I'm currently beginning some research it's hopefully going to lead to a new written work.

You never know what you're going to discover even when you're doing quick and dirty research. That is a mid to deep internet trawl of research that someone else has already done, published, uploaded or otherwise disseminated.

I sometimes don't do research up front I write the narrative first and then apply the research as and where it's needed and adjust the tale accordingly - horses for courses. It depends on the type of work and which medium or platform it's intended for.

So, in researching this actor. A Brit of the 30s and 40s.
I just thought it would be perfunctory research for facts that might would be useful for my fictionalised narrative. However the more I learnt, the more I read about this actor, the more I was pulled into their life and their artistry. The more I found connections and small similarities. Which I was not expecting at all. Two different eras, different spectrums on the professional scale. The more I read the more touched and saddened I became, at how their life had panned out. And lastly the most upsetting factor is how this actor has for many been forgotten. Or should I say those that remember them are now few and far between.

Is it something specific to the British psyche, we applaud the good, great and talented for as long as it socially suites us and then ignore them, or turn on them
The British continuously underplay the achievements of our artists, scientists and innovators; unless we need to utilise their talents to bolster up the image of this country. But as soon as that's been done the artist, scientist etc are discarded, until the next time they need to serve as the face of British culture.
We consistently downplay our own history, overlooking our own accomplishments whilst all the time viewing other countries and their accomplishments with envy. "If only we had a .... or where are the actors that can do what ... does?

And right under our British noises are the artists that are like... the scientist that can innovate and discover the same as .... but we never quite seem to see it. People that should have been celebrated have to wait until they are deceased, misunderstood, maligned and in some cases completely erased. Ironically it often takes a play or film to celebrate their achievements or just their lives. Why do we do this?