Torin Thatcher

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Torin Thatcher (15 January 1905 - 4 March 1981) was an English actor born in Bombay, British India, India), to English parents. He was an imposing, powerfully built figure noted for his flashy portrayals of screen villains. He was educated in England at Bedford School and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He worked as a schoolmaster before first appearing on the London stage in 1927 and then entering British films in 1934. He appeared in the 1937 Old Vic stage production of Hamlet, in which Laurence Olivier made his first appearance in the title role, opposite Vivien Leigh as Ophelia. During the Second World War, he served with the Royal Artillery and was demobilized with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Thatcher appeared in classic British films of the late 1930s and 1940s, including Major Barbara (1941) and Great Expectations (1946), in which he played Bentley Drummle. He moved to Hollywood in the 1950s. He was constantly in demand, invariably lending his looming figure and baleful countenance to sinister or stern roles in popular costume thrillers such as The Crimson Pirate (1952), Blackbeard the Pirate (1952), The Robe (1953) (as the disapproving father of Richard Burton's character), The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), Helen of Troy (1956), Darby's Rangers (1958), and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). He also appeared in the Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard 1962 remake of Mutiny on the Bounty. He returned to the stage quite frequently, notably on Broadway, in such esteemed productions as Edward, My Son (1948), That Lady (1949) and Billy Budd (1951). In 1959, he portrayed Captain Keller in the award-winning play The Miracle Worker with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke. All of these plays were filmed, but Thatcher did not appear in the movie versions. Also a steady fixture on television, he appeared in such made-for-TV films as adaptations of A. J. Cronin's Beyond This Place (1957) and The Citadel (1960),Bonanza(1961), and Brenda Starr (1976). He also played the title role in a Philco Television Playhouse version of Othello and acted in a CBS production of Beyond This Place (1957). Thatcher died of cancer on March 4, 1981, in Thousand Oaks, California, in the Los Angeles area.

Known For

Sir Turnbull

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Johnson

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Policeman

The Fallen Idol

Humble Bellows

The Crimson Pirate

Sir James

The Black Shield of Falworth

Sir Robert Abbey

The Citadel

Pendragon

Jack the Giant Killer

Decision at Midnight

Police Constable

I See a Dark Stranger

Col. Barney White

The Desert Rats

Sen. Gallio

The Robe

Ulysses

Helen of Troy

Mr. Myers

Witness for the Prosecution

Capt. Canavan

Band of Angels

Otto

Houdini

Inspector Smythe

Affair in Trinidad

Sokurah the Magician

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

Eddie Prince

Red Wagon

Sergeant McTavish

Darby's Rangers

Humphrey Palmer-Jones

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

Jailer

The Man Within

Godfrey Langston

Knock on Wood

Colonel Ker

Bonnie Prince Charlie

le juge Thompson

The Sandpiper

Sir Henry Morgan

Blackbeard, the Pirate

Lord Godwin

Lady Godiva of Coventry

Customs Officer

Now Barabbas

Douglas Fielding

Istanbul

Night Train to Munich

Louis - Count de Breze

Diane

Colonel Morrow

Bengal Brigade

Adams

When The Bough Breaks

Mr. Bellflower

Hell of Borneo

Bob Wicks

Jassy

Superintendent Walker

The Canadians

Captain Cullen

The King's Pirate

Repatriation Official (uncredited)

The Captive Heart

Lisboa

The End of the River

Submarine Officer

The Spy in Black

U-Boat Commander

Let George Do It!

Mr. Garrod

Saloon Bar

Jim Tilling, the Groundsman

The Case of the Frightened Lady

Sailor

Contraband

Jack Nelson

Old Mother Riley, MP

Man (uncredited)

Saboteur

Jim Castle

Climbing High

German General

The Next of Kin

Drake of England

Festus

The Kindled Flame

Martin

The Common Round

Jack Cuortemayn

Drums of Africa

SS Man

Gasbags

Todger Fairmile

Major Barbara

Bentley Drummle

Great Expectations

Crime Over London

Seaman Receiving Information About German Activity

The Lion Has Wings

Nobby's Lodging House Caretaker (uncredited)

Young and Innocent

Reverend Thorn

Hawaii

Harry

The Black Rose

Mr. Verloc's Visitor (uncredited)

Sabotage

Observer

The Man Who Could Work Miracles

Staines

Mutiny on the Bounty

Dr. Poole

The Holy Terror

The Red Knight

The Deadly Riddle

Karl Bergsen

Law and Disorder