^^j!^^^324^EdUorial) ,


22323 (Advertising). Burnley 22331 (Classified) A STAR AND A GENTLEMAN


Edmond Cambien writes...


‘/ recall happy times and the


joy he has given to many people with his high standard of acting’


■ I WAS very sorry to hear about the death of a friend of mine, our local actor John Strat-


; ton. We have been friends for many years ; and I have followed his career with great , interest. I tried to see him in his plays and


; films. ^ Perhaps the following will be of interest. • According to “Who’s Who” in the theatre book, ’ John was born in Clitheroe, the son of James Stratton - and Hilda Alice (Wilson). He was educated at the Royal Grammar School when Mr Laurence Hardy


: was headmaster. Mr Hardy encouraged his acting • talent, which showed so clearly in the marvellous ; plays produced in Clitheroe at St Mary’s Hall, with < the boys playing both male and female roles — and • one marvelled at the high standard of these ■ productions.


.


John made his first appearance at the Empire Theatre, Dewsbury, in “Pygmalion,” playing the role


i of Freddie Eynsford Hill — you may recall that this ■ character falls in love with Eliza and in the fdm pro- , duction sings "On the street where you live.” He was in many more repertory plays and served in the Royal Navy from 1944 to 1947. He toured after


- this in many repertory shows and his first play in London was in 1948, as Tommy Gold in “No trees in the street” and “The Corn is Green," and several plays written by Emlyn Williams. John had a won­ derful friendship with this actor and his wife and sons. In 1962 he played the part of the Prince Regent


in a musical based on “Vanity Fair” . . . Sybil Thorn­ dike also appeared in this show. Thinking back, he was in productions with Dora Bryan, Anna Massey, Daniel Massey and many, many more plays with leading actors and actresses. He made several films, such as “The Cruel Sea,”


“Seven Waves Away” and many character roles in television.


John wrote to me when he was filming “The Cruel


Sea.” I have managed to find his letter to me of June 1952, when this film was being made:


Dear Edmond, f Thanks for your letter. I was delighted to hear


appetites make us ashamed because we eat so much. ..


Cruel Sea Film Unit, Grand Hotel, Plymouth.


The “Cruel Sea” was produced at the Ealing/Lon- don Studios by Charles Frend. Nicholas Monserratt’s novel sold more copies in Britain than any other novel at that time. Jack Hawkins was the captain in the film and John Stratton, Donald Sinden, Stanley Baker and Virginia McKenna were members of the wardroom.


John made a film about a shipwreck, when he


played the radio operator who had not sent the dis­ tress signal. . . they were shown in the lifeboat with lots of “imitation waves” filmed in a tank about the size of a tennis court, with waves being poured on to them and generally getting wet through. But that’s no matter when they were getting paid for it! He mentioned that a play in London in the 1950s


had Yvonne Arnaud in the show, the famous French actress who had the wonderful broken accent and the most wonderful giggle. She had a habit of looking into the audience when she was not speaking and whis­ pering “naughty” things about the various folks sit­ ting in front — who might be looking miserable or wearing some awful hat. John said it was difficult to control himself and he had to concentrate like mad. For part of his time in London he shared his flat


with the stage manager of the Drury Lane Theatre, who was doing this job when the first presentation of “My Fair Lady” was held there. In this musical you might remember there is a sort of transformation and the audienc is taken to the most beautiful ballroom, but it seems that sometimes the machinery involved for this stuck and it was not possible to make it work. Then the front curtain was dropped and they had to start that scene again with everything in its place. This was the first show, when Julie Andrews, Rex Harrison and Stanley Holloway were taking part. We had wonderful meetings when John was up at his home here and I was trying to get up to date with h ‘ i 'a


s coming plays and TV appearances. Now, when I look back,


I recall thesese happy times


and the joy he has given to many people with his high standard of acting. He will be greatly missed. “Gone but not forgotten” would be appropriate sentiments just now.


must admit I am loving every minute of it. Each day we are up at 6 a.m. and off to sea in our ship (ex-naval vessel) with the name of “Coreopsis" — this name has been changed for the film. The air is wonderful and we arc very sunburnt —


rom you again. I have been down here about two weeks and I


our WITH Jack Hawkins in “The Cruel Sea'


TOMORROW sees the funeral of the Ribble.


