Editing James Whale (section)

==Early years==
[[File:‘Holzminden - From Early Morn to Dewy Eve’ - James Whale - 1918.jpg|thumb|"From early morn to dewy eve": watercolour cartoon by Whale of prisoners in [[Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp]], 1918]]
Whale was born in [[Dudley]], Worcestershire, at the heart of the [[Black Country]], the sixth of seven children of William, a [[blast furnace]]man,<ref>Curtis, p. 8.</ref> and Sarah, a nurse.<ref>Ellis, p. 20.</ref> He attended [[Kates Hill Primary School|Kates Hill Board School]], followed by Bayliss [[Charity School]] and finally [[The Blue Coat School, Dudley|Dudley Blue Coat School]]. His attendance stopped in his teenage years, because the cost would have been prohibitive and his labor was needed to help support the family. Thought not physically strong enough to follow his brothers into the local heavy industries, Whale started work as a [[Shoemaker|cobbler]], reclaiming the nails he recovered from replaced soles and selling them for scrap for extra money. He discovered he had some artistic ability and earned additional money lettering signs and price tags for his neighbors.<ref>Curtis, p. 11.</ref> He used his additional income to pay for evening classes at the Dudley School of Arts and Crafts.<ref name= cineaste />

[[World War I]] broke out in early August 1914. Although Whale had little interest in the politics behind the war, he realized that [[conscription]] was inevitable, so he voluntarily enlisted just before it was introduced, into the [[British Army]]'s [[Inns of Court Regiment|Inns of Court Officer Training Corps]] in October 1915, and was stationed initially at [[Bristol]]. He was subsequently commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]] into the [[Worcestershire Regiment]] in July 1916.<ref>Curtis, p. 17.</ref> He was taken [[prisoner of war]] in battle on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] in Flanders in August 1917, and was held at [[Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp|Holzminden Officers' Camp]], where he remained until the war's end, being repatriated to England in December 1918.<ref name = curtis20>Curtis, p. 20.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Actual War Service Desirable Attribute |work=Cumberland Evening Times |page=7 |date=30 July 1930 }}</ref> While imprisoned he became actively involved, as an actor, writer, producer and set-designer, in the amateur theatrical productions that took place in the camp, finding them "a source of great pleasure and amusement".<ref>Whale 1919, p. 318.</ref><ref>Early, pp. 140–41.</ref> He also developed a talent for poker, and after the war he cashed in the chits and IOUs from his fellow prisoners that he had amassed in gambling to provide himself with finances for re-entry into civilian life.<ref name = curtis25>Curtis, p. 25.</ref>