John Harvey

died 16 December 1981

Greenleaf Road Drama Group

John was a member of this, the first local amateur dramatic society I belonged to. I took my first 'real' stage steps outside school here, between 1974 and 1981, and didn't realise for some years just how lucky I had been to work with actors and directors of exceptionally high calibre.

John was one of the most powerful actors in the groups. I remember him particularly as Prospero in The Tempest, as the Marquis de Sade in Marat / Sade, and especially as Deputy Governor Danforth in The Crucible. He also directed me in my first 'real' part: The Girl in Lunch Hour, a one-act play by John Mortimer.

I heard of John's illness on my return at half-term from my first year away at college in Yorkshire. His heart attack had reduced him from a strong and impressive presence to a frail man much older than his years. I owed him a great deal in my apprenticeship days on local stages, and remember him with huge affection.

Click on any of the smaller images below.