Valley’s best-known a c to r — Mr John


Stratton, who starred in the film “The Cruel Sea” and has appeared in many films, plays and television pro­


grammes since then. The funeral takes place


at S t Helen’s Church, Waddington, at 11 a.m. and the service is to be led by the vicar, the Rev. Alan Bailey. Afterwards Mr Stratton will be buried in the same family grave that houses his mother and father. Mr Stratton died at the


Royal Free Hospital, Lon­ don, after being admitted for treatment to a sudden illness, found to be cancer of the liver, said Mr Bill Drysdale, the friend who


sh a r e d h is home in London. Mr S t r a t to n ’s death


happened only a fortnight before he was due to cele­ brate his 66th birthday. It marked the end of the dis­ tinguished career of a man destined for the theatre from his school days — and who was in full-time employment as an actor throughout his working life. He was still working this year and took part in television programmes yet to be screened. Born at No. 53 Pimlico


Road — only yards from the house he bought at No. 62 — Mr Stratton was


the only son of a local cou­ ple, Lever Brothers trav­ eller Mr James Stratton and his wife Hilda, a weaver. The family lived at


T h ro s t le B an k , W e st Bradford, for a time when


Joh n was at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, between 1937 and 1943, where his talent for acting was spotted and nurtured by the then headmaster, Mr Laurence Hardy. John appeared in many of the school productions, taking both male and female roles, and his acting was described as “magnificent” by the school magazine. His debut at the school, when he was 14, was in


J . B. Piestley’s “When we are Married” in 1940: the


following year he starred in "Someone at the Door,” and the year after that in “Cottage to L e t” — all three plays produced by Mr Hardy and still remem­ b e red , th an k s to the photographs of the plays which s t i l l adorn the school’s walls. When John left school


he went s t ra ig h t into repertory th ea tre. His first appearance was in


Est. 1879 fA WINES OF THE MONTH GROUSE


A FLASHBACK to John Stratton’s CRGS days — as he appeared (centre) in the


school production of “Cottage to Let” in 1942


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1943 in “Pygmalion,” with the Dewsbury Court Play- e r s a t th e E m p i r e Theatre. On tour after that, he


starred in Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter.” Then came his Navy service between 1944 and 1947, when he e n te r ta in e d troops on tours of occupied countries. Afterwards, in London,


he appeared in “No Trees in the Street,” at the St


Jam e s’s Theatre, and a succession of Emlyn Wil­ liams plays. Mr Edmond Cambien, who knew him well, said that John had a long-lasting friendship


with the playwright and his family. In 1952 John acted in


the film “The Cruel Sea," which was to make his name well-known nation­ ally. In fact, said Miss Barbara Cullen, manag­ eress of Clitheroe’s Civic Hall cinema, “he appeared in quite a number of films from the Rank Studios — though, strangely enough, he usually ended up in the sea after either ships sink­ ing or planes being shot down.” John appeared before


S-aphy that Counts,” “The idden River,” “Settled


• JOHN Stratton’s London agent, Larry Dal/.ell, was “ incredibly sad” when he heard the news of John’s death. “He was a really splendid man,” he said. “ I knew him long before I became his


agent, and he was a wonderful person as well as an actor.” fSSs.&sSP''


the former Queen, the present Queen Mother, in Terence Rattigan’s “When the Sun Shines.” Other plays in which he appeared were “An Act of Madness,” “It ’s the Geo-


Out of Court,” “Vanity Fair” and “Difference of Opinion.”


He also created the role


of McCann in the original' production of T. S. Eliot’s “The Birthday Party,” at the Lyric Theatre, Ham­ mersmith; he appeared in “When we are Married,” at the Whitehall Theatre, and recently was in “Too


Clever by Half,” at The Old Vic, where, in 1989, he was in “The Liar.”


His numerous television


appearances have included “Sherlock Holmes,” “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” “The B la ck T u l ip ,” “ Clay- hanger,” “The Mill on the Floss,” "Great Expecta­ tions," “The Tales of Bea­ trix Potter,” “My Cousin Rachel,” "Julie t Bravo”


Distinguished career of an actor who was destined for theatre from CRGS days


and “Countdown to War" (shown last year). He also appeared in the


te le v is io n v e r s io n of “When we are Married,” “Lovejoy," and starred in two popular television series — “Backs to the Land” (Anglia) and “The Good C om p a n i o n s ” (Yorkshire). Television productions


yet to be shown include a BBC drama, “Law Lord.” L a s t year, Clitheroe


Royal Grammar School hoped to see the return of one of its famous old boys for the Queen’s visit, but a spell in hospital pre­ cluded this — and he later visited the school to apolo­ gise for his unavoidable absence. That apology was typi­


cal of a man many have described as quiet or unas­ suming. Despite his repu­ tation in the stage world “he was never a person for


shouting the odds about his success,” said Miss Cullen. John was unmanned and


left no immediate family. B u t a cousin, Mr Bi l l Stratton, and his wife Jean ran Chatburn Post Office until they retired in 1987 and now live in Crow Trees Brow, and there are believed to be some cous­ ins living in Scotland.


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