the film was not a success. He returned to Britain for The Lady with a Lamp (1951), a biopic of Florence Nightingale with Neagle and Wilcox. It was popular in Britain, though less so than their earlier collaborations.
So too was Derby Day (1952), the last Neagle–Wilding collaboration. Wilcox tried Wilding with a new star, Margaret Lockwood, in Trent's Last Case (1952), a minor hit. In 1952 British exhibitors voted him the fourth most popular star at the local box office.
In May 1952, Wilding signed a long-term contract with MGM. He turned down a role in MGM's Latin Lovers, and the studio put him under suspension.
In Hollywood, Wilding supported Joan Crawford in MGM's Torch Song (1953). 20th Century Fox borrowed him to play a pharaoh in its big-budget spectacular, The Egyptian (1954), which was a box-office disappointment.
At MGM, he was Prince Charming to Leslie Caron's Cinderella in The Glass Slipper (1955), and Major John André in The Scarlet Coat (1956).
Supporting actor
Wilding journeyed with Taylor to Africa to appear in Zarak (1956) for Warwick Films, after which his marriage to Taylor ended. He began appearing regularly on U.S. television, including the title role in the 1957 episode "The Trial of Colonel Blood" of NBC's anthology series The Joseph Cotten Show.
He had some roles in Danger Within (1959), a POW movie; The World of Suzie Wong (1960); The Naked Edge (1961); The Best of Enemies (1961); and A Girl Named Tamiko (1962).
Final films
His last roles included The Sweet Ride (1968) and Waterloo (1970).
His last appearance in a feature was in a cameo in Lady Caroline Lamb (1972), which co-starred his last wife, Margaret Leighton. His last role was in the TV movie Frankenstein: The True Story (1973).
Box-office ranking
At the peak of his career, British exhibitors voted him among the most popular stars in the country:
- 1947—seventh most popular British star
- 1948—fifth most popular star
- 1949—second most popular star
- 1950—sixth most popular British star
- 1951—tenth most popular star
- 1952 fourth most popular British star Elizabeth Taylor (married February 1952, separated July 1956, divorced January 1957); Susan Nell (married February 1958, divorced July 1962); and Margaret Leighton (married from July 1964 until her death in January 1976).
He and Taylor, who was 20 years his junior, had two sons, Michael Howard (born 6 January 1953) and Christopher Edward (born 27 February 1955). In 1957, he had a short-lived romance with actress Marie McDonald, who was nicknamed The Body.
In the 1960s, he was forced to cut back on his film appearances because of illness related to his lifelong epilepsy.
Death
Wilding died on 8 July 1979 in Chichester, West Sussex, as a result of head injuries from a fall down a flight of stairs during an epileptic seizure. His remains were cremated and the ashes were scattered.
Filmography
{|class="wikitable" style="width:80%"
|-
! Year || Title || Role || Notes
|-
| rowspan="3"|1933 || Bitter Sweet || Extra || Uncredited
|-
| Heads We Go || Minor Role || Uncredited
|-
| Channel Crossing || Passenger Boarding Ferry || Uncredited
|-
| 1935 || Late Extra || Newspaper Telephone Operator || Uncredited
|-
| rowspan="2"|1936 || When Knights Were Bold || Soldier || Uncredited
|-
| Wedding Group || Dr. Hutherford ||
|-
| 1939 || There Ain't No Justice || Len Charteris ||
|-
| rowspan="4"|1940 || Convoy || Dot ||
|-
| Tilly of Bloomsbury || Percy Welwyn ||
|-
| Sailors Three || Johnny Wilding ||
|-
| Sailors Don't Care || Dick ||
|-
| rowspan="5"|1941 || Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light || Officer #2 ||
|-
| Spring Meeting || Tony Fox-Collier ||
|-
| The Farmer's Wife || Richard Coaker ||
|-
| Kipps || Ronnie Walshingham ||
|-
| Cottage to Let || Alan Trently ||
|-
| rowspan="4"|1942 || Ships with Wings || Lieutenant David Grant ||
|-
| The Big Blockade || Captain || Uncredited
