Editing Peter Cushing (section)

===Early films and acting===
Cushing eventually applied for a scholarship at the [[Guildhall School of Music and Drama]] in London.<ref name="Bangor">[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xZ0zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qTgHAAAAIBAJ&pg=2422,3435323& "Horror actor Peter Cushing dead at age 81"] (12 August 1994). ''[[Bangor Daily News]]''. p. C10.</ref> His first audition was before the actor [[Allan Aynesworth]], who was so unimpressed with Cushing's manner of speech that he rejected him outright and insisted he not return until he improved his [[diction]].<ref name="Cush45" /><ref name="Payne">Payne, Graham (June 1958). "The star who never grew up". ''New Zealand Home Journal''.</ref> Cushing continued to pursue a scholarship, writing twenty-one letters to the school,<ref name="Payne" /> until the actor and theatre-manager [[Bill Fraser]] finally agreed to meet Cushing in 1935 simply so he could ask him in person to stop writing. During that meeting, Cushing was given a walk-on part as a courier in that night's production of [[J. B. Priestley|J.B. Priestley]]'s ''Cornelius''. This marked his professional stage debut, although he had no lines and did little more than stand on stage behind other actors. Afterward, he was granted the scholarship and given odd jobs around the theatre, such as selling refreshments and working as an assistant stage manager.<ref name="Cush45" />

One of his earliest professional stage performances was in 1935 as Captain Randall in Ian Hay's ''The Middle Watch'' at the [[Connaught Theatre]] in Worthing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmreference.com/Actors-and-Actresses-Co-Da/Cushing-Peter.html |title=Peter Cushing – Films as actor |publisher=Filmreference.com |access-date=22 August 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120824072514/http://www.filmreference.com/Actors-and-Actresses-Co-Da/Cushing-Peter.html |archive-date=24 August 2012}}</ref><ref name="SLT">"Horror-film actor Peter Cushing dies at 81, Played variety of roles – From Sherlock Holmes to Baron Frankenstein" (12 August 1994). ''[[Salt Lake Tribune]]'': p. A5.</ref> By the end of the summer of 1936, Cushing accepted a job with the [[repertory theatre]] company [[Southampton]] Rep, working as assistant stage manager and performing in bit roles at the Grand Theatre in the [[Hampshire]] city.<ref name="Cush45" /> He spent the next three years in an apprenticeship at Southampton Rep.,<ref name="SWI56" /> auditioning for character roles both there and in other surrounding theatres, eventually amassing almost 100 individual parts.<ref name="Cush45" /><ref name="Earnshaw3">Earnshaw, p. 3</ref> While he was in Southampton, he met an 18-year-old fellow actor, [[Doreen Hawkins|Doreen Lawrence]], and they were engaged to be married. Lawrence broke off the engagement, citing his frequent crying and bringing his parents on dates.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Miller|first1=Mark A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3T3VDwAAQBAJ&q=Doreen+Hawkins&pg=PT48|title=Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and Horror Cinema: A Revised and Expanded Filmography of Their Terrifying Collaborations, 2d ed.|last2=Hogan|first2=David J.|date=2020-02-28|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-3842-3|language=en}}</ref>

