Donat Family Letters

The archive consists of over 200 letters sent to Robert Donat's parents and brothers, all of whom settled in Canada and America. Most of the letters are from Robert Donat himself, although quite a large proportion sent during the period 1929-1946 were written by his first wife, Ella. From 1930, she would often sign letters 'Robella', to denote that they were sent jointly by the couple. There is also one letter (DON/258) from Donat's son John, written during his father's final illness. The most frequent recipient of the letters is Rose Donat, although before her husband Ernst's death, Donat would often write jointly to his parents, and to his brother John who lived with them in Connecticut. Some of the letters are also addressed to Donat's brother William (known as Bill), and there is a small number to his other brother Philip (or Phil).

The letters span a period of forty-one years, from Donat's adolescence to his final illness. They begin with some early poems and letters sent by the twelve-year-old Donat to his two eldest brothers who had already emigrated. The letters to his parents dating from the 1920s were sent during the periods Donat spent away from the family home when he was acting in different companies around Britain. Rose and Ernst Donat's emigration in 1928 is fortuitous for researchers in that correspondence became Donat's principal means of keeping in contact with his parents, resulting in the documentary evidence preserved in this archive; his first transatlantic telephone call to his family did not take place until 1950, when it was considered something of a novelty (as remarked on in letters DON/191-2).

The letters he sent to his family complement and augment the correspondence which forms part of Robert Donat's own archive (also held by the John Rylands University Library); the latter includes correspondence with friends and acquaintances involved in different aspects of theatre or film, as well as more official correspondence relating to contractual and other professional issues. The letters to his parents in the present archive contain some substantial discussions of his stage experiences and theatrical ventures; for instance, he sends them an account of his debut performance with Baynton's company in 1921, and reports on his subsequent experiences with Baynton, in Frank Benson's company, and at the Liverpool Playhouse, all in the 1920s. His later stage work is not discussed so fully, but he does comment on successes and failures, his experiences in the coveted role of actor-manager, and his thoughts on specific roles and plays. In these bulletins sent to his family we also find references to: his earliest ventures into radio work in the 1920s; his initial thoughts on, and entry into, film work; his only journey to Hollywood in 1934 to film The Count of Monte Cristo; his subsequent success as a high-profile film star negotiating lucrative contracts; progress with shooting his later films, and his interaction with the stars and directors involved; and his achievement in setting up his own independent production company in 1949 to make The cure for love, which, as he proudly announced to his parents (DON/174), saved a studio from closure and kept 200 people in work at a time of crisis in the British film industry. As these are personal letters they have an additional dimension which is absent from more official correspondence; he was able to be more frank in stating his opinions and discussing his personal thoughts, so these letters contain references to: his early lack of confidence and his anxiety to seek reassurance from others about his acting ability; the slow growth of his confidence and self-belief; his movement away from James Bernard, his early mentor; his transformation into a screen star with a strong awareness of his strengths as an actor and his box office value; his thoughts on his fellow actors, plays and writers; and his financial affairs, including the sums he was able to command as an actor, as well as issues relating to taxation, and the financial assistance offered to his family in America.

Family concerns are obviously prominent in the correspondence. The letters include references to: Donat's relationship with and marriage to Ella Voysey; the birth of their three children, and the children's activities and development over the years; their various homes; and Donat's separation and divorce from Ella after the war. His second wife Renée is also mentioned in the later correspondence. Although unable to visit his family in America very often, he clearly took an interest in their work, the development of John's farming business, and their health and welfare. His relationship with his father was never particularly close, but on a number of occasions in the correspondence he expresses his gratitude and appreciation for the opportunities his parents gave him, particularly the elocution lessons which formed 'the foundation of my whole creative life and the irremovable and irreplacable [sic] rock on which my career was built' (DON/190).

