Privates on Parade

Michael Howell Blakemore OBE is an Australian actor, writer and theatre director. In 2000 he became the only individual to win Tony Awards for best Director of a Play and Musical in the same year for Copenhagen and Kiss Me, Kate. Blakemore was born in Sydney, Australia on, son of Conrad Howell... Blakemore and his wife, Una Mary Litchfield. He married English actress Shirley Bush. Blakemore was educated at the King's School, Sydney, and went on to study medicine at the University of Sydney. He trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, 1950 to 1952. Blakemore's first job in the theatre was as press agent for Robert Morley during the Australian tour of Edward, My Son, who advised him to try drama school. In 1950 he came to London, enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and trained as an actor. He made his first professional stage appearance in 1952 at the Theatre Royal, Huddersfield, as the doctor in The Barretts of Wimpole Street.
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