Marius Goring

Probably best known for stealing Moira Shearer's heart in the Technicolor dance fable "The Red Shoes" (1948), Marius Goring had a long career on stage and television as well as in film. He began acting in 1925, appearing in a Cambridge production of "Crossings." Four years later he had his first of many Shakespearean roles, playing a fairy in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and the flame-haired actor went on to grace London stages with starring roles in "Hamlet," "Macbeth," "Measure for Measure," "Romeo and Juliet" and "Richard III," to name but a few. Goring's mastery of French offered him opportunities to tour in foreign language productions of plays such as John Millington Synge's "Riders to the Sea" as part of the Compagnie des Quinze. He brought other skills to the theater, directing British stage productions of "A Doll's House" (1939), "The Tempest" (1940) and "The Bells" (1968). His first film role was an uncredited bit in the biopic "Rembrandt" (1936), starring Charles Laughton. In spite of his British background, and perhaps because of his international schooling and knowledge of languages and dialects, much of Goring's film work had him cast as German soldiers of various ranks in World War II movies. Generally forgettable fare, the actor nonetheless turned in decent performances in films like "U-Boat 29" (1939), "Night Ambush/Ill Met By Moonlight" (1957, a lesser Powell-Pressburger effort), "The Angry Hills" (1959) and "Up From the Beach" (1965). Best when he portrayed a slightly larger than life character, his breakthrough performances in classic films like "Stairway to Heaven/A Matter of Life and Death" (1946, as David Niven's heavenly guide), "The Red Shoes" and "The Barefoot Contessa" (1954) proved that despite frequent typecasting, his talent was significant and diverse. Goring reached a large audience on British television's "The Scarlet Pimpernel" playing the title role, a character which he earlier portrayed on BBC radio (1949). The adventure program aired from 1955 to 1956 and made Goring a familiar face not only in English homes, but American ones as well, where it aired in syndication in 1956. He did further series work in "The Expert" (1968-69; 1971; 1976) a popular crime drama chronicling Dr. John Hardy, a forensic scientist. Goring played the brilliant and eccentric Hardy for the run of the series, the first BBC-2 program broadcast in color.

Later in his career, though, Goring feared he may have been known more for his battles with Actor's Equity than for his performances. A founding member and two-time vice president of the union, he fought what he felt to be unnecessary political leanings within Equity, namely its decidedly left-wing bent, arguing that it should be completely non-political. Having virtually retired from the screen in the 1970s, Goring put in a supporting performance in the unimpressive Molly Ringwald vehicle "Strike it Rich" in 1991. That same year he was appointed Commander of the British Empire in recognition of his theatrical work, which continued throughout the 80s in British productions such as "Peer Gynt" (Nottingham Playhouse, 1982) "The Applecart" (Haymarket Theatre, London, 1986) and "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" (Queen's Theatre, London, 1988).