Hugh Burden


Hugh Archibald Nairn Burden was a British actor and playwright.

Early life

Hugh Archibald Nairn Burden was born as the eldest son of Harry Archibald Burden, a colonial official, and Caro Cecil née Jackson, on 3 April 1913 in Colombo, Ceylon. He was educated at Beaumont College in Berkshire, England, and trained in London at the Central School of Speech and Drama and RADA. He appeared on stage in repertory theatre in Croydon and in London's West End before military service in the Hampshire Regiment and the Indian Army from 1939 to 1942.

Career

Burden made appearances in many UK television plays and series including Doctor Who: Spearhead from Space, The Crezz, Sykes, Strange Report and The Avengers. He played the title role in The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder. His many film appearances include One of Our Aircraft Is Missing, The Way Ahead, Fame Is the Spur, Malta Story, Funeral in Berlin, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb and The Ruling Class.
Burden acted in radio plays and was known for readings of the works of T. S. Eliot and Evelyn Waugh. He also wrote several television and stage plays and was an Equity council member.

Personal life

Burden married actress Joy Hodgkinson in 1950, and had a daughter with her, but the marriage was dissolved in 1955 on the grounds of her desertion. A subsequent marriage to Margaret de Lobera in 1957 was dissolved in 1962 on the grounds of his desertion.

Selected filmography

  • Death Croons the Blues as Viscount Brent
  • Ships with Wings as Sub.Lt. Weatherby
  • One of Our Aircraft Is Missing as John Glyn Haggard—Pilot in B for Bertie
  • The Way Ahead as Pvt. Bill Parsons
  • Fame Is the Spur as Arnold Ryerson
  • Sleeping Car to Trieste as Mills
  • Ghost Ship as Dr. Fawcett
  • Malta Story as Eden, Security
  • No Love for Johnnie as Tim Maxwell
  • The Secret Partner as Charles Standish
  • Funeral in Berlin as Hallam
  • The Inn Way Out as Husband, and Bastard Son, with John le Mesurier
  • The Best House in London as Lord Tennyson
  • The Statue as Sir Geoffrey
  • Blood from the Mummy's Tomb as Geoffrey Dandridge
  • The Ruling Class as Matthew Peake
  • The House in Nightmare Park as Reggie Henderson
  • One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing as Haines