Sybil Thorndike

A cousin of actress Brenda Dunrich, whose mother Hilda (1881-?) was a Thorndike.

Born Agnes Sybil Thorndike on October 24, 1882 in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, she was the daughter of a minor canon of Rochester Cathedral. She was the eldest of four children. One younger brother, Frank, was killed in WWI action, a tragedy that left her father inconsolable. He himself would die a few months later. Sybil first became a concert pianist until nerve injuries in her hands quickly altered her destiny. She, at brother Russell Thorndike's suggestion, decided upon acting. Russell would later become a novelist and his sister's biographer. Not a classic beauty by any stretch, Dame Sybil had sharp features, prominent cheek bones and a pronounced chin that gave her a rather severe look. At age 21 she and her brother began professionally in a touring company guided by actor-manager Ben Greet.

Sister of actor Russell Thorndike and actress Eileen Thorndike. A fourth sibling Francis Herbert Thorndike (1894-1917) died as a pilot in the war.

She severely damaged her voice on a tour of the US presenting Shakespeare plays in 1905. Vocal problems would continue to plague her for the rest of her career.

She performed as Portia in a production of The Merchant of Venice in 1907 while touring in New York. The following year she met playwright George Bernard Shaw while understudying the role of Candida in a tour which was being directed by the writer himself. It was also during this tour that Sybil met and married actor Sir Lewis Casson and solidified one of the most respected personal and professional relationships the acting realm has known.

She stayed with The Old Vic for five years (1914-1919) and in 1924 earned stardom as Shaw's Joan of Arc. Sybil's film career, unlike that of her esteemed contemporary Edith Evans, fell far short of expectations. Silent films recreated some of her finest theatrical experiences, including Lady Macbeth and, of course, Joan of Arc, but she would not evolve into a film star. She was sporadically utilized in later years as a flavorful character support and played a number of queens, dowagers and old crones with equal finesse.

She played the wife of her real life brother Russell Thorndike in Macbeth (1922).

Both she and husband Sir Lewis Casson took a keen interest in politics and were supporters of the Popular Front government in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, which was fighting against the Nazi-supported forces of Francisco Franco. She joined Emma Goldman, Rebecca West, Fenner Brockway and C.E.M. Joad in establishing the Committee to Aid Homeless Spanish Women and Children. Both she and Lewis held strong politically leftist beliefs and were active members of the Labour Party, to the extent that when the 1926 general strike cut short the run of "Saint Joan", they remained strongly on the side of the strikers. On a trip to South Africa in 1928, she and Lewis aggressively fought segregation so black theatergoers could experience their presentations.

This distinguished theatrical tragedienne will be remembered forever if only for the fact George Bernard Shaw wrote his classic "Saint Joan" work specifically for her. Her over six-decade career allowed for a gallery of sterling, masterful portrayals, both classic and contemporary, performing all over the world including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and both Western and Eastern Europe. She was created a Dame of the British Empire in 1931, when her career was not quite half over, and in 1970 was made Companion of Honor to Queen Elizabeth.

In 1940, during WWII, her son John, who was in the military, was reported missing and presumed dead. She and her husband had no further news about him until the war ended in 1945 and they found out he had been captured and was still alive. He was home within a few weeks.

Such classic costumed fare would include Major Barbara (1941), The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947), Stage Fright (1950), Gone to Earth (1950), The Lady with a Lamp (1951), Melba (1953), as Queen Victoria, and The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) in which she managed to grab focus during her scenes with Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe.

Was nominated for Broadway's 1957 Tony Award as Best Actress (Dramatic) for "The Potting Shed."

1966: Created an honorary DLitt of the University of Oxford.

In 1969, Sybil lent her name to the new theatre in Leatherhead, Surrey, which became The Thorndike. Despite her 87 years, she performed in the new play There Was An Old Woman in its first season. It was to be her final theatrical performance.

A memorial service was held for her at Westminster Abbey, London on 2 July 1976.

She was portrayed by Sian Thomas in the original production of the play "Fram", by Tony Harrison , which premiered at the National Theatre, London, UK in April 2008.