Early life and military service Born in
Liverpool of Irish descent, Gregson grew up in the city's
Wavertree area, where he was educated at Greenbank Road Primary School and later at
St Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool. He left school at 16, working first for a telephone company, then for
Liverpool Corporation, as the city council was then known, before the
Second World War. During this time, Gregson became interested in amateur dramatics, joining first the local Catholic church theatre group at St Anthony's in
Mossley Hill. When war broke out, Gregson was called up and joined the
Royal Navy as a sailor on
minesweepers. At one point, his minesweeper was torpedoed and he was rescued from the sea with a knee injury.
Early post-war career After being demobilised in 1945, Gregson joined the
Liverpool Playhouse for a year, before going on to
Perth Theatre in
Scotland. In the popular
Scott of the Antarctic (also 1948) he played
Tom Crean. Gregson could also be seen in Ealing's
Whisky Galore! (1949) and
Train of Events (1949), as well as
The Hasty Heart (1949),
Cairo Road (1950),
Treasure Island (1950) and
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951). He had a lead role in
Angels One Five (1951), a war film. He was promoted to leading man for ''
The Brave Don't Cry'' (1952), about a mining disaster. Gregson had the second lead in Rank's
Venetian Bird and supported in
The Holly and the Ivy (both 1952). He also had a leading role in another Ealing comedy,
The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953). His performance in
Venetian Bird led to him being offered a long-term contract by the Rank Organisation.
Stardom Gregson became a star when cast in the comedy
Genevieve (1953), which also starred
Kenneth More,
Dinah Sheridan and
Kay Kendall. It was the second-most popular film of the year in Britain. Gregson tested for the role of the missionary in
Miss Sadie Thompson but the role went to Jose Ferrer. He was loaned to Adelphi Films for
The Crowded Day (1954). He followed this with
To Dorothy a Son (1954), a comedy co-starring
Shelley Winters; and
Three Cases of Murder (1955), an omnibus film co-starring
Orson Welles. Gregson had a big hit with a war film,
Above Us the Waves (1956), playing an Australian, in support of
John Mills. He did a comedy with
Diana Dors,
Value for Money, and a drama
Jacqueline (both 1956). This film helped British exhibitors vote him the eighth-biggest British film star in the country for 1956. He followed it with
True as a Turtle (1957), a comedy that attempted to repeat the success of
Genevieve, only in a yacht, but it was not a success. Neither was
Miracle in Soho (1957), a drama. That year he was the fourth-biggest British star. The following year he was eighth, his last year in the top ten; his films included
Rooney (1958), a comedy in which he played an Irish sportsman;
Sea of Sand (1958), a war film; and ''
The Captain's Table'' (1959) a comedy. Gregson supported in
SOS Pacific and
Hand in Hand (both 1960), but was top-billed in
Faces in the Dark (1960) and
The Frightened City (1961). He had a support role in
The Treasure of Monte Cristo (1961) and was one of many names in
The Longest Day (1962). Gregson's final film roles of note were
Live Now, Pay Later (1962) and
Tomorrow at Ten (1962). He was one of many leading men and women of the 1950s (the others including
Kenneth More,
Richard Todd,
Patrick Holt,
Michael Craig,
Sylvia Syms and
Muriel Pavlow) who struggled to maintain their status as leads beyond the early 1960s. From 1963 onwards, Gregson never played another leading film role. Gregson also worked on TV. In
Ivor Brown's BBC TV play ''William's Other Anne
he played William Shakespeare revisiting his first girlfriend Anne Whateley. TV work became increasingly important to him from the mid-60s. He starred as Commander George Gideon in the 26 episodes of the series Gideon's Way (1964–66) (known as Gideon C.I.D.
in America). He also appeared in The Saint with Roger Moore and a popular comedy adventure series with Shirley MacLaine, Shirley's World. He took over from Kenneth More in long-running TV adverts for coffee on British television. Gregson appeared in It's the Geography That Counts'', the last play at the
St James's Theatre before its closure and demolition in 1957. ==Death==