John van Eyssen - Revision history

Ivor: /* Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and performance */

2025-04-05T08:27:11Z

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and performance

Ivor: /* Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and performance */

2025-04-05T08:16:06Z

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and performance

Ivor: /* Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and performance */

2025-04-05T08:14:39Z

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and performance

Ivor: /* Career */

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Career

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Training

Ivor at 08:08, 5 April 2025

2025-04-05T08:08:09Z

Darryl: Created page with "John van Eyssen (1922-1995). Actor. ==Biography== Born Matthew John Du Toit Van Eyssen on March 19, 1922 in Fauresmith, South Africa. He died November 13th, 1995 in F..."

2024-11-23T13:17:47Z

Created page with "John van Eyssen (1922-1995). Actor. ==Biography== Born Matthew John Du Toit Van Eyssen on March 19, 1922 in Fauresmith, South Africa. He died November 13th, 1995 in F..."

New page

[[John van Eyssen]] (1922-1995). Actor.

==Biography==

Born Matthew John Du Toit Van Eyssen on March 19, 1922 in Fauresmith, South Africa.

He died November 13th, 1995 in Fulham, London, England.

== Training ==

== Career ==
John van Eyssen wore several hats during his long professional career -- including that of Shakespearean thespian, movie actor, literary agent, producer and studio executive.

As a 16-year-old in 1938, van Eyssen played Puck in Taubie Kuschlick's 1938 ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' in Port Elizabeth. After a South African tour with the [[Gwen ffrangçon-Davies / Marda Vanne Company]], Van Eyssen went on to a career in Great Britain (after WW II).

Once in London, he studied drama at the Central School of Speech and Drama and, before graduation, joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. At the RSC, van Eyssen performed the major classical leads and also played Cassio in Orson Welles' production of Othello. As Lucifer in the York Cycle of Mystery Plays, van Eyssen inspired Dame Judi Dench, a teenager at the time, to pursue a career in acting. From there, van Eyssen branched out into radio, television and, beginning with ''The Angel with the Trumpet'' (1950), films, and went on to appear in a number of British movies of the period including Joseph Losey's ''Blind Date'', ''Cockleshell Heroes'' and ''Carlton Browne of the F.O.'' In 1958, he appeared as Jonathan Harker in Hammer Films' cult classic, ''The Horror of Dracula''. Van Eyssen abandoned acting in 1961 to become a literary agent for London Management. He proved to have a knack for the job and was quickly promoted to helm the literary department. He became so important that, when the company merged with London Artists, he was in charge of handling Franco Zeffirelli, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller. Van Eyssen left the management business in 1965 to work at Columbia Pictures' UK division. Two years after his hiring, van Eyssen became the UK studio's Managing Director and was behind some of the studio's most popular British films, including ''Romeo and Juliet'', ''To Sir With Love'' (1967), ''Born Free'' (1966), ''Georgy Girl'' (1966), ''Oliver!'' and ''A Man For All Seasons'' (1969). In 1969, he was promoted to Worldwide Head of Production (ex-US) and moved to New York. He left the studio in 1974 to work as an independent producer, and in 1981, produced Sidney Lumet's ''Daniel''. Van Eyssen returned to England in 1991 and became an instrumental part of establishing Britain's premiere showcase for talented young filmmakers, the Chelsea Film Festival.

== Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and performance ==

He appeared in ''[[A Month in the Country]]'' (1946), ''[[A Man With Red Hair]]'' (1946).

== Sources ==

Laurence Wright and Lin Gubb. 'A Tribute to "Stratford-on-Baakens": Thirty Years of the Port Elizabeth Shakespearean Festival'. ''Shakespeare in Southem Africa'' Vol. 3. 1989. 1-8.

"John Van Eyssen", ''[[IMdB]]'', https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0886881/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

== Return to ==

Return to [[ESAT Personalities V]]

Return to [[South_African_Theatre/Personalities|South African Theatre Personalities]]

Return to [[Main Page]]

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 == Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and performance ==
-: As an amateur actor, he played the role of "Puck" at the [[St George's Park swimming pool]] in Port Elizabeth.
+June 6, 1938: As an amateur actor, he played the role of "Puck" in Taubie Kushlick's first major production, [[A Midsummer Night's Dream]], at the swimming pool in St George's Park, Port Elizabeth. Other well-known Port Elizabeth theatre personalities in the show included [[P Muff-Ford]], [[E Clear]] [[Lorna Enslin]] with [[Iris Hawken]], [[M B Leppan]], [[Myra Pamensky]], [[Mollie Pittaway]], [[Madge Frost]], [[June Salters]], [[Zelia Zartz]], [[Edna Miller]], [[Sheila Weinronk]] and [[Helen Mann]] as elves,.
 He appeared in ''[[A Month in the Country]]'' (1946), ''[[A Man With Red Hair]]'' (1946).

