"Her [Hedvig's] father was played with flamboyant humour by Mr. Ivain March, and the drunken old
grandfather was represented effectively by a promising newcomer, Mr. Esmond Knight."
The Stage - reviewing The Wild Duck, the Pax Robertson Salon, Chelsea 9 April 1925
(Esmond's first ever notice - aged 18)
"I don't think you're much good to us, you know. You're just a typical public schoolboy."
Andrew Leigh - at Esmond's audition to join the Old Vic Theatre, summer 1926
"Oh I think you could do worse than come here, dear. You're a God-fearing boy, and I think it will do you good to come to us."
Lilian Baylis - at Esmond's audition to join the Old Vic Theatre, summer 1926
"Mr Esmond Knight, as the Marquis of Dorset, reminded us more of the football field than a royal palace."
James Agate - reviewing Richard III, the Old Vic Theatre, 1926
(Esmond's first professional notice)
"But the performance which moved me most was that of Mr Knight, who never batted an eyelid during the evening."
James Agate - reviewing To What Red Hell, Gate Theatre, London 1928
(having previously commented on the 'hysterical vigour' of the leading actor, Frederick Peiseley)
" I admire Mr Knight's courage in affecting so much crepe hair, but unless I am mistaken he has the makings of an actor."
James Agate - reviewing Contraband, the Prince's Theatre, London 1928
"The young man who played her (Betty Stockfield's) brother was a real find. He was a sulky, handsome young man
with a mane of black hair and magnetic eyes. he was almost too romantically handsome to be true. Then one day
I saw him giggling with one of the sound engineers and I realised that it was all a pose and he had a sense of humour.
He was not tall but I felt he had star potential. His name was Esmond Knight."
Michael Powell - on meeting Esmond for the first time whilst filming 77 Park Lane, 1931
(quoted from Powell's autobiography A Life In Movies)
"… Mr Esmond Knight acts so sensitively that at times we could wish that 'Schani' was a character conceived
more in terms of serious biography than of musical romance."
The Times - reviewing Waltzes from Vienna, London 5 March 1934
"… and Mr Esmond Knight was justly repulsive as the Parasite and justly authoritative and heartless as the Engineer Ant."
Richard Prentis - reviewing The Insect Play, the Playhouse Theatre, London 1936
"Esmond Knight [as Vincent Van Gogh] gives a magnificent performance of the epileptic artist, and there are
at least half a dozen other roles excellently performed."
Review (name unknown) Van Gogh, the Arts Theatre Club, London 29 September 1937
"… and Mr. Esmond Knight displaying faun-like leaps and poetic ecstasy when melodically inspired, was as
convincing as he was permitted to be as her (Dorothy Hyson's) suburban husband."
The Sphere - reviewing The Melody That Got Lost, the Phoenix Theatre, London 29 January 1938
"Wilson Barrett plays with skill the rather vain gentleman of means, whose ventures in matrimony provide the background
of the action. An excellent contrast in style is provided by Esmond Knight portraying in convincing fashion the
overbearing and possessive husband who is determined that nothing shall be allowed to alter his prearranged plans."
Edinburgh Evening News - review of Private Lives, The Empire Theatre, Edinburgh, 17 October 1939
"Dear Miss Swinburne, I have typed out the enclosed letter exactly as my friend Esmond Knight has dictated it
to me in the sick bay on board here last night. I am afraid he has lost one eye, as he was wounded while
in action the day before yesterday. The other eye is damaged, the doctor on board says it might not be impaired.
He is awfully full of good spirits and the pluckiest chap I've met. I cannot tell you how sorry the
whole ship's company is to know of his loss, on the other hand he is lucky to be alive at all
as things turned out. Forgive this note of explanation but I told Esmond I would try and explain
why the letter was typed. Yours truly, George Ferguson."
Lieutenant Commander George Ferguson - letter to Nora Swinburne
typed on board HMS Prince of Wales shortly after the Battle of Denmark Strait - May 1941
" … the Gestapo chief, von Schiffer, is played with such gusto by Esmond Knight that, in spite of his brutality, pomposity
and lamentable table-manners, one becomes almost sorry for him as he plunges from disaster to disaster
in his unconscious dual with van Leyden."
Punch - review of The Silver Fleet, 17th March 1943
"Ralph Richardson and Googie Withers star, with Esmond Knight giving fine support as a German official.
Of local interest, Esmond Knight is a relative of Capt. C.W.R. Knight of 'Mr. Ramshaw' fame."
