John Van Eyssen

John Van Eyssen (born Matthew John Du Toit Van Eyssen,[1] 19 March 1922 – 13 November 1995) was a South African born actor, agent and film production executive. He moved to Britain following the Second World War, attending the Central School of Speech and Drama.[2] In 1951 and in 1954 he played the role of Lucifer in the York Cycle of Mystery Plays, first revived in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain.[3]

John Van Eyssen
Photo by Anthony Buckley, 1955
Born	Matthew John Du Toit Van Eyssen 19 March 1922 Fauresmith, South Africa
Died	13 November 1995 (aged 73) Fulham, London, England, UK
Occupation	Actor Literary agent Producer
Years active	1950–1991
Spouse(s)	Shirley Goulden (divorced 1977)
Partner(s)	Ingrid Bergman
Children	David van Eyssen

Van Eyssen appeared in films from 1950 as well as on stage (playing Cassio in Orson Welles' 1951 production of Othello, for example[4]) but achieved his greatest fame as an actor when he portrayed Jonathan Harker in the Hammer Film Productions version of Dracula (released as Horror of Dracula in the US) in 1958.[5]

He left acting in 1961 to become head of the Grade Organisation literary agency.[6] His subsequent clients were Franco Zeffirelli, Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller.[5] He left the business in 1965 to work for the UK division of Columbia Pictures, eventually becoming Managing Director in July 1969.[6] Among the films he oversaw were A Man for All Seasons (1966), Born Free (1966), Georgy Girl (1966), To Sir, with Love (1967), The Taming of The Shrew (1967), and Oliver! (1968).[5] Both Oliver! and A Man for All Seasons won Best Picture Academy Awards.[7] In 1970, he was promoted to Worldwide Head of Production (ex-USA) and moved to New York.

After his tenure at Columbia, Van Eyssen became an independent producer, returning to the UK in 1991 to establish Britain's premier showcase for talented young filmmakers, the Chelsea Film Festival.[8] He was longtime companion to Ingrid Bergman in the years before her death in 1982.[9]

His son, David Van Eyssen, is a US-based producer and director known for the webseries RCVR.[10][5]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	The Angel with the Trumpet	Albert Drauffer
1951	Murder in the Cathedral	5th Priest
1953	Four Sided Triangle	Robin
1953	Three Steps in the Dark	Henry Burgoyne
1954	The Men of Sherwood Forest	Will Scarlett
1955	The Cockleshell Heroes	Marine Bradley
1957	Brothers in Law	Mr. Forbes - Barrister.	Uncredited
1957	The Traitor	Lieut. Grant
1957	Quatermass 2	The P.R.O.
1957	Account Rendered	Clive Franklyn
1957	The One That Got Away	German prisoner #5
1958	Dracula	Jonathan Harker
1958	The Whole Truth	Archer
1958	Moment of Indiscretion	Corby
1959	Carlton-Browne of the F.O.	Hewitt
1959	Carry On Nurse	Surgeon Stephens
1959	I'm All Right Jack	Reporter #1
1959	Blind Date	Insp. Westover
1960	Make Mine Mink	Rowson	Uncredited
1960	The Criminal	Formby
1961	Exodus	Detective	Uncredited
1961	A Story of David	Joab
1963	Like Two Drops of Water		Uncredited

References

1. "John Van Eyssen". Archived from the original on 15 January 2009.
2. McFarlane, Brian; Slide, Anthony (5 May 2018). The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth Edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780719091391 – via Google Books.
3. Mystery Play Archive http://www.yorkmysteryplays.org/?idno=193&a=d&item_id=184&k=Eyssen
4. Othello (Orson Welles stage production)
5. Variety Staff (18 December 1995). "John van Eyssen".
6. 'Van Eyssen named MD Columbia (British)', Kinematograph Weekly vol. 625 no. 3223 19 July 1969
7. Levy, Emanuel (1 January 2003). All about Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards. Continuum. ISBN 9780826414526 – via Google Books.
8. "John Van Eyssen - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie". AllMovie.
9. "Excuse me Miss Sheperd, Elvis is on the line..." Bournemouth Echo.
10. RCVR

External links

• John Van Eyssen at IMDb