1901-10-13 Harrogate, Yorkshire, England, UK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Edward Chapman (13 October 1901 - 9 August 1977) was an English actor who starred in many films and television programmes, but is chiefly remembered as "Mr. Wilfred Grimsdale", the officious superior and comic foil to Norman Wisdom's character of Pitkin in many of his films from the late 1950s and 1960s. Chapman was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England. On leaving school he became a bank clerk but later began his stage career with Ben Greet's Company in June 1924 at the Repertory Theatre, Nottingham, playing Gecko in George du Maurier's Trilby. He made his first London stage appearance at the Court Theatre in August 1925 playing the Rev Septimus Tudor in The Farmer's Wife. Among dozens of stage roles that followed, he played Bonaparte to Margaret Rawlings's Josephine in Napoleon at the Embassy Theatre in September 1934. In 1928 he attracted the attention of Alfred Hitchcock, who gave him the role of "The Paycock" in the 1930 film, Juno and the Paycock. In the same year he also made an appearance in Caste (of which no prints are known to exist). He had a role in The Citadel in 1938 and appeared alongside George Formby in the Ealing Studios comedy Turned Out Nice Again in 1941. During the Second World War he took a break from acting and joined the Royal Air Force. After training he was posted to 129 (Mysore) Squadron as an intelligence officer. This Spitfire squadron was based at Westhampnett and Debden. The squadron was heavily engaged in combat during this period and many of Chapman's fellow squadron mates were killed in action. Chapman first starred alongside Wisdom in 1957's Just My Luck in the role of Mr. Stoneway, but the next year in The Square Peg he appeared as Mr. Grimsdale for the first time opposite Wisdom's character of Norman Pitkin. In 1960 he and Wisdom acted together again in The Bulldog Breed, playing the roles of Mr. Philpots and Norman Puckle - Mr. Grimsdale and Pitkin in all but name. Wisdom appeared alone as Norman Pitkin in On the Beat in 1962, while Chapman branched out, starring in the Danish folktale Venus fra Vestø, but Grimsdale and Pitkin were reunited for 1963's A Stitch in Time. Their final performance together was in The Early Bird in 1965, Wisdom's first film in colour. In all, he appeared alongside Norman Wisdom in five films. After Sir John Gielgud was arrested for "persistently importuning male persons for immoral purposes", Chapman started a petition to force him to resign from Equity. Sir Laurence Olivier reportedly threw Chapman out of his dressing room when he solicited his signature for the petition. From 1965 Chapman played mostly characters roles on television. His final role was as Mr. Callon for nine episodes of the BBC's seafaring melodrama The Onedin Line between 1971 and 1972. Chapman died of a heart attack in Brighton, East Sussex, England at the age of 75. Description above from the Wikipedia article Edward Chapman, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
 |
The Man Who Haunted Himself | Barton | 1970-09-17 |
 |
The Early Bird | Mr. Thomas Grimsdale | 1965-11-30 |
 |
Joey Boy | Tom Hobson | 1965-01-01 |
 |
Hide and Seek | McPherson | 1964-06-21 |
 |
A Stitch in Time | Mr Grimsdale | 1963-12-01 |
 |
Venus fra Vestø | 1962-12-21 | |
 |
The Big Deal | Sir Pierson Cale | 1961-03-03 |
 |
School for Scoundrels | Gloatbridge | 1960-03-24 |
