Frank Marcus
Encyclopedia
Frank Marcus was a British playwright, best known for The Killing of Sister George
.
, near Faversham
in Kent, (a school founded by Anna Essinger
, a German Jewish-Quaker who had started Landschulheim Herrlingen, a private school in southern Germany, which was relocated to England in 1933). He then spent a year at Saint Martins School of Art
.
He started as an actor and playwright with the International Theatre Group and the Unity Theatre
.
In 1951 he married actress Jacqueline Sylvester, who collaborated with him on some of his plays. His plays were noted for their strong parts for female actors, such as in his one big success, The Killing of Sister George
, starring Beryl Reid
, which was later made into a film. As well as his own plays he made several translations and adaptations from his native German.
He worked as Theatre Critic for The Sunday Telegraph between 1968 and 1978. After a long struggle with Parkinson's disease
he died in London, 5 August 1996.
The Killing of Sister George
The Killing of Sister George is a 1964 play by Frank Marcus that was adapted as a 1968 film directed by Robert Aldrich.- Stage version :Sister George is a beloved character in the popular radio series Applehurst, a nurse who ministers to the medical needs and personal problems of the local villagers...
.
Life
Frank Ulrich Marcus was born 30 June 1928 into a Jewish family in Breslau (then in Germany). They came to England as refugees in 1939. Until 1943 he attended Bunce Court School at OtterdenOtterden
Otterden is a village on the Kent Downs in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England.-History:Otterden is mentioned in the Domesday Book under Kent in the lands belonging to Adam FitzHubert...
, near Faversham
Faversham
Faversham is a market town and civil parish in the Swale borough of Kent, England. The parish of Faversham grew up around an ancient sea port on Faversham Creek and was the birthplace of the explosives industry in England.-History:...
in Kent, (a school founded by Anna Essinger
Anna Essinger
Anna Essinger was a German-Jewish educator. At the age of 20, she went to finish her education in the United States, where she encountered Quakers and was greatly influenced by their attitudes, adopting them for her own...
, a German Jewish-Quaker who had started Landschulheim Herrlingen, a private school in southern Germany, which was relocated to England in 1933). He then spent a year at Saint Martins School of Art
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. The school has an outstanding international reputation, and is considered one of the world's leading art and design institutions...
.
He started as an actor and playwright with the International Theatre Group and the Unity Theatre
Unity Theatre, London
The Unity Theatre was a theatre club formed in 1936, and initially based in St Judes Hall, Britannia Street, Kings Cross, in 1937 they moved to a former chapel in Goldington Street, near St Pancras, in the London Borough of Camden. Although the theatre was destroyed by fire in 1975 productions...
.
In 1951 he married actress Jacqueline Sylvester, who collaborated with him on some of his plays. His plays were noted for their strong parts for female actors, such as in his one big success, The Killing of Sister George
The Killing of Sister George
The Killing of Sister George is a 1964 play by Frank Marcus that was adapted as a 1968 film directed by Robert Aldrich.- Stage version :Sister George is a beloved character in the popular radio series Applehurst, a nurse who ministers to the medical needs and personal problems of the local villagers...
, starring Beryl Reid
Beryl Reid
Beryl Elizabeth Reid, OBE was a British actress of stage and screen.-Early life:Born in Hereford, England in 1919, Reid was the daughter of Scottish parents and grew up in Manchester where she attended Withington and Levenshulme High Schools.-Career:Reid applied for and was accepted in a revue in...
, which was later made into a film. As well as his own plays he made several translations and adaptations from his native German.
He worked as Theatre Critic for The Sunday Telegraph between 1968 and 1978. After a long struggle with Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
he died in London, 5 August 1996.
Original plays
- 1950, Minuet For Stuffed Birds
- 1964, The Formation Dancers
- 1965, Cleo (one-act)
- 1964, The Killing of Sister GeorgeThe Killing of Sister GeorgeThe Killing of Sister George is a 1964 play by Frank Marcus that was adapted as a 1968 film directed by Robert Aldrich.- Stage version :Sister George is a beloved character in the popular radio series Applehurst, a nurse who ministers to the medical needs and personal problems of the local villagers...
- 1967, Studies Of The Nude
- 1968, Mrs Mouse, Are You Within?
- 1969, The Window
- 1972, Blank Pages
- 1973, Keyholes
- 1972, Christmas Carol (one-act)
- 1972, Notes On A Love Affair
- 1975, Beauty And The Beast (for children)
- 1976, Portrait Of The Artist
- 1977, Blind Date (one-act)
- 1978, Ballad Of Wilfred II (one-act)
- 1978, The Merman Of Oxford
Adaptations and translations
- 1952, Merry-Go-Round (La RondeLa Ronde (play)La Ronde is a 1900 play by Arthur Schnitzler. It scrutinizes the sexual morals and class ideology of its day through a series of encounters between pairs of characters . By choosing characters across all levels of society, the play offers social commentary on how sexual contact transgresses...
) by Arthur SchnitzlerArthur SchnitzlerDr. Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist.- Biography :Arthur Schnitzler, son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter , was born in Praterstraße 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian... - 1969, The GuardsmanThe GuardsmanThe Guardsman is a 1931 film based on the play Testőr by Ferenc Molnár. It stars Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Roland Young and ZaSu Pitts...
by Ferenc MolnárFerenc MolnárLanguageFerenc Molnár was a Hungarian dramatist and novelist. His Americanized name was Franz Molnar... - 1976, Anatol by Arthur SchnitzlerArthur SchnitzlerDr. Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist.- Biography :Arthur Schnitzler, son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter , was born in Praterstraße 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian...
- 1980, The Weavers by Gerhart HauptmannGerhart HauptmannGerhart Hauptmann was a German dramatist and novelist who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912.-Life and work:...
- 1987, From Morning To Midnight by Georg KaiserGeorg KaiserFriedrich Carl Georg Kaiser, called Georg Kaiser, was a German dramatist.-Biography:Kaiser was born at Magdeburg....
- 1991, La RondeLa Ronde (play)La Ronde is a 1900 play by Arthur Schnitzler. It scrutinizes the sexual morals and class ideology of its day through a series of encounters between pairs of characters . By choosing characters across all levels of society, the play offers social commentary on how sexual contact transgresses...
by Arthur SchnitzlerArthur SchnitzlerDr. Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist.- Biography :Arthur Schnitzler, son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter , was born in Praterstraße 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian...
External links
- http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-frank-marcus-1308720.htmlobituary from The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
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