James Bromley-Challenor

James Bromley-Challenor (1884–1935)[1] was British actor-manager.

Also known as Bromley Challenor

Biography

Born on September 3, 1884 in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, UK, he was educated at Hanley, Oxford and Liverpool. He intended to become a doctor, but then tried journalism before entering the theatre. He made his first appearance on stage in The Hand of Justice in 1906 at Coatbridge, and from there went on to a relatively successful career as actor and company manager on tour and in London. Among the plays he appeared in were When Knights were Bold (Marlowe), Are You a Mason? (Laufs and Kraatz), The Man Who Knew the Future (), Society Ltd (Branscombe and Carrington) and The Punch Bowl (possibly a farce based on the German novel Die Feuerzangenbowle by Heinrich Spoerl). He also co-wrote (with May Elliott) and performed in the musical farce On The Air in 1934.

He was married to the actress Marjorie Bellairs and the two of them are said to have appeared in the farce When Knights were Bold over 6000 times over the course of his lifetime. He apparently claimed to have first played the leading role of "Sir Guy de Vere" (with his wife in the role of "Lady Rowena Eggington") in the premiere production in Nottingham and many times thereafter. (The London productions tended to have James Whelan in the leading role, till Whelan's death in 1917, and Challenor made his London debut in the role.) In 1915 Challenor actually purchased the rights to the play, which did well for them over the ensuing years.

In 1915 or 1916 he and his wife toured South Africa with his company (which included Norah Sturdee in this case) and in 1933 they visited Australia to produce Ben Travers's farce A Bit of a Test, which apparently failed to appeal to the Melbourne public.

In the 1920s he and his actor son Derek Challenor founded a production company called the Famous Plays Syndicate, with Bromley as director and manager and Derek as the assistant manager.

Challenor died on 17 December, 1935, while rehearsing When Knights were Bold once more at The Fortune theatre in London. His wife died in 1960.

In a rather bizarre entry, suggesting a posthumous appearance on the British propaganda film from WW2 called Journey Together, the film website IMDb has the following: "He was an actor, known for Journey Together (1945). He was married to Marjorie Bellairs (actress). He died on December 17, 1935 in London, England."

Contribution to South African theatre, film, media and performance

In 1915 or 1916 he took the James Bromley-Challenor's theatrical company on a tour of South Africa, the cast including his wife, Marjorie Bellairs, and Norah Sturdee.

Sources

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0149977/

E-mail correspondence with Nick Jackson about Norah Sturdee and the South African tour (1 May 2020).

http://www.robertbuchanan.co.uk/html/knightsrev2.html

Obituary, The Argus, Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, 19 Dec 1935: p.12

"Actor dies at rehearsal", Rand Daily Mail, Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, 17 Dec 1935.

U.S. Government Printing Office. 1920. Catalogue of Copyright Entries: Pamphlets, leaflets, contributions to newspapers or periodicals, etc.; lectures, sermons, addresses for oral delivery; dramatic compositions; maps; motion pictures. Part 1, group 2, Volume 17, Issue 1

J.P. Wearing. 2014. The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield: p.5 [2]

D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.

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