Donat's lifelong struggle against illness features throughout the correspondence. He reports on numerous hospitalizations and operations, and on his chronic asthma and frequent bronchitis; in later years he writes from various locations as he sought specialist medical advice and different treatments abroad. This was something he tried to play down and keep out of the public domain, and in this and other ways the letters to his family reflect the difficulties which inevitably came with film stardom and being in the public eye. Donat was frequently forced to deny the stories his family read about him in the American papers, and when sending news of his activities he often entreated his family not to discuss anything with the press.

As family correspondence, the letters contain various instances of family nicknames. Donat, who addresses his parents by a range of sobriquets, signs himself variously Bob, Rob, Robert (and even on one occasion Fritzie). Sometimes his brother John is addressed as 'Tisket', with Donat signing himself 'Tame' (both childhood nicknames). Ella often addresses Rose Donat as 'Ga': this was how the toddler Joanna referred to her grandmother when Rose visited the family in England during 1932-3. The recipients of Donat's letters - usually Rose or Ernst Donat - have also added dates, underlinings and other annotations to a number of the letters.

Friedrich Robert Donat, born on 18 March 1905 in Withington, Manchester, was the youngest child of Ernst Emil and Rose Alice Donat. Polish-born Ernst (1863-1939) originally trained as a civil engineer at Leipzig University, and subsequently moved to Manchester as the representative of a German cotton-spindle firm; he later worked as a translator in a shipping office. He married Rose (née Green, 1864-1964) who came from Whitby in Yorkshire, and they had four sons, Philip, William, John and Friedrich (known as 'Fritz' when he was very young, later choosing to be known by his middle name, Robert). At the time of Robert Donat's birth, the family lived in Albert Road (now Everett Road) in Withington, and in about 1910 they moved to a larger house on St Paul's Road in the same suburb. Donat attended Ducie Avenue School, later moving to the Central High School for Boys. His memories of school were mixed: he was not an outstanding scholar and as a schoolboy he also suffered from a serious stammer.

Outside school one of his principal passions was the cinema, but from an early age he was also enthusiastic about the theatre, staging plays with his brother John in their garden shed at St Paul's Road. At the age of eight, he became a pupil of the well-known Manchester elocutionist, James Bernard, under whom he received stage-training and elocution lessons which helped him to shed both his stutter and his broad Lancashire accent (although he was to enjoy reviving this in stage and film roles later in life). Under Bernard he also began to develop his famous speaking voice and his gift for reciting verse.

Ernst Donat was keen for all his sons to become farmers. Accordingly, in 1914 Philip emigrated to Canada, becoming an apple and potato farmer, and by 1917 William had also left for Canada. By 1924 John had joined his two older brothers; he would later build up a business as a fur farmer. Robert, however, had different ideas. James Bernard advocated a stage career for him, and his parents agreed that he should be given the opportunity to pursue this path. Consequently, Donat left school at 15; he worked as Bernard's secretary to fund his continued lessons, while taking part in dramatic recitals at venues across the North West of England. Bernard was keen for him to join a Shakespearean company, and in 1921, at the age of 16, he made his first stage appearance with Henry Baynton's company at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Birmingham, playing Lucius in Julius Caesar. His real break was to come in 1924, however, when he joined the renowned Shakespearean company of Sir Frank Benson where he stayed for four years. Here he made the transition from apprentice to successful actor, and his vacations from the Benson company enabled him to undertake seasons in provincial repertory theatre. During one of these seasons - after a performance of Masefield's The witch at the Theatre Royal, Huddersfield in 1927 - Donat proposed to Ella Annesley Voysey, a young actress and dancer.

