Basil Sydney
Encyclopedia
Basil Sydney was an English
actor who made over fifty screen appearances, most memorably as Claudius
in Laurence Olivier
's 1948 film of Hamlet
. He also appeared in classic films like Treasure Island
(1950), Ivanhoe
(1952) and Around the World in Eighty Days
(1956), but the focus of his career was the legitimate stage on both sides of the Atlantic.
Sydney made his name in the London
stage hit Romance by Edward Sheldon
in the dual role of the priest and the priest's nephew opposite the play's Broadway
star Doris Keane
in 1915, and costarred with Keane in the 1920 silent movie
of the play. The couple married in 1918, and when Keane revived Romance in New York
in 1921, Sydney made his Broadway
debut in the parts. He stayed in New York
for over a decade playing classical roles like Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet
(1922) Richard Dudgeon in The Devil's Disciple
(1923), the title role in Hamlet
(1923), Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part I (1926), and Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew (1927).
In 1925 he divorced Keane; four years later, in 1929, he married actress Mary Ellis
, and the couple moved to England. There he concentrated more on film than on theatre work. In the 1940s he married English film actress Joyce Howard
; they had three children.
Sydney died from pleurisy
in 1968, aged 73.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor who made over fifty screen appearances, most memorably as Claudius
King Claudius
King Claudius is a character and the antagonist from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. He is the brother to King Hamlet, second husband to Gertrude and uncle to Hamlet. He obtained the throne of Denmark by murdering his own brother with poison and then marrying the late king's widow...
in Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
's 1948 film of Hamlet
Hamlet (1948 film)
Hamlet is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, adapted and directed by and starring Sir Laurence Olivier. Hamlet was Olivier's second film as director, and also the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed...
. He also appeared in classic films like Treasure Island
Treasure Island (1950 film)
Treasure Island is a 1950 Disney adventure film, adapted from the Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. It starred Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins, and Robert Newton as Long John Silver...
(1950), Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe (1952 film)
Ivanhoe is a 1952 historical film made by MGM. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S. Berman. The cast featured Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Emlyn Williams, Finlay Currie and Felix Aylmer...
(1952) and Around the World in Eighty Days
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956 film)
Around the World in 80 Days is a 1956 adventure film produced by the Michael Todd Company and released by United Artists. It was directed by Michael Anderson. It was produced by Michael Todd, with Kevin McClory and William Cameron Menzies as associate producers. The screenplay was written by James...
(1956), but the focus of his career was the legitimate stage on both sides of the Atlantic.
Sydney made his name in the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
stage hit Romance by Edward Sheldon
Edward Sheldon
Edward Brewster Sheldon was an American dramatist. His plays include Salvation Nell and Romance , which was made into a motion picture with Greta Garbo....
in the dual role of the priest and the priest's nephew opposite the play's Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
star Doris Keane
Doris Keane
Doris Keane was an American actress.She was born in the USA but educated largely in Europe.Her first professional role was in Whitewashing Julia in 1903. This was a small role but she went on to play leading roles in The Happy Marriage in 1909 and The Lights o' London in 1911.In 1913, she played...
in 1915, and costarred with Keane in the 1920 silent movie
Silent Movie
Silent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
of the play. The couple married in 1918, and when Keane revived Romance in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1921, Sydney made his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in the parts. He stayed in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
for over a decade playing classical roles like Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
(1922) Richard Dudgeon in The Devil's Disciple
The Devil's Disciple
The Devil's Disciple is an 1897 play written by Irish dramatist, George Bernard Shaw. The play is Shaw's eighth, and after Richard Mansfield's original 1897 American production it was his first financial success, which helped to affirm his career as a playwright...
(1923), the title role in Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
(1923), Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part I (1926), and Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew (1927).
In 1925 he divorced Keane; four years later, in 1929, he married actress Mary Ellis
Mary Ellis
Mary Ellis was a long-lived star of the British stage best known for her roles in the genre of musical theatre. After appearing with the Metropolitan Opera beginning in 1918, later appearing opposite Enrico Caruso, she acted on Broadway, creating the title role in Rose Marie...