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 == Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and performance ==
-: As an amateur actor, he played the role of "Puck" at the [[St George's Park swimming pool]] in Port Elizabeth in 1938.
+: As an amateur actor, he played the role of "Puck" at the [[St George's Park swimming pool]] in Port Elizabeth.
 He appeared in ''[[A Month in the Country]]'' (1946), ''[[A Man With Red Hair]]'' (1946).

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:14, 5 April 2025
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	== Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and performance ==		== Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and performance ==
		+
		+	1950: As an amateur actor, he played the role of "Puck" at the [[St George's Park swimming pool]] in Port Elizabeth in 1938.

	He appeared in ''[[A Month in the Country]]'' (1946), ''[[A Man With Red Hair]]'' (1946).		He appeared in ''[[A Month in the Country]]'' (1946), ''[[A Man With Red Hair]]'' (1946).

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:10, 5 April 2025
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	== Training ==		== Training ==
		+
		+	Studied drama at the [[Central School of Speech and Drama]] in London, UK.

	== Career ==		== Career ==

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 As a 16-year-old in 1938, van Eyssen played Puck in Taubie Kuschlick's 1938 ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' in Port Elizabeth. After a South African tour with the [[Gwen ffrangçon-Davies / Marda Vanne Company]], Van Eyssen went on to a career in Great Britain (after WW II).
-Once in London, he studied drama at the Central School of Speech and Drama and, before graduation, joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. At the RSC, van Eyssen performed the major classical leads and also played Cassio in Orson Welles' production of Othello. As Lucifer in the York Cycle of Mystery Plays, van Eyssen inspired Dame Judi Dench, a teenager at the time, to pursue a career in acting. From there, van Eyssen branched out into radio, television and, beginning with ''The Angel with the Trumpet'' (1950), films, and went on to appear in a number of British movies of the period including Joseph Losey's ''Blind Date'', ''Cockleshell Heroes'' and ''Carlton Browne of the F.O.'' In 1958, he appeared as Jonathan Harker in Hammer Films' cult classic, ''The Horror of Dracula''. Van Eyssen abandoned acting in 1961 to become a literary agent for London Management. He proved to have a knack for the job and was quickly promoted to helm the literary department. He became so important that, when the company merged with London Artists, he was in charge of handling Franco Zeffirelli, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller. Van Eyssen left the management business in 1965 to work at Columbia Pictures' UK division. Two years after his hiring, van Eyssen became the UK studio's Managing Director and was behind some of the studio's most popular British films, including ''Romeo and Juliet'', ''To Sir With Love'' (1967), ''Born Free'' (1966), ''Georgy Girl'' (1966), ''Oliver!'' and ''A Man For All Seasons'' (1969). In 1969, he was promoted to Worldwide Head of Production (ex-US) and moved to New York. He left the studio in 1974 to work as an independent producer, and in 1981, produced Sidney Lumet's ''Daniel''. Van Eyssen returned to England in 1991 and became an instrumental part of establishing Britain's premiere showcase for talented young filmmakers, the Chelsea Film Festival.
+Before graduating from the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. At the RSC, van Eyssen performed the major classical leads and also played Cassio in Orson Welles' production of Othello. As Lucifer in the York Cycle of Mystery Plays, van Eyssen inspired Dame Judi Dench, a teenager at the time, to pursue a career in acting. From there, van Eyssen branched out into radio, television and, beginning with ''The Angel with the Trumpet'' (1950), films, and went on to appear in a number of British movies of the period including Joseph Losey's ''Blind Date'', ''Cockleshell Heroes'' and ''Carlton Browne of the F.O.'' In 1958, he appeared as Jonathan Harker in Hammer Films' cult classic, ''The Horror of Dracula''. Van Eyssen abandoned acting in 1961 to become a literary agent for London Management. He proved to have a knack for the job and was quickly promoted to helm the literary department. He became so important that, when the company merged with London Artists, he was in charge of handling Franco Zeffirelli, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller. Van Eyssen left the management business in 1965 to work at Columbia Pictures' UK division. Two years after his hiring, van Eyssen became the UK studio's Managing Director and was behind some of the studio's most popular British films, including ''Romeo and Juliet'', ''To Sir With Love'' (1967), ''Born Free'' (1966), ''Georgy Girl'' (1966), ''Oliver!'' and ''A Man For All Seasons'' (1969). In 1969, he was promoted to Worldwide Head of Production (ex-US) and moved to New York. He left the studio in 1974 to work as an independent producer, and in 1981, produced Sidney Lumet's ''Daniel''. Van Eyssen returned to England in 1991 and became an instrumental part of establishing Britain's premiere showcase for talented young filmmakers, the Chelsea Film Festival.
 == Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and performance ==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[John van Eyssen]] (1922-1995). Actor.
+[[John van Eyssen]] (March 19, 1922 - November 13th, 1995). Actor.
 ==Biography==
@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 Born Matthew John Du Toit Van Eyssen on March 19, 1922 in Fauresmith, South Africa.
-He died November 13th, 1995 in Fulham, London, England.
+He died in Fulham, London, England.
 == Training ==