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Basil Sydney

Born: 1894-04-23 in Essex, England, UK

Died: 1968-01-10

Known For: Acting

Biography

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.

Filmography

1961

1960

1959

1958

1957

1956

1955

  • The Dam Busters as Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris G.C.B., O.B.E., A.F.C.
  • Simba as Mr Crawford

1954

1953

1952

1950

1948

  • Hamlet as Claudius - The King

1947

1945

1942

1941

1940

1939

1936

1935

1934

1932

1922

1920

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