{{Short description|American actor (1877–1936)}} {{No footnotes|biography|date=February 2009}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = O. P. Heggie | image = O. P. Heggie, c. 1918.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1877|9|17|df=y}} | birth_place = Angaston, South Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|1936|2|7|1877|9|17|df=y}} | death_place = Los Angeles, U.S. | occupation = Actor | image_size = | birth_name = Otto Peters Heggie | years_active = 1900–36 | spouse = Lillian C (1885–1974) | children = 3 }}
'''Oliver Peters Heggie''' ({{ne}} Otto Peters Heggie; 17 September 1877 – 7 February 1936), billed as '''O. P. Heggie''', was an Australian film and theatre actor best known for portraying the hermit who befriends the Monster in the film ''Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935). He was born Otto Peters Heggie at Angaston, South Australia to a local pastoralist. He was educated at Whinham College and the Adelaide Conservatoire of Music. He died in Los Angeles of pneumonia. He is buried at Woodside Cemetery in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts.<ref>Porter, H. ''Stars of Australian Stage and Screen'', 1965. Pps 69-72. Rigby, Adelaide (Australia)</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35407653 |title=DEATH OF OTTO P. HEGGIE |newspaper=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |date=10 February 1936 |access-date=9 June 2020 |page=16 |via=Trove }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129191945 |title=ADELAIDE FILM STAR |newspaper=The News |location=Adelaide |date=28 January 1929 |access-date=9 June 2020 |page=5|edition=SPORTING |via=Trove }}</ref>
==Career== {{more citations needed|date=October 2015}} Heggie appeared in local amateur dramatic companies before leaving his clerk position with the Union Bank, to pursue a career in acting and make his debut in ''Stolen Kisses'' in 1899 at the Theatre Royal, Adelaide.
He made his professional debut in ''A Message from Mars'' at the Palace, Sydney, in 1900. He later took the part of the messenger in the same play at the Bijou, Melbourne, and in the production that toured Australia and New Zealand under Walter Hawtrey. After appearing in productions of ''The Three Musketeers'', ''Secret Service'' and ''The Christian'', he left Australia in 1906 for England and was engaged firstly in a production at Margate on the Kent coast, before appearing on the London stage at the Criterion Theatre in a one-acter. He came to the notice of renowned actress Ellen Terry with his "Pippy" in the ''Lemonade Boy'' (October 1906). She hired him in January 1907 for her tour of America with ''Nance Oldfield'' (as Alexander Oldworthy) and ''Captain Brassbound's Conversion'' (Osman).
His subsequent London stage appearances included the part of Sam in ''Stingaree'' at the Queen's Theatre, and in 1909 the part of Henry French in ''The Strife'', which performed matinees at the Duke of York's, and evening performances at the Haymarket. He also appeared as Julius Baker in George Bernard Shaw's ''Misalliance'', as well as in Galworthy's ''Justice'' and in Pinero's ''Trelawny of The Wells''. He played Sherlock Holmes in ''The Speckled Band'', a portrayal much admired by Arthur Conan Doyle.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.liveauctionworld.com/Sir-Arthur-Conan-Doyle-ALS-Re-Holmes_i9692820 |title=Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ALS Re: Holmes |website=www.liveauctionworld.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726044017/http://www.liveauctionworld.com/Sir-Arthur-Conan-Doyle-ALS-Re-Holmes_i9692820 |archive-date=2014-07-26}}</ref> His cabman in Haddon Chambers' ''Passers By'' of 1911 was praised also.
After playing Maximilian Cutts in productions of ''The New Sin'' at the Royal Court and the Criterion in early 1912, he took his own production to America. It played firstly on 15 October 1912 at Wallack's Theatre, New York. On 26 October 1914, he appeared at the same house as Uriah Heep in an adaptation of David Copperfield called ''The Highway of Life''. In England, he appeared in J.M. Barrie's short play ''The Dramatists Get What They Want'' at the Hippodrome and took the lead in ''Androcles and The Lion'' (playing Androcles) at St James's. His Rev. Cyril Smith in G.K. Chesterton's first play ''Magic'' in 1914 at the Little Theatre was also highly praised.
