Brian Roper (actor)

Brian T. Roper ^{[note 1]}(19 August 1929 – 14 May 1994)^{[1][2][3][5][note 2]} was a British-American film and television actor, and, in later years, real estate agent.

Biography

Roper played youthful parts during his career due to his young physique, which included his appearance as the animal-loving young boy "Dickon" with a pet fox in The Secret Garden (1949), starring Margaret O'Brien. The Secret Garden was prepared for MGM's 25th anniversary as a film studio and was heavily promoted in 1949–50.^[6] Newspapers at the time claimed his age as 14.^[7][8] He appeared this age but was actually five years older. Roper was noted for his reddish hair and some freckles.^[2]

Born in Doncaster,^[1][2] Roper left England on 5 October 1948 when he was 19 years old^[9] after his selection for The Secret Garden from more than 100 boys who were tested during a six-month search.^[7] Work on the film began on 4 October 1948 and was completed in late November.^[10][11] He later lived in both Britain and California, depending on the location of his acting work, and acted for 24 years.

Following his acting career he went briefly into the film industry agency business.^[12] Roper married Barbara L. Eaton (aka Barbara L. Stafsudd), in Los Angeles when he was 38 years old, on 30 December 1967. His wife was 13 years younger.^[13] Shortly after this marriage, Roper established the Roper School of Real Estate in 1968 in Hayward, California and served as its lecturer and instructor.^[14] He would go on to train new salespeople while serving as director of sales training for Red Carpet Realtors in Northern California.^[15]

Death

Brian Roper died in Antibes, France at the age of 64. ^[3]

Theatrical performances

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Affiliations

Notes

1. ↑ "Brian T. Roper" appears in the England and Wales Birth Index. It appears as such on the passenger manifest for an airline flight. The middle initial "T" appears on the Marriage Index reference and also appears in his name in his Modesto Bee advertisement reference, and again in the SSDI entry. All other references use the name without the middle initial.
2. ↑ Roper is a common surname around this time period in this area of Great Britain, including on the very same England and Wales register. One should note the typed transcription of his age as "19", which agrees with the Birth Index, on the airflight manifest reference. Birth date in Holmstrom (1998) was erroneously listed as 9 August 1933, the day with a typographical error and the year based on the age of 14 which appeared in the press at his time of flying over to the United States. The Ragan (1992) birth date is listed in error as 19 August 1933, having picked up the year from the Holmstrom (1998) reference.
3. ↑ Later renamed Producers Guild of America Award, or PGA Award.

References (citations)

References (books)

• Holmstrom, John (1998), The Moving Picture Boy – An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995, 2nd Revised Edition, Michael Russell (Publishing) Ltd., Wilby Hall, Wilby, Norwich, England, Great Britain; ISBN 0-85955-178-4 (ISBN 978-0-85955-178-6), hardcover. 1st Edition 1996.
• Ragan, David (1992), Who's Who in Hollywood – The Largest Cast of International Film Personalities Ever Assembled, 2nd Revised Edition, Facts on File (publisher), New York, New York, USA, 2 volumes (vol. 1 A-L, vol. 2 M-Z) (1,920 pp.); ISBN 0-8160-2011-6 (ISBN 978-0-8160-2011-9), hardcover. 1st Edition: Who's Who in Hollywood – 1900–1976, Arlington House (publisher), 1 volume (864 pp.), 1976; ISBN 0-87000-349-6 (ISBN 978-0870003493), hardcover; Crown Publishing, 1977; ISBN 0-517-54822-4 (ISBN 978-0517548226), hardcover.
• Zambrana, M. L. (2002), Nature Boy: The Unauthorized Biography of Dean Stockwell, iUniverse (publisher), 130 pp.; ISBN 0-595-21829-6 (ISBN 978-0595218295), softcover.

External links

• Brian Roper at the Internet Movie Database
• The Secret Garden at the Internet Movie Database — 1949 film.
• The Secret Garden at the TCM Movie Database.