A Classic Player: Dennis King, 1897- 1971

By RORY LANCE

Dennis King

A MUSICAL LINEAGE

When we walk through the hallways and spaces throughout the club, we are surrounded by the images of players past and present. Often, a particular painting sparks some curiosity for further research and study. In my case, the patrician gentleman who guards the entrance to our balcony, Dennis King, was someone I wanted more information about.

Born in England in 1897, he spent the majority of his long and successful career in the United Sates, becoming a citizen in 1953. Combining a princely demeanor with a perfect profile, he was made for the stage, thanks to the surgeons who restored his good looks after he was wounded in the face by shrapnel during World War I.

King's many talents enabled him to find success in every genre and category of performance. Whether in comedy, drama, Shakespeare, contemporary, or most notably the musical stage, he found great acclaim. After Oscar Hammerstein heard him singing in a dressing room, he was immediately cast as the lead in the original Broadway production of "Rose-Marie," in which his beautiful baritone voice introduced one of the great love songs of the American musical theatre, “Indian Love Call."

King performed in dozens of plays and musicals on Broadway and in Hollywood, and was one of the first theatrical stars to appreciate the power of television. From the late 1940s through to the 1950s, King appeared in many plays and musicals produced specifically for television. If you would like to see Dennis King at the height of his powers in his prime, may I recommend his work in "Fra Diavolo," one of the three Laurel and Hardy Hollywood operettas. His beautiful voice, his threatening dramatic power, and his precision comic timing are all on unforgettable display.

Dennis King was the president of The Players from 1965 till shortly before his death in 1971. 

In 1956, his son, John Michael King, was cast in the role of Freddy Eynsford Hill in the original Broadway production of "My Fair Lady," in which he introduced the song “On The Street Where You Live.” A father and son, each introducing an iconic song of the American musical theatre, is hardly just a painting on the wall.

Rory Lance is the stage and pen name of Player Rory Schwartz. He is an accomplished character actor on both the musical and dramatic stages and in numerous film and television projects. He has also spent much of his career teaching and introducing young people to the joys and challenges of the theatre.