Productions
The original production at the Royal Court was directed by Tony Richardson, with décor by Alan Tagg.
- Original cast
- Billy – George Relph
- Jean – Dorothy Tutin (replaced by Joan Plowright when the play moved to the West End)
- Phoebe – Brenda De Banzie
- Archie – Laurence Olivier
- Frank – Richard Pasco
- Gorgeous Gladys – Vivienne Drummond
- Brother Bill – Aubrey Dexter
- Graham – Stanley Meadows
Revivals have starred Max Wall (Greenwich Theatre, 1974); Peter Bowles (Shaftesbury Theatre, 1986); Corin Redgrave (Liverpool Playhouse, 2004); and Robert Lindsay (Old Vic, 2007).
In 1974, Jack Lemmon appeared as Archie in a two-hour film version of the play made for American television, and Michael Gambon starred in a production for the BBC in 1993.
Read more about this topic: The Entertainer (play)
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—Herman Melville (1819–1891)