John Stanley Coombe Beard FRIBA (17 July 1890 – 1970),Antonia Brodie, Directory of British Architects 1834–1914, London/New York: Continuum, 2001, , 2 vols., Volume 1 A–K, p. 141 known professionally as J. Stanley Beard, was an English architect known for designing many cinemas in and around London.
Biography Beard was born in 1890, son of Percy Edward Beard of Essex. He was educated at King Alfred's School, Wantage, Berkshire.Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes 95, London: Kelly's Directories, 1969, p. 95A genealogy site gives his birthplace as Sydenham Damerel, Devon, and his date of death as 22 November 1970.
He was elected LRIBA in 1925 and FRIBA in 1927. He was in partnership with Alfred Douglas Clare, as J Stanley Beard & Clare until Clare's death in July 1936,Allen Eyles, Odeon Cinemas volume 1: Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation, Cinema Theatre Association, London: British Film Institute, 2002, , p. 112 and note; Clare also practised on his own. and after that with Walter Robert Francis Bennett, who became the senior partner in 1947.John Stanley Coombe Beard at Dictionary of Scottish Architects. The company became J Stanley Beard Bennett Wilkins & Partners in 1960 (later simply Beard Bennett Wilkins & Partners) after absorbing Ralph Roland Wilkins.Walter Robert Francis Bennett at Dictionary of Scottish Architects.
In July 1937, when he was living in Hampstead, a telephone call made by his wife about an attempted burglary resulted in the first arrest attributable to the new 999 emergency number.Keith Moore, "Dial 999: 75 years of emergency phone calls", BBC News magazine, 29 June 2012.
Beard became a Justice of the Peace. He retired in 1963.RIBA Journal 71 p. 86. In retirement, he restored the gardens at Compton Acres in Poole, Dorset.Conrad Lighton, Cape Floral Kingdom: The Story of South Africa's Wild Flowers, and the People who Found, Named and Made them Famous the World Over, rev. ed. Cape Town: Juta, 1973, , p. 131.John Newman and Nikolaus Pevsner, Dorset, The Buildings of England, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972, repr. New Haven, Connecticut/London: Yale University, 2002, , p. 332.
One architectural historian has judged Beard's cinemas as "excellent, if stylistically slightly eccentric".Richard Gray, Cinemas in Britain: One Hundred Years of Cinema Architecture, The Cinema Theatre Association, London: Lund Humphries, 1996, , p. 27.
Works
As J. Stanley Beard and Clare Beard and Clare designed numerous cinemas in and around London, including:
Palace, Kentish Town (1913): The Palace, later the Gaumont, Kentish Town, opened in December 1913 with 1,200 seats. It was baroque in style, with a terra-cotta façade rich in detail and a panelled auditorium with columns topped by nude statues. It became part of the Provincial Cinematograph Theatres circuit in 1920 and Gaumont in 1929.Allen Eyles, Gaumont British Cinemas, Cinema Theatre Association, London: British Film Institute, 1996, , p. 20. It was renamed in 1948 and closed in 1959. The building was partially demolished to build a warehouse; the rest of the auditorium is now Camden Law Centre. The façade was removed and is now the entrance to the Camden Community Health Council.Ken Roe, Gaumont Kentish Town at Cinema Treasures.
Majestic, Clapham (1914): The Majestic, later the Gaumont, Clapham, had 1,562 seats and provision for an orchestra as well as a small organ, later replaced with a 3-manual Compton. The entrance was squeezed between two shops; the auditorium ran parallel to the street in the rear, and had a dome which could be opened to vent cigarette smoke. It became part of the Provincial Cinematograph Theatres circuit in 1928 and Gaumont in 1929. In 1940–41 the cinema was closed to repair bomb damage. It closed for good in November 1960; the stage became a recording studio and the auditorium, after being used as storage for many years, became a bingo hall and then a nightclub.Ken Roe, Gaumont Clapham at Cinema Treasures.
Palace Theatre, Wandsworth (1920): The Palace Theatre, later the Gaumont Theatre, Wandsworth, opened in December 1920 with 1,307 seats. It was Greek Revival in style. For its fourth anniversary, a 2-manual Compton organ was installed. Originally independent, it became part of the United Picture Theatres circuit in 1928 and Gaumont in 1930. It was closed during World War II from 1940 to 1942 as a money-saving measure.Eyles, Gaumont British, p. 118. Around 1956, the entrance was modernised. The cinema closed in February 1961 and became a bingo hall until 1979. From 1982 to 1992 it was a church, then a nightclub, first the TheatreKen Roe, Gaumont Wandsworth at Cinema Treasures. and then the Palais, which has now closed.Photograph on Flickr, Palais Wandsworth up for auction, September 2010.
Palmadium Cinema, Palmers Green (1920): The Palmadium Cinema, later the Gaumont, Palmers Green, opened in December 1920. It had 2,188 seats and a cinema organ and in addition to the balcony there were a dress circle with 7 boxes on either side, and a tea terrace from which box patrons could take their teas into the boxes.Ken Roe, Gaumont Palmers Green at Cinema Treasures. There was a fully equipped stage, and an organ in the orchestra pit.Palmadium at The Theatres Trust. The style was Beaux Arts, and the façade, with a billiard hall and shops on either side as part of the same scheme, was white ceramic with red brickwork and apple-green tiles around the entrance. It was acquired by Gaumont in 1928,Eyles, Gaumont Pictures, p. 15. renamed in 1951 and closed in 1961 and has been demolished.
