Basil Sydney

Basil Sydney

Born: April 23, 1894
Died: January 10, 1968
in Essex, England, UK
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.

Movies for Basil Sydney...

Title: Silent Evidence
Released: August 7, 1962
Type: TV
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The Hands of Orlac
Title: The Hands of Orlac
Character: Maurice Seidelman
Released: December 1, 1960
Type: Movie
Famed concert pianist Stephen Orlac survives a plane crash, but his hands are permanently destroyed. Helpful surgeon Volcheff grafts a pair of new hands on the hapless Orlac. Unfortunately, they're the hands of an executed murderer – useless for a pianist, but quite handy for less delicate work...
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A Story of David
Title: A Story of David
Character: King Saul
Released: December 1, 1960
Type: Movie
Directed by Bob McNaught. King Saul of Israel is jealous of the fame and adoration of David, who long ago slew Goliath and brought victory to Saul's armies. Now Saul, egged on by his Edomite counselor Doeg, attempts to have David killed. Saul's son, and David's best friend, Jonathan, conspires to help David, who is reluctant to fight back against his own people the Israelites.
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The 3 Worlds of Gulliver
Title: The 3 Worlds of Gulliver
Character: Emperor of Lilliput
Released: November 30, 1960
Type: Movie
Doctor Gulliver is poor, so nothing - not even his charming fiancée Elisabeth - keeps him in the town he lives. He signs on to a ship to India, but in a storm he's washed off the ship and ends up on an island, which is inhibitated by very tiny people. After he managed to convince them he's harmless and is accepted as one of their citizens, their king wants to use him in war against a people of giants. Compared to them, even Gulliver is a gnome.
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Title: No Hiding Place
Released: September 16, 1959
Type: TV
No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart.
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The Devil's Disciple
Title: The Devil's Disciple
Character: Lawyer Hawkins
Released: August 20, 1959
Type: Movie
In a small New England town during the American War of Independence, Dick Dudgeon, a revolutionary American Puritan, is mistaken for local minister Rev. Anthony Anderson and arrested by the British. Dick discovers himself incapable of accusing another human to suffer and continues to masquerade as the reverend.
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John Paul Jones
Title: John Paul Jones
Character: Sir William Young
Released: June 16, 1959
Type: Movie
The career of Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones, from his youth in Scotland through his service to Catherine the Great of Russia.
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A Question of Adultery
Title: A Question of Adultery
Character: Sir John Loring
Released: July 15, 1958
Type: Movie
Mark Loring is madly jealous of his wife, Mary, former American cabaret singer. Due to an automobile accident, she loses her unborn child, and Mark becomes sterile. His father, Brit-stuffy Sir John Loring, has never approved of the marriage and, again, tries to break it up. Believing that a child will hold the marriage together, Mary suggests artificial insemination to Mark, who finally agrees to accompany her to a clinic in Switzerland. However, when she is again pregnant, Mark finds it impossible to reconcile himself to the situation and leaves her. Prompted by his father, Mark sues for divorce, accusing her of adultery. She contests the divorce and a trial concerns itself with whether or not artificial insemination is a question of adultery. The Catholic Church's National League of Decency placed this film on its Condemned" list.
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Sea Wife
Title: Sea Wife
Character: Bulldog
Released: August 20, 1957
Type: Movie
In 1942, a cargo ship jammed with British evacuees from Singapore is sunk by a Japanese sub. A small lifeboat carries a beautiful woman, an army officer, a bigoted administrator, and a black seaman. Only the seaman knows the woman is a nun. The men reveal their true selves under the hardships of survival. Told in a too-long flashback frame.
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Island in the Sun
Title: Island in the Sun
Character: Julian Fleury
Released: June 12, 1957
Type: Movie
On a Caribbean island, a rich landowner's son, Maxwell Fleury, is fighting for political office against black labor leader David Boyeur. As if the contentious election weren't enough, there are plenty of scandals to go around: Boyeur has a secret white lover and Fleury's wife, Sylvia, is also having an affair. And then, of course, there's the small matter of a recently murdered aristocrat.