, and the couple moved to England. There he concentrated more on film than on theatre work. In the 1940s he married English film actress Joyce Howard
Joyce Howard
Joyce Howard was a British film actress.-Filmography:* Freedom Radio * Love on the Dole * The Common Touch * Back-Room Boy * The Night Has Eyes...
; they had three children.
Sydney died from pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
in 1968, aged 73.
Filmography
- RomanceRomance (1920 film)Romance is a 1920 American silent film directed by Chester Withey and released through United Artists. The film is based on the 1913 play Romance by Edward Sheldon and stars Doris Keane, the actress who created the role in the play. This was Miss Keane's only motion picture. D.W...
(1920) - Red Hot Romance (1922)
- The MidshipmaidThe MidshipmaidThe Midshipmaid is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Albert de Courville and starring Jessie Matthews, Frederick Kerr, Basil Sydney and Nigel Bruce.-Cast:* Jessie Matthews - Celia Newbiggin* Frederick Kerr - Sir Percy Newbiggin...
(1932) - Dirty WorkDirty Work (1934 film)Dirty Work is a 1934 British comedy crime film directed by Tom Walls and starring Ralph Lynn, Gordon Harker, Robertson Hare and Basil Sydney...
(1934) - The Third ClueThe Third ClueThe Third Clue is a 1934 British crime film directed by Albert Parker and starring Basil Sydney, Molly Lamont, Robert Cochran and Raymond Lovell. Two criminals try to recover loot hidden in an isolated manor house.-Cast:* Basil Sydney - Reinhardt Conway...
(1934) - The White LilacThe White LilacThe White Lilac is a 1935 British mystery film directed by Albert Parker and starring Basil Sydney, Judy Gunn, Claude Dampier and Percy Marmont.-Cast:* Basil Sydney - Ian Mackie* Judy Gunn - Mollie* Claude Dampier - Percy* Percy Marmont - Tollitt...
(1935) - The Riverside MurderThe Riverside MurderThe Riverside Murder is a 1935 British crime film directed by Albert Parker and starring Basil Sydney, Judy Gunn and Zoe Davis.- Plot summary :...
(1935) - The TunnelThe Tunnel (1935 film)The Tunnel, also known as Transatlantic Tunnel in the United States, is a 1935 British science fiction film based on the 1913 novel Der Tunnel by Bernhard Kellermann, about the building of a transatlantic tunnel. It was directed by Maurice Elvey and stars Richard Dix, Leslie Banks, Madge Evans,...
(1935) - Blind Man's Bluff (1936)
- The Amateur GentlemanThe Amateur Gentleman (1936 film)The Amateur Gentleman is a 1936 British drama film directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Elissa Landi, Gordon Harker and Margaret Lockwood, with music by Richard Addinsell. It is based on the 1913 novel The Amateur Gentleman by Jeffrey Farnol...
(1936) - Rhodes of AfricaRhodes of AfricaRhodes of Africa is a 1936 British biographical film charting the life of Cecil Rhodes. It was directed by Berthold Viertel and starred Walter Huston, Oskar Homolka, Basil Sydney and Bernard Lee.-Cast:* Walter Huston - Cecil Rhodes...
(1936) - AccusedAccused (film)Accused is a 1936 British mystery film directed by Thornton Freeland.-Plot:Two dance partners become embroiled in a murder mystery when one of the dancers is accused of murder.-Cast:*Douglas Fairbanks, Jr......Tony Seymour...
(1936) - Crime Over LondonCrime Over LondonCrime Over London is a 1936 British crime film featuring Margot Grahame, Peter Gawthorne, Basil Sydney and Googie Withers....
(1936) - Talk of the DevilTalk of the DevilTalk of the Devil is a 1936 British crime film directed by Carol Reed and starring Ricardo Cortez, Sally Eilers and Basil Sydney. A dishonest shipbuilder plans to frame his half-brother for his own criminal activities...
(1936) - The Four Just MenThe Four Just Men (film)The Four Just Men is a 1939 British thriller film directed by Walter Forde and starring Hugh Sinclair, Griffith Jones, Edward Chapman and Garry Marsh. It is based on the novel The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace.-Cast:...
