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Terry-Thomas (July 14, 1911 – January 8, 1990) was a distinctive English comic actor famous for the trademark gap in his front teeth, cigarette holder, dressing gown, and such catch-phrases as "You're an absolute shower!" and "Good show!"
Biography
Early life and career
Born Thomas Terry Hoar-Stevens in Finchley, England, he worked in cabaret and as a film extra before finding success as an entertainer during World War II. After the war he worked in TV, radio and variety, but it was during the mid-1950s that he developed his famous persona, first in his television series, How Do You View?, and then in films. His performance as Major Hitchcock in John and Roy Boulting's Private's Progress (1956) gave birth to his catchphrase "you're an absolute shower", and made him a favourite in British comedy films for the next decade. He reprised the role of Hitchcock in I'm All Right Jack (1959), and appeared in several of the Boultings' other films including Lucky Jim and Brothers in Law.
Career
He played a variety of exuberant, malevolent and silly characters during the 1960s, and became famous for his portrayal of the archetypal cad, bounder, and absolute rotter. He was married twice, first to Ida Patlanski (from 1938-1962, when they divorced) and secondly to Belinda Cunningham (from 1963 - 1990, his death) by whom he had two sons, Timothy and Cushan. He was a cousin of the British actor Richard Briers.
Personal life and death
In 1971 Terry-Thomas was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and by 1977 he had retired. Richard Briers organised a benefit concert for his cousin after discovering he was living in virtual obscurity and ill health in the late 1980s.
He died in 1990 at the age of 78.
Trivia
The British Childrens TV puppet of Basil Brush was based on many aspects of Terrys mannerisms and they share the same gapped two front teeth.
Selected filmography
- See the complete Terry-Thomas filmography at IMDb
- The Green Man (1956)
- Private's Progress (1956) as Major Hitchcock
- The Naked Truth (1957) as Lord Mayley, a shifty peer of the realm
- Lucky Jim (1957)
- Blue Murder at St Trinian's (1957) as Captain Romney Carlton-Ricketts
- I'm All Right Jack (1959) reprising the role of Major Hitchcock
- Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1959)
- Too Many Crooks (1959)
- School for Scoundrels (1960) as a British cad in a game of oneupmanship
- Operation Snatch (1962) as Lt. 'Piggy' Wigg
- It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) as Lt. Col. Algernon Hawthorne
- How to Murder Your Wife (1965) as Charles
- Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) as Sir Percy Ware-Armitage
- Our Man in Marrakesh (1966) as El Caid
- La Grande Vadrouille (1966) as Sir Reginald
- Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon (1967) as Captain Sir Harry Washington-Smythe
- Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968)
- Diabolik (1968) as the Minister of Finance
- Monte Carlo or Bust (1969) as Sir Cuthbert Ware-Armitage {Son of Sir Percy Ware-Armitage of "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" {above}
- The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
- Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)
- Disney's version of Robin Hood (1973), as the voice of Sir Hiss (who had a gap between his teeth similar to Terry-Thomas himself)
- Spanish Fly (1976) as Sir Percy De Courcy
- The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones (1976)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978), his last film role
External links
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