Ella Voysey was the daughter of a Cheshire clergyman and niece of the architect C.F.A. Voysey. She took piano lessons with a music teacher based in St Paul's Road where the Donat family lived, and she and Robert had first met after he left the Baynton company. She accepted his proposal in summer 1927, but their marriage did not take place for two years; they were both busy with stage work, and for a time the engagement was broken off. Donat spent a year at the Liverpool Playhouse during 1928-9, starring in plays by Shaw, Brighouse and Galsworthy among others. Whilst at Liverpool, he and Ella began meeting again, and by May 1929 they had formalised their engagement. They were married on 6 August that year by Ella's father, the Reverend Ellison Voysey, in the Presbyterian Meeting House at Dean Row near Wilmslow; they spent their honeymoon in Cornwall. Donat's parents were unable to attend the wedding because earlier in 1928 they had crossed the Atlantic to visit their other sons, and had also decided to settle there on a permanent basis.

Robert and Ella had both been offered a season at the Festival Theatre in Cambridge under the direction of Tyrone Guthrie, and after their honeymoon they moved to Cambridge together. Here, where they stayed for a year, plays by Euripides, Pirandello, Sheridan, and Shakespeare gave Donat the opportunity to experiment in a wide range of different and challenging leading roles; he was also able to try his hand at directing for the first time.

By 1930, his ambitions to act in London prompted the couple to move to a small flat in Seven Dials. At first his search for stage work was unsuccessful and dispiriting. He was typecast in romantic roles and his first London appearance was in the sentimental comedy Knave and quean at the Ambassadors Theatre in 1930. In the following year, however, he succeeded in making his mark on the London stage, as Gideon Sarn in a dramatisation of Mary Webb's novel Precious bane. His powers were subsequently confirmed in three roles at the 1931 Malvern Festival, where he was a great success, despite having recently suffered his first serious bout of asthma.

Meanwhile Donat took numerous screen tests in the hope that cinema might provide a means of financial support while he pursued his ultimate goal of becoming a great actor-manager. It was an interview with the influential producer and director Alexander Korda which guaranteed his entry into film work. The Hungarian-born founder of London films was keen to recruit casts from leading stage actors during the early 1930s, and he offered Donat a three-year contract. A quick succession of film parts followed: he portrayed an Oxford undergraduate in Men of tomorrow (1932), a country bank clerk in That night in London (1932), and an electricity inspector in Cash (1933). The film which brought him to wider attention was The private life of Henry VIII (1933), directed by Korda himself, in which Donat played Culpeper. The success of this film led to a Hollywood offer, and in 1934 he travelled to America to play Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo. This was to be Donat's only Hollywood role: he disliked the atmosphere of unreality there, and did not enjoy working outside Britain or away from the stage for any length of time.

The trip to America did, however, enable him to visit his family. Whilst his mother had visited England for an extended stay during August 1932-May 1933, Donat had not seen the other family members for some years. By this time, his parents and brother John had moved across the border from Canada and settled in Bethany, Connecticut, where John gradually built up a successful farming business, breeding mink and silver foxes for the fur trade. His brother William later became involved in the farm too, and Robert also invested money in the concern. He took an interest in its development over the years and offered advice on advertising and expanding the business; he also provided the family with financial assistance to help them improve their living conditions on the ranch.

Throughout the 1930s, Donat continued to develop his stage career alongside his extensive film work. At the 1933 Malvern Festival he played the two Camerons in James Bridie's A sleeping clergyman. His performance as the dying consumptive and the brilliant doctor was memorable and brought highly favourable reviews. The play was transferred to the West End for a long run. Donat later named this as one of his favourite parts, and he repeated his early success in a revival of the play at the Criterion Theatre in 1947. In 1936 he briefly realised his dream of being an actor-manager when he presented and starred in J.L. Hodson's First World War play Red night at the Queen's Theatre. Despite poor reviews of the play's pre-London run, Donat took the play to the capital and gave the young John Mills his first West End appearance. Donat went on to appear in three roles at the 1939 Buxton Festival, including the grotesque Croaker in Goldsmith's The good-natured man, an entirely unexpected character part which gave him a much-appreciated comic freedom.

