Val Gurney

According to www.imdb.com/name/nm0348701, ‘Val Gurney was born in 1889 in Bicester, Oxfordshire, England as Ernest Alfred Jones. He was an actor, known for The Road to Ruin (1913). He died on November 9, 1930 in Stirling, Scotland'. Two obituaries give details of his career. The Era, Wednesday 19 November 1930, wrote: ‘We regret to announce the death, which occurred at a nursing home in Stirling, of Mr. Val Gurney, the popular actor-manager and producer of the Florence Churchill Repertory Company. Val Gurney - his own name was Ernest Alfred Jones - was born at Oxford forty-one years ago, was trained under Granville Barker, and had much experience in West End theatres besides touring extensively in Canada and the United States. A consummate actor, he was also the author of the popular plays “Smouldering Fires,” “Suspicion,” “The Sheik” and “A Sinner in Paradise.” The Florence Churchill Company have had their headquarters for some months in the Alhambra Theatre, Stirling, where they are still playing to remarkable houses’. The Stage, Thursday 20 November 1930, wrote: ‘We regret to announce the death of Mr. Val Gurney, actor manager and producer of the Florence Churchill Repertory company, who for some months now have had their headquarters at the Alhambra, Stirling. Mr. Gurney, who was only 41 years of age, had a most attractive personality, and his fine work in the title-roles of “David Garrick” and “The Passing of the Third Floor Back,” together with his Benjamin Goldfinch in “A Pair of Spectacles,” Philip Voaze in “Interference,” Sherlock Holmes in “The Speckled Band,” and Dr. Lomond in “The Ringer” are well remembered. As an author he was not unknown, several of his plays having been toured and presented by repertory companies here and abroad. The two best-known of his pieces, produced in Stirling, are “Smouldering Fires” and “Suspicion.” Ernest Alfred Jones, to give him his real name, was the youngest son of John Frederic Jones, of Oxford, who is still living at the age of 80. Soon after completing his education at a private school he decided upon a theatrical career and as a stage manager he served his apprenticeship under Mr. Granville Barker. He had much experience in the West End theatres, and had also toured extensively in Canada and the United States’.

Performances associated with Val Gurney