Person    | Male  Born 7/9/1855  Died 5/5/1921

William Friese-Greene

Categories: Cinema

Photographer, inventor and pioneer of cinematography. Born Bristol as William Edward Green. Married the Swiss Helena Friese in 1874 and added her name to his. (It's not clear where the extra "e" came from.) His name is sometimes given without the hyphen.

One of the first to work (mainly in Brighton) on the idea of moving images, he lodged various patents but none of his methods worked well enough to keep him out of the bankruptcy courts nor for the world to credit him as the inventor of cinema.

Died at a cinema industry meeting in the Connaught Rooms and buried at Highgate Cemetery with a grave monument by Lutyens (unexpectedly traditionally Gothic in style), on which he is described as "the inventor of kinematography". The Gaumont Graphic newsreel (available on the British Pathe website) captured Friese-Greene’s funeral procession arriving at the cemetery, the coffin topped by a full size mock-up of a film projector pointing at a screen on which are the words, picked out in flowers, “The End”.

In 1951 a biopic, The Magic Box, directed by John Boulting, was produced for the Festival of Britain.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
William Friese-Greene

Commemorated ati

Tricycle Cinema opening

The Tricycle Cinema was opened by Emma Thompson on 12th November 1998. Bringi...

Read More

William Friese-Greene

W. Friese-Greene

Read More

Other Subjects

Ealing Studios

Ealing Studios

Television and film production company and facilities provider.  White Lodge on Ealing Green was first used for making films in 1902.   Basil Dean acquired it in 1929 and, under the name Associated...

Group, Cinema, TV & Radio

1 memorial
Sir Michael Balcon

Sir Michael Balcon

Born Birmingham. Film producer. Worked at Gainsborough Film Studios.  Went on to run Ealing Studios from 1938-56.  His daughter married Cecil Day Lewis. Died East Sussex. The National Portrait Gal...

Person, Cinema

3 memorials
King's Hall Picture Palace

King's Hall Picture Palace

It is thought to have been the first purpose built cinema in Britain, with a seating capacity of 850. Over the years it was renamed as the 'Gaiety Picture House' and then the 'Regent Cinema'. It wa...

Building, Cinema

1 memorial
Nina Boucicault

Nina Boucicault

English actor. Born into a theatrical family, she began acting as a child. She was the first to play the title role in J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, beginning in 1904. Died Hamilton Road, Ealing.

Person, Cinema, Theatre

1 memorial
Redgrave family

Redgrave family

The acting dynasty, fully documented at Wikipedia. The photo shows, left to right: Lynn Redgrave, Jemma Redgrave, Corin Redgrave, Corin's wife Kika Markham, Luke Redgrave, Annabel Clark (Lynn's da...

Group, Cinema, Seriously Famous, Theatre

1 memorial