June 3, 1901– How astonishingly gay was that cast of Bewitched (1965-72): Paul Lynde, Dick Sargent, Agnes Moorehead, plus the star of the series Elizabeth Montgomery, a supporter of gay rights before it was cool?
American TV audiences of the 1960s might remember Maurice Evans as Samantha‘s father, Maurice (the character was originally named Victor when he was introduced), on Bewitched. I knew, of course, but most viewers were most likely unaware of Evans’ stellar Shakespearean resume. Evans insisted that his first name was pronounced the same as the name ‘Morris’. It was ironic then that his Bewitched character demanded that it be pronounced: ‘Maw-REESE’.
Evans first appeared on the stage in 1926 & joined the Old Vic Company in 1934, playing Hamlet, Richard II & Iago in his first season. His first appearance on Broadway was in Romeo & Juliet opposite Katharine Cornell in 1936, but he made his biggest impact in Shakespeare’s Richard II, a production whose unexpected success was the surprise of the 1937 Broadway season & allowed Evans to play Hamlet in 1938, the first time that the play was performed in its entirety in NYC. Also on Broadway where he was much loved: Falstaff in Henry IV, Part I (1939), Macbeth (1941), & Malvolio in Twelfth Night (1942) opposite Helen Hayes as Viola.
During WW 2, Evans was in charge of an Army Entertainment Section in the Central Pacific & he played his famous ‘G.I. version’ of Hamlet that cut the text of the play to make Prince Hamlet more appealing to the troops, an interpretation so popular that he took it to Broadway in 1945.
Evans specialized in the works of George Bernard Shaw, notably as John Tanner in Man & Superman & as King Magnus in The Apple Cart. He was also a successful Broadway producer of plays & musicals in which he did not appear.
Evans was a true pioneer, appearing in more American TV productions of Shakespeare plays than any other actor. Evans brought his Shakespeare productions to Broadway many times, playing Hamlet in 4 separate productions for a total of 883 performances, a Broadway record.
My favorite of Evans’ film roles is as Rosemary’s friend Hutch in Rosemary’s Baby (1968). Some of you kids might know him as orangutan Dr. Zaius in Planet Of The Apes (1968).
In my research I was not able to find out much about his lovers. Possibly, like other British actors of his generation, he preferred working class blokes & rough trade. Evans lived a great deal of his life in the USA, but in his last years, he returned to Britain. It does seem that one of Evan’s former lovers was his business manager David ‘Taffy’ Barlow, who made Evans’ last days all the more comfortable by hiring young rent boys to strip down & lie in the bed with him. This quite shocked some of his deathbed visitors. Evans took his final bow in 1989, taken by that damn cancer. He was 87 years old.
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