Editing Robert Donat (section)

==Stage career==
Donat made his first stage appearance in 1921, at the age of 16, with [[Henry Baynton]]'s company at the Prince of Wales Theatre, [[Birmingham]], playing Lucius in ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]''. His break came in 1924 when he joined the company of Shakespearean actor Sir [[Frank Benson (actor)|Frank Benson]], where he stayed for four years.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://archiveshub.ac.uk/features/donatfamily.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929001600/http://archiveshub.ac.uk/features/donatfamily.html| archive-date=29 September 2011| title=Donat Family Letters| website=[[University of Manchester Library]]}}</ref>  

In 1928, he began a year at the [[Liverpool Playhouse]], starring in plays by [[John Galsworthy]], [[George Bernard Shaw]] and [[Harold Brighouse]], among others.<ref name="liver">{{cite news| title=London's New Actor manager: Film and Stage Career Interview With Robert Donat| work=The Observer| date=March 1936| page=10}}{{full citation needed|date=September 2020}}</ref> In 1929, he played at the [[Theatre Royal, Barnwell, Cambridge|Festival Theatre]] in Cambridge under the direction of [[Tyrone Guthrie]]. He appeared in a number of plays, some with [[Flora Robson]], and also directed.<ref name="liver"/>

In 1929, Donat married Ella Annesley Voysey (1903 [[West Bromwich]], [[Staffordshire]] – 1994), the daughter of Rev. Ellison Annesley Voysey and Rachel Voysey née Enthoven.<ref>[https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/15247844:70564 Ella Annesley Voysey in the Web: Ireland, Census, 1911.] Accessed June 2021.</ref> Ellison was the youngest son of the theist Rev. [[Charles Voysey (theist)|Charles Voysey]]. The couple had two sons and a daughter, but divorced in 1946.

In 1930, Donat and his wife moved to London,<ref>[https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/40298719:1795 Ella Annesley Donat in the London, England, Electoral Registers, 1932.] Accessed June 2021.</ref> where he eventually made his debut in ''Knave and Quean'' at the [[Ambassadors Theatre (London)|Ambassadors Theatre]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96814462 |title=Robert Donat |newspaper=[[Southern Argus]] |volume=LXXXIV |issue=4685 |location=Port Elliot |date=13 July 1938 |access-date=14 October 2018 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He received acclaim for a performance in a revival of ''[[Saint Joan (play)|Saint Joan]]''.<ref>{{cite news| title=Robert Donat| newspaper=[[The Guardian|The Manchester Guardian]]| date=10 June 1958| page=2}}</ref>

In 1931, he achieved notice as Gideon Sarn in a dramatisation of the [[Mary Webb]] novel, ''[[Precious Bane]]'', and he played various roles at the 1931 [[Malvern Festival (1929–39)|Malvern Festival]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131493393 |title=Robert Donat |newspaper=[[The World's News]] |issue=1983 |location=Sydney |date=9 December 1939 |access-date=14 October 2018 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In the early 1930s, he was known in the industry as "screen test Donat" because of his many unsuccessful auditions for various film producers.<ref name="TMJ1939">{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19390709&id=JYdSAAAAIBAJ&pg=5946,5134780| title=Mr. Donat Captures Hollywood| newspaper=[[The Milwaukee Journal]]| date=9 July 1939| page=26}}{{dead link|date=September 2020}}</ref> [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] producer [[Irving Thalberg]] spotted him on the London stage in ''Precious Bane'', and offered him a part in the 1932 film ''[[Smilin' Through (1932 film)|Smilin' Through]]'', which he declined.<ref name="Richards226">Richards, p. 226</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=Robert Donat Builds Portrayals on Memory of 'Little Things': Characterizations Reflect Wealth of Detail Provided by Photographic Memory of "Trifles;" New Films Augment Worthy Holdovers Builds Portrayals on Little Things| first=Nelson B.| last=Bell| newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]| date=9 July 1939| page=A3}}</ref>