Tyrell Davis (September 29, 1902 - December 8, 1970) was a British film actor,[1][2] Cambridge educated, who appeared on the West End and Broadway stage, as well as in British and American films.[3]
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Tyrell Davis (September 29, 1902 - December 8, 1970) was a British film actor,[1][2] Cambridge educated, who appeared on the West End and Broadway stage, as well as in British and American films.[3]
Tyrell Davis was born on September 29, 1902 in Surbiton, Surrey, England as Harry Davis. He was an actor, known for Strictly Unconventional (1930), Let Us Be Gay (1930) and Paid (1930). He was married to Lota B. Cheek.
In George Cukor's Out Betters (1933), Tyrell Davis played one of the swishiest homosexual of them all. He appears just in the last minutes of the film, waltzing into the drawing room of Constance Bennett, his wrists limp, his nose in the air, his painted lips pursed as it for a kiss. "You must excuse me for coming in my town clothes," he lisps, "but your chauffeur said there wasn't a moment to lose, so I came just as I am!" Our Betters was based on a script by Cukor's good friend, W. Somerset Maugham, and was all about rewriting sexual mores. When Bennett kisses her rival, Violet Kemble Cooper, on the lips, Mr Ernest clasps his hands together and gushes: "That's what I like to see. Two ladies of title, kissing." Cukor knew Tyrell Davis, and he chose him specifically for the swishy interpretation he knew he'd bring to the small but climactic part. In this way, gay director made gay life visible on the screen. Tyrell Davis swished not only through Our Betters but also in Mother's Boy, God's Gift to Women (playing "Pompom"), and Dinner at the Ritz (1938).
He died on December 8, 1970 in London, England.
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