Andrews, Harry Fleetwood

Andrews, Harry Fleetwood (1911–89), English actor gifted with impressive height, strong attack, and a fine, resonant voice. He began his career in 1933 at the Liverpool Playhouse, and two years later was in London, playing Tybalt in Gielgud's production of Romeo and Juliet. During the next few years he was seen almost entirely in classical parts, notably as Diomedes in a modern-dress Troilus and Cressida (1938) and as Laertes in Hamlet in Gielgud's company at the Lyceum (1939). After war service he joined the Old Vic company in 1945, playing a variety of parts including Creon in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and Lucifer in Marlowe's Dr Faustus. He was at Stratford-upon-Avon for several years from 1949, appearing with distinction as Brutus in Julius Caesar, Benedick in Much Ado about Nothing, and the Duke in Measure for Measure. He left to make one of his rare appearances in a modern play, as Casanova in Tennessee Williams's Camino Real (1957), but returned to the Old Vic to give an impressive performance in the title-role of Henry VIII. Later roles included General Allenby in Rattigan's Ross (1960), the title-role in Bond's Lear (1971), and Serebryakov in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya (1982).