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Gerald Fielding

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Gerald Fielding
Born(1902-07-06)6 July 1902
Died3 June 1956(1956-06-03) (aged 53)
EducationCambridge University
OccupationActor Radio Executive
Spouse(s)Barbara Macleod
(m. 1931, wid. 1940)
RelativesXan Fielding (nephew)
Vivien Leigh (first cousin)

Gerald Claude Feilmann, known as Gerald Fielding (6 July 1902 – 3 June 1956)[1] was a British-Indian actor.

Early life

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Fielding was born in Darjeeling, India to Percy Feilmann and Mary Patricia Yackjee. He was the fifth of eight children. Percy Feilmann changed the family surname from Feilmann to Fielding in 1918 because of its German association. The Feilmanns were originally Jews from Hamburg, while Mary was half-Armenian and half-Irish. That same year, Gerald's eldest sister Mary Gertrude died giving birth to the future author and adventurer Xan Fielding, who Percy and Mary subsequently adopted. Actress Vivien Leigh was his first cousin, as their mothers were sisters.[2]

In 1920, the entire family moved to Nice, where they resided in the newly built Château Fielding. He moved to England to study at Cambridge University but returned after his father's death in 1925. After his mother's death in 1932, was made guardian to his youngest siblings, Lawrence and Patricia, as well as his nephew Xan Fielding.[citation needed]

Career

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He was discovered in France by director Rex Ingram, who saw him as the natural successor to Ramon Novarro and Rudolph Valentino because of his swarthy skin and black hair.[3] Because of his Armenian heritage and his ability to speak in a convincing Indian accent, he was cast as an Arab in The Garden of Allah (1927).[4] His brother Claude Fielding (born 1904, later known as Paul C. Fielding) also appeared in the film. However, while Gerald Fielding was able to appear in many films for the next two decades, Claude failed to secure any further roles. Their cousin Vivien Leigh gave him $500 in 1941 "because he was enduring an awful time."[5]

In 1928, he played Bobbie in The Three Passions, which featured Alice Terry (his future lover) and a teenage Merle Oberon as an extra.[citation needed]

Gerald married Barbara MacLeod, six years his junior, on 2 September 1931. Macleod struggled with alcoholism and committed suicide in front of Fielding on 27 May 1940.[6] Later that year, Fielding became a naturalized American. In the 1950s, he had a relationship with Alice Terry, the widow of his former director. He died in 1956.[citation needed]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1926 The Magician Dancing Faun Directed by Rex Ingram
1927 The Garden of Allah Batouch Directed by Rex Ingram
1928 The Three Passions Bobbie Directed by Rex Ingram
1928 Morgane, the Enchantress Fanch
1928 The Orchid Dancer Doulaze
1929 L'évadée Olivier Lambert
1931 Just a Gigolo Tony
1931 I Take This Woman Bill Wentworth
1932 The Night Club Lady Guy Everett Uncredited
1933 Goodbye Love Dunwoodie - Sandra's Beau
1934 The Scarlet Empress Lt. Dmitri Directed by Josef von Sternberg
1935 The Price of a Song Michael Hardwicke
1936 The Man Behind the Mask Harrah
1939 The Jones Family in Hollywood Movie Studio Actor Uncredited
1939 A Chump at Oxford Student Brown
1940 New Moon Party Guest Uncredited
1940 Arise, My Love Uniformed English Correspondent Uncredited
1941 They Met in Bombay Officer Uncredited
1942 Captains of the Clouds Flight Lt. Holt Uncredited
1944 Our Hearts Were Young and Gay Deck Officer Uncredited
1947 Forever Amber Cavalier Uncredited
1947 It Had to Be You Stuyvesant Peabody Keyes Uncredited, (final film role)

References

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  1. ^ "BFI | Film & TV Database | FIELDING, Gerald". Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  2. ^ Strachan, Alan (2019). Dark Star. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 9780755600571.
  3. ^ "Gerald Fielding". The Charleston Daily. 27 March 1927.
  4. ^ "Gerald Fielding Owes Career to Birth in India". The Syracuse Herald. 25 September 1932.
  5. ^ Vickers, Hugo (1989). Vivien Leigh. Little Brown. ISBN 9780316902458.
  6. ^ "Former Film Actress Shot". The Evening Independant. 27 May 1940.
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