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 Burtons character The Black Shield of Falworth 1954 Helen of Troy 1956 Darbys 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 awardwinning 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 madeforTV films as adaptations of A J Cronins Beyond This Place 1957 and The Citadel 1960Bonanza1961 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