Reginald Gardiner(1903-1980)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
English-born Reginald Gardiner, graduate of the Royal Academy of
Dramatic Arts, became an established revue
and musical star on the London stage in the 1930's. His first foray into the film business was in the
Alfred Hitchcock-directed
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927).
However, it was in Hollywood where his career really took off. At
the prompting of Beatrice Lillie he
departed England for America in 1935. After appearing in two of her shows he
delighted Broadway audiences in "An Evening with Beatrice Lillie and
Reginald Gardiner", performing a series of clever impersonations of
such inanimate items as lighthouses and wallpaper.
In 1936, he appeared in his first Hollywood film,
Born to Dance (1936) (starring
Eleanor Powell and
James Stewart), Gardiner playing a traffic cop
with symphonic delusions. His instant popularity resulted in further film
offers and he soon found himself in constant demand to impersonate butlers and "silly ass"
upper-crust English twits. With his suave attire, thin moustache and
obtuse mannerisms, he took to playing those caricatures with obvious
glee. He enlivened many a film with his comic presence, most notably
A Damsel in Distress (1937),
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941) (his
character "Beverly Carlton" brilliantly lampooning
Noël Coward) and
Cluny Brown (1946). In later years,
Gardiner became a regular on television as co-star of
The Phyllis Diller Show (1966), and, in 1964,
he returned to the stage to play Alfred P. Doolittle at the New York City Centre (the role made
famous by Stanley Holloway in
My Fair Lady) . John Canaday,
reviewing for the New York Times, described his character as a
"wonderful, boozy, abominable, bug-ridden and altogether reprehensible
charmer, a kind of defrocked Boy Scout, whose love for everybody is
exceeded only by his propensity for chicanery and self-indulgence".
Gardiner was also celebrated for his classic monologue, simply
called
'Trains'. It so impressed King George VI
that he summoned the actor to Buckingham Palace for a special
performance. 'Trains' was recorded by Decca and has since become a
collector's item.
Dramatic Arts, became an established revue
and musical star on the London stage in the 1930's. His first foray into the film business was in the
Alfred Hitchcock-directed
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927).
However, it was in Hollywood where his career really took off. At
the prompting of Beatrice Lillie he
departed England for America in 1935. After appearing in two of her shows he
delighted Broadway audiences in "An Evening with Beatrice Lillie and
Reginald Gardiner", performing a series of clever impersonations of
such inanimate items as lighthouses and wallpaper.
In 1936, he appeared in his first Hollywood film,
Born to Dance (1936) (starring
Eleanor Powell and
James Stewart), Gardiner playing a traffic cop
with symphonic delusions. His instant popularity resulted in further film
offers and he soon found himself in constant demand to impersonate butlers and "silly ass"
upper-crust English twits. With his suave attire, thin moustache and
obtuse mannerisms, he took to playing those caricatures with obvious
glee. He enlivened many a film with his comic presence, most notably
A Damsel in Distress (1937),
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941) (his
character "Beverly Carlton" brilliantly lampooning
Noël Coward) and
Cluny Brown (1946). In later years,
Gardiner became a regular on television as co-star of
The Phyllis Diller Show (1966), and, in 1964,
he returned to the stage to play Alfred P. Doolittle at the New York City Centre (the role made
famous by Stanley Holloway in
My Fair Lady) . John Canaday,
reviewing for the New York Times, described his character as a
"wonderful, boozy, abominable, bug-ridden and altogether reprehensible
charmer, a kind of defrocked Boy Scout, whose love for everybody is
exceeded only by his propensity for chicanery and self-indulgence".
Gardiner was also celebrated for his classic monologue, simply
called
'Trains'. It so impressed King George VI
that he summoned the actor to Buckingham Palace for a special
performance. 'Trains' was recorded by Decca and has since become a
collector's item.