Basil Sydney

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.

Known For

No Hiding Place

Around the World in 80 Days

Ivanhoe

Treasure Island

Armchair Theatre

The Dam Busters

Hamlet

Salome

All Movies (46)

• The Hands of Orlac1960 · as Maurice Seidelman
• A Story of David1960 · as King Saul
• The 3 Worlds of Gulliver1960 · as Emperor of Lilliput
• The Devil's Disciple1959 · as Lawyer Hawkins
• John Paul Jones1959 · as Sir William Young
• A Question of Adultery1958 · as Sir John Loring
• Sea Wife1957 · as Bulldog
• Island in the Sun1957 · as Julian Fleury
• Mayerling1957 · as The Emperor Franz Joseph
• Around the World in 80 Days1956 · as Reform Club Member
• The Dam Busters1955 · as Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris G.C.B., O.B.E., A.F.C.
• Simba1955 · as Mr Crawford
• Hell Below Zero1954 · as Bland
• Star of India1954 · as King Louis XIV
• Three's Company1953 · as Dr. Graham
• Salome1953 · as Pontius Pilate
• Ivanhoe1952 · as Waldemar Fitzurse
• The Magic Box1952 · as William Fox-Talbot
• Treasure Island1950 · as Captain Smollett
• The Angel with the Trumpet1950 · as Francis Alt
• Hamlet1948 · as Claudius - The King
• Jassy1947 · as Nick Helmar
• The Man Within1947 · as Sir Henry Merriman
• Meet Me at Dawn1947 · as Georges Vermorel
• Caesar and Cleopatra1945 · as Rufio
• Went the Day Well?1942 · as Major Hammond / Kommandant Orlter
• The Next of Kin1942 · as Naval captain
• The Black Sheep of Whitehall1942 · as Costello
• Ships with Wings1941 · as Capt. Fairfax
• The Farmer's Wife1941 · as Samuel Sweetland
• Spring Meeting1941 · as James
• Bits of Our Aircraft are Missing1940 · as (uncredited)
• The Four Just Men1939 · as Frank Snell
• Accused1936 · as Eugene Roget
• Talk of the Devil1936
• Crime Over London1936 · as 'Joker' Finnigan
• Rhodes of Africa1936 · as Dr. Jim Jameson
• The Amateur Gentleman1936 · as Louis Chichester
• Blind Man's Bluff1936 · as Dr. Peter Fairfax
• The Tunnel1935 · as Mostyn
• The Riverside Murder1935 · as Inspector Philip Winton
• Dirty Work1934 · as Hugh Stafford
• The Third Clue1934 · as Reinhardt Conway
• The Midshipmaid1932 · as Cmdr. Fosberry
• Red Hot Romance1922 · as Rowland Stone
• Romance1920

All TV Shows (4)

• Silent Evidence1962
• Drama 61-671961 · as Mourtzinos
• No Hiding Place1959
• Armchair Theatre1956 · as Pastor Manders