Torin Thatcher
Torin Herbert Erskine Thatcher (born January 15, 1905 in Bombay , India , † March 4, 1981 in Thousand Oaks , California , USA ) was a British film and theater actor .
Private life
Torin Thatcher came from a British military family as both his grandfather and great-grandfather were British generals - the latter had also served under Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive . Thatcher's first name, which comes from Irish , means "leader". Although born in India, Thatcher grew up in England, where he graduated from a boys' school in Bedford from 1913 to 1922 . In 1940 he married Marguerite Mildred Daniel, who died in 1951. They had a child.
In July 1940 Thatcher was enlisted and, after thorough training as a battery commander , was deployed to Dover . In 1942 he was transferred to Trinidad and Tobago and in 1944 to Egypt , where, in addition to his engagement as a soldier, he also worked as a theater actor in Cairo . When he was discharged from the army in October 1945, Thatcher held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel . Shortly after the death of his first wife Marguerite, he married Anna LeBorgne. They remained married until Thatcher's death in 1981. He died of cancer .
Acting career
After initially working briefly as a teacher, Thatcher began studying acting at the well-known Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London . He later completed his training at the Maddermarket Theater in Norwich . From the mid-1920s, Thatcher was on various theater stages in England, including Oxford , Cambridge and London. From 1927 to 1929 he was a member of the Old Vic Company , where he performed as The Ghost in Shakespeare's play Hamlet . Also in 1927, he made his debut as a film actor in the British black and white short film The Merchant of Venice .
After the war , Thatcher moved to the United States, where he found his first engagement on Broadway in New York City in September 1948 . Edward, My Son was performed a total of 260 times by May 1949. The play The Miracle Worker , which was shown from October 1959 to July 1961, and in which Thatcher played the husband of the writer Helen Keller , was also successful . Due to his striking appearance, Thatcher was hired by Hollywood producers mainly as a film villain, for example in The Laughing Bomb (1954) and All Glory on Earth (1955). In 1957, he played a dashing prosecutor in the prosecution's witness . His role in the fantasy film Sindbad's Seventh Journey , produced in 1958 , in which he played a dark magician, is best known . In total he played in around 140 productions.
By 1960 Thatcher's career had peaked, but he stood in front of the camera and on theatrical stages until the mid-1970s. Then he withdrew into private life.
Filmography (selection)
- 1937: Tatjana (Knight without armor)
- 1937: Young and Innocent (Young and Innocent)
- 1939: The Spy in Black (The Spy in Black)
- 1940: The Case of the Frightened Lady
- 1940: Major Barbara
- 1942: Saboteurs (saboteurs)
- 1946: The Captive Heart (The Captive Heart)
- 1946: Great Expectations (Great Expectations)
- 1947: Gypsy blood (Jassy)
- 1947: Adventure in Brazil (The End of the River)
- 1948: Little Heart in Need (The Fallen Idol)
- 1952: Affair in Trinidad (Affair in Trinidad)
- 1952: Snow on Kilimanjaro (The Snows of Kilimanjaro)
- 1952: Battle for Pirate Treasure (Blackbeard the Pirate)
- 1952: The Crimson Pirate (The Crimson Pirate)
- 1953: The Desert Rats (The Desert Rats)
- 1953: The Robe (The Robe)
- 1953: Houdini, the king of vaudeville (Houdini)
- 1954: The Laughing Bomb (Knock on Wood)
- 1954: The Iron Knight of Falworth (The Black Shield of Falworth)
- 1954: Rifles for Bengali (Bengal Brigade)
- 1955: Many-Splendored Thing (Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing)
- 1955: The Naked Hostage (Lady Govina of Goventry)
- 1955: The beautiful Helena (Helen of Troy)
- 1956: Diane - Courtesan of France (Diane)
- 1957: Istanbul
- 1957: Hamisch, the slave trader (Band of Angels)
- 1957: Overrun by tanks (Darby's Rangers)
- 1957: Witness for the Prosecution (Witness for the Prosecution)
- 1958: Sinbad seventh trip (Sindbad's 7th Voyage)
- 1959: The Madonna with the Two Faces (The Miracle)
- 1961: The Red Squadron (The Canadians)
- 1962: The Ruler of Cornwall (Jack the Giant Killer)
- 1962: Mutiny on the Bounty (Mutiny on the Bounty)
- 1963: Slavehunter (Drums of Africa)
- 1964: Hell of Borneo (From Hell to Borneo)
- 1965: ... who desire everything (The Sandpiper)
- 1966: Hawaii
- 1967: Starship Enterprise (Episode: Landru and Eternity)
- 1967: The King's Pirate
- 1968: The story of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde)
Web links
- Torin Thatcher in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Torin Thatcher in the Internet Broadway Database (English)
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Thatcher, Torin |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Thatcher, Torin Herbert Erskine (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British film and stage actor |
DATE OF BIRTH | January 15, 1905 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Bombay , India |
DATE OF DEATH | March 4th 1981 |
Place of death | Thousand Oaks , California , USA |