Bruce Belfrage Explained

Bruce Belfrage
Birth Date:	1900 10, df=yes
Birth Place:	Marylebone, London
Death Date:	August 1974
Death Place:	Sydney, Australia
Nationality:	British
Education:	Gresham's School
Alma Mater:	St John's College, Oxford
Occupation:	Actor, broadcaster
Relations:	Sydney Henning Belfrage, father Frances Grace Powley, mother Joan Henley, first wife Joyce Belfrage, second wife Julian Belfrage, son Cedric Belfrage, brother Sally Belfrage, niece Nicolas Belfrage, nephew Bryan Powley, uncle
Known For:	BBC newsreader during World War II

Bruce Belfrage (30 October 1900  - August 1974) was an English actor and BBC radio newsreader.^[1] He was casting director at the BBC between 1936 and 1939, and founded the BBC Repertory Company in 1939.^[2]

Early life

Bruce Belfrage was born in Marylebone, London, the son of Sydney Henning Belfrage and Frances Grace (née Powley).^[1] His younger brother was the author and journalist Cedric Belfrage.^[3] He was educated at Gresham's School before taking an honours degree in modern languages at St John's College, Oxford.^[4]

Career

Belfrage is reported as performing on stage in London with The Strolling Players in February 1923.^[5] He played in a notable triumph—A Sleeping Clergyman—with Robert Donat in 1933 and in BBC radio plays in 1934.^[6] He appeared in his first film in 1932.^[2] He was a broadcaster in the early days of 2LO at Savoy Hill, and in 1935 joined the BBC as a casting director and later became a news reader and announcer.^{[1] [7]}

In a famous incident on 15 October 1940, the BBC's Broadcasting House took a direct hit from a delayed-action German bomb, which eventually exploded during the nine o'clock radio news read by Belfrage.^{[1] [8]} Seven people were killed, and Belfrage, covered with plaster and soot, carried on reading the news as if nothing had happened.^{[1] [8]} Listeners at home heard just a dull thud.^[8] He enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve in 1942, and was demobilized with the rank of lieutenant-commander.^[1]

Belfrage was an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the South Buckinghamshire division at the 1950 general election.^[9] He polled 16.5%, and never contested another election.^[1]

Migration to Australia

In September 1958, for health reasons, Belfrage migrated to Australia with his second wife Joyce, a TV producer.^[10] They lived in Melbourne for seven months and transferred to Sydney in 1959.^[11] Joyce Belfrage quit the ABC in 1962 to work in the advertising industry and initiate a programme of media studies at Macquarie University.^[12]

Death

Bruce Belfrage died in Sydney at the age of 73.^[1] He was married to the actress Joan Henley, with whom he had a son, Julian Rochfort Belfrage.^[13] After his divorce from Henley, Belfrage married Joyce Belfrage.^[14]

Filmography

• C.O.D.. (1932) - Philip^[15]
• The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) - Pitt^[16]
• Too Many Millions (1934)^[17]
• Full Circle (1935) - Clyde Warren^[18]
• War Front (1941) - Newspaper editor^[19]
• Hue and Cry (1947) - BBC announcer^[20]
• Man on the Run (1948) - BBC Newscaster^[21]
• I Killed the Count (1948) - Viscount Sorrington^[22]
• Corridor of Mirrors (1948) - Sir David Conway^[23]
• Black Magic (1949) - Crown Prosecutor^[24]
• Warning to Wantons (1949) - Archimandrite^[25]
• Ten Little Niggers (1949) - Sir Lawrence Wargrave^[26]
• The Case of Charles Peace (1949) - Prosecution Counsel^[27]
• Miss Pilgrim's Progress (1950) - Manager^[28]
• Mister Drake's Duck (1951) - Air Vice Marshal^[29]
• Home to Danger (1951) - Solicitor^[30]
• The Galloping Major (1951) - Himself/Radio Commentator^[31]
• Never Look Back (1952) - Judge^[32]

Publication

One Man In His Time, by Bruce Belfrage. Published by Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1951^[33]

External links

• Bruce Belfrage at the National Portrait Gallery
  • Audio of Bruce Belfrage reading the news

