He and Hill wrote and produced The Queen's Garden (1977) together, and Travers helped produce Bloody Ivory (1980). The gazelles were a long way off and our two were getting a bit frustrated. The husband of Virginia McKenna, he co-starred with his wife on several ocassions, notably in … A 2013 film, Saving Mr. Banks, starring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as Travers, tells the behind-the-scenes story of book to film. British chemist Rosalind Franklin is best known for her role in the discovery of the structure of DNA, and for her pioneering use of X-ray diffraction. Her precocious reading led her to undertake The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and her writing talents emerged during her teens, when she began publishing poems in Australian periodicals. I have to say that during the filming she was totally helpful and approachable. Travers was born Helen Lyndon Goff on August 9, 1899, in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia. Travers and McKenna starred in a melodrama for the Rank Organisation, Passionate Summer (1958). Perhaps one of my most treasured memories is walking out with Girl (one of the lionesses “playing” Elsa) and her brother Boy and seeing a small group of Thomson’s gazelles some distance away. One of his last credits was "Highland Fling" on Lovejoy (1992). In 1969, he played Captain Hook on a stage production of Peter Pan. His works are loved throughout the world, but Shakespeare's personal life is shrouded in mystery. Called Lyndon as a child, Travers moved with her mother and sisters to New South Wales after her father's death, where they were supported by a great aunt (the inspiration for her book Aunt Sass). Children's author Roald Dahl wrote the kids' classics 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,' 'Matilda' and 'James and the Giant Peach,' among other famous works. William Shakespeare, often called England's national poet, is considered the greatest dramatist of all time. Travers's first poem in Australia was the father of Rupert Murdoch. Jean Piaget created highly influential theories on the stages of mental development among children, becoming a leading figure in the fields of cognitive theory and developmental psychology. He became a star in the role of the phyical-culturalist title character in Wee Geordie (1955). More From Elsa's Legacy: The Born Free Story (11), Did You Know? Travers did "Born a Giant" for Our American Heritage (1960) on TV, then returned to Britain where he made a British monster film, Gorgo (1961). [2] He was survived by his wife and five children. Travers was born in Sunderland, County Durham, the son of Florence (née Wheatley) and William Halton Lindon-Travers,[1] a theatre manager. William Inglis Lindon-Travers MBE (3 January 1922 – 29 March 1994) was a British actor, screenwriter, director and animal rights activist, known professionally as Bill Travers. MGM tested him for the lead in Ben-Hur (1959)[7] and he wrote a swashbuckler to star himself, The Falcon. Swimming with a lioness in the ocean. Chris Hemsworth is known for portraying Marvel comic book hero Thor in the film series of the same name, and for his starring roles in 'Snow White and the Huntsman' and 'Rush.'. He was an actor and producer, known for Ring of Bright Water (1969), Born Free (1966) and Gorgo (1961). The 1964 Disney movie Mary Poppins, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, made Travers immensely wealthy, though she reportedly wept at the premiere. ", https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/167022075?accountid=13902, https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/114836623?accountid=13902, https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/115122240?accountid=13902, https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/115254377?accountid=13902, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47510109, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105838661, https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/115685395?accountid=13902, "Hollywood Calendar: It Only Hurts When..", https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/155487928?accountid=13902, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48083556, "Bill travers takes special look at lions", https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/156000358?accountid=13902, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46445855, https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/187505227?accountid=13902, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47226977, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55469568, https://web.archive.org/web/20130928091416/http://www.bornfree.org.uk/about-us/staff/chief-executives-office/. [18] They followed this with An Elephant Called Slowly (1970), which Travers helped write and produce with James Hill, who directed. The crew was protected in wire “cages” as it was important the focus of the relationship was between the lions, Bill, George and myself. It was the start of the work George was to continue until his death and Bill filmed this unique footage in “The Lions are Free.”. Living in an old settler’s house in the bush, within roaring distance of the lions. In The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (1984) he and McKenna played the parents of Edwin Flack. Travers' rich fantasy life propelled her to write stories and poems at an early age, and after a brief stint in the theater, she moved to London, England, to pursue a literary life, hobnobbing with Irish poets such as William Butler Yeats. Deeply inspired by their work on the film, they became wildlife activists. He tried to get up a war film set in Greenland, The Sledge Patrol, but it does not appear to have been made. No, there wasn’t really anything that surprised me. He also wrote "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.". Some may say I see nature through “rose tinted glasses.” I refute that. To avoid capture, he disguised himself as a Chinese national and walked hundreds of miles through jungle territory until he reached an Allied position. