Our Patron

Clive Owen is the patron of the Electric Palace Trust.
He made his first official visit to the Electric Palace on 10th November 2006 to launch the Electric Palace Appeal.
Clive Owen began acting in youth theatre as a teenager and afterwards went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. After graduation in 1988, he acted with the Young Vic theatre, playing Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Claudio in Measure for Measure. He joined the Young Vic theatre company in 1988.
In the early 90s he starred in the television series Chancer. Although the programme only ran for 20 episodes Clive made his mark as super-suave Stephen Crane, a man with a shady past. It paved the way for a string of roles in film and TV throughout the decade, including the incest drama Close My Eyes and Mike Hodges’ acclaimed 1998 drama Croupier.
Clive is an actor noted not only for his commitment to English Stage and Film but also for his versatility in films as diverse as Sin City, The Children of Men, Closer and Inside Man.

Past Patrons

John Huntley – Film historian and lecturer on the art of cinema

Patron of the Harwich Electric Palace Trust 1985-2003

John Huntley supported the Electric Palace throughout the restoration. He gave an inspiring address to the first Annual Dinner in 1976 and followed on as Patron after the death of Sir John Betjeman.

He visited the cinema several times over the years enthralling full houses with fascinating films and lectures delivered with tremendous enthusiasm and warmth.

Sir John Betjeman – English poet and essayist

Patron of the Harwich Electric Palace Trust 1975-1984

John Betjeman supported the cinema from the very beginnings of formation of the Trust.

He was well known as an admirer and champion of Victorian and Edwardian architecture and social history. He had a special interest in the Gothic Revival. His books on architecture include Ghastly Good Taste 1933, A Pictorial History of English Architecture 1972, and West Country Churches 1973.