Notes and References

1. Obituary in The Times, Mr Bruce Belfrage, 17 August 1974, p.14
2. Encyclopedia: Belfrage, Bruce . The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth Edition. Brian. McFarlane. Anthony. Slide. 2013. Manchester University Press. 62. 9780719091391 . 6 July 2019. Google Books.
3. Book: Maxford, Howard. Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. 2 November 2018. McFarland. 44. 9781476629148. Google Books.
4. Web site: Who's who of 475 Liberal Candidates Fighting the 1950 General Election. Liberal Party (Great. Britain). 24 June 2019. Liberal Party; Scottish Liberal Party. 10. 24 June 2019. Google Books.
5. News: Harold . Chapin . The Marriage of Columbine: Performance by The Strolling Players . The Times . 17 February 1923 . 24.
6. News: BBC Programmes—Home Stations, National . The Times . 15 February 1934 . 8.
7. Web site: House of Commons: With Full Results of the Polling, Biographies of Members and Unsuccessful Candidates, Photographs of All Members, and a Complete Analysis, Statistical Tables, and a Map of the General Election. 30 June 2019. Times Office. 165. 30 June 2019. Google Books.
8. Book: Harvey, A. D.. Collision of Empires: Britain in Three World Wars, 1793-1945. 674. 1 January 1992. A&C Black. 9781852850784. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
9. Book: Craig, Fred W. S. British parliamentary election results, 1950-1970. 29 June 1971. Political Reference Publications. 9780900178023. 29 June 2019. Open WorldCat.
10. Book: British Theatre Review. 29 June 1975. Vance-Offord Publications Limited. 9780903931076 . 29 June 2019. Google Books.
11. Sitsky, Bob. Extract of interview by Graham Shirley, Joyce Belfrage Talks about the ABC, at website of ABC TV, Gore Hill.
12. Web site: [Biographical cuttings on Joyce Belfrage, University Lecturer, Macquarie University, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals]]. 29 June 2019. 29 June 2019. Trove.
13. Web site: OBITUARIES: JULIAN BELFRAGE. 6 January 1995. The Independent. 29 June 2019.
14. Book: Maxford, Howard. Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. 2 November 2018. McFarland. 9781476629148. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
15. Book: Powell, Michael. Michael Powell: Interviews. 29 June 2019. Univ. Press of Mississippi. 9781578064984. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
16. Book: Slide, Anthony. Fifty Classic British Films, 1932-1982: A Pictorial Record. 18 January 2013. Courier Corporation. 9780486148519. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
17. Book: Slide, Anthony. Fifty Classic British Films, 1932-1982: A Pictorial Record. 18 January 2013. Courier Corporation. 9780486148519. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
18. Book: The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth Edition. Brian. McFarlane. Anthony. Slide. 29 June 2019. Oxford University Press. 9780719091391. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
19. Book: Gifford, Denis. British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. 1 April 2016. Routledge. 9781317740636. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
20. Book: Gifford, Denis. British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. 1 April 2016. Routledge. 9781317740636. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
21. Web site: Bruce Belfrage. https://web.archive.org/web/20190703093940/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba31858ce. dead. 3 July 2019. BFI.
22. Web site: Radio Times. 29 June 2019. G. Newnes. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
23. Book: Mayer, Geoff. Guide to British Cinema. 29 June 2019. Greenwood Publishing Group. 9780313303074. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
24. Web site: The Film Daily Year Book of Motion Pictures. 29 June 2019. Film Daily. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
25. Book: Gifford, Denis. British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. 1 April 2016. Routledge. 9781317740636. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
26. Book: Palmer, Scott. The films of Agatha Christie. registration. bruce belfrage ten little niggers.. 29 June 1993. Batsford. 9780713472059 . 29 June 2019. Internet Archive.
27. Book: Gifford, Denis. British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. 1 April 2016. Routledge. 9781317740636. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
28. Book: Gifford, Denis. British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. 1 April 2016. Routledge. 9781317740636. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
29. Book: Warren, Bill. Keep Watching the Skies!: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties, The 21st Century Edition. 12 January 2017. McFarland. 9781476625058. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
30. Book: Hutchings, Peter. Terence Fisher. 29 June 2019. Manchester University Press. 9780719056376. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
31. Book: Gifford, Denis. Entertainers in British Films: A Century of Showbiz in the Cinema. 1 January 1998. Greenwood Press. 9780313307201. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
32. Book: Maxford, Howard. Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. 2 November 2018. McFarland. 9781476629148. 29 June 2019. Google Books.
33. Book: Belfrage, Bruce. One man in his time.. 3 July 1951. Hodder and Stoughton. 7897336.