By this time he was well-established as a film star. After the success of Monte Cristo film offers came flooding in, many of them rejected by Donat who was always reluctant to compromise or agree to scripts with which he was less than completely satisfied. He nevertheless created some memorable roles during the 1930s. He starred as Richard Hannay in Hitchock's spy thriller The thirty-nine steps (1935), based on the novel by John Buchan; and in the same year he played the ghost Murdoch Glourie and his modern-day descendant, Donald Glourie, in the comedy The ghost goes west. The year 1936 saw him starring opposite Marlene Dietrich in Knight without armour, in which he played an expatriate British adventurer in post-revolutionary Russia. The shooting of this film was delayed due to Donat's asthma, an illness which would hinder much of his stage and film work. At this time, however, his film career continued unabated. His financial success had enabled him to move his family to a larger house in Hampstead in 1934, and in 1937 they purchased a country house (Brambleberry) near Wendover in Buckinghamshire. The Donats had three children, all born during the 1930s: Joanna in 1931, John in 1933 and Brian in 1936.

In May 1938 Donat entered into an agreement with MGM British for six pictures, signing a contract which also allowed for stage work between films. His first two MGM films were memorable: in The citadel (1938) he played crusading doctor Andrew Manson, and in Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939) he appeared as schoolmaster Mr Chipping, ageing from 25 to 83 on screen. This was exactly the kind of character part Donat enjoyed, and his performance was masterful, bringing him an Oscar for best actor in 1940.

After filming The citadel, Donat had managed to visit America with Ella to see his family. By this time his father's health was in decline, and Donat was shocked at his condition. Despite having to break his visit short because of the threat of war in Europe, he continued to worry about his parents' health, and urged them to move to a more comfortable property. They only succeeded in doing this the following summer, when they took on a new farm at Highland Avenue in Wallingford, near New Haven, Connecticut. By this time, however, his father's cancer was advanced, and Ernst Donat died on 29 August 1939, days before Britain declared war on Germany; Donat, who forwarded his mother money for funeral expenses, commented that his father's death had probably come at the best time - after the family had settled in their new home with brighter prospects ahead, and before Hitler's foul blow had hit his beloved Poland (DON/138).

Donat undertook a number of film projects during the war years. In 1941 his MGM contract was relaxed to enable him to film The young Mr Pitt for Twentieth Century Fox. In what was essentially a propaganda film, Donat's Pitt was presented as the Winston Churchill of his age, inciting the country against an earlier Hitler. In contrast, his next film for MGM was the lightweight The adventures of Tartu, filmed in 1942. His MGM contract was by this time causing him serious difficulties and the company was attempting to limit his stage work. His final film under the agreement was Perfect strangers, directed by Alexander Korda, in which he and Deborah Kerr played a conventional couple whose lives are transformed by their experiences during the war. By the time of its release in 1945 Donat's contractual battle with MGM had finally been resolved. The case was settled out of court and Donat was released from his contract, leaving him free to undertake new projects.

He did not allow his battle with MGM to stifle his stage work during the war. In early 1943 he played the octogenarian Captain Shotover in Shaw's Heartbreak house at the Cambridge Theatre, and later in the same year he took over the lease of the Westminster Theatre, staging a number of plays there during 1943-45. Most successful was his revival of Oscar Wilde's An ideal husband (1943-44), with an impressive cast and costumes and sets designed by Rex Whistler. A further wartime theatrical venture was Donat's Christmas production of The glass slipper, 'the first real children's pantomime' based closely on the Cinderella story, which he commissioned Herbert and Eleanor Farjeon to write. This opened at St James's Theatre in December 1944 and was revived for the 1945-46 Christmas season.

Donat was separated from his immediate family during the war years. In 1940 Ella took the children to the safety of America, visiting the Donats in Wallingford before moving on to California and settling in Beverly Hills. Ella and Robert had been growing apart, and by the time the family returned to England in July 1945 it was clear that the Donats' marriage was over. They were divorced at the end of 1946, by which time Donat had met the woman who would ultimately become his second wife, the actress Renée Asherson. She appeared in Donat's production of The cure for love at the Westminster Theatre in 1945. This working-class Lancashire comedy was written by Salford-born Walter Greenwood who became a close friend of Donat. The lead role of Sergeant Jack Hardacre was taken by Donat himself, appearing for the first time in his own theatre.