(1939) - Shadowed EyesShadowed EyesShadowed Eyes is a 1940 British crime film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Basil Sydney, Patricia Hilliard and Stewart Rome. A leading surgeon murders his wife's lover.-Partial cast:* Basil Sydney - Doctor Zander...
(1940) - The Big BlockadeThe Big BlockadeThe Big Blockade is a 1942 British, black-and-white, comedy-drama, propaganda film, war film, directed by Charles Frend and starring Will Hay, Ronald Shiner as the Shipping Clerk and John Mills. It was produced by Ealing Studios...
(1940) - The Farmer's WifeThe Farmer's Wife (1941 film)The Farmer's Wife is a 1941 British drama film directed by Norman Lee and Leslie Arliss and starring Basil Sydney, Wilfrid Lawson and Nora Swinburne. It is based on the play The Farmer's Wife by Eden Phillpotts which had previously been adapted by Alfred Hitchcock for a 1929 film.-Cast:* Basil...
(1941) - Spring MeetingSpring MeetingSpring Meeting is a 1941 British comedy film directed by Walter C. Mycroft and starring Enid Stamp-Taylor, Michael Wilding, Basil Sydney and Sarah Churchill. Instead of marrying the woman his parents have chosen for him, a man falls in love with her sister. It was based on the play by M. J...
(1941) - Ships with WingsShips with WingsShips with Wings is a 1941 British war film directed by Sergei Nolbandov and starring John Clements, Leslie Banks and Jane Baxter. During the Second World War the British fleet air arm fight the Germans in Greece.-Release:...
(1942) - The Black Sheep of WhitehallThe Black Sheep of WhitehallThe Black Sheep of Whitehall is a 1942 British, black-and-white, comedy, war film, directed by Will Hay and Basil Dearden, and; starring Will Hay as Professor Will Davis, John Mills and Basil Sydney...
(1942) - The Next of KinThe Next of KinThe Next of Kin, also known as Next of Kin, is a 1942 World War II propaganda film produced by Ealing Studios.The film was originally commissioned by the British War Office as a training film to promote the government propaganda message that "Careless talk costs lives"...
(1942) - Went the Day Well?Went the Day Well?"Went the Day Well?" is a British war film produced by Ealing Studios in 1942 as unofficial propaganda. It tells of how an English village is taken over by German paratroopers . Made during the war, it reflects the greatest potential nightmares of many Britons of the time, although the threat of...
(1942) - Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
- Meet Me at DawnMeet Me at DawnMeet Me at Dawn is a 1947 British comedy film directed by Peter Creswell and Thornton Freeland and starring William Eythe, Stanley Holloway and Hazel Court. A very skilled pistol shot hires himself out to fight duels in early twentieth century Paris.-Cast:...
(1947) - The Man WithinThe Man Within (film)The Man Within is a 1947 British, Technicolor, adventure, crime, drama film, directed by Bernard Knowles and starring Ronald Shiner as Cockney Harry, Michael Redgrave, Jean Kent, Joan Greenwood and Richard Attenborough. It was produced by Triton Films and Production Film Service. The film was also...
(1947) - JassyJassy (film)Jassy was a 1947 British film melodrama, based on a novel by Norah Lofts. It was a Gainsborough melodrama, the only one to be made in technicolour.-Plot:...
(1947) - HamletHamlet (1948 film)Hamlet is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, adapted and directed by and starring Sir Laurence Olivier. Hamlet was Olivier's second film as director, and also the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed...
(1948) - The Angel with the TrumpetThe Angel with the TrumpetThe Angel with the Trumpet is a 1950 British drama film directed by Anthony Bushell and starring Eileen Herlie, Basil Sydney and Norman Wooland. It was based on a novel by Ernst Lothar...
(1950) - Treasure IslandTreasure Island (1950 film)Treasure Island is a 1950 Disney adventure film, adapted from the Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. It starred Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins, and Robert Newton as Long John Silver...
(1950) - The Magic BoxThe Magic BoxThe Magic Box is a fictional magic shop in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon. It is located in Sunnydale and was last owned and operated by Rupert Giles, and served as the primary headquarters of the Scooby Gang for seasons five and six.-Ownership history:The shop went...
