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