Transferring to Broadway, he appeared in 1915 in the ''Man Who Married A Dumb Wife'' opposite Lillah McCarthy in its first presentation on an English speaking stage, reprised his role in ''Androcles'', as Peter Quince in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', and in Shaw's ''The Doctor's Dilemma''. He followed by playing solicitor's managing clerk Robert Cokeson in ''Justice'' (1916), Oliver Blayds in ''The Truth About Blayds'' (1922), and Old Man Minick in ''Minick'' (1924). He took part in numerous revivals of classics ranging from Shylock in ''The Merchant of Venice'' (1918) to Diggory in ''She Stoops to Conquer'' in 1928.
In 1927, he was seen by Norma Shearer and her husband, producer Irving Thalberg, in the Players Club revival of ''Trelawny of the Wells''. The couple persuaded Heggie to move to Hollywood, where he made his first film appearance in the silent film ''The Actress'' (1928) starring Shearer and based on the stage show. The film is now considered lost. Other Broadway appearances included ''Spellbound'' and ''Out of the Sea'' in 1927, ''The Beaux Stratagem'' in 1928, ''They Don't Mean Any Harm'', and a revival of ''The Truth About Blayds'' in 1932. His later film appearances include as Louis XI in ''The Vagabond King'' (1930) and Anne Shirley's adoptive father in ''Anne of Green Gables'' (1934). His last work on Broadway was as William Owen in ''The Green Bay Tree'' (1933).
Heggie appeared in at least 27 films, including ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (1934), ''The Letter, The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu, The Mighty, The Wheel of Life, The Bad Man, The Swan, Too Young to Marry, One Romantic Night, East Lynne'' (1931), ''Playboy of Paris, Sunny, Madame Jule, Devotion, Peck's Bad Boy, Ginger'', and ''Smilin' Through'' between 1928 and his death in 1936.
==Partial filmography== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * ''The Actress'' (1928) – Vice-Chancellor Sir William Gower * ''The Letter'' (1929) – Howard Joyce * ''The Wheel of Life'' (1929) – Col. John Dangan * ''The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu'' (1929) – Inspector Nayland Smith * ''The Mighty'' (1929) – J.K. Patterson * ''The Vagabond King'' (1930) – King Louis XI * ''The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu'' (1930) – Inspector Nayland Smith * ''One Romantic Night'' (1930) – Father Benedict * ''The Bad Man'' (1930) – Henry Taylor * ''Playboy of Paris'' (1930) – Philibert * ''Sunny'' (1930) – Peters * ''East Lynne'' (1931) – Lord Mount Severn * ''Too Young to Marry'' (1931) – Cyrus Bumpstead * ''The Woman Between'' (1931) – John Whitcomb * ''Devotion'' (1931) – Mr. Emmet Mortimer * ''Smilin' Through'' (1932) – Dr. Owen * ''The King's Vacation'' (1933) – Joel Thorpe * ''Zoo in Budapest'' (1933) – Dr. Grunbaum * ''Midnight'' (1934) – Edward Weldon * ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (1934) – Abbe Faria * ''Peck's Bad Boy'' (1934) – Duffy * ''Anne of Green Gables'' (1934) – Matthew Cuthbert * ''A Dog of Flanders'' (1935) – Grandfather Jehan Daas * ''Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935) – Hermit * ''Chasing Yesterday'' (1935) – Sylvestre Bonnard * ''Ginger'' (1935) – Rexford Whittington * ''The Prisoner of Shark Island'' (1936) – Dr. MacIntyre (final film role) {{div col end}}
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== {{Commons category|O. P. Heggie}} *{{IBDB name}} *{{IMDb name|0373773}} *{{Find a Grave|53765499}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heggie, O. P.}} Category:1877 births Category:1936 deaths Category:Australian expatriate male actors in the United States Category:Australian male film actors Category:Australian male stage actors Category:20th-century Australian male actors Category:People from Angaston, South Australia