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Information About

Donald Wolfit




Wolfit was born in Newark, Nottinghamshire , and attended the Magnus Grammar School (now Magnus Church of England School) and made his stage début in 1920 . He first appeared in the West End in 1924 , playing ''The Wandering Jew''. His speciality was Shakespeare , and in 1937 he formed his own company to take the Bard to the provinces. The company performed in London during the Battle Of Britain in 1940 . Wolfit was primarily a stage actor, and, despite taking his famous portrayal of '' Volpone '' to television and appearing in a few films (most notably Blood Of The Vampire , Becket , and Lawrence Of Arabia (film) ), he was never widely known outside the UK .

At one time, Ronald Harwood was his dresser and he based his play and film '' The Dresser '' on his relationship with Wolfit. Harwood also wrote his biography.