Career
He was born at 45 Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, now in Haringey, London, the son of a builder. He was educated at Wood Green’s Trinity County Grammar School, where, aged eight, he joined the school choir.[5]
By the age of ten Hawkins had joined the local operatic society, and made his stage debut in Patience by Gilbert and Sullivan. His parents enrolled him in the Italia Conti Academy and whilst he was studying there he made his London stage debut, when aged eleven, playing the Elf King in Where the Rainbow Ends at the Holborn Empire on Boxing Day, December 1923, a production that also included the young Noël Coward.[5] The following year aged 14 he was playedthe page in a production of Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw.[6] Five years later he was in a production of Beau Geste alongside Laurence Olivier.[4]
He appeared on Broadway in Journey's End by the age of 18.[7]
1930s
Hawkins began appearing in films in the 1930s, including Birds of Prey (1930), The Lodger (1932),The Good Companions (1933), The Lost Chord (1933), I Lived with You (1933), The Jewel (1933), A Shot in the Dark (1933) and Autumn Crocus (1934).
He was also in Death at Broadcasting House (1934), Lorna Doone (1934), Peg of Old Drury (1935), Beauty and the Barge (1937), The Frog (1937), Who Goes Next? (1938), A Royal Divorce (1938), Murder Will Out (1939), The Flying Squad (1940) and The Next of Kin (1942).
World War Two
During World War II Hawkins served as an officer with the Royal Welch Fusiliers.[8] He became a colonel in ENSA for India and Southeast Asia.[8].
Post-War Career
Hawkins left the army in July 1946. Two weeks later he appeared on stage in The Apple Cart at ten pounds a week. The following year he starred in Othello, to a mixed reception.[9]
Hawkins wife fell pregnant and he became concerned about his future. He decided to accept a contract with Alexander Korda for three years at £50 a week. Hawkins had been recommended to Korda by the latter's production executive, Bill Bryden, who was married to Elizabeth Allen, who had worked with Hawkins.[9]
The association began badly when Hawkins was cast in Korda's notorious flop Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948). However he followed it with a good role in a successful movie, The Fallen Idol (1948) for Carol Reed. ; , for Alexander Korda; The Small Back Room (1949), for Powell and Pressberger; State Secret (1950), for Sidney Gilliat.
Hollywood hired him for a lead role in The Black Rose (1950), shot in Europe with Tyrone Power. He made another with Powell and Pressberger, The Elusive Pimpernel (1950), then shot The Adventurers (1951) in South Africa. No Highway in the Sky (1951) starred James Stewart. It was followed by Home at Seven (1952).
In the spring of 1951 he went to Broadway and played Mercutio in a production of Romeo and Juliet with Olivia de Havilland.[9]
Stardom
Hawkins became a star with the release of three successful films in which he played stern but sympathetic authority figures: Angels One Five (1951), The Planter's Wife (1952), and Mandy (1952).
In 1952 British exhibitors voted him the fourth most popular local star at the box office.[10]
He consolidated this status with The Cruel Sea. Sir Michael Balcon said, "Even before the script was written, we knew it had to be Jack Hawkins. If he hadn't been free to
play the part, then there wouldn't have been a film."[9] The Cruel Sea was the most successful film of the year and saw Hawkins voted the most popular star in Britain regardless of nationality.[11]
Malta Story (1953) was another military-themed hit - the ninth most popular film in Britain in 1953.[12] Twice Upon a Time (1953) was less successful as was The Intruder (1953) and Front Page Story (1954).
The Seekers (1954) was partly shot in New Zealand and had Hawkins in a rare romantic role. ""My film wives to date usually stay home and knit, or else have conveniently died before the film starts." he said.[13] It was followed by The Prisoner (1955).
He was voted the fifth biggest star at the British box office for 1954, and the most popular British one.[14][15] "It's an enviable position, I know," said Hawkins. "But I have to be more careful now about the parts I choose, and it's hard not to offend people. Everyone thinks his own script is the best."[16]
He turned down the role of Colonel Carne in The Glorious Gloucesters for Warwick Films and Captain Cook for a project for the Rank organisation[17]; neither movie was made.
"I'm tired of playing decent fellows," he said in a 1954 interview, "with stiff upper lip and even
stiffer morals. I'm going to kill them off before they kill me as an actor. And I want stories written for me, not rejects intended for other fellows... I just inherit them from other people. Often, I find they've left the name of the actor originally suggested for the role. Always the same old names . . . Errol Flynn, Gregory Peck . . . five or six others. Before the script reaches them, somebody remembers me — especially if it's one of those infernally nice characters."[18]
International Star
Hawkins received an offer to go to Hollywood and play a pharaoh in Land of the Pharaohs (1955). He returned home to make Touch and Go (1955), The Long Arm (1956), The Man in the Sky (1957) and Fortune Is a Woman (1957).[11][19]
He had a good role in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), supporting William Holden and Alec Guinness. He starred in a film for John Ford, Gideon's Day (USA title: Gideon of Scotland Yard) (1958).
He was awarded the CBE in 1958.
The Two-Headed Spy (1958) was not particularly successful, but Ben-Hur (1959), in which Hawkins had the third lead, was a massive hit. He appeared as one of The Four Just Men (1959) in the Sapphire Films TV series for ITV.[20]
Popular in Britain was The League of Gentlemen (1960).
In reality Hawkins was politically liberal, and an emotional man, in sharp contrast to his conservative screen image. One of his favourite films, The League of Gentlemen, was considered quite groundbreaking for its time in its references to sex. However, though initially sought for the role of a gay barrister in Victim, he turned it down fearing that it might conflict with his masculine image.[21] The role was eventually played by Dirk Bogarde.[22]
Character Actor
Hawkins drifted into character parts: Lafayette (1961), Two Loves (1961) and Five Finger Exercise (1962). Lawrence of Arabia (1962) cast him as General Allenby. There was also good roles in films like Rampage (1963), Zulu (1964), The Third Secret (1964), Guns at Batasi (1964), Lord Jim (1965) and Masquerade (1965).[23]
Illness
A three-packet-a-day chain smoker, Hawkins began experiencing voice problems in the late 1950s; unknown to the public he had undergone cobalt treatment in 1959 for what was then described as a secondary condition of the larynx, but which was probably cancer. In private, he used a mechanical larynx to aid his speech.[24] In December 1965, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. His entire larynx was removed in January of the following year; thereafter his performances were dubbed, often (with Hawkins's approval) by Robert Rietti or Charles Gray. Hawkins continued to smoke after losing his voice.[25]
Hawkins continued to play primarily military figures: Judith (1966), Danger Grows Wild (1966), Shalako (1968), Great Catherine (1968), and Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). He had an operation to restore his voice in 1968.[26]
Some rare comedies followed with Monte Carlo or Bust (1969) and Twinky (1970) before more routine assignments:The Adventures of Gerard (1970), Waterloo (1970), Jane Eyre (1970), The Beloved (1971), When Eight Bells Toll (1971), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) and Kidnapped (1971).
The Last Lion(1972), shot in South Africa, offered him a rare lead. It was followed by Young Winston (1972), Escape to the Sun(1972), Theatre of Blood (1973), and Tales That Witness Madness (1973).
Hawkins also produced the film adaptation of Peter Barnes's The Ruling Class (1972), with Peter O'Toole and Alastair Sim.[27]
