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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1962
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.
Gender
Male
Birthday
January 15, 1905
Died
March 4, 1981
Birthplace
Bombay, British India, India
Also Known As
The Robe
1953
Bengal Brigade
1954
Contraband
1940
The Crimson Pirate
1952
Great Expectations
1946
The Spy in Black
1939
I See a Dark Stranger
1946
Hawaii
1966
Drums of Africa
1963
Hell of Borneo
1964
Gasbags
1941
The Canadians
1961
Jassy
1947
Drake of England
1935
Diane
1956
Houdini
1953
The Sandpiper
1965
So Soon to Die
1957
The Holy Terror
1965
Witness for the Prosecution
1957
+ 46 more movies
Star Trek
1966
Perry Mason
1957
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962
Mission: Impossible
1966
Mission: Impossible
1966
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
Climax!
1954
Climax!
1954
Get Smart
1965
Lost in Space
1965
The Time Tunnel
1966
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
Daniel Boone
1964
Daniel Boone
1964
Gunsmoke
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Night Gallery
1970
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