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Mayerling
Title: Mayerling
Character: The Emperor Franz Joseph
Released: February 4, 1957
Type: Movie
Mayerling is the name of a notorious Austrian village linked to a romantic tragedy. At a royal hunting lodge there, in 1889, Crown Prince Rudolf--desperate over his father's command to put away his teenage mistress, the Baroness Marie Vetsera--shot her to death and killed himself. The misfortune may indeed have been a murder-suicide, but perhaps it was a political assassination, or even the result of a lunatic family vendetta: scholarship is still catching up with the facts.
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Around the World in Eighty Days
Title: Around the World in Eighty Days
Character: Reform Club Member
Released: October 17, 1956
Type: Movie
Based on the famous book by Jules Verne the movie follows Phileas Fogg on his journey around the world. Which has to be completed within 80 days, a very short period for those days.
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The Dam Busters
Title: The Dam Busters
Character: Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris G.C.B., O.B.E., A.F.C.
Released: May 16, 1955
Type: Movie
The story of the conception of a new British weapon for smashing the German dams in the Ruhr industrial complex and the execution of the raid by 617 Squadron 'The Dam Busters'.
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Simba
Title: Simba
Character: Mr Crawford
Released: January 7, 1955
Type: Movie
A European family in East Africa finds itself caught up in an uprising by local black Africans against their white colonial masters. Based on the Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya in the early 1950s.
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Hell Below Zero
Title: Hell Below Zero
Character: Bland
Released: January 13, 1954
Type: Movie
Duncan Craig signs on a whaling ship, partly because his own business deal has fallen through, partly to help Judie Nordhall find her father. Rumor has it that her father may have been murdered by Erik Bland, son of her father's partner and her one-time lover. Duncan and Erik find themselves on rival whaleboats and, ultimately, on an ice floe.
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Star of India
Title: Star of India
Character: King Louis XIV
Released: January 2, 1954
Type: Movie
Squire Pierre St. Laurent returns from wars in India to 17th-century provincial France to find his estate confiscated by governor Narbonne, for back taxes, and resold to Katrina, a Dutch Countess. Katrina offers to return Pierre's property if he will help her get possession of the 'Star of India,' a fabulous sapphire, held at the moment by Narbonne.
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Three's Company
Title: Three's Company
Character: Dr. Graham
Released: October 26, 1953
Type: Movie
Compilation of 3 episodes of the TV series "Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Presents ...". "The Surgeon", "Take A Number" and "The Scream".
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Salome
Title: Salome
Character: Pontius Pilate
Released: March 24, 1953
Type: Movie
In the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias. The latter wants John dead, but Herod fears to harm him due to a prophecy. Enter beautiful Princess Salome, Herod's long-absent stepdaughter. Herodias sees the king's dawning lust for Salome as her means of bending the king to her will. But Salome and her lover Claudius are (contrary to Scripture) nearing conversion to the new religion. And the famous climactic dance turns out to have unexpected implications...
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Ivanhoe
Title: Ivanhoe
Character: Waldemar Fitzurse
Released: July 31, 1952
Type: Movie
Sir Walter Scott's classic story of the chivalrous Ivanhoe who joins with Robin of Locksley in the fight against Prince John and for the return of King Richard the Lionheart.
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The Magic Box
Title: The Magic Box
Character: William Fox-Talbot
Released: January 1, 1952
Type: Movie
Now old, ill, poor, and largely forgotten, William Freise-Greene was once very different. As young and handsome William Green he changed his name to include his first wife's so that it sounded more impressive for the photographic portrait work he was so good at. But he was also an inventor and his search for a way to project moving pictures became an obsession that ultimately changed the life of all those he loved.
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Treasure Island
Title: Treasure Island
Character: Captain Smollett
Released: July 19, 1950
Type: Movie
Enchanted by the idea of locating treasure buried by Captain Flint, Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and Jim Hawkins charter a sailing voyage to a Caribbean island. Unfortunately, a large number of Flint's old pirate crew are aboard the ship, including Long John Silver.
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The Angel with the Trumpet
Title: The Angel with the Trumpet
Character: Francis Alt
Released: March 20, 1950
Type: Movie
Sad tale of a woman who marries the man her family wishes her to wed, not Wooland, the man she truly loves. Years after her lover's suicide, Herlie joins him before the Gestapo can get to her because of her Jewish ancestry.
