Torin Thatcher
Acting • Born 1905-01-15 – Died 1981-03-04
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.
Filmography
105 credits
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Movie • 1968
Sir Turnbull
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Movie • 1952
Johnson
The Fallen Idol
Movie • 1948
Policeman
The Crimson Pirate
Movie • 1952
Humble Bellows
The Black Shield of Falworth
Movie • 1954
Sir James
The Citadel
Movie • 1960
Sir Robert Abbey
Jack the Giant Killer
Movie • 1962
Pendragon
Decision at Midnight
Movie • 1963
I See a Dark Stranger
Movie • 1946
Police Constable
The Desert Rats
Movie • 1953
Col. Barney White
The Robe
Movie • 1953
Sen. Gallio
Helen of Troy
Movie • 1956
Ulysses
Witness for the Prosecution
Movie • 1957
Mr. Myers
Band of Angels
Movie • 1957
Capt. Canavan
Houdini
Movie • 1953
Otto
Affair in Trinidad
Movie • 1952
Inspector Smythe
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
Movie • 1958
Sokurah the Magician
Red Wagon
Movie • 1933
Eddie Prince
Darby's Rangers
Movie • 1958
Sergeant McTavish
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Movie • 1955
Humphrey Palmer-Jones
The Man Within
Movie • 1947
Jailer
Knock on Wood
Movie • 1954
Godfrey Langston
Bonnie Prince Charlie
Movie • 1948
Colonel Ker
The Sandpiper
Movie • 1965
le juge Thompson
Blackbeard, the Pirate
Movie • 1952
Sir Henry Morgan
Lady Godiva of Coventry
Movie • 1955
Lord Godwin
Now Barabbas
Movie • 1949
Customs Officer
Istanbul
Movie • 1957
Douglas Fielding
Night Train to Munich
Movie • 1940
Diane
Movie • 1956
Louis - Count de Breze
Bengal Brigade
Movie • 1954
Colonel Morrow
When The Bough Breaks
Movie • 1947
Adams
Hell of Borneo
Movie • 1964
Mr. Bellflower
Jassy
Movie • 1947
Bob Wicks
The Canadians
Movie • 1961
Superintendent Walker
The King's Pirate
Movie • 1967
Captain Cullen
The Captive Heart
Movie • 1946
Repatriation Official (uncredited)
The End of the River
Movie • 1947
Lisboa
The Spy in Black
Movie • 1939
Submarine Officer
Let George Do It!
Movie • 1940
U-Boat Commander
Saloon Bar
Movie • 1940
Mr. Garrod
The Case of the Frightened Lady
Movie • 1940
Jim Tilling, the Groundsman
Contraband
Movie • 1940
Sailor
Old Mother Riley, MP
Movie • 1939
Jack Nelson
Saboteur
Movie • 1942
Man (uncredited)
Climbing High
Movie • 1938
Jim Castle
The Next of Kin
Movie • 1942
German General
Drake of England
Movie • 1935
The Kindled Flame
Movie • 1939
Festus
The Common Round
Movie • 1936
Martin
Drums of Africa
Movie • 1963
Jack Cuortemayn
Gasbags
Movie • 1941
SS Man
Major Barbara
Movie • 1941
Todger Fairmile
Great Expectations
Movie • 1946
Bentley Drummle
Crime Over London
Movie • 1936
The Lion Has Wings
Movie • 1939
Seaman Receiving Information About German Activity
Young and Innocent
Movie • 1937
Nobby's Lodging House Caretaker (uncredited)
Hawaii
Movie • 1966
Reverend Thorn
The Black Rose
Movie • 1950
Harry
Sabotage
Movie • 1937
Mr. Verloc's Visitor (uncredited)
The Man Who Could Work Miracles
Movie • 1936
Observer
Mutiny on the Bounty
Movie • 1962
Staines
The Holy Terror
Movie • 1965
Dr. Poole
The Deadly Riddle
Movie • 1956
The Red Knight
Law and Disorder
Movie • 1940
Karl Bergsen
So Soon to Die
Movie • 1957
Inspector Galloway
The Sweet and the Bitter
Movie • 1967
The Time Tunnel
TV • 1966
Dr. Everett Holland
Star Trek
TV • 1966
Marplon
The Great Adventure
TV • 1963
General Howe
Land of the Giants
TV • 1968
Dr. Berger
Lost in Space
TV • 1965
The Space Trader
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Walter Frazer
Gunsmoke
TV • 1955
John Tyson
Mission: Impossible
TV • 1966
Archbishop Djelvas
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Dr. Poole
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV • 1955
Constable Johnson
Daniel Boone
TV • 1964
President John Adams
The Millionaire
TV • 1955
Max MacIntyre
Thriller
TV • 1960
Jeremy Teal
Search
TV • 1972
Peter Gunn
TV • 1958
One Step Beyond
TV • 1959
Earl of Culdane
Climax!
TV • 1954
John Philippson
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
TV • 1963
Petrocelli
TV • 1974
Adventures in Paradise
TV • 1959
Michael Cameron
The 20th Century Fox Hour
TV • 1955
Profiles in Courage
TV • 1964
Sewall
The Philco Television Playhouse
TV • 1948
Night Gallery
TV • 1970
Captain of the Lusitania (segment "Lone Survivor")
The Guns of Will Sonnett
TV • 1967
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Ab Richards
Telephone Time
TV • 1956
Profiles in Courage
TV • 1964
Cannon
Daniel Boone
TV • 1964
Cyrus Blake / Enoch Blake
The Great Adventure
TV • 1963
Colonel Lewis Washington
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV • 1955
Felix Edward Manbridge
The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen
TV • 1958
King Bendigo
DuPont Show of the Month
TV • 1957
Rees Mathry
Climax!
TV • 1954
Fred Beresford
The Philco Television Playhouse
TV • 1948
Othello
Mission: Impossible
TV • 1966
General Rados Adolph Gollan
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
TV • 1962
Alva Hardwicke
Get Smart
TV • 1965
Dr. Braam