 |
Oscar Wilde | Marquis of Queensberry | 1960-05-29 |
 |
The Bulldog Breed | Mr. Philpots | 1960-12-13 |
 |
The Square Peg | Mr Grimsdale | 1958-12-04 |
 |
Innocent Sinners | Manley | 1958-03-25 |
|
The Young and the Guilty | George Connor | 1958-01-01 |
 |
Doctor at Large | Wilkins | 1957-03-26 |
 |
Just My Luck | Mr. Stoneway | 1957-11-14 |
 |
Lisbon | Edgar Selwyn | 1956-08-17 |
 |
Bhowani Junction | Thomas Jones | 1956-05-01 |
 |
X the Unknown | John Elliott | 1956-09-21 |
 |
A Yank in Ermine | Duke of Fontenham | 1955-01-01 |
 |
The Love Match | Mr Longworth | 1955-02-01 |
 |
The End of the Road | Works Manager | 1954-01-01 |
 |
The Crowded Day | Mr. Bunting | 1954-10-01 |
 |
A Day to Remember | Mr. Robinson | 1953-11-10 |
 |
The Intruder | Lowden | 1953-10-18 |
|
The Cocktail Party | 1952-01-01 | |
 |
Folly to Be Wise | Joseph Byres M.P. | 1952-12-04 |
 |
The Ringer | Stranger | 1952-11-24 |
 |
The Card | Mr. Duncalf | 1952-02-25 |
 |
His Excellency | The Admiral | 1952-01-22 |
 |
The Magic Box | Father in Family Group | 1952-01-01 |
 |
Mandy | Ackland | 1952-07-29 |
 |
Gone to Earth | Mr. James | 1950-11-06 |
 |
Night and the City | Hoskins (uncredited) | 1950-06-15 |
 |
The History of Mr. Polly | Mr. Johnson | 1949-02-08 |
 |
Man on the Run | Chief Inspector Mitchell | 1949-05-20 |
 |
The Spider and the Fly | Minister for War | 1949-12-01 |
 |
Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill | Birkland | 1948-09-27 |
 |
It Always Rains on Sunday | George Sandigate | 1947-11-28 |
 |
The October Man | Mr. Peachy | 1947-08-28 |
 |
They Flew Alone | Mr. Johnson | 1942-06-29 |
 |
Eating Out with Tommy Trinder | Mr. Jones | 1941-02-21 |
 |
Ships with Wings | Papadopoulos | 1941-11-10 |
 |
Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It | Mr. Blenkinsop | 1941-05-17 |
 |
Turned Out Nice Again | Uncle Arnold | 1941-08-01 |
 |
Jeannie | Mr. Jansen | 1941-09-06 |
 |
The Briggs Family | Charley Briggs | 1940-09-07 |
 |
The Proud Valley | Dick Parry | 1940-04-06 |
 |
Law and Disorder | Detective Inspector Bray | 1940-07-06 |
 |
Convoy | Captain Eckersley | 1940-09-28 |
 |
Now You're Talking | Alf Small | 1940-03-01 |
 |
There Ain't No Justice | Sammy Sanders | 1939-06-17 |
|
The Nursemaid Who Disappeared | 1939-03-01 | |
 |
Poison Pen | Len Griffin | 1939-07-03 |
 |
The Four Just Men | B.J. Burrell | 1939-06-01 |
 |
Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday | Captain Edwin Fraser | 1939-12-01 |
|
Who Killed John Savage? | Inspector Chortley | 1938-06-05 |
|
Premiere | Lohrmann | 1938-01-20 |
 |
The Citadel | Joe Morgan | 1938-10-29 |
 |
Marigold | Mordan | 1938-11-03 |
|
Someone at the Door | Price | 1936-09-28 |
 |
The Man Who Could Work Miracles | Major Grigsby | 1936-07-23 |
 |
Rembrandt | Fabrizius | 1936-11-06 |
 |
Things to Come | Pippa Passworthy / Raymond Passworthy | 1936-03-31 |
|
The Divine Spark | Saverio Mercadante | 1935-06-01 |
 |
Blossom Time | Meyerhoffer | 1934-01-01 |
 |
Mister Cinders | Mr. Gaunt | 1934-01-01 |
 |
The Queen's Affair | Guard | 1934-03-01 |
 |
Girls Will Be Boys | Grey | 1934-10-29 |
 |
The Church Mouse | Wormwood | 1934-12-10 |
|
Happy Ever After | Colonel | 1932-09-23 |
 |
The Flying Squad | Sedeman | 1932-07-20 |
|
Tilly of Bloomsbury | Percy Welwyn | 1931-04-29 |
 |
The Skin Game | Dawker | 1931-02-26 |
 |
Juno and the Paycock | Captain Boyle | 1930-06-29 |
 |
Caste | Sam Gerridge | 1930-09-01 |
 |
Murder! | Ted Markham | 1930-07-31 |
