Frank Vosper

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title: "Frank Vosper" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1899-births", "1937-deaths", "deaths-by-drowning-in-the-united-kingdom", "accidental-deaths-from-falls", "20th-century-english-male-actors", "english-male-stage-actors", "english-male-film-actors", "english-male-dramatists-and-playwrights", "20th-century-english-dramatists-and-playwrights", "20th-century-english-male-writers", "actors-from-the-london-borough-of-camden", "male-actors-from-london"] description: "English actor and playwright (1899–1937)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Vosper" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English actor and playwright (1899–1937) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Frank Vosper
image	Actor_&_playwright_Frank_Vosper.jpg
caption	Publicity still, autographed: 1933
birth_name	Frank Permain Vosper
birth_date
birth_place	Hampstead, London, England
death_date
death_place	at sea
occupation	Actor, dramatist/playwright, screenwriter
::

| name = Frank Vosper | image = Actor_&_playwright_Frank_Vosper.jpg | image_size = | caption = Publicity still, autographed: 1933 | birth_name = Frank Permain Vosper | birth_date = | birth_place = Hampstead, London, England | death_date = | death_place = at sea | occupation = Actor, dramatist/playwright, screenwriter | partner = | parents = | children = Frank Permain Vosper (15 December 1899 – 6 March 1937) was an English actor who appeared in both stage and film roles and a dramatist, playwright and screenwriter.

Stage

Vosper made his stage debut in 1919 and was best known for playing urbane villains.

His extensive stage experience included appearing in his own play Love from a Stranger (1936), adapted from the short story "Philomel Cottage" by Agatha Christie.

His screenplays included co-writing the comedy No Funny Business (1933) with Victor Hanbury. He also co-wrote the adaptation of G.B. Stern's novel Debonair with the novelist which opened at the Lyric 23 April 1930.

He also wrote People Like Us, based on the case of Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters. Banned by the Lord Chamberlain after a performance at the Strand Theatre featuring Atholl Fleming, it remained unperformed until 1948, when it premiered at Wyndham's Theatre in London, with Miles Malleson, George Rose, Robert Flemyng and Kathleen Michael.

Death

Vosper drowned on 6 March 1937, when he fell from the ocean liner SS Paris. His body was found several weeks later on 22 March washed up on the shores near Beachy Head. The death was eventually ruled as accidental after considerable media speculation. Several newspapers reported that earlier in the evening Vosper had been attending a farewell party for Miss Muriel Oxford, "Miss Great Britain" of 1936, in her cabin, and that he had threatened suicide if she refused to marry him. Miss Oxford reported that her last conversation with Vosper was "quite normal" and that he never threatened suicide. According to the Daily Express Fiction Library edition of Murder on the Second Floor, Vosper fell from the French ocean liner SS Normandie, while contemporary newspaper accounts and the evidence produced at the inquest stated it was the liner SS Paris.

Filmography

Actor

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1926	Blinkeyes	Seymour	(film debut)
The Woman Juror	Morgan	Short
1929	The Last Post	Paul
1932	Rome Express	M. Jolif
1933	Strange Evidence	Andrew Relf
1934	Waltzes from Vienna	Prince Gustav
Dick Turpin	Tom King
Red Ensign	Lord Dean
Jew Suss	Karl Alexander
Blind Justice	Dick Cheriton
The Man Who Knew Too Much	Ramon Levine
Open All Night	Anton
1935	Royal Cavalcade	Capt. Robert Falcon Scott
Heart's Desire	Van Straaten
Koenigsmark	Maj. Baron de Boise
1936	Spy of Napoleon	Napoleon III
The Secret of Stamboul	Kazdim	(final film role)
::

Screenwriter

::data[format=table]

Year	Title
1932	Murder on the Second Floor
Rome Express
1933	No Funny Business
On Secret Service
1937	Love from a Stranger (based on his play)
1941	Shadows on the Stairs (based on his play)
1947	Love from a Stranger (based on his play)
::

Plays

• The Combined Maze (1927)
• Murder on the Second Floor (1929) - later adapted by Vosper into a novel of the same name.
• Debonair (1930)
• Love from a Stranger (1936)

References

References

1. ''National Probate Calendar'', 1937, p. 245
2. (7 April 1937). ""Found Drowned" Verdict at Vosper Inquest". Eastbourne Gazette.
3. "Frank Vosper Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos".
4. "Frank Vosper".
5. League, The Broadway. "Frank Vosper – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB".
6. Wearing, J. P.. (27 March 2014). "The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel". Rowman & Littlefield.
7. "Frank Vosper".
8. "Philomel Cottage".
9. "No Funny Business (1933)".
10. link. ""
11. Kabatchnik, Amnon. (1 January 2010). "Blood on the Stage, 1925-1950: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection : an Annotated Repertoire". [[Scarecrow Press]].
12. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16612217 "Music and Drama" ''Sydney Morning Herald'' 21 December 1929]
13. "CONTEMPORARY ARTS » 15 Jul 1948 » The Spectator Archive".
14. "Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search".
15. "Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search".
16. "Nevada Mail - Google News Archive Search".
17. "The Owosso Argus-Press - Google News Archive Search".
18. "Prescott Evening Courier - Google News Archive Search".

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