Episode One – George Hall in Conversation with Neil Pearson and Leonie Mellinger
George Hall at 100 is a special series celebrating the life and career of one of the most important, influential and inspirational acting teachers in the history of British theatre.
To mark George’s 100th birthday on February 5th 2025, his friends recorded new, fascinating and often very funny conversations with him, resulting in five episodes full of star names and fabulous anecdotes.
Episode one sees Neil Pearson and Leonie Mellinger join George for a hugely entertaining chat about their time being taught by him at the Central School of Speech and Drama between 1977 and 1980.
Recorded just before his 100th birthday, George tells some wonderful and often surprising stories about Sir Laurence Olivier: his obsession with colonic irrigation and his then secret affair with Dame Joan Plowright. George also shares memories of Sir John Gielgud, Dame Edith Evans, Sir Alan Bates, Dame Maggie Smith, Leslie Caron and many others.
You’ll hear from an array of his well-known former students at Central: Lindsay Duncan, Rufus Sewell, James Purefoy, Peter Chelsom, Harriet Thorpe, Christopher Eccleston and James Nesbitt, who recall stories about the man who had a massive impact on their lives and careers.
George began watching music hall and theatre productions in Edinburgh in the 1930s, was patted on the head as a child by Rachmaninoff, became an expert morse code telegraphist in Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom during World War 2 and attended the Old Vic School from 1949–51 alongside Dame Joan Plowright and Prunella Scales.
During his subsequent eight-decade career, he has also been an actor, cabaret artist, television music director, voice coach, writer, theatre director, music hall performer, international lecturer and a composer of film and TV scores. He even wrote a song with Clive Dunn that was produced by George Martin and then banned by the BBC!
George was Director of the legendary acting course at Central for nearly a quarter of a century, taught at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for another 22 years, Yale University for over a decade and is still teaching the history of musical theatre at the Royal Academy of Music after more than 30 years.
His former students have won a vast array of awards including Oscars, Baftas, Oliviers, Tonys and Golden Globes—and as well as surely being one of the world’s oldest working teachers, George has quite possibly watched more British theatre productions than anyone alive.
Sir Tony Robinson, Belinda Lang, Nickolas Grace and Nigel Lilley have also had new conversations with George for this series, with guest anecdotes in those episodes from the likes of Michael Grandage, Priscilla Dunn, Freddie Fox, Kevin Whately, Zoe Wanamaker, Tessa Peake-Jones, Sara Kestelman, Amanda Barrie, David Robb, Janet Ellis, Peter Davison, Fern Britton, Peter Guinness, David Horovitch, Tom Read Wilson, Lalla Ward, Wendy Allnutt, Johanna Adams Farley, Mary Hammond and Dave Clark.
George Hall at 100 is produced by Square Elephant Productions with Danny Garlick. The series has been generously supported by Steve Moreschi, whose great uncles, the theatrical agents Sonny and Hyman Zahl, worked with George in the 1950s.
For more information please contact info@electric-owl.co.uk [info@electric-owl.co.uk]
Follow the show on Instagram @GeorgeHallat100 [https://www.instagram.com/GeorgeHallat100/]
Music by Maksym Malko [https://pixabay.com/users/backgroundmusicforvideos-46459014/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=301239] from Pixabay [https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=301239]
