Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 1988

⏱️ 37 minutes

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Summary

At 97, the actress Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies reflects with interest on the prospect of being castaway and, in conversation with Sue Lawley, looks back over her long career. With a head well-stocked with music - and ringing with Shakespeare - she is determined to survive. But she isn't proposing to be castaway for long. She's already plotting a plan of escape. In the meantime, she looks back on her long and fascinating career in the theatre, which began with advice from Ellen Terry, took her into the Gaiety Chorus (at the back) and eventually, after success in The Immortal Hour, to some of the great Shakespearian roles.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Liebestod (from Tristan and Isolde) by Richard Wagner Luxury: Large bottle of toilet water

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello I'm Kirstie Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.
0:05.0	For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.
0:08.0	The program was originally broadcast in 1988 and the presenter was Sue Lawley. My castaway this week is an actress whose life is a history of the English theatre in the 20th century.
0:35.0	As a classical actress, she received her greatest acclaim for her performance of Juliet,
0:40.0	but she also created the part of Eve in Shaw's Back to Methusela. She first appeared on the West End
0:45.4	stage 77 years ago. Now, in retirement, she uses her remarkable memory to recall not only the great words that she spoke, but the great people with whom she worked.
0:57.0	She is Gwen Francon Davis.
1:00.0	Gwen, I wonder if you were able to walk back on the stage tomorrow, in what part would it be and who would you be playing with?
1:10.0	It's a third of your question, but I think actually on consideration it probably would be the
1:19.8	young Juliet.
1:22.4	And I suppose John Gilgood as he was when I played it when he was even younger
1:27.9	than I was. It was the fulfillment of a dream So it was for both John and me a thrilling time. We became
1:37.4	rather the sort of, you know, the prize exhibits of that particular season and we were
1:41.7	invited out and we
1:42.8	everybody made a great fuss and well I think we took it all with a certain amount of
1:47.9	modesty but of course we were very thrilled I certainly was.
1:51.4	Well now our desert island is a wonderful place for actors and
1:55.4	actresses because you can march about there and declaim to your heart's
2:00.0	content relive all the great parts that you've ever played with no interruption.
2:04.0	Are you looking forward to that?
2:06.0	Well, I'm not really looking forward to be alone on a desert island at all.
2:11.0	I don't care for being totally alone. Even with the Fantas Margoria of all
	...

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