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Hamlet
Title: Hamlet
Character: Claudius - The King
Released: December 10, 1948
Type: Movie
Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.
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Jassy
Title: Jassy
Character: Nick Helmar
Released: August 13, 1947
Type: Movie
In 19th century England, Jassy is a young Gypsy girl blessed with the gift of second sight. Pursued by superstitious villagers, she is rescued by the son of the owner of Mordelaine, a vast stately home. Unfortunately, his father's drinking and gambling threaten the very ownership of the house. Despite her humble origins as a servant girl, Jassy must try to use her talents to climb the social ladder and save Mordelaine for the man whom she loves.
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The Man Within
Title: The Man Within
Character: Sir Henry Merriman
Released: May 19, 1947
Type: Movie
A man goes on the run from hardened smugglers.
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Meet Me at Dawn
Title: Meet Me at Dawn
Character: Georges Vermorel
Released: February 17, 1947
Type: Movie
A young man makes his living in Paris in 1900 by fighting duels on behalf of other parties. He is hired to injure a leading politician and starts to get involved with a girl he uses to provoke the challenge. One newspaper, hostile to the politician, headlines the story of the impending duel asking who this Madame X is. Problem is, she is in fact the daughter of the paper's proprietor if only he knew it.
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Caesar and Cleopatra
Title: Caesar and Cleopatra
Character: Rufio
Released: December 11, 1945
Type: Movie
The aging Caesar finds himself intrigued by the young Egyptian queen. Adapted by George Bernard Shaw from his own play.
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Went the Day Well?
Title: Went the Day Well?
Character: Major Hammond / Kommandant Orlter
Released: December 7, 1942
Type: Movie
The quiet village of Bramley End is taken over by German troops posing as Royal Engineers. Their task is to disrupt England's radar network in preparation for a full scale German invasion. Once the villagers discover the true identity of the troops, they do whatever they can to thwart the Nazis plans.
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The Next of Kin
Title: The Next of Kin
Character: Naval captain
Released: June 15, 1942
Type: Movie
Wartime propaganda piece giving the warning "Be like Dad, Keep Mum". A gossipy housewife is overheard talking about what her son is doing by a Nazi spy.
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The Black Sheep of Whitehall
Title: The Black Sheep of Whitehall
Character: Costello
Released: February 23, 1942
Type: Movie
A professor teaching at a correspondence school discovers that a Nazi agent is trying to prevent a trade treaty being signed between England and South America.
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Ships with Wings
Title: Ships with Wings
Character: Capt. Fairfax
Released: November 10, 1941
Type: Movie
Before the war, a Fleet Air Arm pilot is dismissed for causing the death of a colleague. Working for a small Greek airline when the Germans invade Greece, he gets a chance to redeem himself and rejoin his old unit on a British carrier. This is regarded the last of the conventional, rather stiff 1930's style Ealing war films, to be succeeded by much more realism and better storytelling.
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The Farmer's Wife
Title: The Farmer's Wife
Character: Samuel Sweetland
Released: April 20, 1941
Type: Movie
Eden Philpotts' "provincial" comic novel and play The Farmer's Wife was first filmed in the silent era by Alfred Hitchcock. The 1940 talkie version was directed by Leslie Arliss, son of stage star George Arliss. The story remained the same: A middle-aged widower attempts to select a wife from his rural district's eligible females (Basil Sydney). Three unsuccessful dalliances later, the farmer settles for his housekeeper, whom the audience has been rooting for all along. The Farmer's Wife is a prime example of the sort of fare that struck a proper chord with British filmgoers, but whose appeal would be lost to any other nationality.
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Spring Meeting
Title: Spring Meeting
Character: James
Released: January 23, 1941
Type: Movie
Tiny Fox-Collier and her son, Tony, are broke. A cheery and handsome young man about town, Tony knows he can rely on his mother for a brainwave to save them from utter destitution. This she has: a visit is scheduled to the Irish country estate of her old flame Sir Richard Furze, now a wealthy widower with two daughters. But while Tiny is determined to see her son marry the beautiful but haughty Joan, it seems Tony only has eyes for Joan’s spirited younger sister, Baby.