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! David Sheldrick, the then Senior Game Warden of Tsavo National Park was striving to catch the poachers and his wife, Daphne, cared for the orphans – amazing work she continues to this day. [4] He began working on stage in 1949, then a year later made his film debut in Conspirator (1949). He served in the Long Range Penetration Brigade 4th Battalion 9th Gurkha Rifles in Burma, attached to Orde Wingate's staff, during which service he came to know John Masters, who was his brigade major (Travers was later to act in Bhowani Junction, a tale written by Masters). In 1984, McKenna and Travers started Zoo Check, later renamed the Born Free Foundation, an International wildlife charity working to prevent animal cruelty and suffering. I think he decided I would be a bit easier to knock over! He then starred in a race car drama for MGM, The Green Helmet (1961), and a comedy with Spike Milligan, Invasion Quartet (1961). Bill Travers, 72, Actor Who Starred In Film 'Born Free', https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Bill_Travers?oldid=4598453. He began working on stage in 1949 appearing in John Van Druten's The Damask Cheek, then a year later made his film debut in Conspirator (1949). He followed this as the romantic lead in a remake of The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957), opposite Jennifer Jones. It was the two of them that made it happen – so different, yet bound together by their commitment to wild animals being able to live as nature intended – in the wild. While deep behind enemy lines, Major Travers was struck by malaria and volunteered to be left behind in a native Burmese village. Bill Travers, also Known As: William Lindon-Travers (William Inglis Lindon-Travers), Born on January 3, 1922 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England Died March 29, 1994 in Dorkey, England at the age of 72. Photos of Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna and George Adamson and Lions. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Sadly humans, without the survival element, have the reddest and sharpest teeth and claws of all. Travers got out of the army in 1947 and decided to become an actor. [2] His widow, Virginia McKenna, carries on his work to help suffering animals,[citation needed] as does their son, Will Travers, who is President of the Born Free Foundation. What do you feel is the biggest threat to animals in the wild today? Back in Hollywood, he was Eleanor Parker's character's love interest in The Seventh Sin (1957), a remake of a Greta Garbo film. My husband, Bill Travers, was the documentary filmmaker. This film means a lot to me, as it was then that we met a little two-year-old elephant who had been captured from the wild by the then Kenyan Government as a gift to London Zoo. © 2020 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. Travers died in his sleep in Dorking, Surrey, aged 72. Was there anything you were surprised to learn about the Adamsons during the making of the film? [15] He played the title role in a British TV version of The Admirable Crichton (1968), alongside his wife, and had a small part in Peter Hall's adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968). Bill had 2 sisters: Linden Travers and Alice Travers . It was through him we learned about lions – why and how they respond to different circumstances. He began acting in 1947, three years before his film debut, The Wooden Horse (1950). Suddenly Girl took off, stalked them, brought one down, killed it and then, in proper lion fashion, dragged it to us and laid it at my feet. This interview was conducted by Inside Thirteen. Notoriously private and prickly, Travers never married, but she had a longtime roommate, Madge Burnand, who many speculated was a romantic partner. (He later ran into his twin in a pub — a shock, as he knew nothing of his real background.). Apart from the first scene where we met Christian, the whole documentary was filmed as it happened. [19], Travers worked as an actor only on Rum Runners (1971) with Brigitte Bardot and Lino Ventura. And "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," born from the Disney film, through a song written by the Sherman Brothers (sung by Andrews and Van Dyke), forever lives in the English lexicon. It was her death there, as a teenager, that propelled us into forming a charity to look at the situations wild animals face in captivity. This was popular in Britain and the US and saw him contracted by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which thought he was going to be a big star and brought him to Hollywood. I call it survival. [2], On 7 November 1946 Travers was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished service whilst engaged in Special Operations in South East Asia".[3]. The kindness of the Kenyan people we met and with whom we worked. In 1945, Travers was promoted to the rank of major, and he joined Force 136 Special Operations Executive and was parachuted into Malaya. Are there any memories of making Born Free that stand out to you that you can share with us? [8] However his MGM films all performed disappointingly at the box office - Barretts and Seventh Sign were notable flops - and enthusiasm for Travers in Hollywood cooled. Back on Broadway he played the title role in Abraham Cochrane which had a short run.[14]. Bill Travers spent his last three years travelling around Europe's slum zoos and a TV documentary that he made exposed the appalling suffering of thousands of animals. Recovering from a lung ailment in the country, she regaled two visiting children with tales of a magical nanny, complete with a parrot-head umbrella as a form of transportation and the ability to have tea parties on the ceiling. Her father, Travers Goff, was an unsuccessful bank manager and heavy drinker who died when she was 7. [22] I am a realist, and I believe that what we are doing to wild places and wild animals is one of the greatest tragedies of our time.

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