Laurence Hanray
Laurence Hanray (16 May 1874 – 28 November 1947), sometimes credited as Lawrence Hanray, was a British film and theatre actor born in London, England. He is also credited as the author of several plays and music hall songs.
Laurence Hanray was born Lawrence Henry Jacobs in St John's Wood on 16 May 1874, the son of Angelo Jacobs (c. 1851-1910), a glass manufacturer, and Leah (née Nathan; 1850/1851 - 1946).
His father changed his name to Angelo Jacobs Hanray, and with it the family name, after becoming bankrupt in 1897, although Laurence had been using the name Hanray professionally from at least 1892, when he appeared as a member of the Hermann Vezin Theatre Company in supporting roles in Hamlet and Macbeth at Her Majesties Theatre, Dundee.
Australian newspapers show he was in Australia and New Zealand from around 1901-04, appearing as Carraway Bones the undertaker in the farce Turned Up at the Theatre Royal, Perth, in May 1901, and subsequently at most of the main cities until June 1904. Travel records show him departing Sydney for Auckland in August 1901, and sailing from Sydney for London on 7 October 1904. He then resumed touring in Britain. In the 1911 census, Laurence Hanray (36), actor, is listed as residing at the Woolton Hall Hydropathic Hotel, Much Woolton, Lancashire, England.
Hanray married Dorothy Mary Chambers Farnsworth (1884-1918) in the Birkenhead district during the first quarter of 1914. She petitioned for divorce in 1917, but then died suddenly in London on 16 August 1918. Hanray married Lois Grace Heatherley (1892-1966) in Paddington during the same quarter his first wife died. Lois was also an actress and performed with Laurence at the Booth Theatre, Broadway, in 1921. They were also together in The Faithful Heart, she as Ginger and Laurence as Major Lestrade, at the Comedy Theatre, Haymarket. Travel records then show the couple arriving in New York in September 1922. He appeared in John Galsworthy's play Loyalties at the Gaeity Theatre on Broadway. They arrived in Liverpool in May 1923. The couple also played together in Escape at the Booth Theatre, Broadway in 1927, she as Miss Grace and he in multiple roles (the Fellow Convict, the Old Gentleman and the Farmer).
Laurence and Lois had a daughter, Ursula Susan Edith Hanray, on 16 November 1923. According to travel records, the family visited America from September 1927. Laurence also went on his own to Canada in September 1931, and also during 1939-1940. Ursula became a child actress, playing the title role in the first televised production of Alice Through The Looking Glass in 1937, and the young Queen Victoria in a London theatre in 1940.
Hanray worked almost up to his death; The Times reported in early September 1947 that he was to appear in a play at Dunfermline Abbey Theatre. He died at age 73 on 28 November 1947, following an operation at the Middlesex Hospital, London. Lois Grace Hanray died aged 74 on 25 April 1966.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 5.984 |
Birthday | 1874-05-15 |
Place of Birth | Hampstead, London, England, UK |
Also Known As | Lawrence Hanray, Lawrence Henry Jacobs, |
1932
Leap Year
0/0
'Affianced Foreign Office agent searches for mystery woman he loves.' (British Film Catalogue)
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Leap Year
1933
His Grace Gives Notice
0/0
'Butler inherits title but keeps it secret to woo employer's daughter.' (British Film Catalogue)
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His Grace Gives Notice
1933
The Private Life of Henry VIII
6.276/76
Renowned for his excess, King Henry VIII goes through a series of wives during his rule. With Anne Boleyn, his second wife, executed on charges of tre...
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The Private Life of Henry VIII
1942
Hatter's Castle
5.9/7
The year is 1880. On the outskirts of the fictional small Scottish town of Levenford there stands a strange building, half cottage, half castle, embra...
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Hatter's Castle
1938
Many Waters
0/0
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Many Waters
1943
My Learned Friend
6/15
An insane murderer is on the loose, and gunning for the men who put him away. Will Hay is on the list, and co-opts Claude Hulbert to try and stop him...
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My Learned Friend
1937
It's Never Too Late to Mend
5.8/4
An evil prison administrator cruelly abuses the inmates at his prison, until one day the tables are turned.
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It's Never Too Late to Mend
1935
Murder at Monte Carlo
0/0
A professor comes up with a system to win at roulette, and goes to the famous casino at Monte Carlo to try it out. When he turns up murdered and his "...
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Murder at Monte Carlo
1937
Moonlight Sonata
7/1
In this romantic tale Paderewski, the famed pianist, and two other plane crash survivors are guests of a Swedish baroness. Interwoven throughout this...
