Godfrey Tudor-Matthews

11 December 1921 – 19 August 2020

Age 98

Godfrey Tudor Matthews was born on 11th December 1921 in Biarritz, France. He was the second son of the Reverend John Henry Matthews and Mary “Maymie” Frances Don. Rev. Matthews was vicar to the English speaking community in Biarritz. Godfrey’s older brother, Frederick John Gordon Matthews was born on 23 July 1920. The family left Biarritz in 1929 and returned to England where they settled in Beckenham, Kent.

During World War II, Godfrey was a member of the Entertainment National Service Association (ENSA), the British equivalent of the USO in America. After a few months entertaining the troops in Britain, the company was sent to Africa, where he served for 18 months in the Gold Coast (now Ghana), Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria. He loved Africa.

His last assignment with ENSA was in France, where he performed in Terence Rattigan’s French without Tears. His fellow performers included Rex Harrison, Anna Neagle, and Roland Culver.

After the war, he settled in London to resume his acting career. In addition to theater work, he performed in radio plays, television (BBC), and film. In 1945 he received a contract with the Old Vic Theatre Company in London. The principal male performers that season were Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson.

He met his first wife, South African Susannah Owens, in London in 1947; they were married in Johannesburg in 1949, and settled in Durban where Godfrey did radio broadcasting. Unhappy with Apartheid, and not wanting to return to Britain where postwar rationing continued, he decided to immigrate to Canada, where Canadian television was in its infancy.

They settled in Toronto where their two daughters, Catriona and Fiona were born. Once in Canada, he was told that the newly fledged Canadian Broadcasting Company didn't want foreigners working for them, they wanted "Canadian Television." Instead he worked in radio, often sharing billing with colleague Lorne Greene, who later became a television star in America.

In 1955 the family immigrated to the United States, settling in San Diego where the climate was less harsh than Toronto's and Winnipeg's cold winters. Their son Gordon was born there in 1957.

Godfrey taught drama at the Bishop's School, an independent preparatory Episcopal day school La Jolla. One of his students was Gene Kelly's daughter. He left Bishop’s School and worked for some years as the Executive Director of the San Diego County Epilepsy Society, followed by a series of odd jobs.

Unhappy in her marriage for many years, Susannah asked for a divorce in 1974. In 1980, Godfrey married Marguerite Carter. They couple moved to the fishing town of Eureka in Northern California in the Redwood Empire region. There Godfrey gave countless volunteer hours working in the Chaplaincy department at St. Joseph’s Hospital. He and Marguerite enjoyed 33 happy years together. Marguerite died in 2013.

Godfrey moved to Charlottesville, VA in 2017, and enjoyed 3 ½ years living near his elder daughter, Catriona Erler.

He is survived by his daughter Catriona, son-in-law Jim Erler; former son-in-law Kirk Petersen; and daughter-in-law Lisa Tudor), 7 grandchildren (Grant, Reid, and Cole Tudor; Nicholas Erler and his wife Jenni; Ashton Erler, RJ David Petersen and his wife Yasmine; and Katherine Hartman and her husband Stan) and 6 great grandchildren (Lexi, Ford, and Theo Hartman; Haley and Brooke Petersen and Tilia Erler). His daughter Fiona died in November 2014, and his son Gordon passed away 3 ½ days after Godfrey.