J.B. Rowe

(b. **/**/**** - d. **/**/****). Actor, producer. British-born actor who may have come to South Africa in 1918 and appeared in three films for African Film Productions: The Symbol of Sacrifice (Dick Cruikshanks/1918), in which he played Louis Napoleon, the Prince Imperial, Bond and Word (Dick Cruikshanks/1918) and The Vulture’s Prey (Dick Cruikshanks & William Bowden/1920, released in 1922). Gertrude Elliott (Lady Forbes Robertson) brought a repertory company to South Africa in 1921 and when she left on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, J.B. Rowe was a member of her troupe. Between 1923 and 1930 he performed in (and sometimes produced) numerous plays in all the major cities, but by the late 1930’s he was back in England and acted in some of the very earliest television programmes, primarily an irregular series of crime stories directed by George More O’Ferrall. He also worked in radio. (FO)