Post by Les on Feb 7, 2021 18:20:28 GMT
ybil Thorndike.:Agnes Sybil Thorndike 24 October 1882 Gainsborough, Lincolnshire,
She was the eldest of the four children of Agnes Macdonald, daughter of ship engineer John Bowers,
and Reverend Arthur John Webster Thorndike
When she was two years old her father was appointed a minor canon of Rochester Cathedral.
She was educated at Rochester Grammar School for Girls,.(This was near the centre of Rochester but that's another tale)
and first trained as a classical pianist, making weekly visits to London for music lessons at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
She gave her first public performance as a pianist at the age of 11, but in 1899 was forced to give up playing owing to piano cramp.
At the instigation of her brother, the author Russell Thorndike, she then trained as an actress under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Drama, then based at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
At the age of 21 she was offered her first professional contract: a tour of the United States with the actor-manager Ben Greet's company.
She made her first stage appearance in Greet's 1904 production of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. She went on to tour the U.S.
in Shakespearean repertory for four years, playing some 112 roles.her brother Russell joined her but went back to writing (Dr Syn).
In 1908, she was spotted by the playwright George Bernard Shaw when she understudied the leading role of Candida in a tour directed by Shaw himself.
There she also met her future husband, Lewis Casson. They were married in December 1908, at Aylesford Church.
28th October 1909 She gave birth to son John.
She joined Annie Horniman's company in Manchester (1908–1909 and 1911–1913), went to Broadway in 1910,
Christopher T. Casson 20 March 1912 her second child was born
and then joined the Old Vic Company in London (1914–1918), playing leading roles in Shakespeare and in other classic plays.
Mary Casson 22 May 1914 was her 3rd Child and Ann Casson 6 November 10000
When they came back from the US Lewis Casson returned to England he became a theatrical director working with Annie Horniman from 1911–1913. He then succeeded Alfred Wareing as the producer of the Scottish Playgoers Company, based in Glasgow, and forerunner of the Citizens' Theatre.
After the First World War, she played Hecuba in Euripides The Trojan Women 1919–1920, then from 1920 to 1922
Sybil Thorndike and her husband starred in a British version of France's Grand Guignol directed by Jose Levy.
She was a Soroptimist and a Founder Member of SI Greater London Club, which was chartered in 1923.
She returned to the stage in the title role of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan in 1924, which had been written with her specifically in mind.
The production was a huge success, and was revived repeatedly until her final performance in the role in 1941.
In 1927, Thorndike appeared in a short film of the cathedral scene from Saint Joan made in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process.
Both Thorndike and Casson were active members of the Labour Party, and held strong left-wing views. Even when the 1926 General Strike stopped the first run of Saint Joan, they both still supported the strikers
She apeared in many films 1970The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens (TV Movie)Elizabeth Ball Dickens . 1968 ITV Playhouse (TV Series)The Nurse- The Father (1968) ... The Nurse 1967 NET Playhouse (TV Series) Marina- Uncle Vanya (1967) ... Marina
1966 Armchair Theatre (TV Series)Florence Pringle - Don't Utter a Note (1966) ... Florence Pringle 1965 BBC Play of the Month (TV Series) Mrs. Moore - Passage to India (1965)
... Mrs. Moore 1965 Armchair Mystery Theatre (TV Series)Mrs. Isabel Manners - Man and Mirror (1965) ... Mrs. Isabel Manners