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Moonlight Sonata
1936
The Three Maxims
0/0
The Three Maxims are trapeze artists Pat (Anna Neagle), Toni (Tuilio Carminati) and Mac (Leslie Banks). After spending most of their careers in the sm...
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The Three Maxims
1944
Love Story
6.4/6
After discovering that she has only a short time left to live, concert pianist Lissa travels to Cornwall for the final fling of her life. While there,...
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Love Story
1944
On Approval
6.9/14
Two wealthy Victorian widows are courted tentatively by two impoverished British aristocrats. When one of the dowagers suggests that her beau go away...
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On Approval
1938
Julius Caesar
0/0
The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to ass...
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Julius Caesar
1933
The Man from Toronto
4/2
According to the terms of a will two strangers must marry. Leila (Jessie Matthews) is an English widow, and Fergus (Ian Hunter) is a Canadian bachelo...
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The Man from Toronto
1932
Wedding Rehearsal
4.6/5
The grandmother of a British nobleman, reluctant to marry, plays matchmaker. He outmaneuvers her by getting all of the matches married off .
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Wedding Rehearsal
1937
Action for Slander
0/0
A bankrupt officer, accused of cheating at cards, defends his honour with a writ.
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Action for Slander
1937
The Girl in the Taxi
6/3
In this British musical, set in Paris, an apparently upstanding husband and father spends his nights fooling around with wild women. His son, wanting...
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The Girl in the Taxi
1933
The Good Companions
5.8/4
Film musical taken from JB Priestley's novel about three musicians joining together to save a failing concert party, the Dinky Doos.
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The Good Companions
1937
The Last Chance
6/1
Alan Burmister leaves Devon on a secret gun-running expedition immediately after his engagement to Mary Perrin is announced; he returns at Christmas t...
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The Last Chance
1936
The Man Who Could Work Miracles
5.6/26
An ordinary man, while vigorously asserting the impossibility of miracles, suddenly discovers that he can perform them.
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The Man Who Could Work Miracles
1947
Mine Own Executioner
7/15
Fearing her husband could become a killer, a woman seeks a psychiatrist's help.
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Mine Own Executioner
1937
Midnight Menace
6.5/3
When a reporter is killed under mysterious circumstances, the political cartoonist on his paper begins to investigate on his own. He finds that a veng...
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Midnight Menace
1934
The Great Defender
4.8/5
Sir Douglas Rolls is a highly respected defence lawyer of many years experience. Now in rapidly failing health, he is advised to retreat from the cour...
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The Great Defender
1940
21 Days Together
6.1/26
After Larry Darrent accidentally kills his lover's blackmailing husband, someone else is arrested for the crime. When he is found guilty, Larry and Wa...
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21 Days Together
1934
Those Were the Days
7.5/2
A farce based on Arthur Wing Pinero's play 'The Magistrate' in which the son (John Mills) of a stern magistrate (Will Hay) visits a music hall against...
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Those Were the Days
1936
Someone at the Door
0/0
When Sally inherits a country house, her young brother Ronald, an aspiring journalist, hits on a sensational way to make his first big scoop: Sally wi...
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Someone at the Door
1933
Loyalties
6/2
A houseguest at an upper-class gathering, wealthy Jew Ferdinand de Levis, is robbed of £1,000 with evidence pointing towards the guilt of another gues...
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Loyalties
1934
Chu Chin Chow
4.3/3
Musical retelling of the "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" Arabian Nights tale.
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Chu Chin Chow
1937
Knight Without Armour
5.6/15
British agent working in Russia is forced to remain longer than planned once the revolution begins. After being released from prison in Siberia he pos...
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Knight Without Armour
1936
Lonely Road
6.2/3
Commander Stevenson, suffering from unrequited love drives to the coast while very drunk and interrupts some smugglers and informs Scotland Yard.
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Lonely Road
1934
Lorna Doone
5.8/2
High drama, set in the English moorland of the 1600s. John Ridd wants revenge on the criminal Doone family, but falls in love with the daughter of the...
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Lorna Doone
1936
Whom the Gods Love: The Original Story of Mozart and His Wife
5.2/4
Mozart biopic.
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Whom the Gods Love: The Original Story of Mozart and His Wife
1935
Drake of England
7/2
Imposing Canadian-born stage actor and playwright Matherson Lang was one of the twentieth century's great Shakespearean players, and became Britain's...
