
Torin Thatcher
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1905-01-15
Day of Death
1981-03-04 (76 years old)
Place of Birth
Bombay, British India, India
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
Acting
(1968)
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
as Sir Turnbull
(1967)
The King's Pirate
as Captain Cullen
(1966)
Hawaii
as Reverend Thorn
(1965)
The Sandpiper
as le juge Thompson
(1965)
The Holy Terror
as Dr. Poole
(1964)
Hell of Borneo
as Mr. Bellflower
(1963)
(1963)
Drums of Africa
as Jack Cuortemayn
(1962)
Mutiny on the Bounty
as Staines
(1962)
Jack the Giant Killer
as Pendragon
(1961)
The Canadians
as Superintendent Walker
(1960)
The Citadel
as Sir Robert Abbey
(1958)
Darby's Rangers
as Sergeant McTavish
(1958)
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
as Sokurah the Magician
(1957)
Witness for the Prosecution
as Mr. Myers
(1957)
Band of Angels
as Capt. Canavan
(1957)
Istanbul
as Douglas Fielding
(1957)
So Soon to Die
as Inspector Galloway
(1956)
Diane
as Louis - Count de Breze
(1956)
Helen of Troy
as Ulysses
(1956)
The Deadly Riddle
as The Red Knight
(1955)
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
as Humphrey Palmer-Jones
(1955)
Lady Godiva of Coventry
as Lord Godwin
(1954)
Knock on Wood
as Godfrey Langston
(1954)
Bengal Brigade
as Colonel Morrow
(1954)
The Black Shield of Falworth
as Sir James
(1953)
The Robe
as Sen. Gallio
(1953)
The Desert Rats
as Col. Barney White
(1953)
Houdini
as Otto
(1952)
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
as Johnson
(1952)
The Crimson Pirate
as Humble Bellows
(1952)
Affair in Trinidad
as Inspector Smythe
(1952)
Blackbeard, the Pirate
as Sir Henry Morgan
(1950)
The Black Rose
as Harry
(1949)
Now Barabbas
as Customs Officer
(1948)
Bonnie Prince Charlie
as Colonel Ker
(1948)
The Fallen Idol
as Policeman
(1947)
The Man Within
as Jailer
(1947)
When The Bough Breaks
as Adams
(1947)
The End of the River
as Lisboa
(1947)
Jassy
as Bob Wicks
(1946)
Great Expectations
as Bentley Drummle
(1946)
The Captive Heart
as Repatriation Official (uncredited)
(1946)
I See a Dark Stranger
as Police Constable
(1942)
Saboteur
as Man (uncredited)
(1942)
The Next of Kin
as German General
(1941)
Gasbags
as SS Man
(1941)
Major Barbara
as Todger Fairmile
(1940)
Law and Disorder
as Karl Bergsen
(1940)
Contraband
as Sailor
(1940)
(1940)
Let George Do It!
as U-Boat Commander
(1940)
The Case of the Frightened Lady
as Jim Tilling, the Groundsman
(1940)
Saloon Bar
as Mr. Garrod
(1939)
Old Mother Riley, MP
as Jack Nelson
(1939)
The Spy in Black
as Submarine Officer
(1939)
The Lion Has Wings
as Seaman Receiving Information About German Activity
(1939)
The Kindled Flame
as Festus
(1938)
Climbing High
as Jim Castle
(1937)
Young and Innocent
as Nobby's Lodging House Caretaker (uncredited)
(1937)
Sabotage
as Mr. Verloc's Visitor (uncredited)
(1936)
(1936)
The Man Who Could Work Miracles
as Observer
(1936)
The Common Round
as Martin
(1935)
(1933)
Red Wagon
as Eddie Prince