Anthony Forwood (1915-1988)


Anthony Forwood

Above is an image of Anthony Forwood in his role as Will Scarlet in Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952). 

Tony was born in the seaside town of Weymouth in Dorset on 3rd October 1915 and in 1939 he started courting the husky-voiced Welsh actress Glynis Johns, whom he later married. Their only child, Gareth was born in London in 1945. (Gareth Forwood was later to appear in films such as Ghandi in 1982). But it was during the filming of Robin Hood in 1951 that their marriage began to break up. Glynis was to appear the following year as a young Mary Tudor, in the Walt Disney production of The Sword and the Rose.



Anthony Forwood’s early films included :

Man in Black (1949)
Traveller’s Joy (1949)
Meet Simon Cherry (1949)
The Black Widow (1951)
Colonel March Investigates (1952)
Appointment in London (1952)
The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952)

Knights of the Round Table (1953)

In 1939 Tony had met Dirk Bogarde who was later to become one of the biggest British matinee idols of the 1950’s. They struck up a relationship that would last over fifty years, but they both kept their personal lives very private. Tony died aged 72 in London in 1988.



Dirk Bogarde, Kathleen Tynan and Anthony Forwood

Below is another still taken of Tony to promote Robin Hood. But this one has been rarely seen.

'Tony' as Will Scarlet

To see more images and read more about Anthony Forwood please click on the label in the task bar.

3 comments:

Clement Glen said...

Anthony Forwood (1915-1988)

If you have any rare stills from the movie, please get in touch.

Neil said...

In film acting terms The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men must have been about as good as it got for Anthony Forwood but I must say, I thought he was a really good Will Scarlet. I hope that he found happiness in his life because, as things were then, he must have had to make many sacrifices and because of his matinee idol status, Dirk Bogarde must have had to guard his private life. I think that he remained on good terms with Glynis Johns and with his son.

Clement Glen said...

'Tony''s character as Will Scarlet was never explained in the movie. He just appeared as one of the 'merry' men at the camp. Which is a pity because the legend of 'Will Scarlet' is very interesting and tradition describes him as a cousin of Robin Hood.