john gregson biography

John Gregson and June Thorburn
True as a Turtle, 1957

JOHN GREGSON - BIOGRAPHY

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John Gregson was born on March 15th 1919, the sixth child of Ernest and May Gregson (nee Breen). He was baptised Harold Thomas. One child, Ruth, had died of measles before he was born. He had one brother Ernest and three sisters Mollie, Chris and Stella.

He was born at 1 Crawford Avenue, Sefton Park, Liverpool. The family moved to the Wirral for about two years when John was young and by the time he was nine they were living at 147 Mill Lane, Wavertree. When he was 16 his father died suddenly of a heart attack and the family moved to a larger house at 22 Limedale Road, Mossley Hill so that his mother could take in paying guests. The house was shared with the family of his now married brother. By this time, John’s eldest sister, Mollie, had entered an enclosed order of nuns.

John attended Greenbank Road primary school later St.Francis Xavier school. After leaving school at 16 he worked for a telephone company and then Liverpool Corporation before joining the Royal Navy, sailing on minesweepers for the six years of the second world war. His minesweeper was torpedoed and he was rescued from the sea with a knee injury for which he received a pension. During the time between leaving school and entering the navy he discovered an interest in amateur dramatics, gaining experience with his local Catholic Church group at St. Anthony’s, Mossley Hill and then with the Liverpool Playgoers Club. Even during the war he managed to fit in some amateur dramatic experience whenever possible.

When he was demobbed in October 1945 he joined the Liverpool Playhouse for a year, first appearing in “The Knight of the Burning Pestle.” John then moved to Perth Rep. Here he met his future wife, who had gone to Perth from Birmingham Rep. She was a Nottingham girl, Ida Reddish, at that time using the stage name Thea Kronberg. After their marriage she used the name Thea Gregory. They moved to London and married in 1947. John’s first London part was in “The Sleeping Clergyman” with Robert Donat Margaret Leighton. This was the first of many times when he was cast as a Scot.

His first film part was in “Saraband for Dead Lovers” which starred Stewart Granger but unfortunately John’s contribution ended up on the cutting-room floor. Parts in “Scott of the Antarctic” and “Whisky Galore!” followed. There were theatre successes too; “The Human Touch”(with Alec Guinness), “MacAdam and Eve” and “Seagulls over Sorrento.”

In 1951 John’s big film break arrived with his part as a Battle of Britain fighter pilot in “Angels One Five” starring Jack Hawkins, Michael Dennison and Dulcie Gray. This film brought him stardom and six more films in the following year. These films established his versatility; a mixture of comedy in “The Lavender Hill Mob,” “Titfield Thunderbolt,” and “Genevieve,” romance with Celia Johnson in “The Holly and the Ivy (mp3),” and drama in “The Brave don’t Cry” and “Venetian Bird.” “Genevieve” was a huge success and is the film by which he is best remembered today.

John went on to star as an Irish dustman in “Rooney,” a road mender in “Miracle in Soho” and a Belfast man who liked to drink and gamble in the comedy-drama “Jacqueline.” The only film in which John and his wife (Thea Gregory) both appeared was “The Weak and the Wicked.” Glynis Johns starred (in the 1954 film) as a gambler who goes to prison. John was the man who stood by her and Thea played a fellow prisoner who had to part with her baby. Diana Dors was John’s next co-star in a Yorkshire comedy called “Value for Money.” Then he returned to the sea for “The Captain’s Table”, “Above us the Waves” and “The Battle of the River Plate.” A comedy with the American film star Shelley Winters was released in this country as “To Dorothy a Son.”

Meanwhile, during these busy years John and Thea needed a larger home for their family. They moved from their flat in Barnes to a bigger one in Hampstead and from there to a house in Mill Hill. In 1959 they bought Creek House on the Thames in Shepperton from Bernard Braden and Barbara Kelly. Here they had the room they needed for the family; Nicholas, Catherine, John, James, Mary and Sally.

After 1960 John’s work concentrated more on television, with in 1964, 26 episodes of ”Gideon’s Way,” a detective series with a family background. He also did voice-over and advertising work (including Hamlet cigars) and continued to work in the theatre.

John featured in the television programme “This is your Life” in 1973. At the last minute the programme was in danger of being cancelled when his eldest sister, a nun in an enclosed order for 45 years, wrote to him, not understanding the need for secrecy, to say she had been contacted by Thames Television. Fortunately, Thea was able to intercept the letter. John also appeared on “Desert Island Discs.”

John died on January 8th 1975 aged 55. He was out walking while on holiday in Somerset when he suffered a fatal heart attack. There was a memorial service at Brompton Oratory where Sir Alec Guinness gave one of the readings. The following year his final work was televised. John took the part of an intelligence officer in a six part serial called “Dangerous Knowledge.”