Philip Merivale

English actor and screenwriter (1886–1946)

Viva Birkett

(m. 1912; died 1934)

Gladys Cooper

(m. 1937)

Children4, including John

Philip Merivale (2 November 1886 – 12 March 1946) was an English film and stage actor and screenwriter.

Life and career

Merivale was born in Rehutia, Manickpur, India, to railway engineer Walter Merivale (1855–1902) and Emma Magdalene Merivale ("Maggie"; née Pittman; 1854–1940); his father's profession meant the family lived in India, Costa Rica, and Barbados (where he was Manager of the Barbados Railway) before settling at Chiswick. Philip's sister, Dorothea, was married to the civil servant Sir Henry Bunbury, Accountant-General of the Post Office.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Merivale was a respected stage actor who entered the cinema during the silent era. Merivale appeared in twenty films and also scripted one. He died from a heart ailment aged 59.

He was twice married to:

the actress Viva Birkett (23 July 1912 – 27 June 1934); (four children: two daughters and two sons, including the actor John Merivale)^[4]^[5]^[6]
the actress Gladys Cooper (30 April 1937 – 12 March 1946).

Broadway roles

After creating the role of Col. Pickering in the London production of *Pygmalion*, Philip Merivale (second from right) played Henry Higgins opposite Mrs. Patrick Campbell (right) when Shaw's play was taken to Broadway (1914)

Philip Merivale and Patricia Collinge in the Broadway production of *Pollyanna* (1916)

Pygmalion (1914) – Henry Higgins
Pollyanna (1916) – Pendleton
The Road to Rome (1927) – Hannibal
Mary of Scotland (1933) – James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
Valley Forge (1934) – George Washington

Filmography

Trilby (1914) – Taffy Wynne
Whispering Shadows (1921) – Stephen Pryde
I Loved You Wednesday (1933) – (uncredited)
Give Us This Night (1936) – Marcello Bonelli
All In (1936, Writer)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) – Mr. Ashley Custer
Rage in Heaven (1941) – Mr. Higgins
Pacific Blackout (1941) – John Runnel
Lady for a Night (1942) – Stephen Alderson
This Above All (1942) – Dr. Roger Cathaway
Crossroads (1942) – Commissaire
Hangmen Also Die! (1943) – Policeman (uncredited)
This Land Is Mine (1943) – Professor Sorel
Lost Angel (1943) – Professor Peter Vincent
The Hour Before the Dawn (1944) – Sir Leslie Buchanon
Nothing But Trouble (1944) – Prince Saul
Tonight and Every Night (1945) – Reverend Gerald Lundy
Adventure (1945) – Old Ramon Estado
The Stranger (1946) – Judge Adam Longstreet
Sister Kenny (1946) – Dr. Brack (final film role)

References

^ United States of America Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 87th Congress, First Session, vol. 107, part 9, United States Government Printing Office (Washington), 1961, p. 12008
^ "Turtle Bunbury - Award-winning travel writer, historian and author based in Ireland". 2 November 2021.
^ "Collection: Correspondence of the Merivale Family, mainly of Walter Merivale, railway engineer, and his wife Emma Magdalene | Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts".
^ London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
^ Passenger Manifest SS Philadelphia 4 August 1906
^ The Play-pictorial: Volume 20