The Earliest Promotional Photo?

Judging by the way Dennis’s hair is combed and by the fact that the photographer* is British, I’d say that this is one of his earliest promotional photographs.

Dennis favoured a wave in his hair when photographed at a later date in the States. This photograph and the one of him in the family group in Birmingham look similar.

So, I’d say that this photograph was taken between 1917 (after he had left the Birmingham Rep) and 1921. As it was given me by my late sister, I’d say it came from my father. Judging by the extent of wear and the pencil scribblings on the back it seems that it was carried by my father in his wallet.

* The identification is “Guttenberg Photo. Manchester”. Evidently Percy Guttenberg was active as a theatrical photographer in the first decade of the 1900s and by 1922 he was the President of the Society of Master Photographers. It is not clear what links Dennis to Manchester. It is possible that he was there on tour in one of the productions that took him to Edinburgh.