1964 The Reluctant Peer (TV Movie) Molly, the Dowager Countess of Lister 1963 Uncle Vanya Marina, the nurse 1961The Big Gamble 'Aunt Cathleen' / Aunt Cathleen (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1961 Hand in Hand Lady Caroline 1960 Saturday Playhouse (TV Series) Sara Champline - A Matter of Age (1960) ... Sara Champline 1960 Riders to the Sea (TV Movie) Maurya 1959 BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (TV Series) Mrs. Whyte -Waters of the Moon (1959) ... Mrs. Whyte 1959Jet Storm Emma Morgan (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1959 Shake Hands with the Devil Lady Fitzhugh 1959 Theatre Night (TV Series) Dame Sophia Carrell - Eighty in the Shade (1959) ... Dame Sophia Carrell 1958 Alive and Kicking Dora 1958 ITV Television Playhouse (TV Series) Blanche Skinner - Before the Party (1958) ... Blanche Skinner 1958 Smiley Gets a Gun Granny McKinley 1957 The Prince and the Showgirl The Queen Dowager 1956 ITV Play of the Week (TV Series) Mrs. Whyte - Waters of the Moon (1956) ... Mrs. Whyte 1954 Rheingold Theatre (TV Series) Catherine / Miss Cicely - Mr. Sampson (1954) ... Catherine (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) - The Heirloom (1954) ... Miss Cicely (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1954The Weak and the Wicked Mabel Wicks, Millie's friend 1953 Melba Queen Victoria 1970 The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens (TV Movie) Elizabeth Ball Dickens 1968 ITV Playhouse (TV Series)The Nurse - The Father (1968) ... The Nurse 1967 NET Playhouse (TV Series) Marina - Uncle Vanya (1967) ... Marina 1966 Armchair Theatre (TV Series) Florence Pringle
- Don't Utter a Note (1966) ... Florence Pringle 1965 BBC Play of the Month (TV Series) Mrs. Moore - Passage to India (1965) ... Mrs. Moore 1965Armchair Mystery Theatre (TV Series) Mrs. Isabel Manners - Man and Mirror (1965) ... Mrs. Isabel Manners 1964The Reluctant Peer (TV Movie) Molly, the Dowager Countess of Lister
1963 Uncle Vanya Marina, the nurse 1961 The Big Gamble 'Aunt Cathleen' / Aunt Cathleen (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1961 Hand in Hand Lady Caroline 1960 Saturday Playhouse (TV Series) Sara Champline - A Matter of Age (1960) ... Sara Champline 1960 Riders to the Sea (TV Movie) Maurya 1959 BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (TV Series)
Mrs. Whyte - Waters of the Moon (1959) ... Mrs. Whyte 195 9Jet Storm Emma Morgan (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1959 Shake Hands with the Devil
Lady Fitzhugh 1959Theatre Night (TV Series) Dame Sophia Carrell - Eighty in the Shade (1959) ... Dame Sophia Carrell 1958 Alive and Kicking Dora 195 8ITV Television Playhouse (TV Series) Blanche Skinner - Before the Party (1958) ... Blanche Skinner 1958 Smiley Gets a Gun Granny McKinley 1957 The Prince and the Showgirl The Queen Dowager 1956 ITV Play of the Week (TV Series) Mrs. Whyte - Waters of the Moon (1956) ... Mrs. Whyte 195 4Rheingold Theatre (TV Series) Catherine / Miss Cicely
- Mr. Sampson (1954) ... Catherine (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) - The Heirloom (1954) ... Miss Cicely (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1954 The Weak and the Wicked Mabel Wicks, Millie's friend 1953 Melba Queen Victoria 1951 The Lady with a Lamp Miss Bosanquet 1951The Magic Box Sitter in Bath Studio 1950 Gone to Earth Mrs. Marston 950 Stage Fright Mrs. Gill 1949 Britannia Mews Mrs. 'The Sow' Mounsey (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1947 The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby Mrs. Squeers
1941 Major Barbara The General 1939 Sun Up (TV Movie) Widow Cagle 1936 Tudor Rose Ellen 1931 A Gentleman of Paris Lola Duval 1931 Hindle Wakes Mrs. Hawthorne
1929 To What Red Hell Mrs. Fairfield 1928 Dawn Nurse Edith Cavell 1927 Saint Joan (Short)Joan of Arc 1922 Tense Moments from Great Plays Lady Macbeth / Lady Dedlock / Jane Shore / ... 1922 Tense Moments with Great Authors Nancy (segment "Nancy") 1922 Bleak House (Short) Lady Dedlock 1922 Esmeralda (Short) Esmeralda
1922Jane Shore (Short) Jane Shore 1922 /IMacbeth (Short) Lady Macbeth 1922 The Lady of the Camellias (Short) Marguerite Gautier 1922 The Merchant of Venice (Short)
Portia 1922 The Scarlet Letter (Short) Hester Prynne 1922 Nancy (Short) Nancy 1921 Victoria
(I thin this list started repeating So left it at that. would have been better done in order)
She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1931.
As a pacifist, Thorndike was a member of the Peace Pledge Union and gave readings for its benefit.
During the Second World War, Thorndike and her husband toured in Shakespearean productions on behalf of the Council For the Encouragement of the Arts, before joining Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson in the Old Vic season at the New Theatre in 1944.
At the end of the Second World War, it was discovered that Thorndike was on "The Black Book" or Sonderfahndungsliste G.B. list of Britons who were to be arrested in the event of a Nazi invasion of Britain.
