Malleson, (William) Miles

Malleson, (William) Miles (1888–1969), English actor, who made his first appearance in Liverpool in 1911, and two years later was in London. In 1918 he was seen as Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, and soon established a reputation as an eccentric comedian with his playing of Sir Benjamin Backbite in Sheridan's The School for Scandal and Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice in 1919; Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1920; and Trinculo in The Tempest in 1921. In 1925 he was seen as Filch in a long run of Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and he played Scrub in Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem in 1927 and Wittol in Congreve's The Old Bachelor in 1931. One of his best parts was Foresight in Congreve's Love for Love; he was also much admired as Sir Fretful Plagiary in Sheridan's The Critic at the Old Vic in 1945, and, in more serious vein, as Old Ekdal in Ibsen's The Wild Duck in 1948. His best work was done in his own very free adaptations of Molière, which began in 1950 with The Miser (L'Avare), and continued with Tartuffe, Sganarelle, The School for Wives (L'École de femmes), The Slave of Truth (Le Misanthrope), The Imaginary Invalid (Le Malade imaginaire), and The Prodigious Snob (Le Bourgeois gentilhomme). Although they aroused some controversy, they had the merit of bringing Molière to the English stage in versions which appealed to the average playgoer, and proved invaluable to repertory and provincial theatres. He made one of his rare appearances in a modern play when he was seen as Mr Butterfly in Ionesco's Rhinoceros (1960).