{{Short description|English actor and screenwriter (1896–1953)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Reginald Purdell | image = Reginald Purdell, 1935.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Purdell in 1935 | birth_name = Reginald William Henry Grasdorff | birth_date = {{Birth date|1896|11|04|df=yes}} | birth_place = Clapham, London, England, UK | death_date = {{Death date and age|1953|04|22|1896|11|04|df=y}} | death_place = Kensington, London, England, UK | other_names = | occupation = Actor, screenwriter, film director | years_active = 1930 – 1952 | spouse = }}
'''Reginald Purdell''' (4 November 1896 – 22 April 1953) was an English actor and screenwriter who appeared in over 40 films between 1930 and 1951.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9f809563|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711153957/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9f809563|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-11|title=Reginald Purdell|work=BFI}}</ref> During the same period, he also contributed to the screenplays of 15 feature films, such as ''The Dark Tower'', and had a brief foray into directing with two films in 1937.
==Early life== Purdell was born in Clapham, London,<ref>"Grasdorff, Reginald W H", in Register of Births for Wandsworth Registration District, vol. 1d (December 1896), p. 694</ref> the son of Charles William Grasdorff by his marriage to Mary Ann Piddill.<ref>Marriages Mar 1881: GRASDORFF, Charles William, and PIDDILL, Mary Ann, in Register of Marriages for Newport Monmouthshire, vol. 11a (1881), p. 191</ref> At the 1881 census, a few weeks after the marriage, the couple were living in Monmouthshire, and his father stated his name as Carl H. W. Grasdorff, giving his place of birth as Germany, about 1844, while his mother gave hers as Cardiff, about 1857.<ref>1891 Census for Monmouthshire, Wales, household of Carl H W Grasdorff and Mary A Grasdorff</ref> Grasdorff was naturalized as a British subject under the name of Carl Hermann Wilhelm Grasdorff.<ref>"Grasdorff, Carl H. W". In United Kingdom Naturalisation Certificates and Declarations, 1870-1916</ref> Mary Ann Grasdorff's maiden name of Piddill, suitably improved, later provided their son's stage name.
In 1892, Grasdorff was listed as "Grasdorff, Carl H. W., Newport, Monmouthshire, and Bute Docks, Cardiff, Sailing and Steamship Broker, Coal Exporter, and Managing Steamship Owner".<ref>''The Weekly Notes'', Volume 27 (Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales, 1892) p. 131</ref><ref>James William Dawson, "Commerce and customs: a history of the ports of Newport and Caerleon" (1932), p. 114</ref>
Both parents were living in Clapham in 1901.<ref>Carl H W Gerasdorff, Spouse Mary A Gerasdorff, Census for 1901</ref>
==Career== As a young man, under the name of Reginald Grasdorff, he served in the British Army with the South Wales Borderers regiment for the duration of the First World War. On returning to civilian life after the war, he decided to try his luck as an actor under the name of Purdell and gained experience on the stage through the 1920s. His move into films in 1930 coincided with the advent of the talkie era in British cinema.
Purdell's first screen appearance was in the 1930 comedy ''The Middle Watch'', in a role he would later reprise in a 1940 remake.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/reginald-purdell-p107230|title=Reginald Purdell - Movies and Filmography - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b060265|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617152943/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b060265|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 June 2017|title=The Middle Watch (1940)}}</ref> He next travelled to Germany to feature in historical drama ''Congress Dances'', an ambitious and lavishly budgeted project by the UFA film company, involving the simultaneous filming of three versions of the same story in German, English and French in an attempt to prove that a European company could challenge the dominance of American studios in the new era of sound by delivering a continent-wide hit.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6bcb21d6|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013014612/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6bcb21d6|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 October 2018|title=The Congress Dances (1931)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/der-kongress-tanzt-v10784|title=Der Kongress Tanzt (1931) - Eric Charell - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref>
Purdell soon began to accumulate screen credits in a wide variety of films ranging from cheaply made quota quickies to more sophisticated productions. He showed a knack for playing comedy, and his 1930s films fell mainly into this genre, with occasional ventures into straight drama and thrillers. Purdell's screenwriting career began in 1932 and he was most productive in this field during the late 1930s, with only occasional ventures later in his career. He tried his hand at film directing in 1937 with two comedies ''Don't Get Me Wrong'', a Max Miller vehicle co-directed with Arthur B. Woods, and ''Patricia Gets Her Man''. Both films were reasonably well-received, but Purdell appears to have decided that directing was not for him, as there would be no more ventures in this area.
