That venerable British actor Michael Craig celebrates his 95th birthday this very day! Born Michael Francis Gregson, he began his career in theatre as an assistant stage manager and was finally spotted in a role at Oxford Playhouse and began a series of walk-on parts in notable films until finally he got speaking parts and thereafter became a regular performer in a range of British films. Perhaps his best role in the 50s was in the fantastic war film Sea of Sand which earned him a BAFTA nomination as Best Actor but he was also creative behind the scenes and co-wrote The Angry Silence with Bryan Forbes and his own brother, producer and screenwriter Richard Gregson, who would go on to marry Natalie Wood. Never exactly the big international star envisaged by the Rank Organisation, a combination of striking good looks, a sense of charm and decency and sheer talent made him a reliable leading man and his roles varied from social justice films like Sapphire, a romcom like Doctor in Love, to the terrific Jules Verne adventure Mysterious Island and more complex co-productions like Sandra. He would return sporadically to the stage in such great plays as A Whistle in the Dark and The Homecoming as well as maintaining a career in Australia where he even featured in oddball cult favourite western horror Inn of the Damned. Interviewed about the ins and outs of his long career in the business by Talking Pictures TV channel in 2018, he published his memoir The Smallest Giant: An Actor’s Life, in 2005. Happy birthday, Michael Craig, we salute you for your career, your smarts, your longevity and your contribution to cinema!
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