She was the eldest of the four children of Agnes Macdonald, daughter of ship engineer John Bowers,
and Reverend Arthur John Webster Thorndike
When she was two years old her father was appointed a minor canon of Rochester Cathedral.
She was educated at Rochester Grammar School for Girls,.(This was near the centre of Rochester but that's another tale)
and first trained as a classical pianist, making weekly visits to London for music lessons at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
She gave her first public performance as a pianist at the age of 11, but in 1899 was forced to give up playing owing to piano cramp.
At the instigation of her brother, the author Russell Thorndike, she then trained as an actress under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Drama, then based at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
At the age of 21 she was offered her first professional contract: a tour of the United States with the actor-manager Ben Greet's company.
She made her first stage appearance in Greet's 1904 production of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. She went on to tour the U.S.
in Shakespearean repertory for four years, playing some 112 roles.her brother Russell joined her but went back to writing (Dr Syn).
In 1908, she was spotted by the playwright George Bernard Shaw when she understudied the leading role of Candida in a tour directed by Shaw himself.
There she also met her future husband, Lewis Casson. They were married in December 1908, at Aylesford Church.
28th October 1909 She gave birth to son John.
She joined Annie Horniman's company in Manchester (1908–1909 and 1911–1913), went to Broadway in 1910,
Christopher T. Casson 20 March 1912 her second child was born
and then joined the Old Vic Company in London (1914–1918), playing leading roles in Shakespeare and in other classic plays.
Mary Casson 22 May 1914 was her 3rd Child and Ann Casson 6 November 10000
When they came back from the US Lewis Casson returned to England he became a theatrical director working with Annie Horniman from 1911–1913. He then succeeded Alfred Wareing as the producer of the Scottish Playgoers Company, based in Glasgow, and forerunner of the Citizens' Theatre.
After the First World War, she played Hecuba in Euripides The Trojan Women 1919–1920, then from 1920 to 1922
Sybil Thorndike and her husband starred in a British version of France's Grand Guignol directed by Jose Levy.
She was a Soroptimist and a Founder Member of SI Greater London Club, which was chartered in 1923.
She returned to the stage in the title role of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan in 1924, which had been written with her specifically in mind.
The production was a huge success, and was revived repeatedly until her final performance in the role in 1941.
In 1927, Thorndike appeared in a short film of the cathedral scene from Saint Joan made in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process.
Both Thorndike and Casson were active members of the Labour Party, and held strong left-wing views. Even when the 1926 General Strike stopped the first run of Saint Joan, they both still supported the strikers
She apeared in many films 1970The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens (TV Movie)Elizabeth Ball Dickens . 1968 ITV Playhouse (TV Series)The Nurse- The Father (1968) ... The Nurse 1967 NET Playhouse (TV Series) Marina- Uncle Vanya (1967) ... Marina
1966 Armchair Theatre (TV Series)Florence Pringle - Don't Utter a Note (1966) ... Florence Pringle 1965 BBC Play of the Month (TV Series) Mrs. Moore - Passage to India (1965)
... Mrs. Moore 1965 Armchair Mystery Theatre (TV Series)Mrs. Isabel Manners - Man and Mirror (1965) ... Mrs. Isabel Manners
