John Van Eyssen

• Name — John Van Eyssen • Birth Name — Matthew John Du Toit Van Eyssen • Born — 19 March 1922 • Birthplace — Fauresmith, Union of South Africa • Died — 13 November 1995 • Place of death — London, England • Occupation — * Actor • literary agent • producer • Years Active — 1950–1991 • Education — Royal Central School of Speech and Drama • Spouse — Shirley Goulden (divorced 1977) • Partner — Ingrid Bergman (late 1970's-early '80s) • Children — David Van Eyssen

Van Eyssen was born in the town of Fauresmith, Free State in 1922. He served in the South African Army during the Second World War. He moved to the UK after his discharge to study at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Eyman was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company during its 1948 season. He played Rosencrantz in Hamlet, opposite Paul Scofield as the title character. In 1951, he played Cassio in Orson Welles' 1951 production of Othello. In 1951 and in 1954 he played the role of Lucifer in the York Cycle of Mystery Plays, first revived in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain. Van Eyssen appeared in films from 1950 as well as on stage, but achieved his greatest fame as an actor when he portrayed Jonathan Harker in the Hammer Film Productions version of Dracula (released as Horror of Dracula in the US) in 1958.

He left acting in 1961 to become head of the Grade Organisation literary agency. His subsequent clients were Franco Zeffirelli, Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. He left the business in 1965 to work for the UK division of Columbia Pictures, eventually becoming Managing Director in July 1969. Among the films he oversaw were A Man for All Seasons (1966), Born Free (1966), Georgy Girl (1966), To Sir, with Love (1967), The Taming of The Shrew (1967), and Oliver! (1968). Both Oliver! and A Man for All Seasons won Best Picture Academy Awards. In 1970, he was promoted to Worldwide Head of Production (ex-USA) and moved to New York. After his tenure at Columbia, Van Eyssen became an independent producer, returning to the UK in 1991 to establish Britain's premier showcase for talented young filmmakers, the Chelsea Film Festival.

Van Eyssen was longtime companion of Ingrid Bergman in the years before her death in 1982. His son, David Van Eyssen, is a visual artist, and a producer-director known for the science fiction streaming series RCVR.

Aged 73, Van Eyssen died in Fulham, London on 13 November 1995.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1951-56 — BBC Sunday Night Theatre — Various roles — 5 episodes • 1954 — The Three Musketeers — Duke of Buckingham — 3 episodes • 1956-60 — ITV Television Playhouse — Prof. Craig, Philip — Episode: "Ever Since Paradise" & "The Two Wise Virgins of Hove" • 1957 — The Errol Flynn Theatre — Lover — Episode: "Love Token" • Overseas Press Club – Exclusive! — Capt. Bauer — Episode: "My Favourite Kidnapper" • O.S.S. — Secretary — Episode: "Operation Big House" • 1958 — The New Adventures of Charlie Chan — Insp. Pierre Renal — Episode: "The Noble Art of Murder" • Ivanhoe — Sir Alistair — Episode: "Rinaldo" • 1959 — The Verdict Is Yours — Defence Counsel — Episodes: "The Case of the Missing Golf Funds: Parts 1 & 2" • Charlesworth — Stanton — Episode: "Long Hot Spell" • The Man Who Finally Died — Sgt. Hirsch — Episodes: "The Gloves" & "The Clinic" • Interpol Calling — Capt. Flormann — Episode: "Air Switch" • 1960 — ITV Play of the Week — President — Episode: "Carrington V.C." • The Four Just Men — Raoul — Episode: "The Grandmother" • 1960-61 — The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theater — Merril, John Mandle — Episodes: "Marriage of Convenience" & "Partners in Crime" • 1961 — Drama 61-67 — Stephen Axley — Episode: "Journey to Nowhere"

• Year — Title — Role — Venue(s) — Ref. • 1947 — French Without Tears — Summer Theatre, Frinton-on-Sea • 1947-48 — Othello — Bristol Old Vic, Bristol • 1948 — King John — Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon • The Merchant of Venice • Hamlet — Rosencrantz • The Taming of the Shrew — Haberdasher • The Winter's Tale • Troilus and Cressida — Menelaus • Othello • 1948-49 — The Miser — Cleante — New Theatre, London • 1949-50 — Hamlet — Player King • 1949-50 — Love's Labour's Lost — Dumaine • 1950-51 — Storks Don’t Talk — Carlo Cavendish — UK tour • 1951 — Othello — Cassio — Theatre Royal, Newcastle • UK tour • The Other Palace, London