St. James' Picture Theatre, Westminster (1922): St. James' Picture Theatre, Westminster, was converted from St. Peter's Chapel, originally the Charlotte Chapel, built by the Reverend Dr William Dodd in 1766. It reopened as a cinema in April 1923.Ken Roe, Westminster Theatre at Cinema Treasures. Beard added a new corner entrance with a cupola and pediments across the top on each side. The interior was Classical, with four private boxes provided at the request of the Royal Family; it was near Buckingham Palace and the Prince of Wales, especially, frequently saw films there. In 1931 it was reconverted into the Westminster Theatre, the crypt being used for the dressing rooms, green room and bar. The building was extensively remodelled in 1966 as the Westminster Theatre Arts Centre and was largely destroyed by fire during demolition in 2002. It has been replaced by a new housing and arts complex, but the performance spaces have yet to open.Westminster Theatre, Palace Street, London SW1: Formerly The Charlotte Chapel / St. James' Picture Theatre at arthurlloyd.co.uk.
Prince of Wales Cinema, Lewisham (1922): The Prince of Wales Cinema, Lewisham, was Beard's 27th cinema, and opened in October 1922 as the Prince of Wales Picture Playhouse; it was renamed after being taken over by ABC in 1933. Beard retained the rear and south side walls of the Electric Palace, the older cinema previously on the site. The style was neo-classical, with oak panelling in the foyer and auditorium; the facade was of white glazed tile with blue and gold accents. It seated 1,347. There was a stage 10 feet deep and four dressing rooms, and in the 1920s there were variety performances and live broadcasts by the BBC and recordings of community sing-alongs to Frank Westfield's orchestra. It was the first cinema in Lewisham to feature sound. It closed in 1959 and has been demolished.Ken Roe, Prince of Wales Cinema at Cinema Treasures.
New Palladium, Shepherd's Bush (1923): The New Palladium in Shepherd's Bush, later the Palladium, the Essoldo, the Classic, and Odeon 2, opened in November 1923 with 763 seats as a modernisation of the 1910 Shepherd's Bush Cinematograph Theatre. It was modernised again in 1968 and the seating was reduced to 500; reopening was delayed by a fire.Ian Grundy, Odeon 2 Shepherd's Bush at Cinema Treasures. It was taken over by Odeon Cinemas in 1973.Eyles, Odeon 2, p. 246. The cinema closed in December 1981 and after standing empty for some time, was converted into a pub; it was one of the Australian-themed Walkabout chain until October 2013, when the building was sold.Jeff Hampton, "Shepherd's Bush Pub closes down", 3 News, 5 October 2013.
Picture Playhouse, Gerrards Cross (1925): The Picture Playhouse, now the Everyman Gerrards Cross, was opened in October 1925. It was smaller than many of their London sites, with a capacity of 570 seats when it first opened. It was taken over by Southan Morris in 1947, then the Essoldo chain who drastically altered the exterior of the building in 1969. In 1979, under the ownership of Classic Cinemas, the building was twinned with a smaller 213-seat auditorium built in the roof. The site was later owned by ABC, ODEON and finally sold to Everyman in 2015.
Walpole, Ealing (1925): The Walpole, Ealing, was converted to a cinema with over 1,400 seats from a roller skating rink; it had originally been built in 1912 as a 1,200 seat cinema or theatre and converted to a roller rink around 1919. It reopened in November 1925.Allen Eyles, Odeon Cinemas volume 2: From J. Arthur Rank to the Multiplex, Cinema Theatre Association, London: British Film Institute, 2005, , p. 231.According to Gray, p. 27, and Ken Roe, Walpole Cinema at Cinema Treasures, it was built in 1908 as a roller skating rink and converted by Beard in 1912. Beard added an ornate façade of ceramic tiles.Cinema Treasures. It closed in 1972 and became a carpet showroom and then a music studio, then was demolished, but the façade was saved and is on display nearby.
Capitol Cinema, Walton-on-Thames (1927): The Capitol Cinema, later the Odeon, Walton-on-Thames, opened in December 1927 with 1,015 seats and a stage for variety performances. It was Art Deco in style. It was taken over by Odeon in 1937, renamed in 1946, and closed in 1980. After standing empty for 10 years, it was demolished in 1990 and replaced in 1992 with a new development which includes a duplex cinema, the Screen Walton-on-Thames.Ken Roe, Odeon Walton-on-Thames at Cinema Treasures.According to Eyles, Odeon Cinemas 2, p. 251, The Screens at Walton.
Capitol, Forest Hill (1928–29): The Capitol, later ABC Cinema, Forest Hill, opened in November 1929 with 1691 seats. It was designed in Egyptian style.According to Steve Lynch and Ken Roe, ABC Forest Hill at Cinema Classics, Neo-Classical. There was a full-sized stage, three dressing rooms, and a Compton organ; there were variety shows and organ concerts there in the 1950s.ABC Forest Hill at Cinema Treasures. It was taken over by Odeon but never operated by them; it closed as a cinema in 1973, became a bingo hall, and became a pub in 2001. It became a Grade II listed building in 1993.Eyles, Odeon Cinemas 2, p. 233. It was designed before talking pictures so had to be retrofitted for sound. It is one of the few 1920s cinema buildings still extant.Local history and heritage – Buildings – Leisure related buildings, London Borough of Lewisham.
Royalty Cinema, North Kensington (1929): The Royalty Cinema, North Kensington, near Ladbroke Grove Underground station, opened in February 1929 with 1,288 seats, was taken over by ABC in 1935 and closed in 1960. The building reopened as a bingo club in 1965 but has since been demolished. It was neo-classical in style, with an arched entrance to the right of which the auditorium extended parallel to the street.Ken Roe, Royalty Cinema at Cinema Treasures.
Luxor, Twickenham (1929):