Laurence Irving was the son of the actor Sir Henry Irving; he studied at Byam Shaw School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools. During the First World War he served in the RAF and was awarded the Croix de Guerre; he rejoined the service at the outbreak of war in 1939. Best known as a film and theatre designer, Irving worked with Douglas Fairbanks on his productions of The Man in the Iron Mask (1928); he returned to Hollywood in 1929 to work in collaboration with William Cameron Menzies on the settings and costumes for Taming of the Shrew, the first sound production, starring Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. He became a Royal Designer for Industry in 1939, and was awarded the OBE. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, the Fine Art Society and at Agnew & Sons. From 1946-1962 he was Director of the Times Publishing Company. He published his memoirs Designing for the Movies: the Memoirs of Laurence Irving, and Great Interruption: An Autobiography 1938-45 in 1983.

Glossary

  • Film

    A transparent, flexible plastic material, usually of cellulose acetate or polyester, on which light-sensitive emulsion is coated, or on which an image can be formed by various transfer processes.