Who's Who on
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Biography
Sir Donald Sinden (born 1923) was born in Plymouth, Devon. He was intending to train as an architect when, after appearing in an amateur production, he was asked to be b part of a group that was entertaining troops during he Second World War. (He had been excused military service because he suffered from asthma.) After this experience, he went to drama school and became a professional actor. In 1946, he joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre company AND later went to the Bristol Old Vic, already established as a promising Shakespearean actor.
His acting career took a dramatic change of direction when, in 1953, he was given a starring part in The Cruel Sea. For the next 10 years or so, he was a major star of the British cinema, starring in 22 films. Perhaps surprisingly for an actor with his classical background, many of the films he made were popular comedies, including You Know What Sailors Are (1954), Doctor in the House (1954), An Alligator Named Daisy (1955), Doctor at Large (1957) and Rockets Galore! (1957).
After five years working exclusively in films, he resumed his stage career in 1957. His distinctive, resonant voice and his broad experience as a classical and comedy actor meant that he was able to divide his time almost equally between work for the Royal Shakespeare Company and in popular commercial comedies. His impressive classical roles for the RSC have included Richard Plantagenet in John Barton’s The Wars of the Roses (1963), Lord Foppington in Vanbrugh’s The Relapse (1967), Sir Harcourt Courtly in London Assurance (1970), King Lear (1977), Othello (1979), and Sir Peter Teazle in Sheridan’s The School for Scandal (1983). His popular comedies have include There’s a Girl in My Soup, Not Now Darling and Noel Coward’s Present Laughter.
He has continued to appear occasionally in films, most recently in The Accidental Detective (2003). His substantial television appearances include the successful series Our Man at St. Marks (1963), Two’s Company (1975), Never the Twain (1981) and Judge John Deed (2001).
He is a keen theatre historian, collector of theatrical memorabilia and one of the fonder of the British Theatre Museum, which opened in 1987. He was awarded a CBE in 1979 and knighted in 1997.
| Items for Sale on Collectors' Post |
| Click for details |
| 014523 |
Theatre: Programs (UK) - post 1939 | THE SCARLET PIMPERNELL (by Baroness Orczy; adapt. Beverlt Corss) with Donald Sinden |
| 014547 |
Theatre: Programs (UK) - post 1939 | GUILTY PARTY (by George Ross & Campbell Singer) with DONALD SINDEN |
| 014568 |
Theatre: Programs (UK) - post 1939 | THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL (by Richard Brinsley Sheridan) with DONALD SINDEN & BERYL REID |
| 014576 |
Theatre: Programs (UK) - post 1939 | UNCLE VANYA (by Anton Chekov) with DONALD SINDEN & SHEILA GISH |
| 014709 |
Theatre: Programs (UK) - post 1939 | LONDON ASSURANCE (by Dion Boucicault; adapt. Ronald Eyre) with Donald Sinden & Sinead Cusack |
| 010805 |
Theatre: Programs - Signed | ODD MAN IN (by Vlaude Magnier) - signed by complete cast |
| 011789 |
Theatre: Photos - Signed | DONALD SINDEN - signed photo |
| 011808 |
Theatre: Photos - Signed | Sir DONALD SINDEN - signed photo |
| 011806 |
Cinema & TV: Signed Material | Sir DONALD SINDEN - signed photo |
| 011807 |
Cinema & TV: Signed Material | Sir DONALD SINDEN - signed photo |
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