One of these photographs was discovered by my sister, Karen, ‘sandwiched’ behind another family portrait in an old picture frame. The other was also ‘hidden away’ for many years. Both are now seeing the light-of-day again here…..

The first picture is a slight challenge to date.  The theatrical makeup, slight ageing for his character part and his more gaunt appearance creates an illusion of maturity. But to hazard a guess, this could have been taken around 1954, as there are definite similarities with how Ian looked whilst at the Central School of Speech and Drama (when featured in the Picture Post article published in March of that year).  Alternatively, it could be slightly later – after he had left college and during one of his spells at the Hornchurch Theatre or Oxford Playhouse.

But if I were to place a bet, it would be 1954.

In this second photograph, we can see Ian as he appeared in the late 1950’s, when the use of brylcreem was obviously still at it’s height! There are very close similarities with the picture used in the press article ‘Tomorrow’s Lead‘ published in Plays and Players, May 1958.

Ian’s ‘star’ was emerging at this time and after a successful run at the Oxford Playhouse, Jean Anouilh’s play ‘Dinner With The Family’ and his part as Jacques, transferred to the London West End.

We’ll be posting some more interesting finds shortly.

Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Website of Ian Hendry

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Further Reading

A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography: Read:  ‘Send in the Clowns – The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry’ by Gabriel Hershman

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