Quayle went on to perform in some of the best known films of all time,
many of them historical epics, including Lawrence of Arabia (1962),
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), and Anne of the Thousand Days (1969),
in which he earned an Academy award nomination for his portrayal of
Cardinal Wolsey, Lord Chancellor of England under Henry VIII. In all these roles he brought a certain believability
and screen presence that many of todays actors simply lack or try to
counterbalance with good looks or over obvious charm.
He
also played major roles in important TV miniseries such as Great Expectations
(1974), Moses the Lawgiver (1975), The Story of David (1976), and in
the epic Masada (1981). Here he played the roman engineer Rubrius Gallus,
responsible for the building of the great ramp. Only over shadowed by
O’Tooles character, which in my view, rivaled his portrayal of Lawrence
(similar characters in many ways). Quayle’s sensitive and pragmatic
engineer interacts well with O’Toole and David Warner and he certainly
looked the part.
In
addition, Quayle narrated films, wrote two books (Eight Hours From England
and On Such a Night) and continued to perform in stage productions in
London and New York. What made Quayle special was his discipline and
intensity. Watch him in any of his films and you will see a man consumed
by his role, a man who abandons his own identity to assume another's.
In performance, he is always busy, preoccupied, his brow furrowed by
the concerns of his character.
Fittingly,
he was pronounced a Knight of the Realm in 1985 for his acting achievements
and military service. He had started to write his memories when cancer
stuck him and the book was cut very short as this great man slowly fell
to this dreadful disease. Interestingly throughout these memories he
mentioned in passing a definite Christian outlook in much of this thinking.
Four years later, on October 20 1989, he died of cancer in London.
He had been married to Dorothy Hysen (1947-1989) for most of his adult
life whom in loved very dearly and Hermione Hannen (1934-1941).
Quotes
'To understand a man, you must know his memories. The same is true of
a nation'
Autobiographies:
'A
time to speak' 1990