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Drake of England
1935
Brewster's Millions
6/1
Jack Brewster is a pennyless English lad who learns that he has inherited 6 million pounds sterling from a recently deceased relative. But soon learns...
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Brewster's Millions
1935
Mimi
5.2/4
A struggling playwright in 1850s Paris and his mate finds love that furnishes him with the inspiration he has long sought.
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Mimi
1932
Love on Wheels
0/0
A department store assistant becomes publicity conscious.
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Love on Wheels
1934
What Happened Then?
5/3
Young Raymond Rudford,sculptor, is on trial for slitting the throat of his uncle, who had adopted and raised him after Raymond's parent's died when he...
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What Happened Then?
1941
Quiet Wedding
4.2/5
A young couple become engaged, but enjoy a number of comedic aventures before their wedding day.
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Quiet Wedding
1941
The Ghost of St. Michael's
6.6/10
Will Hay, back in his role as a hapless teacher, is hired by a grim school in remotest Scotland. The school soon starts to be haunted by a legendary g...
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The Ghost of St. Michael's
1944
Hotel Reserve
6.5/17
A hunt for a spy, in a hotel in the South of France just before World War Two.
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Hotel Reserve
1930
Beyond the Cities
0/0
"A wealthy young man, through losing the bulk of his fortune, goes to Canada, where he encounters and loves the daughter of the scoundrel lawyer who h...
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Beyond the Cities
1937
Dark Journey
6.4/29
Madeline Goddard, is a British double agent who meets and falls in love with a German spy Baron Karl Von Marwitz during World War I. This tale of espi...
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Dark Journey
1935
Street Song
5.5/2
Lucy and her brother are struggling to make a go of their Soho pet shop, until Lucy meets Tom, a street singer.
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Street Song
1935
Adventure Ltd.
0/0
A British adventure film directed by George King
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Adventure Ltd.
1931
Her Reputation
0/0
A woman plans to boost her public profile by getting a divorce. She enlists the help of a male friend to act as co-respondent leading to a series of m...
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Her Reputation
1932
That Night in London
0/0
A young bank clerk steals £500 and plans to go on a spree before shooting himself but a bad girl turned good tries to convince him to return the money...
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That Night in London
1936
Beloved Impostor
0/0
A British musical film directed by Victor Hanbury
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Beloved Impostor
1932
The Faithful Heart
5.5/2
Herbert Marshall and Edna Best, husband and wife in 1933, star in the British drama Faithful Hearts. Best plays the daughter of Marshall, who years ea...
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The Faithful Heart
1937
Fire Over England
6/34
The film is a historical drama set during the reign of Elizabeth I (Flora Robson), focusing on the English defeat of the Spanish Armada, whence the ti...
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Fire Over England
1933
This Week of Grace
3.5/2
Grace Milroy loses her job working at a factory. However, through a strange set of circumstances, she is taken on as housekeeper at the nearby Swinfor...
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This Week of Grace
1934
The Rise of Catherine the Great
5.9/16
The woman who will become Catherine the Great marries into the Russian royal family when she weds Grand Duke Peter, the nephew of Empress Elizabeth. A...
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The Rise of Catherine the Great
1945
Read All About It
4.6/9
An account of the technique of reading the tabloid press in an intelligent manor via differing editorial techniques that leads to three styles of news...
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Read All About It
1937
Smash and Grab
5.8/4
John Forrest, an insurance investigator with a weakness for model railways, is on the trail of a gang of smash-and-grab thieves targeting Europe's mos...
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Smash and Grab
1938
A Royal Divorce
0/0
The love affair between the French Emperor Napoleon and the lady Josephine leads through Napoleon's rise to power and their eventual divorce.
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A Royal Divorce
1932
There Goes the Bride
6.4/5
A businessman's daughter runs away from an arranged marriage, only to find herself penniless and suspected of theft after she becomes the victim of a...
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There Goes the Bride
1945
Waterloo Road
6/16
During WW2 a former railway employee who had been drafted, goes AWOL to hunt down the spiv and draft dodger who is having an affair with his wife.
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Waterloo Road
1941
Old Mother Riley's Circus
3.8/4
Mother Riley takes over a circus on the point of closing down, and makes it a success.
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Old Mother Riley's Circus
1936
Rembrandt
6.6/32
A character study depicting the life of Rembrandt Van Rijn at the height of his fame in the mid 1600s. Beginning with the death of his wife, Rembrandt...
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Rembrandt
1947
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
6.4/17
A fatherless boy tries to make his fortune despite interference from his rich uncle.
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