1964 The Reluctant Peer (TV Movie) Molly, the Dowager Countess of Lister 1963 Uncle Vanya Marina, the nurse 1961The Big Gamble 'Aunt Cathleen' / Aunt Cathleen (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1961 Hand in Hand Lady Caroline 1960 Saturday Playhouse (TV Series) Sara Champline - A Matter of Age (1960) ... Sara Champline 1960 Riders to the Sea (TV Movie) Maurya 1959 BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (TV Series) Mrs. Whyte -Waters of the Moon (1959) ... Mrs. Whyte 1959Jet Storm Emma Morgan (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1959 Shake Hands with the Devil Lady Fitzhugh 1959 Theatre Night (TV Series) Dame Sophia Carrell - Eighty in the Shade (1959) ... Dame Sophia Carrell 1958 Alive and Kicking Dora 1958 ITV Television Playhouse (TV Series) Blanche Skinner - Before the Party (1958) ... Blanche Skinner 1958 Smiley Gets a Gun Granny McKinley 1957 The Prince and the Showgirl The Queen Dowager 1956 ITV Play of the Week (TV Series) Mrs. Whyte - Waters of the Moon (1956) ... Mrs. Whyte 1954 Rheingold Theatre (TV Series) Catherine / Miss Cicely - Mr. Sampson (1954) ... Catherine (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) - The Heirloom (1954) ... Miss Cicely (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1954The Weak and the Wicked Mabel Wicks, Millie's friend 1953 Melba Queen Victoria 1970 The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens (TV Movie) Elizabeth Ball Dickens 1968 ITV Playhouse (TV Series)The Nurse - The Father (1968) ... The Nurse 1967 NET Playhouse (TV Series) Marina - Uncle Vanya (1967) ... Marina 1966 Armchair Theatre (TV Series) Florence Pringle
- Don't Utter a Note (1966) ... Florence Pringle 1965 BBC Play of the Month (TV Series) Mrs. Moore - Passage to India (1965) ... Mrs. Moore 1965Armchair Mystery Theatre (TV Series) Mrs. Isabel Manners - Man and Mirror (1965) ... Mrs. Isabel Manners 1964The Reluctant Peer (TV Movie) Molly, the Dowager Countess of Lister
1963 Uncle Vanya Marina, the nurse 1961 The Big Gamble 'Aunt Cathleen' / Aunt Cathleen (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1961 Hand in Hand Lady Caroline 1960 Saturday Playhouse (TV Series) Sara Champline - A Matter of Age (1960) ... Sara Champline 1960 Riders to the Sea (TV Movie) Maurya 1959 BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (TV Series)
Mrs. Whyte - Waters of the Moon (1959) ... Mrs. Whyte 195 9Jet Storm Emma Morgan (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1959 Shake Hands with the Devil
Lady Fitzhugh 1959Theatre Night (TV Series) Dame Sophia Carrell - Eighty in the Shade (1959) ... Dame Sophia Carrell 1958 Alive and Kicking Dora 195 8ITV Television Playhouse (TV Series) Blanche Skinner - Before the Party (1958) ... Blanche Skinner 1958 Smiley Gets a Gun Granny McKinley 1957 The Prince and the Showgirl The Queen Dowager 1956 ITV Play of the Week (TV Series) Mrs. Whyte - Waters of the Moon (1956) ... Mrs. Whyte 195 4Rheingold Theatre (TV Series) Catherine / Miss Cicely
- Mr. Sampson (1954) ... Catherine (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) - The Heirloom (1954) ... Miss Cicely (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1954 The Weak and the Wicked Mabel Wicks, Millie's friend 1953 Melba Queen Victoria 1951 The Lady with a Lamp Miss Bosanquet 1951The Magic Box Sitter in Bath Studio 1950 Gone to Earth Mrs. Marston 950 Stage Fright Mrs. Gill 1949 Britannia Mews Mrs. 'The Sow' Mounsey (as Dame Sybil Thorndike) 1947 The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby Mrs. Squeers
1941 Major Barbara The General 1939 Sun Up (TV Movie) Widow Cagle 1936 Tudor Rose Ellen 1931 A Gentleman of Paris Lola Duval 1931 Hindle Wakes Mrs. Hawthorne
1929 To What Red Hell Mrs. Fairfield 1928 Dawn Nurse Edith Cavell 1927 Saint Joan (Short)Joan of Arc 1922 Tense Moments from Great Plays Lady Macbeth / Lady Dedlock / Jane Shore / ... 1922 Tense Moments with Great Authors Nancy (segment "Nancy") 1922 Bleak House (Short) Lady Dedlock 1922 Esmeralda (Short) Esmeralda
1922Jane Shore (Short) Jane Shore 1922 /IMacbeth (Short) Lady Macbeth 1922 The Lady of the Camellias (Short) Marguerite Gautier 1922 The Merchant of Venice (Short)
Portia 1922 The Scarlet Letter (Short) Hester Prynne 1922 Nancy (Short) Nancy 1921 Victoria
(I thin this list started repeating So left it at that. would have been better done in order)
She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1931.
As a pacifist, Thorndike was a member of the Peace Pledge Union and gave readings for its benefit.
During the Second World War, Thorndike and her husband toured in Shakespearean productions on behalf of the Council For the Encouragement of the Arts, before joining Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson in the Old Vic season at the New Theatre in 1944.
At the end of the Second World War, it was discovered that Thorndike was on "The Black Book" or Sonderfahndungsliste G.B. list of Britons who were to be arrested in the event of a Nazi invasion of Britain.