The Ashmoleon Museum site announces the death of the art historian DrJon Whiteley:
Jon joined the Museum in 1976 as Assistant Keeper in the Department of Western Art. In a career of 38 years at the Ashmolean he was a dedicated teacher to generations of Oxford students; one of the country’s most distinguished art historians; and a well-loved colleague and friend to everyone who knew and worked with him.But well before that he was a child film star.
In the 1950s he appeared in two films with Dirk Bogarde (Hunted and The Spanish Gardener), in Fritz Lang's Moonfleet and in The Kidnappers, for which performance he was awarded an honoray Oscar.
The photo above shows him with the director of Hunted, Charles Crichton.
I was saddened to read of the passing of Jon Whiteley, although I was half expecting some bad news about him when I recently saw a photo of him taken around six months ago in December, 2019 and on which he looked quite ill. He obviously had a love of art from a very early age. When he was aged 6 and a half in 1951 and making his first film, “Hunted”, he was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up and he replied that he wanted to be an artist. His favourite pastime was holding a sketch pad and pencil and amazing people with his drawing skills. I have a number of photos of him doing this for director Charles Crichton; star Dirk Bogarde and three unidentified ladies at Rank's Pinewood Studios. David Rayner, Stoke on Trent.
ReplyDeleteStrangely, while the news of his passing over three months ago was widely reported, there has, to date, been no report of a funeral for him, or even of a cause of death.
ReplyDeleteDavid Rayner, Stoke on Trent.
I have done some private research to find out at least what he died of and he died of a aggressive, cancerous brain tumour. I have added this information to his Wikipedia page. David Rayner, Stoke on Trent.
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