Roland Pertwee

Actor/writer Roland Pertwee was born in Brighton, England, in 1885. He began his career in the arts as a painter, and received a scholarship to attend the Royal Academy School of Art. His career as a painter didn't last long, however; after several individuals who commissioned him to paint their portraits were so unsatisfied with his work that they refused to pay for it, he decided to give up painting and try acting on stage instead. He found a good deal more success as an actor, and at various times belonged to the stage companies of such famed actors as Charles Hawtrey and H. R. Irving. He worked steadily as an actor for several years--as he said about those early days, "I cannot remember any time when I was out of work"--until the outbreak of World War I, when he joined the British Army and was sent to fight in France. While there he wrote several short stories and sent them to various publications in England, and made quite a bit of money when they were all accepted. He wrote his first novel while recovering from wounds in a hospital in London, and after the war ended he was steadily employed writing plays, film scripts, serial novels and short stories. His most successful play, written in collaboration with Harold Dearden, was "Interference", which was not only a hit in England but was successfully brought to Broadway, produced by famed impresario Gilbert Miller.