Laurence Hanray (16 May 1874 – 28 November 1947), sometimes credited as Lawrence Hanray, was a British film and theatre actor born in London, England. He is also credited as the author of several plays and music hall songs.Laurence Hanray was born Laurence (or Lawrence) Henry Jacobs in St. John's Wood, on 16 May 1874, the son of Angelo Jacobs (c. 1851-1910), a glass manufacturer, and Leah Nathan (1850-1946). His father changed his name to Angelo Jacobs Hanray, and with it the family name, after becoming bankrupt in 1897, although Laurence had been using the name Hanray professionally from at least 1892, when he appeared as a member of the Hermann Vezin Theatre Company in supporting roles in Hamlet and Macbeth at Her Majesties Theatre, Dundee. Australian newspapers show he was in Australia and New Zealand from around 1901 to 1904, appearing as Carraway Bones the undertaker in the farce Turned Up at the Theatre Royal, Perth, in May, 1901, and subsequently at most of the main cities until June 1904. Travel records show him departing Sydney for Auckland in August 1901, and sailing from Sydney for London on 7 October 1904. He then resumed touring in Britain. In the 1911 census, Laurence Hanray (36), actor, is listed as residing at the Woolton Hall Hydropathic Hotel, Much Woolton, Lancashire, England.Hanray married Dorothy Mary Chambers Farnsworth (1884-1918) in the Birkenhead district during the first quarter of 1914. She petitioned for divorce in 1917, but then died suddenly in London on 16 August 1918. Hanray married Lois Grace Heatherley (1892-1966) in Paddington during the same quarter his first wife died. Lois was also an actress and performed with Laurence at the Booth Theatre, Broadway, in 1921. They were also together in The Faithful Heart, she as Ginger and Laurence as Major Lestrade, at the Comedy Theatre, Haymarket. Travel records then show the couple arriving in New York in September 1922. Laurence appeared in John Galsworthy's play Loyalties at the Gaeity Theatre on Broadway. They arrived in Liverpool in May 1923. The couple also played together in Escape at the Booth Theatre, Broadway in 1927, she as Miss Grace and he as The Fellow Convict, The Old Gentleman and The Farmer.Laurence and Lois had a daughter, Ursula Susan Edith Hanray, on 16 November 1923. According to travel records, the family visited America from September 1927. Laurence also went on his own to Canada in September 1931, and also during 1939-1940. Ursula became a child actress, playing the title role in the first televised production of Alice Through The Looking Glass in 1937, and the young Queen Victoria in a London theatre in 1940.Laurence worked almost up to his death; The Times reported in early September 1947 that he was to appear in a play at Dunfermline Abbey Theatre. He died aged 73 on 28 November 1947, following an operation at the Middlesex Hospital, London. Lois Grace Hanray died aged 74 on 25 April 1966.
Daughter with Heatherley: Ursula Susan Edith Hanray (Ursula Hanray).
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Dignified, balding British character actor, the son of a glass manufacturer. Educated at the City of London School, he acted on stage from as early as 1892. On screen, he typically played refined gentlemen, be they nobility or well-to-do professional men. He also acted on Broadway from 1922. In films, he was particularly effective in miserly or austere roles in period drama. He was noteworthy in several of Alexander Korda's films in the 1930's, seen to best effect as Archbishop Cranmer in The Private Life of Henry VIII. (1933).
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Mine Own Executioner
1947
Dr. Lefage
The Green Pack
1947
TV Movie
Dr. Thurston (as Lawrence Hanray)
Larry the Lamb
1947
TV Movie
Mr. Growser (as Lawrence Hanray)
Everyman
1947
TV Movie
Discretion
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
1947
Mr. Gride
A Hundred Years Old
1946
TV Movie
Papa Juan (as Lawrence Hanray)
Waterloo Road
1945
Traveller to Basingstoke (uncredited)
Read All About It
1945
Short
Bostock (uncredited)
A Lady Surrenders
1944
Angus Rossiter
Hotel Reserve
1944
Police Commissioner (as Lawrence Hanray)
On Approval
1944
Parkes (as Lawrence Hanray)
My Learned Friend
1943
Sir Norman
Let the People Sing
1942
Bit Role (uncredited)
A.J. Cronin's Hatter's Castle
1942
Dr. Lawrie
Courageous Mr. Penn
1942
uncredited
Old Mother Riley's Circus
1941
Cheddar, KC
Quiet Wedding
1941
Mr. Williamson (uncredited)
The Ghost of St. Michael's
1941
Clerk of Court (uncredited)
21 Days Together
1940
Solicitor
The Rising Sun
1939
TV Movie
Old Strong, his father (as Lawrence Hanray)
The Great Adventure
1939
TV Movie
Dr. Pascoe (30th May 1939 version) (as Lawrence Hanray)
The Missing People
1939
Rake's Progress
1939
TV Movie
George Kearsey, his printer (April) / Mr. Webb, Solicitor to the Treasury (May) (as Lawrence Hanray)
The Pilgrim's Progress
1939
TV Movie
Wordly Wiseman and Judge Hategood (as Lawrence Hanray)