O. P. Heggie

O. P. Heggie
File:"The greatest of these-"; (1918) (14782577454).jpg
Born	Oliver Peters Heggie (1877-09-17)17 September 1877 memorial stone incorrectly says 1879 Angaston, South Australia
Died	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1900–36
Spouse(s)	Lillian C (1885–1974) 3 children

Oliver Peters Heggie (17 September 1877 – 7 February 1936), billed as O.P Heggie, was an Australian film and theatre actor. He was born at Angaston, South Australia to a local sheep farmer. H was educated at Whinham College and the Adelaide Conservatoire of Music. He died in Los Angeles of pneumonia. He is buried at Woodside Cemetery, Yarmouth Port, Barnstable County, Massachusetts.

Career

He appeared in local amateur dramatic companies before leaving his clerk position with the Union Bank, to pursue a career in acting and make his debut in Stolen Kisses in 1899 at the Theatre Royal, Adelaide.

He made his professional debut in A Message from Mars at the Palace, Sydney, in 1900. He later took the part of the messenger in the same play at the Bijou, Melbourne, and in the production that toured Australia and New Zealand under Walter Hawtrey. After appearing in productions of The Three Musketeers, Secret Service and The Christian, he left Australia in 1906 for England and was engaged firstly in a production at Margate on England's south coast, before appearing on the London stage at the Criterion Theatre in a one-acter. He came to the notice of Miss Ellen Terry with his " Pippy" in the Lemonade Boy (October 1906). She hired him in January 1907 for her tour of America with Nance Oldfield (as Alexander Oldworthy) and Captain Brassbound's Conversion (Osman).

His subsequent London stage appearances included the part of Sam in Stingaree at the Queen's Theatre, and in 1909 the part of Henry French in The Strife, which performed matinees at the Duke of York's, and evening performances at the Haymarket. He also appeared as Julius Baker in George Bernard Shaw's Misalliance, as well as in Galworthy's Justice and in Pinero's Trelawny of The Wells. He played Sherlock Holmes in The Speckled Band, a portrayal much admired by Arthur Conan Doyle His cabman in Haddon Chambers' Passers By of 1911 was praised also.

After playing Maximilian Cutts in productions of The New Sin at the Court and the Criterion in early 1912, he took his own production to America. It played firstly on 15 October 1912 at Wallack's Theatre, New York. On 26 October 1914, he appeared at the same house as Uriah Heep in an adaptation of David Copperfield called The Highway of Life. In England, he appeared in J. M. Barrie's short The Dramatists Get What They Want at the Hippodrome and took the lead in Androcles and The Lion (playing Androcles) at St James's. His Rev. Cyril Smith in G. K. Chesterton's maiden play Magic in 1914 at the Little Theatre was also highly praised.

Transferring to Broadway, he appeared in 1915 in the Man Who Married A Dumb Wife opposite Lillah McCarthy in its first presentation on an English speaking stage, reprised his role in Androcles, as Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and in Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma. He followed by playing solicitor's managing clerk Robert Cokeson in Justice (1916), Oliver Blayds in The Truth about Blayds (1922), and Old Man Minick in Minick (1924). He took part in numerous revivals of classics ranging from Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (1918) to Diggory in She Stoops to Conquer in 1928.

In 1927, he was seen by Norma Shearer and her husband, producer Irving Thalberg, in the Players Club revival of Trelawny of the Wells. The pair persuaded Heggie to move to Hollywood, where he made his first film appearance in the silent film The Actress (1928) starring Shearer and based on the stage show. The film is now considered a lost film. Other Broadway appearances included Spellbound and Out of the Sea in 1927, The Beaux Stratagem in 1928, They Don't Mean Any Harm, and a revival of The Truth About Blayds in 1932. His later film appearances include as Louis XI of France in the The Vagabond King (1930) and Anne Shirley's adoptive father in Anne of Green Gables (1934). His last work on Broadway was as William Owen in The Green Bay Tree (1933).

Heggie appeared in at least 27 films, including The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), The Letter, The Mysterious Doctor Fu Manchu, The Mighty, The Wheel of Life, The Bad Man, The Swan, Too Young To Marry, One Romantic Night, East Lynne (1931), The Playboy of Paris, Sunny, Madame Jule, Devotion, Peck's Bad Boy, Ginger, and Smilin' Through between 1928 and his death in 1936.

Partial filmography

• The Letter (1929)
• The Wheel of Life (1929)
• The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929)
• The Vagabond King (1930)
• The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (1930)
• One Romantic Night (1930)
• Playboy of Paris (1930)
• Sunny (1930)
• East Lynne (1931)
• Devotion (1931)
• Smilin' Through (1932)
• The King's Vacation (1933)
• Zoo in Budapest (1933)
• Midnight (1934)
• The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
• Peck's Bad Boy (1934)
• Anne of Green Gables (1934)
• A Dog of Flanders (1935)
• Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
• Chasing Yesterday (1935)
• The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936)

External links

• O. P. Heggie at the Internet Broadway Database
• O. P. Heggie at the Internet Movie Database