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