In the 1940s Purdell's acting career diversified, with fewer throwaway comedies and more appearances in high-quality dramatic vehicles. His credits included war dramas ''We Dive at Dawn'' and ''Two Thousand Women'', Gainsborough melodrama ''Love Story'', the notorious box-office flop musical ''London Town'' and the classic ''Brighton Rock''. Purdell's last screen appearance was in 1951.<ref name=nytimes>[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F14F83D5A117A93C1AB178FD85F478585F9 "Reginald Purdell, British Actor, Dead"] ''New York Times'', 23 April 1953. (Subscription required to read online)</ref>
==Personal life== In the summer of 1928, under his real name of Reginald William Henry Grasdorff, Purdell married May Watson at Wandsworth.<ref>"Grasdorff, Reginald W H, & Watson, May" in Register of Marriages for Wandsworth Registration District, vol. 1d (September 1928), p. 169</ref> They had a son in 1932, born in Kensington and registered under the name of John R. W. Grasdorff.<ref>Births 1932: John R W Grasdorff, mother's maiden name Watson, in Register of Births for Kensington Rrgistration District, vol. 1a (1932), p. 114</ref>
Purdell died on 22 April 1953,<ref name=nytimes/> at Kensington, London. His death was registered under the name of Reginald Purdell and his age stated as 57.<ref>Deaths 1953: PURDELL, Reginald, aged 57, in Register of Deaths for Kensington Registration District, vol. 5c (1953), p. 896</ref>
==Partial filmography== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * ''The Middle Watch'' (1930) - Cpl. Duckett * ''A Night in Montmartre'' (1931) - Tino * ''A Night Like This'' (1932) - Waiter (uncredited) * ''Congress Dances'' (1932) - Pepi * ''My Lucky Star'' (1933) - Artist * ''Crime on the Hill'' (1933) - Reporter * ''Up to the Neck'' (1933) - Jimmy Catlin * ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1933) * ''On the Air'' (1934) - Reggie * ''The Queen's Affair'' (1934) - Soldier * ''The Luck of a Sailor'' (1934) - Jenkins * ''What's in a Name?'' (1934) - Harry Stubbs * ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' (1934) - Dick Swiveller * ''Key to Harmony'' (1935) - Tom Kirkwood * ''Royal Cavalcade'' (1935) - Radio Listener * ''Get Off My Foot'' (1935) - Joe * ''Debt of Honour'' (1936) - Pedro Salvas * ''Where's Sally?'' (1936) - Dick Burgess * ''Crown v. Stevens'' (1936) - Alf * ''Hail and Farewell'' (1936) - Nobby * ''Side Street Angel'' (1937) - McGill * ''Ship's Concert'' (1937, Short) - Reggie * ''The Dark Stairway'' (1938) - Askew * ''Quiet Please'' (1938) - Algy Beresford * ''The Viper'' (1938) - Announcer * ''Simply Terrific'' (1938) - Sam Todd * ''Many Tanks Mr. Atkins'' (1938) - Pvt. Nuts Nutter * ''It's in the Blood'' (1938) * ''Q Planes'' (1939) - Pilot (uncredited) * ''His Brother's Keeper'' (1940) - Bunny Reeves * ''Pack Up Your Troubles'' (1940) - Tommy Perkins * ''The Middle Watch'' (1940) - Cpl Duckett * ''Busman's Honeymoon'' (1940) - MacBride * ''Fingers'' (1941) - Creeper * ''We Dive at Dawn'' (1943) - Coxwain - C / P.O. Dabbs * ''Variety Jubilee'' (1943) - Joe Swan * ''It's in the Bag'' (1944) - Joe * ''Bell-Bottom George'' (1944) - Birdie Edwards * ''Love Story'' (1944) - Albert * ''Two Thousand Women'' (1944) - Alec Harvey * ''Candles at Nine'' (1944) - Charles Lacey * ''Dreaming'' (1944) * ''London Town'' (1946) - Stage Manager * ''The Root of All Evil'' (1947) - Perkins * ''Holiday Camp'' (1947) - Redcoat * ''Captain Boycott'' (1947) - American reporter * ''A Man About the House'' (1947) - Higgs * ''Brighton Rock'' (1948) - Frank * ''Stage Fright'' (1950) - Police Car Driver (uncredited) * ''Files from Scotland Yard'' (1951) - Inspector Gower {{div col end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090114121440/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/17460 Reginald Purdell] at BFI Film & TV Database *{{IMDb name|0700791}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Purdell, Reginald}} Category:1896 births Category:1953 deaths Category:English male film actors Category:English film directors Category:English male screenwriters Category:Male actors from London Category:Actors from the London Borough of Lambeth Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:20th-century English male actors Category:20th-century English screenwriters Category:20th-century English male writers Category:People from Clapham