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