Michael Martin Harvey(1897-1975)
- Actor
Michael Martin-Harvey was the only son of the celebrated Edwardian
actor-manager Sir John Martin Harvey.
Highly artistic his interests extended to dance, the stage, poetry,
painting and pottery. Not blessed with the conventional good looks of
his famous father, he merely paddled in the shallows of film, often
cast in 'character' roles. He appeared in about a dozen films from the
20s - 50s with just one leading role, that of Charles Peace the
eponymous Victorian criminal. Michael's first film appearance came in
The Only Way (1925), an adaptation
of Charles Dickens well known novel 'A Tale of Two Cities' Sir John
played Sidney Carton re creating the role he first played on stage in
1899. The film was noteworthy as being the first film to attain a
length of 10,000 feet. Michael was married to Hester Margetson a noted
illustrator of children's books. Michael and Hester shared a love of
dance and together formed a small ballet touring company - The
Martin-Harvey Miniature Ballet, Michael having worked at one time or
another with several key figures including
Frederick Ashton,
Sergei Diaghilev and
Isadora Duncan. In the 50s Michael teamed
with the composer Margaret More to form the Hans Andersen Players,
performing selected works from the well known children's author.
Michael died in 1974 and was much beloved by all who knew him.
