Fred Groves (actor)

Fred Groves
Born(1880-08-08)8 August 1880
London, England
Died4 June 1955(1955-06-04) (aged 74)
London, England
OccupationActor
Years active1896–1950

Fred Groves (8 August 1880 – 4 June 1955) was a British actor of the celebrated Groves acting family.[1][2] On stage from 1896, he appeared in the original West End production of Noël Coward's Cavalcade (1931-2); and was a leading man in silent films, latterly becoming a character player in movies.[3][4] He appeared in the 1925 play Number 17 in the West End.

He was a son of Charles Groves (1843-1909), a well-known Victorian and Edwardian comedic actor who made appearances on Broadway and in London's West End.[5] He was also a nephew of the Fred Karno comedian Walter Groves (1856-1906), and a half-brother to the film and stage actor Charles Groves (1875-1955).

Among his feature film appearances was the comedy Sally In Our Alley. It marked the screen debut of Gracie Fields, an established music hall star. Gracie's husband, the screenwriter Archie Pitt was set to play the leading role of Alf Cope, but during the first week of filming, as Fields and Pitt were travelling back from shooting, their car crashed. Though Fields escaped injury, Pitt was forced to withdraw from the cast in order to recuperate. Due to his experience and availability, the role was quickly recast with Groves taking Pitt's place.[6]

  1. ^ "Fred Groves". Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  2. ^ "Fred Groves - Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  3. ^ "Production of Cavalcade - Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  4. ^ McFarlane, Brian (16 May 2016). The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9781526111975 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "D'Oyly Carte Opera Company". GS Archive: Who's Who. 22 March 2022.
  6. ^ ""Gracie Fields' Film: Car Accident Causes Archie Pitt's Withdrawal from Cast"". Kinematograph Weekly. 2 April 1931.