|-
| In Which We Serve || Flags ||
|-
| Secret Mission || Private Nobby Clark ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1943 || Undercover || Constantine ||
|-
| Dear Octopus || Nicholas Randolph ||
|-
| 1944 || English Without Tears || Tom Gilbey ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1946 || Piccadilly Incident || Capt. (later Major) Alan Pearson ||
|-
| Carnival || Maurice Avery ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1947 || The Courtneys of Curzon Street || Sir Edward Courtney ||
|-
| An Ideal Husband || Viscount Arthur Goring ||
|-
| 1948 || Spring in Park Lane || Richard ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1949 || Maytime in Mayfair || Michael Gore-Brown ||
|-
| Under Capricorn || Honorable Charles Adare ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1950 || Stage Fright || Detective Inspector Wilfred 'Ordinary' Smith ||
|-
| Into the Blue || Nicholas Foster ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1951 || The Law and the Lady || Nigel Duxbury / Lord Henry Minden aka Hoskins ||
|-
| The Lady with a Lamp || Sidney Herbert / Lord Herbert of Lea ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1952 || Derby Day || David Scott ||
|-
| Trent's Last Case|| Philip Trent ||
|-
| 1953 || Torch Song|| Tye Graham ||
|-
| 1954 || The Egyptian || Akhnaton ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1955 || The Glass Slipper || Prince Charming ||
|-
| The Scarlet Coat || Major John Andre ||
|-
| 1956 || Zarak || Major Michael Ingram ||
|-
| 1959 || Danger Within || Major Charles Marquand ||
|-
| 1960 || The World of Suzie Wong || Ben Marlowe ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1961 || The Naked Edge || Morris Brooke ||
|-
| The Best of Enemies || Burke ||
|-
| 1962 || A Girl Named Tamiko || Nigel Costairs ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|1968 || Code Name, Red Roses || English General ||
|-
| The Sweet Ride || Mr. Cartwright ||
|-
| 1970 || Waterloo || Sir William Ponsonby ||
|-
| 1972 || Lady Caroline Lamb || Lord Holland ||
|}
Television
{|class="wikitable" style="width:80%"
|-
! Year || Title || Role || Other notes
|-
| 1956 || Screen Directors Playhouse || David Scott || Episode: The Carroll Formula
|-
| 1955-1956 || The 20th Century Fox Hour || Robert Marryot <br/> Captain Robert Wilton || Episode: Cavalcade <br/> Episode: Stranger in the Night
|-
| 1957 || The Joseph Cotten Show || Colonel Blood || Episode: The Trial of Colonel Blood
|-
| rowspan="2"|1958 || Climax! || Lieutenant MacKenzie Barton || Episode: The Volcano Seat (1) <br/> Episode: The Volcano Seat (2)
|-
| Target || || Episode: The Clean Kill
|-
| 1959 || Lux Playhouse || Stephen MacIllroy || Episode: The Case of the Two Sisters
|-
| 1958-1959 || Playhouse 90 || Sir John Alexander <br/> Chris Hughes || Episode: Verdict of Three <br/> Episode: Dark as the Night
|-
| 1962 || Saints and Sinners || Sir Robert || Episode: A Night of Horns and Bells
|-
| rowspan="2"|1963 || The Alfred Hitchcock Hour || David Saunders || Episode: Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans
|-
| Burke's Law || Dr. Alex Steiner || Episode: Who Killed Sweet Betsy?
|-
| rowspan="2"|1966 || The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. || Franz Joseph || Episode: The Lethal Eagle Affair
|-
| Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre || Major Tucker || Episode: The Fatal Mistake
|-
| 1968 || Mannix || Phillip Montford/Sir Arnold Salt || Episode: A View of Nowhere
|-
| 1973 || Frankenstein: The True Story || Sir Richard Fanshawe || TV film, (final film role)
|}
See also
- List of British actors
- List of people educated at Christ's Hospital
- List of people from Chichester
- List of people with epilepsy
References
External links
- Photographs and literature
|-
!colspan="3" style="background:#C1D8FF;"| Husband of Elizabeth Taylor