Maurice Evans, one of the best-known Shakespearean actors of the 1930s and 40s, died Sunday in a nursing home in Rottingdean, near Brighton, England. He was 87.
For more than a decade, starting with his acclaimed Richard II in 1937, Evans represented Shakespeare to American audiences through his frequent and highly popular appearances on Broadway and in productions that toured the United States.
After Richard II came his prince of Denmark in a full-length ”Hamlet,”
his Falstaff in ”Henry IV, Part I,” his Malvolio in ”Twelfth Night” and his ”Macbeth.”
During World War II, he delighted thousands of GIs with a streamlined version of ”Hamlet” that toured Pacific military bases.
Mr. Evans, who was born in Dorchester, England, became an American citizen in 1941 and served in the Army during World War II.
His career also included a close association with the works of George Bernard Shaw, and New York audiences saw him in such plays as ”Saint Joan,” ”Man and Superman,” ”The Devil`s Disciple,” ”The Apple Cart” and
”Heartbreak House.”
But in 1952, after so many years devoted to the classics, Mr. Evans had his greatest success in ”Dial M for Murder,” a suspense drama by Frederick Knott that ran on Broadway for 552 performances.
He re-created many of his stage successes on television, including
”Hamlet,” ”Richard II,” ”Macbeth,” ”Man and Superman,” ”Twelfth Night,” ”Dial M for Murder” and ”The Tempest.”
By far his best-known television role, however, was as Elizabeth Montgomery`s warlock father in ”Bewitched.”
A gum chewer and chain smoker, Mr. Evans relaxed by doing the cooking, plumbing, carpentry and masonry work at his various residences. For many years he owned a home in Ridgefield, Conn., and a cabin on an island in one of the Saranac Lakes in New York.
At the end of the 1960s, Mr. Evans returned to England and lived quietly in the Surrey countryside that he loved.
He is survived by a brother, Hugh Evans, who lives in London.
![The last thing most business owners want is to be taxed and regulated, but hemp business owners are asking for just that — as a way to keep their industry alive. Hemp entrepreneurs came out Tuesday in favor of a proposal to license hemp sales, require testing and labeling of their products, prohibit products that look like well-known snack brands, and limit sales to those 21 and over. The bill also would impose taxes on the products. That proposal stands in contrast with a bill backed by the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois, which would prohibit sales of hemp-derived intoxicating […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/CTC-L-Hemp-regulations-07_187484400.jpg?w=506 "The last thing most business owners want is to be taxed and regulated, but hemp business owners are asking for just that — as a way to keep their industry alive. Hemp entrepreneurs came out Tuesday in favor of a proposal to license hemp sales, require testing and labeling of their products, prohibit products that look like well-known snack brands, and limit sales to those 21 and over. The bill also would impose taxes on the products. That proposal stands in contrast with a bill backed by the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois, which would prohibit sales of hemp-derived intoxicating […]")