CINEFILER

Basil Sydney

Born
April 23, 1894
Died
January 10, 1968
Basil Sydney (23 April 1894 – 10 January 1968) was an English stage and screen actor. Sydney made his name in 1915 in the London stage hit Romance by Edward Sheldon, with Broadway star Doris Keane, and he costarred with Keane in the 1920 silent film of the play. The couple married in 1918, and when Keane revived Romance in New York City in 1921, Sydney made his Broadway debut in the parts. He stayed in New York for over a decade playing classical roles such as 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).[citation needed] In 1937 he starred in the murder mystery Blondie White in the West End. He made over 50 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 stage on both sides of the Atlantic.
Known For
Ivanhoe
(1952)
Waldemar Fitzurse
Treasure Island
(1950)
Captain Smollett
The Dam Busters
(1955)
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris G.C.B., O.B.E., A.F.C.
Salome
(1953)
Pontius Pilate
Hamlet
(1948)
Claudius - The King
Around the World in Eighty Days
(1956)
Reform Club Member
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver
(1960)
Emperor of Lilliput
Island in the Sun
(1957)
Julian Fleury
Caesar and Cleopatra
(1945)
Rufio
Full Filmography
Acting
Romance
(1920)
Red Hot Romance
(1922)
Rowland Stone
The Midshipmaid
(1932)
Cmdr. Fosberry
Dirty Work
(1934)
Hugh Stafford
The Third Clue
(1934)
Reinhardt Conway
The Riverside Murder
(1935)
Inspector Philip Winton
The Tunnel
(1935)
Mostyn
Accused
(1936)
Eugene Roget
The Amateur Gentleman
(1936)
Louis Chichester
Blind Man's Bluff
(1936)
Dr. Peter Fairfax
Rhodes of Africa
(1936)
Dr. Jim Jameson
Crime Over London
(1936)
'Joker' Finnigan
Talk of the Devil
(1936)
The Four Just Men
(1939)
Frank Snell
Bits of Our Aircraft are Missing
(1940)
(uncredited)
Ships with Wings
(1941)
Capt. Fairfax
Spring Meeting
(1941)
James
The Farmer's Wife
(1941)
Samuel Sweetland
Went the Day Well?
(1942)
Major Hammond / Kommandant Orlter
The Black Sheep of Whitehall
(1942)
Costello
The Next of Kin
(1942)
Naval captain
Caesar and Cleopatra
(1945)
Rufio
Jassy
(1947)
Nick Helmar
The Man Within
(1947)
Sir Henry Merriman
Meet Me at Dawn
(1947)
Georges Vermorel
Hamlet
(1948)
Claudius - The King
Treasure Island
(1950)
Captain Smollett
The Angel with the Trumpet
(1950)
Francis Alt
Ivanhoe
(1952)
Waldemar Fitzurse
The Magic Box
(1952)
William Fox-Talbot
Salome
(1953)
Pontius Pilate
Three's Company
(1953)
Dr. Graham
Hell Below Zero
(1954)
Bland
Star of India
(1954)
King Louis XIV
Simba
(1955)
Mr Crawford
The Dam Busters
(1955)
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris G.C.B., O.B.E., A.F.C.
Around the World in Eighty Days
(1956)
Reform Club Member
Sea Wife
(1957)
Bulldog
Mayerling
(1957)
The Emperor Franz Joseph
Island in the Sun
(1957)
Julian Fleury
A Question of Adultery
(1958)
Sir John Loring
The Devil's Disciple
(1959)
Lawyer Hawkins
John Paul Jones
(1959)
Sir William Young
The Hands of Orlac
(1960)
Maurice Seidelman
A Story of David
(1960)
King Saul
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver
(1960)
Emperor of Lilliput
Data provided by TMDB