Frank Vosper

Frank Vosper
Frank Vosper
	Publicity still, autographed: 1933
Born	Frank Permain Vosper; 15 December 1899; Hampstead, London, England
Died	6 March 1937 (aged 37); at sea
Occupation(s)	Actor, dramatist/playwright, screenwriter

Frank Permain Vosper (15 December 1899, in London – 6 March 1937) was an English actor who appeared in both stage and film roles and a dramatist, playwright and screenwriter.^[4]^[5]

Stage

Vosper made his stage debut in 1919 and was best known for playing urbane villains.^[6]^[7]

His extensive stage experience included appearing in his own play Love from a Stranger (1936), adapted from the short story "Philomel Cottage" by Agatha Christie.^[3]^[8]

His screenplays included co-writing the comedy No Funny Business with Victor Hanbury (1933).^[9] He also co-wrote the adaptation of G.B. Stern's novel Debonair with the novelist which opened at the Lyric 23 April 1930. ^[10]

He also wrote People Like Us, based on the case of Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters.^[11] Banned by the Lord Chamberlain after a performance at the Strand Theatre featuring Atholl Fleming,^[12] it remained unperformed until 1948, when it premiered at Wyndham's Theatre in London, with Miles Malleson, George Rose, Robert Flemyng and Kathleen Michael.^[13]

Death

Vosper drowned on 6 March 1937, when he fell from the ocean liner SS Paris.^[14] His body was found several weeks later on 22nd March washed up on the shores near Beachy Head. The death was eventually ruled as accidental after considerable media speculation.^[3] Several newspapers reported that earlier in the evening Vosper had been attending a farewell party for Miss Muriel Oxford, "Miss Great Britain" of 1936, in her cabin, and that he had threatened suicide if she refused to marry him. Miss Oxford reported that her last conversation with Vosper was "quite normal" and that he never threatened suicide.^[15]^[16]^[17] According to the Daily Express Fiction Library edition of Murder on the Second Floor, Vosper fell from the French ocean liner SS Normandie, while contemporary newspaper accounts and the evidence produced at the inquest stated it was the liner SS Paris.^[2]^[18]^[15]^[16]^[17]

Filmography

Actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1926	Blinkeyes	Seymour	(film debut)
1926	The Woman Juror	Morgan	Short
1929	The Last Post	Paul
1932	Rome Express	M. Jolif
1933	Strange Evidence	Andrew Relf
1934	Waltzes from Vienna	Prince Gustav
	Dick Turpin	Tom King
	Red Ensign	Lord Dean
	Jew Suss	Karl Alexander
	Blind Justice	Dick Cheriton
	The Man Who Knew Too Much	Ramon Levine
	Open All Night	Anton
1935	Royal Cavalcade	Capt. Robert Falcon Scott
	Heart's Desire	Van Straaten
	Koenigsmark	Maj. Baron de Boise
1936	Spy of Napoleon	Napoleon III
1936	The Secret of Stamboul	Kazdim	(final film role)

Screenwriter

Year	Title
1932	Murder on the Second Floor
1932	Rome Express
1933	No Funny Business
1933	On Secret Service
1937	Love from a Stranger (based on his play)
1941	Shadows on the Stairs (based on his play)
1947	Love from a Stranger (based on his play)

Plays

The Combined Maze (1927)
Murder on the Second Floor (1929) - later adapted by Vosper into a novel of the same name.
Debonair (1930)
Love from a Stranger (1936)

References

^ National Probate Calendar, 1937, p. 245
^ ^a ^b ""Found Drowned" Verdict at Vosper Inquest". Eastbourne Gazette. 7 April 1937. p. 17.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Frank Vosper Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos".
^ "Frank Vosper". Archived from the original on 13 March 2017.
^ League, The Broadway. "Frank Vosper – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB".
^ Wearing, J. P. (27 March 2014). The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780810893023 – via Google Books.
^ "Frank Vosper". www.aveleyman.com.
^ "Philomel Cottage". www.agathachristie.com.
^ "No Funny Business (1933)". www.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016.
^ https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000563/19370306/005/0001. Retrieved 2 July 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ Kabatchnik, Amnon (1 January 2010). Blood on the Stage, 1925-1950: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection : an Annotated Repertoire. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810869639 – via Google Books.
^ "Music and Drama" Sydney Morning Herald 21 December 1929
^ "CONTEMPORARY ARTS » 15 Jul 1948 » The Spectator Archive".
^ "Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search".
^ ^a ^b "Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search".
^ ^a ^b "Nevada Mail - Google News Archive Search".
^ ^a ^b "The Owosso Argus-Press - Google News Archive Search".
^ "Prescott Evening Courier - Google News Archive Search".

External links

Frank Vosper at IMDb
Frank Vosper at the Internet Broadway Database
Portrait of the actor Frank Vosper by Thomas Staedeli at www.cyranos.ch Short biography and photograph of Vosper.

[1] National Probate Calendar, 1937, p. 245

[egazz-2] ""Found Drowned" Verdict at Vosper Inquest". Eastbourne Gazette. 7 April 1937. p. 17.

[auto-3] "Frank Vosper Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos".

[4] "Frank Vosper". Archived from the original on 13 March 2017.

[5] League, The Broadway. "Frank Vosper – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB".

[6] Wearing, J. P. (27 March 2014). The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780810893023 – via Google Books.

[7] "Frank Vosper". www.aveleyman.com.

[8] "Philomel Cottage". www.agathachristie.com.

[9] "No Funny Business (1933)". www.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016.

[10] ttps://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000563/19370306/005/0001. Retrieved 2 July 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

[11] Kabatchnik, Amnon (1 January 2010). Blood on the Stage, 1925-1950: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection : an Annotated Repertoire. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810869639 – via Google Books.

[12] "Music and Drama" Sydney Morning Herald 21 December 1929

[13] "CONTEMPORARY ARTS » 15 Jul 1948 » The Spectator Archive".

[14] "Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search".

[news.google.com-15] "Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search".

[https-16] "Nevada Mail - Google News Archive Search".

[ReferenceA-17] "The Owosso Argus-Press - Google News Archive Search".

[18] "Prescott Evening Courier - Google News Archive Search".

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Frank Vosper

Stage

Death

Filmography

Actor

Screenwriter

Plays

References

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