Robert Donat

In 1929, Donat married Ella Annesley Voysey, a young actress he had met while working at Liverpool Repertory Theater. The couple had two sons, Brian and John and a daughter, Joanna. The couple divorced in 1946.

In 1953, Donat married actress Renée Asherson. The couple did not have any children. Though they remained married till his death in 1958, they lived separately.

Donat suffered from acute asthma, which made him very weak. Later he was also diagnosed with a brain tumour, as big as a duck egg. He died on 9 June, 1958 of cerebral thrombosis. His left his entire estate to his three children.

Robert Donat was born on 18 March 1905 to Ernst Emil Donat, who was a civil engineer and Rose Alice (née Green) at Withington, Manchester. He was the youngest child of his parent’s four children.

Donat was educated at the Central High School for Boys, now known as Manchester Academy. During this time, he developed serious speech impairment and to cure it he was put under reputed elocutionist James Bernard at the age of eleven.

While providing speech therapy Bernard was quick to recognize his latent acting talent and took him in his hand. He not only cured his stammering, but also helped him get rid of his Lancashire accents.

After leaving school at fifteen Donat began to work as Bernard’s secretary. This enabled him to continue his training. At the same time, he also began to take part in several dramatic recitals.

In 1921, sixteen year old Donat joined Henry Baynton’s company and began his acting career with the role of Lucius in ‘Julius Caesar’. Later he played the role of Fleance in ‘Macbeth’; Balthasar in ‘Romeo and Juliet’; Robin in ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ and Black Page in ‘The School for Scandal’.

In 1924, he shifted to Sir Frank Benson’s Shakespearean company with the role of Lord in ‘As You Like It’. Here he kept on sharpening his skills and slowly started getting major roles. Some time now, he also got associated with Liverpool Repertory Theater and began to work for both.

From early 1930s, along with acting on stage, Donat began to appear for film auditions without much success. In 1932, he got a chance to play Gideon Sarn in‘Precious Bane’. The play brought him long awaited recognition.

He then continued stage shows and received great acclaim, especially in that year’s Malvern Festival.This was also the year, when he was asked to appear for an audition by Alexander Korda, one of the leading film producers and directors of England.

The script required Donat to laugh. Although his performance was not up to the mark Korda could see his acting talent in his laughter. He immediately put Donat under contract for three years. Thus in 1932, Donat made his film debut in Korda’s ‘Men of Tomorrow’.

Robert Donat is best remembered for his role in ‘Goodbye Mr. Chips’. In this film, he played the part of an old school master, Charles Edward Chipping. The film shows Chipping entering a boys’ boarding school as a master at the age of 25 and now at 83, he is shown recalling his life in flashback.

During the course of the film, Robert was required to age from 25 to 83 and this he tackled beautifully. According to MGM records, the film earned $1,717,000 in the US and Canada and $1,535,000 elsewhere ensuing a profit of $1,305,000.