Thorley Walters | |
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| Born | Thorley Swinstead Walters 12 May 1913 Teigngrace, Devon, England |
| Died | 6 July 1991 (aged 78) London, England |
| Resting place | Golders Green Crematorium |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1935–1991 |
Thorley Swinstead Walters (12 May 1913 [1] – 6 July 1991) was an English actor. [2] He played comedy roles in films including Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1959) and Two-Way Stretch (1960). [3]
Walters was born in Teigngrace, Devon, the son of Prebendary Thomas Collins Walters of Silverton, Devon [1] and his wife Mary Francis[sic] née Swinstead. [4] [5] He was educated at Monkton Combe School, Somerset.
Walters appeared in the West End in the 1942 naval play Escort by Patrick Hastings and the 1949 musical Her Excellency at the London Hippodrome.
Walters featured in three of the St Trinian's films, starting as an army major in Blue Murder at St Trinian's . He later appeared as Butters, assistant to Education Ministry senior civil servant Culpepper-Brown (Eric Barker) in The Pure Hell of St Trinian's and played the part of Culpepper-Brown in The Wildcats of St Trinian's .
From the 1960s onwards Walters also appeared in several Hammer horror films, including The Phantom of the Opera (1962), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) and Vampire Circus (1972). He was a close friend of Hammer's most important director Terence Fisher. [6]
Walters played Sherlock Holmes's sidekick Doctor Watson in four unrelated films: Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962), The Best House in London (1969), The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975) and Silver Blaze (1977). [7]
Walters' television appearances included the Granada series Crown Court , both as a judge and as a barrister. He also appeared as a barrister in the BBC Series A P Herbert's Misleading Cases, starring Roy Dotrice as Albert Haddock. He also was in The Avengers starring as Hemming in the 1966 episode "What the Butler Saw". Walters also had roles in The Lotus Eaters and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy . [8] Walters was considered for the role of Captain Mainwaring in Dad's Army , before the part was assigned to Arthur Lowe [9] – Walters was offered the role by producer David Croft but turned it down. [10] In 1974 he played the Prince of Wales in the TV drama Jennie - Lady Randolph Churchill.
In the DVD commentary to The Man Who Haunted Himself , actor Roger Moore mentioned that co-star Walters lived in Dolphin Square in Pimlico, London in which some scenes of the film were shot.
Walters visited the ailing Terry-Thomas in Barnes, London in 1989. Walters had starred with Thomas in the Boulting Brothers' film Carlton-Browne of the F.O. and was shocked at his appearance (he was ill with Parkinson's disease). That visit resulted in the Terry-Thomas Gala held in the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in the same year which raised funds to help Thomas live the rest of his life in comfort.
Actress Siobhan Redmond was visiting Walters when he died in a London nursing home. Actor Ian Bannen gave the main address at his funeral held at Golders Green. [11] [12]
Irene Handl was a British character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films; she also wrote novels.
The Pure Hell of St Trinian's is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Frank Launder and starring Cecil Parker, George Cole, Joyce Grenfell and Eric Barker. It was written by Launder, Sidney Gilliat and Val Valentine, and set in the fictional St Trinian's School. It was the third in a series of four films.
Blue Murder at St Trinian's is a 1957 British comedy film, directed by Frank Launder, co-written by Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and starring Terry-Thomas, George Cole, Joyce Grenfell, Lionel Jeffries and Richard Wattis; the film also includes a brief cameo of Alastair Sim, reprising his lead role in the 1954 film, The Belles of St. Trinian's. Inspired by the St Trinian's School comic strips by British cartoonist Ronald Searle, the film is the second entry in the St. Trinian's film series, with its plot seeing the students of the fictional school making plans to secure a place on a European tour, all while subsequently aiding a criminal who is secretly seeking to escape the country with stolen jewels.
Terence Fisher was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Films.
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The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother is a 1975 American musical comedy film with Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Roy Kinnear, and Leo McKern. The film was Wilder's directorial debut, from his own original script.
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Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace is a 1962 mystery film directed by Terence Fisher. It is a West German-French-Italian international co-production. The film starred Christopher Lee as Sherlock Holmes and Thorley Walters as Dr. Watson. Curt Siodmak wrote the screenplay, based on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Philip Arthur Reeves, known professionally as Kynaston Reeves, was an English character actor who appeared in numerous films and many television plays and series.
Carlton-Browne of the F.O. is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Roy Boulting and Jeffrey Dell and starring Terry-Thomas, Peter Sellers, and Luciana Paluzzi. It was written by Boulting and Dell and produced by John Boulting.
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Silver Blaze is a 1977 British/Canadian television film directed by John Davies and starring Christopher Plummer and Thorley Walters. It is based on Arthur Conan Doyle's 1892 short story The Adventure of Silver Blaze.
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