The following year saw his final venture as an actor-manager when he played Benedick opposite Asherson's Beatrice in his own production of Much ado about nothing at the Aldwych Theatre. As a second production Donat chose The man behind the statue by the young Peter Ustinov, a play about Simon Bolivar, the liberator of South America from Spanish rule. Initially enthusiastic about the play, Donat became deeply dissatisfied with it during its pre-London production in Manchester. He disagreed with the director, Fabia Drake, and argued with Ustinov himself, who was reluctant to make changes to his play. Following dismal notices, the play was removed, and even Much ado only had a short run as audiences dwindled. Donat made substantial losses on this season which he had initiated so optimistically.

Returning to film, in 1947 Donat appeared briefly as Charles Stewart Parnell in the key scene of Captain Boycott, but his next major part was the brilliant advocate Sir Robert Morton KC in the film version of Terence Rattigan's play The Winslow boy (1948). Donat devoted much of the next two years to planning a film version of The cure for love, which he produced, directed and starred in. Released in 1950, the film received muted reviews in London, but it proved hugely popular in the provinces, especially the Midlands and the North. This flurry of film activity was crowned in 1950 when Donat won the coveted role of William Friese-Greene, the little-known inventor of the first cinematograph camera, in the star-studded film The magic box (1951), which formed the film industry's contribution to the Festival of Britain and involved virtually every British 'name' actor of the time.

During the 1950s, however, Donat's health began to decline seriously. Chronic asthma and bouts of bronchitis had always dogged his career, but by this time his illness prevented him from taking many roles and forced him into periods of semi-reclusiveness. He made a number of trips abroad, seeking medical treatment and a congenial climate in an attempt to alleviate his almost continuous chest problems. When he was confined indoors, he often found a creative outlet in reciting poetry. Renowned for his distinctive voice and his instinctive understanding of poetry, radio broadcasts had always formed a significant strand of his career. He was known to many as the voice behind the Christmas Day Commonwealth radio programmes, but his poetry broadcasts were also very popular and inspired numerous letters of admiration. He also took roles in a number of radio plays, including an American broadcast of Galsworthy's Justice in 1949 (his only part in America apart from Monte Cristo). During the 1950s he returned to poetry, spending many hours making private recordings at home.

In March 1953 he made a return to the theatre in what was to be his last stage role, as Becket in the Old Vic production of T.S. Eliot's Murder in the cathedral directed by Sir Robert Helpmann. This performance was one of the highlights of his stage career, and Donat's performance was commanding, despite the presence of oxygen machines in the wings and an understudy prepared to take over until the last minute. Shortly after this he and Renée Asherson were married in a quiet ceremony on 4 May, subsequently moving to 8 The Grove, Highgate.

Donat's film comeback followed in 1954, when he played the Reverend William Thorne in Lease of life. By this time, however, Donat was frequently ill and depressed. He and Renée separated in spring 1956, when he moved to his final home at 7 Brymon Court, Montagu Square. Two years elapsed before his next and final role, as the Mandarin in The inn of the sixth happiness, a film starring Ingrid Bergman as English maid Gladys Aylward who became a missionary in China. Donat's ill health was evident on screen and his last line in the film was a poignant one: 'We shall not see each other again, I think. Farewell.' He collapsed on set, and died of a stroke in London on 9 June 1958, aged 53.

Throughout the 1950s he had been concerned that the news of his ill health should be broken gently to his elderly mother, whom he feared would worry about him unduly. In fact Rose Donat survived her youngest son by six years, living to the age of 100. His daughter Joanna had married in 1954; his son John became an architectural photographer, and Brian followed in the footsteps of his Donat uncles by emigrating to Canada, where he made a career in publishing.

