Murray Melvin

Murray Melvin (1932-2023) was a British actor. In 1962 he played the role of a young gay man called Geoffrey in Tony Richardson’s film of A Taste of Honey for which he won the best actor award at Cannes. Dirk Bogarde later told a surprised Melvin, who did not feel he was beating any particular drum, that his performance did more for the cause of homosexuality than the whole of the film Victim. He had a rich and varied career in theatre, film and television, his outlook shaped by his experience in the late 1950s of working for Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. He was a pivotal member of her company, played crucial roles in A Taste of Honey, The Hostage and Oh What a Lovely War .