William Henry Redfield (January 26, 1927 – August 17, 1976) was an American actor and author who appeared in many theatrical, film, radio, and television roles.
Early years
Born in New York City, Redfield was the son of Henry C. Redfield and the former Mareta A. George. His father was a conductor and arranger of music, and his mother was a chorus girl with the Ziegfeld Follies.[1]
Other Broadway credits include Excursion (1937), Virginia (1937), Stop-over (1938), Junior Miss, Snafu, U.S.A., Barefoot Boy With Cheek (1947), Montserrat (1949), Misalliance (1953), Double in Hearts (1956), Midgie Purvis (1961), A Minor Adjustment (1967) and The Love Suicide at Schofield Barracks (1972).
During his acting career, Redfield served as an infantryman during WWII, holding the rank of technician fifth grade.[1]
Author
Redfield was a columnist for Playfare Magazine and collaborated with Wally Cox on Mr. Peepers, a book about the television character with that name.[1]
Most significantly, he authored "Letters From An Actor", first copyrighted in 1966. It consists of letters written to his friend, Robert Mills, between January and August of 1964 and chronicles the rehearsals and performances of Hamlet. This production was conceived and directed by Sir John Gielgud as a modern-dress "rehearsal" of the play. Hamlet was played by Richard Burton; during rehearsals in Toronto he and Elizabeth Taylor were married for the first time. Redfield, cast as Guildenstern, witnesses the enormous difficulty of both acting in and directing Hamlet while also trying to manage celebrity and notoriety.
This classic book of the theater was out of print for several decades, until a new edition was published in March 2024 in response to a production of "The Motive and The Cue", a play by Jack Thorne. The play is based in part on Redfield's history of the Geilgud-Burton production of Hamlet. Sam Mendes, who directed "The Motive and The Cue", wrote the foreword to the new edition of "Letters From An Actor."
^Garfield, David (1980). "Birth of The Actors Studio: 1947-1950". A Player's Place: The Story of the Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 52. ISBN978-0-0254-2650-4. Lewis' class included Herbert Berghof, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Mildred Dunnock, Tom Ewell, John Forsythe, Anne Jackson, Sidney Lumet, Kevin McCarthy, Karl Malden, E.G. Marshall, Patricia Neal, William Redfield, Jerome Robbins, Maureen Stapleton, Beatrice Straight, Eli Wallach, and David Wayne.
^Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
