Frank Vosper

Frank Vosper (15 December 1899, in London – 6 March 1937) was a British actor and playwright.

Stage

Vosper made his stage debut in 1919 and was best known for playing urbane villains.

His extensive stage experience included appearing in his own play Love from a Stranger (1936), adapted from the short story Philomel Cottage by Agatha Christie.

His other plays included co-writing the comedy No Funny Business.

He also wrote People Like Us, based on the case of Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters. Banned by the Lord Chamberlain after a performance at the Strand Theatre featuring Atholl Fleming, it remained unperformed until 1948 when it premiered at the Wyndhams Theatre, London, with Miles Malleson, George Rose, Robert Flemyng and Kathleen Michael.

Filmography

His films as an actor included

• The Woman Juror (1926)
• Blinkeyes (1926)
• The Last Post (1929)
• Rome Express (1932)
• Strange Evidence (1932)
• Dick Turpin (1933)
• Waltzes from Vienna (1934)
• Red Ensign (1934)
• Open All Night (1934)
• Blind Justice (1934)
• Jew Suss (1934)
• The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
• Heart's Desire (1935)
• Royal Cavalcade (1935)
• Koenigsmark (1935)
• Secret of Stamboul (1936)
• Spy of Napoleon (1936)

Films as a writer included

• Murder on the Second Floor (1932)
• No Funny Business – 1933
• Shadows on the Stairs – 1941 (adapted from Murder on the Second Floor)

Death

Vosper drowned on 6 March 1937 when he fell from the ocean liner SS Paris. The death was eventually ruled as accidental after considerable media speculation as to the cause of the death.

According to the Daily Express Fiction Library edition of Murder on the Second Floor, Vosper fell from the French ocean liner SS Normandie, while contemporary newspaper accounts noted it was the liner,SS Paris.

External links

• Portrait of the actor Frank Vosper by Thomas Staedeli at www.cyranos.ch Short biography and photograph of Vosper.