Place of Birth: Bombay, British India, India
Torin Thatcher
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.
Movie | Cast | Year |
---|---|---|
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Sir Turnbull | 1968 |
The Snows of Kilimanjaro | Johnson | 1952 |
The Fallen Idol | Policeman | 1948 |
The Crimson Pirate | Humble Bellows | 1952 |
The Black Shield of Falworth | Sir James | 1954 |
The Citadel | Sir Robert Abbey | 1960 |
Jack the Giant Killer | Pendragon | 1962 |
Decision at Midnight | 1963 | |
I See a Dark Stranger | Police Constable | 1946 |
The Desert Rats | Col. Barney White | 1953 |
The Robe | Sen. Gallio | 1953 |
Helen of Troy | Ulysses | 1956 |
Witness for the Prosecution | Mr. Myers | 1957 |
Band of Angels | Capt. Canavan | 1957 |
Houdini | Otto | 1953 |
Affair in Trinidad | Inspector Smythe | 1952 |
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad | Sokurah the Magician | 1958 |
Red Wagon | Eddie Prince | 1933 |
Darby's Rangers | Sergeant McTavish | 1958 |
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing | Humphrey Palmer-Jones | 1955 |
The Man Within | Jailer | 1947 |
Knock on Wood | Godfrey Langston | 1954 |
Bonnie Prince Charlie | Colonel Ker | 1948 |
The Sandpiper | le juge Thompson | 1965 |
Blackbeard, the Pirate | Sir Henry Morgan | 1952 |
Lady Godiva of Coventry | Lord Godwin | 1955 |
Now Barabbas | Customs Officer | 1949 |
Istanbul | Douglas Fielding | 1957 |
Night Train to Munich | 1940 | |
Diane | Louis - Count de Breze | 1956 |
Bengal Brigade | Colonel Morrow | 1954 |
When The Bough Breaks | Adams | 1947 |
Hell of Borneo | Mr. Bellflower | 1964 |
Jassy | Bob Wicks | 1947 |
The Canadians | Superintendent Walker | 1961 |
The King's Pirate | Captain Cullen | 1967 |
The Captive Heart | Repatriation Official (uncredited) | 1946 |
The End of the River | Lisboa | 1947 |
The Spy in Black | Submarine Officer | 1939 |
Let George Do It! | U-Boat commander | 1940 |
Saloon Bar | Mr. Garrod | 1940 |
The Case of the Frightened Lady | Jim Tilling, the Groundsman | 1940 |
Contraband | Sailor | 1940 |
Old Mother Riley, MP | Jack Nelson | 1939 |
Saboteur | Man (uncredited) | 1942 |
Climbing High | Jim Castle | 1938 |
The Next of Kin | German General | 1942 |
Drake of England | 1935 | |
The Kindled Flame | Festus | 1939 |
The Common Round | Martin | 1936 |
Drums of Africa | Jack Cuortemayn | 1963 |
Gasbags | SS Man | 1941 |
Major Barbara | Todger Fairmile | 1941 |
Great Expectations | Bentley Drummle | 1946 |
Crime Over London | 1936 | |
The Lion Has Wings | Seaman Receiving Information About German Activity | 1939 |
Young and Innocent | Nobby's Lodging House Caretaker (uncredited) | 1937 |
Hawaii | Reverend Thorn | 1966 |
The Black Rose | Harry | 1950 |
Sabotage | Mr. Verloc's Visitor (uncredited) | 1937 |
The Man Who Could Work Miracles | Observer | 1936 |
Mutiny on the Bounty | Staines | 1962 |
The Holy Terror | Dr. Poole | 1965 |
The Deadly Riddle | The Red Knight | 1956 |
Law and Disorder | Karl Bergsen | 1940 |
Series | Cast | Year |
The Time Tunnel | Dr. Everett Holland | 1966 |
Star Trek | Marplon | 1966 |
The Great Adventure | General Howe | 1963 |
Land of the Giants | Dr. Berger | 1968 |
Lost in Space | The Space Trader | 1965 |
Perry Mason | Walter Frazer | 1957 |
Gunsmoke | John Tyson | 1955 |
Mission: Impossible | Archbishop Djelvas | 1966 |
Get Smart | 1965 | |
Hallmark Hall of Fame | Dr. Poole | 1951 |
Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Constable Johnson | 1955 |
Daniel Boone | President John Adams | 1964 |
The Millionaire | Max MacIntyre | 1955 |
Thriller | Jeremy Teal | 1960 |
Search | 1972 | |
Peter Gunn | 1958 | |
One Step Beyond | Earl of Culdane | 1959 |
Climax! | John Philippson | 1954 |
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | 1963 | |
Petrocelli | 1974 | |
Adventures in Paradise | Michael Cameron | 1959 |
The 20th Century Fox Hour | 1955 | |
Profiles in Courage | Sewall | 1964 |
The Philco Television Playhouse | 1948 | |
Night Gallery | Captain of the Lusitania (segment "Lone Survivor") | 1970 |
The Guns of Will Sonnett | 1967 | |
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | Ab Richards | 1956 |
Telephone Time | 1956 | |
Profiles in Courage | Cannon | 1964 |
Daniel Boone | Cyrus Blake / Enoch Blake | 1964 |
The Great Adventure | Colonel Lewis Washington | 1963 |
Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Felix Edward Manbridge | 1955 |
The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen | King Bendigo | 1958 |
DuPont Show of the Month | Rees Mathry | 1957 |
Climax! | Fred Beresford | 1954 |
The Philco Television Playhouse | Othello | 1948 |
Mission: Impossible | General Rados Adolph Gollan | 1966 |
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Alva Hardwicke | 1962 |