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.

Witness for the Prosecution

8.2

Star Trek

8.0

Saboteur

6.9

Get Smart

7.9

Great Expectations

7.3

Sabotage

6.7

Mutiny on the Bounty

7.0

Mission: Impossible

7.6

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

6.9

The Robe

6.7

Young and Innocent

6.6

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

7.7

The Time Tunnel

7.6

The Fallen Idol

7.2

The Crimson Pirate

6.9

Perry Mason

7.7

Lost in Space

7.1

Gunsmoke

6.6

Night Gallery

7.8

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

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The Desert Rats

6.3

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

6.0

Night Train to Munich

7.2

Houdini

6.5

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

7.8

The Spy in Black

6.4

Affair in Trinidad

6.3

Jack the Giant Killer

6.4

Helen of Troy

6.3

The Sandpiper

6.4

Blackbeard, the Pirate

5.9

Hawaii

6.4

Band of Angels

6.2

Land of the Giants

6.7

Knock on Wood

6.6

Daniel Boone

6.9

The Man Who Could Work Miracles

5.7

The Black Shield of Falworth

6.2

I See a Dark Stranger

6.3

The Captive Heart

6.4

Petrocelli

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The Black Rose

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Major Barbara

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Contraband

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Peter Gunn

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Thriller

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Lady Godiva of Coventry

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The Case of the Frightened Lady

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The Lion Has Wings

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One Step Beyond

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Let George Do It!

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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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Bengal Brigade

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Jassy

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Climax!

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Darby's Rangers

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Diane

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Istanbul

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Search

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The Guns of Will Sonnett

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Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

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Gasbags

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The Next of Kin

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Hallmark Hall of Fame

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Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

5.5

Adventures in Paradise

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The 20th Century Fox Hour

5.2

The Philco Television Playhouse

6.0

Bonnie Prince Charlie

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Old Mother Riley, MP

5.6

Saloon Bar

6.5

The Man Within

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When The Bough Breaks

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Climbing High

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Drake of England

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Drums of Africa

2.3

The Millionaire

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Telephone Time

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DuPont Show of the Month

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Now Barabbas

6.5

Hell of Borneo

5.0

The Canadians

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The King's Pirate

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The End of the River

5.0

Decision at Midnight

6.0

Crime Over London

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Law and Disorder

5.0

Profiles in Courage

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The Citadel

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Red Wagon

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The Kindled Flame

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The Common Round

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The Holy Terror

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The Deadly Riddle

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The Great Adventure

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The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen

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