Geoffrey Matheson Gwyther (8 October 1892 – 27 July 1944) was an English singer, actor, songwriter, and composer.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b0/The_Cabaret_Girl.jpg/220px-The_Cabaret_Girl.jpg)
Gwyther was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, where he was taught by Geoffrey Shaw and took delight in the music of Henry Purcell.[1] From there, in 1910 he went on to New College, Oxford. In 1913, as a prelude to the musical Cupid in Clapham, there was a performance in the West End of his setting of William Blake's Songs of Innocence.[2] This was later performed at Gwyther's old school, under the direction of Shaw, and was well received.[1]
On 3 October 1914, soon after the beginning of the First World War, Gwyther was commissioned into the Suffolk Regiment as a second lieutenant, on probation, the army relying on his years as a cadet in an Officers Training Corps[3] at Gresham's.[4] In March 1915, he was confirmed in that rank.[5] By 1916, he had been promoted to lieutenant, and from April to June of that year had a temporary appointment as an instructor.[6] In 1917, he was still serving with his regiment in France,[1] now with the rank of Captain, but on 9 May 1917 was transferred to the retired list, due to ill health.[7]
On returning to civilian life, and in the years after the war, Gwyther became a successful singer and songwriter,[1] singing in musical theatre and also making appearances as an actor. In 1929, he played Kenneth McKay in the silent film Red Aces, directed by Edgar Wallace.[8]
Gwyther died on 27 June 1944 at the Bryn Mawr Hospital in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, following a heart attack. His obituary in The New York Times noted that he had been wounded in the First World War.[9]
Notes
edit- ^ a b c d Nathan Waring, "Gresham's", Chapter 4 in Bernarr Rainbow, Andrew Morris, Music in Independent Schools (2014), p. 270
- ^ "Cupid in Clapham", The Times, 29 November 1913
- ^ The London Gazette, 9 October 1914, Issue 28932, p. 8045
- ^ Alan Roderick Haig-Brown, The O.T.C. and the Great War (1915), p. 155
- ^ The London Gazette, 16 March 1915, Issue 29102, p. 2637
- ^ The London Gazette, 12 September 1916, p. 8907
- ^ The London Gazette, 18 May 1917, Supplement 30076, p. 4864
- ^ Ken Wlaschin, Silent Mystery and Detective Movies: A Comprehensive Filmography (2009), p. 189
- ^ "CAPT. GEOFFREY GWYTHER; English Actor, Composer Was Wounded in 1st World War" (obituary), The New York Times, 28 July 1944, accessed 9 February 2023 (subscription required)