(1952) - IvanhoeIvanhoe (1952 film)Ivanhoe is a 1952 historical film made by MGM. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S. Berman. The cast featured Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Emlyn Williams, Finlay Currie and Felix Aylmer...
(1952) - SalomeSalome (1953 film)Salome is a Biblical epic film made in Technicolor by Columbia Pictures. It was directed by William Dieterle and produced by Buddy Adler from a screenplay by Harry Kleiner and Jesse Lasky Jr. The music score was by George Duning, the dance music by Daniele Amfitheatrof and the cinematography by...
(1953) - Three's Company (1954)
- Hell Below ZeroHell Below ZeroHell Below Zero is a 1954 murder mystery film, starring Alan Ladd in the second of his films for Warwick Films.The film was directed by Mark Robson, and was written by Alec Coppel and Max Trell...
(1954) - Star of IndiaStar of India (film)Star of India is a 1954 British adventure film directed by Arthur Lubin and starring Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, Herbert Lom and Walter Rilla. Its Italian title was Stella Dell'India.-Cast:* Cornel Wilde - Pierre St...
(1954) - SimbaSimba (film)Simba is a 1955 British drama film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Dirk Bogarde, Donald Sinden, Virginia McKenna and Basil Sydney...
(1955) - The Dam BustersThe Dam Busters (film)The Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's...
(1955) - Around the World in Eighty DaysAround the World in Eighty Days (1956 film)Around the World in 80 Days is a 1956 adventure film produced by the Michael Todd Company and released by United Artists. It was directed by Michael Anderson. It was produced by Michael Todd, with Kevin McClory and William Cameron Menzies as associate producers. The screenplay was written by James...
(1956) - Island in the SunIsland in the Sun (film)Island in the Sun is a 1957 film that stars an ensemble cast including James Mason, Joan Fontaine, Dorothy Dandridge, Joan Collins, Michael Rennie and Harry Belafonte. The cast includes also Diana Wynyard, Patricia Owens and Stephen Boyd. The film is about race relations and interracial romance...
(1957) - Sea WifeSea WifeSea Wife is a British film based on the 1955 James Maurice Scott novel Sea-Wyf and Biscuit. Shot in Jamaica, the film is set around events in 1942 among a group of survivors from a torpedoed British refugee ship.-Plot:...
(1957) - A Question of AdulteryA Question of AdulteryA Question of Adultery is a 1958 film directed by Don Chaffey. It stars Julie London and Anthony Steel.-Cast:*Julie London as Mary Loring*Anthony Steel as Mark Loring*Basil Sydney as Sir John Loring*Donald Houston as Mr. Jacobus...
(1958) - John Paul JonesJohn Paul Jones (film)John Paul Jones is a 1959 biographical epic film about John Paul Jones. The film was made by Samuel Bronston Productions and released by Warner Bros. It was directed by John Farrow and produced by Samuel Bronston from a screenplay by John Farrow, Ben Hecht, Jesse Lasky Jr. from the story Nor'wester...
(1959) - The Devil's Disciple (1959)
- A Story of DavidA Story of DavidA Story of David is a 1961 British-Israeli drama film directed by Bob McNaught and starring Jeff Chandler, Basil Sydney and Peter Arne. It depicts the life of the Biblical King David.-Cast:* Jeff Chandler - David* Basil Sydney - King Saul...
(1960) - The Three Worlds of GulliverThe Three Worlds of GulliverThe Three Worlds of Gulliver is a 1960 Columbia Pictures fantasy film loosely based upon the 18th-century English novel Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. The film stars Kerwin Mathews as the titular character, June Thorburn as his fiancée Elizabeth, and child actor Sherry Alberoni as...
(1960) - The Hands of OrlacThe Hands of Orlac (1960 film)The Hands of Orlac is a 1960 British-French horror film directed by Edmond T. Gréville and starring Mel Ferrer, Christopher Lee and Dany Carrel. It is based on the novel by Maurice Renard.-Cast:* Mel Ferrer ... Stephen Orlac...
(1960)