Michael Wilding

Overview

Born
July 23, 1912 · Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, UK
Died
July 8, 1979 · London, England, UK (aftermath of falling)
Birth name
Michael Charles Gauntlet Wilding
Height
6′ (1.83 m)

Mini bio

Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England on July 23, 1912, Wilding became a commercial artist after leaving school. He gained employment in the art department of a film studio in London in 1933, and he was soon approached by producers to become a movie star-in-training due to his dashing good looks. After debuting at age 21 in Bitter Sweet (1933), Wilding worked steadily in British pictures for nearly three decades. Though never a star of the first rank, he had leading roles in numerous films, including a part in the classic In Which We Serve (1942). Wilding often co-starred with Anna Neagle.

Wilding moved to Hollywood and was featured in two of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser efforts, Under Capricorn (1949) and Stage Fright (1950).

Wilding's last movie role was a two-line cameo in Robert Bolt's Lady Caroline Lamb (1972), which co-starred Leighton.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jon C. Hopwood (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)
Michael originally wanted to be a portrait and commercial artist and trained for the career by traveling around night clubs and cafes in Brussels, Antwerp and Paris earning a living by sketching portraits. However by the time he returned to England he'd had a change of mind and had the idea of being a set designer for films. In order to learn how sets were put together he got a job as a film extra but after a few weeks he was sent to Austria to play opposite Mabel Poulton in Pastorale, which didn't get released. Horrified at his performance he decided to go into rep to learn his job properly and was accepted by Watford Repertory Theatre. After a number of years in theatre including a West End appearance in Chase the Ace he returned to films appearing in such as In Which We Serve, An ideal Husband, Spring in Park Lane an d under Capricon.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tonyman 5

Family

Spouses
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Relatives

Trivia

An epileptic seizure triggered Wilding's fall down a long flight of stairs in 1979. The head injuries received in that fall proved fatal.
His best friend was the British actor Stewart Granger. The Wildings (Elizabeth Taylor) and the Grangers (Jean Simmons) were often seen on the town together in the 1950s.
With five failed marriages between them, Wilding and Margaret Leighton allegedly had a difficult time finding someone to marry them in 1964. They were denied not only by their church, but by many justices of the peace in the Los Angeles area. Wilding finally convinced a local judge by bribing him with a hundred-dollar bill.
He gave up acting (a job he often claimed he hated) for a time, and became an agent working for the agency established by another ex-actor, his friend Hugh French. His clients included Richard Burton, then the husband of Wilding's ex-wife Elizabeth Taylor. However, Wilding proved a failure as an agent ("I didn't know how to make deals", he said) and went back to acting.
Although he gave up a career as a studio artist, Wilding enjoyed painting far more than acting and continued sketching for the rest of his life.

Quotes

You can pick out actors by the glazed look that comes into their eyes when the conversation wanders away from themselves.
I was the worst actor I ever came across.