Robert Donat's acting career was hampered by asthma and sometimes by his own self-doubt and lack of confidence. He also refused to act in anything which did not excite him, or which failed to meet his exacting standards, and he declined many roles. Nevertheless his stage and screen record is remarkable. He achieved success in a wide range of roles, winning respect and affection from colleagues as well as a substantial fan base among film and theatre goers.

When the letters came to the Library from the Donat family they were divided into two separate chronological sequences. There does not appear to have been any significance in this division, and in some cases individual letters had been split up. Here the letters have been brought together into a single chronological sequence. The Donat family had inserted undated items at the points they thought appropriate; this arrangement has been followed except where a letter's content suggested that it should be placed at a different point in the chronology.

Robert Donat is referred to as RD throughout the catalogue. All items consist of one sheet of paper unless stated otherwise. The location of dating or sending letters is supplied where this information is available; this is given at the level of town or city, unless RD was writing from one of his own homes; in the latter case, his address is given in full on its first occurrence, and subsequently in abbreviated form.

The collection is open to any accredited reader. However, it contains personal data about living individuals, and readers are expected to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 in their use of the material.

This finding aid also contains personal data about living individuals. Under Section 33 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), The John Rylands University Library (JRUL) holds the right to process such personal data for research purposes. The Data Protection (Processing of Sensitive Personal Data) Order 2000 enables the JRUL to process sensitive personal data for research purposes. In accordance with the DPA, the JRUL has made every attempt to ensure that all personal and sensitive personal data has been processed fairly, lawfully and accurately.

The letters were donated to the John Rylands University Library by Brian Donat of Vancouver, Canada, in July 2004.

Photocopies and photographic copies of material in the archive can be supplied for private study purposes only, depending on the condition of the documents.

All items within the archive remain within copyright under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; it is the responsibility of users to obtain the copyright holder's permission for reproduction of copyright material for purposes other than research or private study.

Prior written permission must be obtained from the Library for publication or reproduction of any material within the archive. Please contact the Head of Special Collections, John Rylands University Library, 150 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3EH.

All the letters in the archive were sent to members of the Donat family in America. They were kept by the family, and ultimately came into the possession of Jean, the daughter of Robert Donat's brother John; she gave them to Brian Donat (Robert's son), who transferred them to the Library on her behalf.

The John Rylands University Library also holds Robert Donat's own archive FRD , which contains over 2,000 items, including correspondence, photographs, scripts, programmes, press cuttings, posters and publicity material, legal and personal papers. The Library also holds a separate collection of seven letters from Donat to Eleanor Farjeon. All of this material is managed as part of the Modern Literary Archives Programme.

Cambridge University Library Department of Manuscripts and University Archives holds some correspondence between Donat and W.A. Gerhardie dating from 1936 and 1944.

The Theatre Collection at the University of Bristol holds material (principally programmes and photographs) relating to various productions in which Donat was involved, including the Malvern Festivals of 1931 and 1933, The devil's disciple in 1938-1940, Romeo and Juliet in 1939, and Heartbreak house in 1942-3. The Collection also includes a more substantial quantity of material relating to the 1953 production of Murder in the Cathedral.

The Imperial War Museum holds the original film The new lot, an official training film directed by Carol Reed and produced by the Army Kinematograph Service for the Directorate of Army Psychiatry in 1943, in which RD played the 'feature film "Hero"'; the Museum also holds background information about the making of the film.

The Donat family letters were used as a source by the authors of both full-length biographies of Robert Donat which have been published to date. These biographies also provided useful background information for the compilation of this headnote. Their publication details are as follows:

Barrow, Kenneth, Mr Chips: the life of Robert Donat (London: Methuen, 1985).

Trewin, J.C., Robert Donat: a biography (London: Heinemann, 1968).