Sevenoaks Chronicle - review of The Silver Fleet, 25th June 1943 (reviewer unknown)
"The outstanding feature of this picture is the magnificent acting of Esmond Knight. Mr. Knight is blind, and in this film he plays the role of a man who can see and he plays it so convincingly that you would be completely deceived if you did not know the truth. Apart from that the film has many claims to distinction. Ralph Richardson and the Dutch patriot who makes sure that U-boats which leave Dutch harbours will have little chance of returning, is surpassed only by Knight in acting power."
Liverpool Evening Express - review of The Silver Fleet, 3rd July 1943 (reviewer unknown)
"Jessie Matthews has a rather unsympathetic role. She is a rather exasperating little minx,
and we sometimes hope that her bashful sweetheart (Esmond Knight) will give her a good spanking."
Burnley Express - reviewing Waltzes from Vienna, 6th June 1943
"He was wonderful. He insisted that none of us should pay any attention to his blindness. He spent hours learning every corner and distance of the sets on the stage, so that he could move freely and play his part as though he had no handicap at all."
Evelyn Laye - on working with Esmond in Three Waltzes, Palace Theatre, April 1945
"… a performance of extraordinary dash and fire by Esmond Knight as Mercutio.
Shakespeare himself might have applauded this."
Ernest Betts - reviewing Romeo and Juliet at the King's Theatre, Hammersmith, in the Daily Express 1946
"The company, though suitable tight-lipped while on the surface, foundered as soon as they submerged, and showed
visible signs of distress on running into a highly embarrassing dream-sequence which formed the central part of the play.
The captain (Mr Esmond Knight) was the last to leave the ship, perhaps because he had the good fortune to doze off
for some considerable time during the action of the piece … ."
Review (reviewer unknown) of Deep Waters (BBC TV play set in a submarine) The Sketch, 22 June 1949
"The play is extremely harrowing and relentless inits horror. Its deaths and on-stage beatings make this an 'x-certificate'
play. It boasts three outsized performances by Richard Burton, Noel Willam and Esmond Knight."
Review (reviewer unknown) of Monserrat at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge, April 1952
"Esmond Knight gives a magnificent performance as Fred Nutting, the gentle, kind and understanding father."
The Stage - reviewing Age of Consent in Bournemouth, June 1953
"The story was spiced up by Esmond Knight as an eccentric student of witchcraft, just back from Africa,
and Athene Sayler, as the witch's aunt."
Review (reviewer unknown) of Bell, Book and Candle at the Phoenix Theatre, London 1955
"If you can judge a man by his friends, Esmond Knight must be a really delightful person."
W. Stanley Moss - reviewing Esmond's This Is Your Life programme, February 1957
"Esmond Knight - never could casting have been more right - gives a dominating and brilliant performance
as Colonel Keller, a home loving man, anxious to keep clear of political matters."
The Stage - reviewing A Piece of Silver at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, 5th May 1960
"Esmond Knight has taken over the part of King Louis of France. He plays it with a rich streak of humanity and relishes
making things as difficult as possible for his English opponents. He yields the whip-hand with a delicious chuckle."
The Stage - reviewing Becket at the Aldwych Theatre, London, 21st December 1961
"Eric Thompson supplies the hero with all the wistful charm his author has wished on him, Margery Mason
adds another to her individualised line of ineffectual mothers, and Esmond Knight's stumpy talent,
too often expended on sub-Dickensian grotesques, is marvellously matched to the father."
Robert Cushman - reviewing The Black Swan Winter, at the Hampstead Theatre Club, in the magazine Plays and Players, July 1969
"There are some rich performances, notably by Ewan Hooper as the iron-disciplined Joyce,
Michael Goldie as a naval lieutenant and Esmond Knight as the gouty old Lord Howe."
B.A. Young - reviewing Spithead, at the Greenwhich Theatre, November 1969
"There is no doubt that some of the artist's work is brilliant, and these achievements are even more remarkable because
Esmond Knight has a handicap which everyone fears, and especially an artist. As Beethoven was deaf, so Mr Knight
is nearly blind. One of the most wondrous features of Mr Knight's paintings is the depth of vision he achieves. To view
one of his land or seascapes from a distance is to look through an open window to the scene beyond. How a man
with such severe disability accomplishes the effect is certainly beyond my comprehension … One could go on
and on lauding Mr Knight. He is brilliant."
R.P. - Sussex Express - reviewing an exhibition of Esmond's paintings in Uckfield, 16th May 1973
"Knight had something special to offer. it is not often that an actor of his high quality can be found who is ready to play those small parts often to be found in classical drama which are not now thought to be worth a leading actor's while
and yet need to be very well acted."
