Torin Thatcher

Associated with gritty, flashy film villainy, veteran character actor Torin Herbert Erskine Thatcher was born in Bombay, India to British parents on January 15, 1905. The son of a police officer (who died when Torin was 10) and a voice/piano teacher, he was educated in England at the Bedford School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

A former schoolteacher, he appeared on the London stage, notably the Old Vic, in 1927 before entering British films in 1934. He would be notable for his stage prowess in the works of Shaw, Shakespeare, and the Greek tragedies.

Thatcher began in minor roles and progressed to better ones in a number of classic British films in the late 1930s and 1940s as the years went on.

They included Sabotage (1936), Dark Journey (1937), Night Train to Munich (1940), Major Barbara (1941), I See a Dark Stranger (1946), The Captive Heart (1946), Great Expectations (1946), as Bentley ("The Spider") Drummle, Jassy (1947) and The Fallen Idol (1948).

Among his earlier stage plays was a 1937 version of "Hamlet" which starred Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. During World War II he served with the Royal Artillery and achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was an extremely imposing, powerfully built specimen and it offered him a number of tough, commanding, often sinister roles over the years primarily in larger-than-life action sequences.

A co-founder of the Society for Theatre Research in 1947 and was its Vice Chairman for the Committee.

Thatcher 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 Hollywood from the 1950s on, the actor's looming figure and baleful countenance were constantly in demand, gnashing his teeth in a slew of popular costumers such as The Crimson Pirate (1952), Blackbeard The Pirate - 1952 - Color (1952) as reformed pirate Sir Henry Morgan, The Robe (1953), Helen of Troy (1956) as Ulysses, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) as the evil, shaven-domed magician Sokurah who shrinks the princess to miniature size, Witness for the Prosecution (1957) as the prosecuting attorney, The Miracle (1959) as the Duke of Wellington, the Marlon Brando/Trevor Howard remake of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), and Hawaii (1966).

Also a steady fixture on American TV from the mid-1950's on, Torin appeared in a number of quality TV anthologies ("Omnibus," "Playhouse 90, "Zane Grey Theatre") before making fairly steady guest appearances on such shows as "The Millionaire," "Ellery Queen," "Peter Gunn," "Wagon Train," "Bonanza," "Perry Mason," "The Real McCoys," "The Untouchables," "My THree Sons," "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "Perry Mason," "Get Smart," "Lost in Space," "Star Trek," "Gunsmoke," "Daniel Boone," "Mission: Impossible," "Night Gallery," "Search" and "Petrocelli. " He also showed up in support in the TV movies The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.

Received the 1957 Sylvania Award for his performance in "Beyond This Place.".

In 1959 he portrayed Captain Keller in the award-winning play "The Miracle Worker" with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke.

Appeared in one episode each of the four 1960's Irwin Allen science fiction TV series. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: The Secret of the Loch (1965) 5 April 1965, Lost in Space: The Space Trader (1966) 9 March 1966, The Time Tunnel: Crack of Doom (1966) 14 October 1966, and Land of the Giants: Nightmare (1970) 4 January 1970.In addition, also appeared in one episode of 1960's science fiction TV series, Star Trek: The Original Series: The Return of the Archons (1967) 9 February 1967.

Hyde (1968) starring Jack Palance and Brenda Starr (1976), his final on-camera appearance, starring Jill St. John.