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
Les cheveux d'or (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, L'amiral mène la danse (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 Demoiselle en détresse (1937), L'homme qui vint dîner (1941) (his character "Beverly Carlton" brilliantly lampooning Noël Coward) and La folle ingénue (1946). In later years, Gardiner became a regular on television as co-star of The Pruitts of Southampton (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.
In 1936, he appeared in his first Hollywood film, L'amiral mène la danse (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 Demoiselle en détresse (1937), L'homme qui vint dîner (1941) (his character "Beverly Carlton" brilliantly lampooning Noël Coward) and La folle ingénue (1946). In later years, Gardiner became a regular on television as co-star of The Pruitts of Southampton (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.
