Tuesday 21 June 2011

Hidden London: Anton Walbrook's grave

Emigré Austrian actor Anton Walbrook featured as the master of ceremonies in Max Ophüls' La ronde (1950) and was a particular favourite of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, starring in 49th Parallel (1941), The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) and, most memorably, as the impresario Boris Lermontov in The Red Shoes (1948), alongside Moira Shearer. He manages to be sad and dashing, which is probably why I like him.

Walbrook's final resting place (pictured top) is in the extension of St-John-at-Hampstead, NW3, tucked neatly beside the grave of George du Maurier (above). Both can be seen easily from Church Row, while nearby lie the graves of actors Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and Kay Kendall; the main churchyard is home to the tombs of two Johns, Constable and Harrison (below, click for larger version), inventor of the marine chronometer.

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