Alfred Drayton

Biography

Stocky, bald and rather cold-eyed English character actor, who made a career of playing choleric, hectoring or exasperated authority figures. A former brewery worker, he first appeared in amateur dramatics and over the years built up a reputation as an incisive theatrical performer, both in stage farces and in dramatic roles. Drayton made his professional acting debut at the New Theatre in Cardiff in 1908, moving on to the London stage the following year. He was on Broadway in 1925, then returned to England to play Captain Hook in "Peter Pan" at the Adelphi. While his film career remained generally subordinated to the theatre, he nonetheless had several noteworthy roles in British films, often in comic roles, while accompanied by his one-time stage partner Robertson Hare. Drayton was particularly memorable as Dickensian arch villain Wackford Squeers -- complete with eye patch -- in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947).