W.A. Darlington - drama critic, quoted in The Daily Telegraph's obituary of Esmond published on 26th February 1987
"I once shared a dressing room with Teddy (as Esmond was affectionately called) and one evening as we chatted whilst putting on our makeup, he told me he was going to do some sound recording with the BBC, which normally involved visual cues. I wondered how he was going to cope with that situation - so I asked him. 'I'm only blind,' he said, 'not bloody deaf as well.'"
Peter Cushing - actor, reminiscing abut working with Esmond on hearing of his death in 1987.
"Esmond painted me a picture, a bold oil, Stirling Castle. It hangs over my desk here today, with a photograph of Esmond.
I'm very proud of it. And I'm very proud to have been a friend of a very fine, brave English gentleman."
Ronald Proyer - journalist, West Sussex Gazette, Thursday 7th June 2001
"I remember seeing Esmond Knight several times on stage at the Old Vic when it was the home of the National Theatre. Other actors would discretely make sure that he was at the right spot on stage. He was indeed a fine actor."
Mary Reid - Kingston-Upon-Thames, February 2006
"As always we had some pretty amazing actors … Esmond Knight I distinctly remember. Esmond had a false eye.
His party trick was to take out that false eye and put it on the table, so when you were about to do a scene
and you were supposed to be rummaging to find something on the desk … you'd come across his eye!"
Wendy Padbury - recalling in 2019 working with Esmond on the episode of Dr Who called The Space Pirates in 1969.
"In my final year, 1982-83, a fellow student, Andrew Parker, directed a film about a blind man (a potter) and his daughter. Andrew wanted a blind actor to play the blind man and it came about that Esmond Knight was cast in the role. This was quite a coup, even then, because we had very little money to pay the actors. By this age, he had very little sight left, and on the set we had to deploy the same stratagems that might have been needed on such films as The Silver Fleet - for example, a piece of cellophane gel was put on the floor to give him an audible signal that he was on his mark.
"Of course initially we had not heard of him but it soon came to light in conversation that, yes, he had definitely been in films we had seen and heard. As there is always time to talk on any film set, I was fascinated to hear him talk about how he had lost his sight - the explosion of HMS Hood had been the last thing he had seen, as he thought forever - and how he had gradually recovered enough sight in one eye to work again. he talked about working with Olivier on Henry V. He said a large scene with Fluellen had been cut out, because, as the director claimed, all the actors' heads had been cut off in the camera. Esmond never believed this, saying, 'I doubt Robert Krasker would do something like that.' I would imagine this was Olivier's well-meaning, but transparent, effort to let down gently a disabled war veteran.
"Michael Powell he said could be extremely cruel. He would reduce young female players to tears with his impatience,
saying, 'I thought they had sent me an *actress*.' But of course Powell could be extremely generous and loyal to those,
like Esmond, whose work he respected. Unfortunately at this time I had not seen P&P films with longer roles for
Esmond such as The Silver Fleet or Gone to Earth. I remember him telling me about Black Narcissus - that was the first
time I learned the since often-reported fact that all the filming was done in the studio, except for one exterior scene shot,
as he said, 'in a rhododendron garden in Guildford.'
"At that point the last film of any note in which he had appeared was Robin and Marian, and I think he said it was his idea to bring the character of the Old Defender to life by removing his glass eye. He was a very strong character, good company, witty, physically brave. I recall we filmed a long shot of the potter climbing a spiral staircase carrying something he had made, and Esmond did this beautifully, even though he would hardly have been able to see. I was so struck by the experience of meeting him that I sought out his autobiography in the British Library, tough was disappointed to find it only recounts his life up to his blinding, not thereafter."
Ben Bergonzi - recalling in 2025 working with Esmond whilst a student of film and photography,
Polytechnic of Central London 1980-83
"When I was 18 I acted with Esmond in 'The Parachute'. I was nervous and he was great in guiding me along.
John Osborne and I played the same part. Cast included Alan Badel, Jill Bennett, and Lindsay Anderson
as the Gestapo officer. He [Esmond] was very funny … and naughty."
Rick Stroud (writer, producer, director)- recalling in 2026 working with Esmond on The Parachute,
a BBC Play of the Month production - first broadcast on 21st January 1968.
"Esmond Knight came to our school, Cheadle Hulme School in Cheshire, with Rosalind, when I was
in the 6th form. He talked about his career and I am almost certain did his one man show. I can see him
in my mind's eye in our music school hall. I remember very clearly being amazed by the sound of his voice."
Susan Bullock CBE (Soprano)- recalling in 2026 seeing Esmond when he visited her school circa 1976-77.