Soon, he felt the urge to pursue a film career in the United States. In 1939, his father bought him a one-way ticket to Hollywood, where he moved with only £50 to his name.<ref name="SWI56" /> Cushing met a [[Columbia Pictures]] employee named Larry Goodkind, who wrote him a letter of recommendation and directed him to acquaintances Goodkind knew at the company [[Edward Small]] Productions. Cushing visited the company, which was only a few days away from shooting ''[[The Man in the Iron Mask (1939 film)|The Man in the Iron Mask]]'' (1939), the [[James Whale]]-directed adaptation of the [[Alexandre Dumas, père|Alexandre Dumas]] [[The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later|tale]] based on the [[Man in the Iron Mask|French legend]] of a prisoner during the reign of [[Louis XIV of France]].<ref name="Cush56">Cushing, pp. 56—58</ref> Cushing was hired as a [[stand-in]] for scenes that featured both characters played by [[Louis Hayward]], who had the [[Dual role|dual lead roles]] of King Louis XIV and Philippe of [[Gascony]]. Cushing played one part against Hayward in one scene, then the opposite part in another, and ultimately the scenes were spliced together in a [[Split screen (video production)|split screen process]] that featured Hayward in both parts and left Cushing's work cut from the film altogether.<ref name="Earnshaw3" /> Although the job meant Cushing received no actual screen time, he was eventually cast in a bit part as the king's messenger, which made ''The Man in the Iron Mask'' his official film debut.<ref name="Monush">Monush, Barry (2003). ''The Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the Silent Era to 1965'' (1 vol.). [[Berkeley, California]]: [[Hal Leonard Corporation|Applause Books]]. p. 166. {{ISBN|1557835519}}.</ref> The small role involved [[Swordsmanship|sword-fighting]] and, although Cushing had no experience with [[fencing]], he told Whale he was an excellent fencer to ensure he got the part. Cushing later said his unscreened scenes alongside Hayward were terrible performances, but that his experience on the film provided an excellent opportunity to learn and observe how filming on a studio set worked.<ref name="Cush56" />

Only a few days after filming on ''The Man in the Iron Mask'' was completed, Cushing was in the [[Schwab's Pharmacy|Schwab's Drug Store]], a famous [[Sunset Boulevard]] hangout spot for actors, when he learned producer [[Hal Roach]] was seeking an English actor for a [[comedy film]] starring [[Laurel and Hardy]]. Cushing sought and was cast in the role. Cushing appeared only briefly in ''[[A Chump at Oxford]]'' (1940) and his scenes took just one week to film, but he was proud to work with whom he called "two of the greatest comedians the cinema has ever produced."<ref name="Cush60">Cushing, p. 60</ref> Around this time the actor [[Robert Coote]], who met Cushing during a cricket game, recommended to the director [[George Stevens]] that Cushing might be good for a part in Stevens' upcoming film ''[[Vigil in the Night]]'' (1940). Adapted from a [[Serial (literature)|serial]] novella [[Vigil in the Night (short story)|of the same name]], it was a [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] about a nurse played by [[Carole Lombard]] working in a poorly-equipped country hospital. Stevens cast Cushing in the second male lead role of Joe Shand, the husband of the Lombard character's sister. Shooting ran from September to November 1939,<ref>Cushing, p. 62</ref> and the film was released in 1940, drawing Cushing's first semblance of attention and critical praise.<ref name="SWI56" />

Cushing continued to work in a few Hollywood engagements, including an uncredited role in the [[war film]] ''[[They Dare Not Love]]'' (1941), which reunited him with director James Whale. Cushing was cast (again uncredited) in one of a series of short films in an entry in the [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] series ''[[John Nesbitt's Passing Parade|The Passing Parade]]'', which focused on strange-but-true historical events. He appeared in the episode ''The Hidden Master'' (1940) as a young [[Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive|Clive of India]], well before the soldier established the military and political supremacy of the [[East India Company]]. In the film, Clive tries to shoot himself twice but the gun misfires, then he fires a third time at a pitcher of water and the gun works perfectly. Clive takes this to be an omen that he should live, and he goes on to perform great feats in his life. Studio executives were pleased with Cushing's performance, and there was talk among Hollywood insiders grooming him for stardom.<ref>Cushing, pp. 64—65</ref> Despite the promise, however, Cushing grew homesick and decided he wished to return to England. He moved to New York City in anticipation of his eventual return home, during which time he voiced a few [[Radio advertisement|radio commercials]] and joined a [[summer stock theatre]] company to raise money for his voyage back to England. He performed in such plays as [[Robert E. Sherwood]]'s ''[[The Petrified Forest]]'', [[Arnold Ridley]]'s ''[[The Ghost Train (play)|The Ghost Train]]'', [[S. N. Behrman]]'s ''Biography'' and a [[modern dress]] version of [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Macbeth]]''. He was eventually noticed by a Broadway theatre talent scout,<ref>Cushing, pp. 67—69</ref> and in 1941 he made his Broadway debut in the religious wartime drama ''The Seventh Trumpet''. It received poor reviews, however, and ran for only eleven days.<ref name="Earnshaw3" />