European Film Star Postcards: Tony Wright

08 February 2022

Tony Wright

British actor Tony Wright (1925-1986) was a popular leading man during the 1950s and nicknamed 'Britain's Mr. Beefcake'. He was a Rank Organisation contract player for some years and played the role of London-based private detective Slim Callaghan in four French films.

British postcard in the Celebrity Autograph Series, no. 268. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Film. Tony Wright in Tiger in the Smoke (Roy Ward Baker, 1956).

British postcard in the Greetings series. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation.

A sexy, dangerous type

Paul Anthony 'Tony' Wright was born in London, in 1925. He was the son of French-born British actor and screenwriter Hugh E. Wright.

Tony worked as a whaler and then began his acting career in South African repertory theatre. In 1952, he made his screen debut in a BBC TV play, This Happy Breed (1952), based on a play by Noël Coward.

In the cinema, he played a sexy, dangerous type in The Flanagan Boy (Reginald Le Borg, 1953) lured by Hollywood 'Bad Blonde' Barbara Payton to do her dirty work. The film made the hunky blond actor a beefcake pin-up of the 1950s.

In France, he had success in the title role of the crime film À toi de jouer... Callaghan!!!/Amazing Mr. Callaghan (Willy Rozier, 1955), based on a novel by Peter Cheney.

It was soon followed by Plus de whisky pour Callaghan!/No more whisky for Callaghan! (Willy Rozier, 1955) with Magali Vendeuil. The fame of these films would inspire the now proverbial phrase: "Bien joué Callaghan !" (Well done Callaghan!).

British autograph card by J. Arthur Rank Organisation.

West-German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 2095. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Organisation. Tony Wright in Tiger in the Smoke (Roy Ward Baker, 1956).

Callaghan does it again

Tony Wright was contracted by the Rank Organisation and appeared in the Frankie Howerd comedy Jumping for Joy (John Paddy Carstairs, 1956) and a series of mediocre crime films.

He returned as Callaghan in the French films Et par ici la sortie/And Through Here the Exit (Willy Rozier, 1957), with Dominique Wilms, and Callaghan remet ça/Callaghan does it again (Willy Rozier, 1961) opposite Geneviève Kervine.

Wright met actress Janet Munro in the Kismet Club. When they married in January 1957, they held a mock wedding for photographers only. They moved into a three-room flat in London's Shepherd's Bush and divorced two years later. In 1962, he married Shirley Clark, the daughter of writer Lesley Storm.

During the 1960s he worked mostly for television and guest-starred in such popular series as The Avengers (1968) and The Saint (1962-1968). Later he only played small roles in such B films as Clinic Exclusive (Don Chaffey, 1971) and The Creeping Flesh (Freddie Francis, 1973) starring Christopher Lee.

His final screen appearance was a bit role in the TV series Don't Wait Up (1983). Tony Wright passed away in 1986 in Wandsworth, London, in the aftermath of falling. He was 60. Wright was cremated at Putney Vale Crematorium.

German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden/Westf., no. 2820. Photo: J. Arthur Rank Film. Tony Wright in Tiger in the Smoke (Roy Ward Baker, 1956).