Early years Byam Shaw was born in London, the youngest of five siblings (four sons and one daughter) born to artist
John Byam Liston Shaw and his wife, Caroline Evelyn Eunice Pyke-Nott (1870–1959), also an artist. He was educated at
Westminster School, where his contemporaries included his elder brother, James Byam Shaw, later a well-known art historian, and
John Gielgud, who became a lifelong friend and professional colleague. Byam Shaw's first appearance was at
Torquay in the west of England, in C. K. Munro's comedy ''At Mrs. Beam's''. In 1925 he made his London debut, playing Yasha in
J.B. Fagan's production of
The Cherry Orchard, in a cast that included
Alan Napier as Gaiev,
O.B. Clarence as Firs and Gielgud as the young student Trofimov. Over the next few years Byam Shaw appeared in three more plays by Chekhov, and Ibsen. He made his New York debut in November 1927 as
Pelham Humphrey in
And So To Bed. Actress
Constance Collier was impressed by Byam Shaw and used her influence to gain him roles. Among those to whom she introduced him was
Ivor Novello, then a leading figure in London theatre. She directed them both in the play
Down Hill in 1926. This drew him into contact with the poet
Siegfried Sassoon, a friend of Collier; he and Byam Shaw became close. Their friendship lasted for the rest of Sassoon's life, although they ceased to be partners quite quickly; Sassoon became involved with
Stephen Tennant and Byam Shaw fell in love with actress
Angela Baddeley. They married in 1929. The marriage, which lasted until her death in 1976, was, Denison writes, "a supremely happy one, both domestically and professionally"; the couple had a son and a daughter. In 1933, Byam Shaw took over from Gielgud as
Richard II in the long-running play
Richard of Bordeaux by 'Gordon Daviot' (
Josephine Tey); the following year he played Darnley in another historical play by the same author,
Queen of Scots, opposite
Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies and
Laurence Olivier, directed by Gielgud. Byam Shaw continued to work with Gielgud, playing Laertes to his
Hamlet in 1934, and Benvolio in the celebrated 1935
New Theatre production of
Romeo and Juliet with
Peggy Ashcroft as Juliet,
Edith Evans as the Nurse and Gielgud and Olivier alternating the roles of Romeo and Mercutio. Byam Shaw concluded his acting career in the late 1930s in roles including Darcy in a dramatisation of
Pride and Prejudice, character parts in
The Merchant of Venice and
Richard II, and Sir Benjamin Backbite in
The School for Scandal. After appearing in
Michel Saint-Denis's short season at the
Phoenix Theatre in 1938, his final role was Horatio to Gielgud's Hamlet, both in London and at
Elsinore Castle. He served in Burma from 1942 and was wounded. He ended his military service in 1945 as a major, making training films in India.
Old Vic and Stratford Between 1947 and 1951 Byam Shaw was the director of the Old Vic Theatre School, part of the Old Vic Theatre run by
Michel Saint-Denis which also included the
Young Vic run by
George Devine. Denison writes "Despite much success in all fields the three partners fell foul of the Vic governors and of the theatre's top-heavy and largely hostile administration". The same board had earlier dismissed
Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier as heads of the Old Vic company, and now lost another leading team when Saint-Denis, Devine and Byan Shaw resigned in 1951. Byam Shaw's most celebrated opera productions were in collaboration with the conductor
Reginald Goodall, first
The Mastersingers, the company's last major production at
Sadler's Wells Theatre, and, after its move to the
London Coliseum in 1968, the four operas of
Wagner's
Ring cycle, in which Byam Shaw's co-director was his former assistant John Blatchley. Byam Shaw's last collaboration with Goodall was
Tristan and Isolde in 1981. He received an honorary DLitt from the
University of Birmingham in 1959. ==Death==