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Bits of Our Aircraft are Missing
Title: Bits of Our Aircraft are Missing
Character: (uncredited)
Released: January 1, 1940
Type: Movie
British Air Ministry short film highlighting the need for the public to stay clear of aircraft wreckage during World War II.
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The Four Just Men
Title: The Four Just Men
Character: Frank Snell
Released: June 1, 1939
Type: Movie
The Four Men of the title are British WWI veterans who decide to work secretly against enemies of the country. They aren't above a bit of murder or sabotage to serve their ends, but they consider themselves to be true patriots.
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Accused
Title: Accused
Character: Eugene Roget
Released: December 18, 1936
Type: Movie
Tony and his dance partner/wife Gaby headline a Paris musical. Tony becomes the unwilling target for the attentions of performer Yvette. She is later murdered with the dagger used by Tony and his wife in their act, and Gaby is accused of the crime.
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Talk of the Devil
Title: Talk of the Devil
Released: December 9, 1936
Type: Movie
A ruthless businessman tries to steal his brother's successful shipping company. He hires a gifted mimic to date one of his brother's daughters to get some inside information about the business. The mimic succeeds only too well, with tragic results.
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Crime Over London
Title: Crime Over London
Character: 'Joker' Finnigan
Released: October 21, 1936
Type: Movie
With the police on their tail, a gang of New York criminals decided to relocate to London where they plan a major robbery on a department store.
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Rhodes of Africa
Title: Rhodes of Africa
Character: Dr. Jim Jameson
Released: June 30, 1936
Type: Movie
Rhodes of Africa is a 1936 British biographical film charting the life of Cecil Rhodes. It was directed by Berthold Viertel and starred Walter Huston, Oskar Homolka, Basil Sydney and Bernard Lee.
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The Amateur Gentleman
Title: The Amateur Gentleman
Character: Louis Chichester
Released: April 26, 1936
Type: Movie
A former boxing champion, now an innkeeper, is accused of stealing a watch from a party of guests at his inn, who happen to be members of English royalty. The old man is arrested and thrown in prison. His son, knowing that his father didn't steal the watch and suspecting a frame-up, follows the royal party to London, where he poses as a wealthy "gentleman" and insinuates himself into the English court in an effort to find out who framed his father and why.
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Blind Man's Bluff
Title: Blind Man's Bluff
Character: Dr. Peter Fairfax
Released: March 1, 1936
Type: Movie
A formerly blind scientist continues to feign his condition in order to thwart his philandering wife's romantic plans.
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The Tunnel
Title: The Tunnel
Character: Mostyn
Released: October 27, 1935
Type: Movie
An engineer leads the building of a trans-Atlantic tunnel linking Britain and the United States.
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The Riverside Murder
Title: The Riverside Murder
Character: Inspector Philip Winton
Released: March 2, 1935
Type: Movie
This is a great rainy day/night murder mystery in a mansion that all whodunit lovers will appreciate. A woman reporter helps an inspector solve the deaths of four financiers on the eve of a group shareout. Based on "Les Six Hommes Morts" (Editions du Masque) by Stanislas-André Steeman.
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Dirty Work
Title: Dirty Work
Character: Hugh Stafford
Released: December 7, 1934
Type: Movie
Staff in a jewellery store hatch a plan to catch a thief.
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The Third Clue
Title: The Third Clue
Character: Reinhardt Conway
Released: November 20, 1934
Type: Movie
Set in an Old Dark House, a man is murdered in his study. With his dying breath, he tells his brother of two clues to finding hidden Eastern Indian jewels that were part of a precious idol. He wants his brother to locate the treasure, so that it can be given to his son. But before the treasure can be found, a third clue must be discovered.
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The Midshipmaid
Title: The Midshipmaid
Character: Cmdr. Fosberry
Released: December 8, 1932
Type: Movie
Sir Percy Newbiggin visits the fleet to find ways to economize Naval expenditures. Daughter Celia tags along and organizes a morale-boosting show utilizing ship-board talent. Her fiancé shows up, and romantic complications ensue.
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Red Hot Romance
Title: Red Hot Romance
Character: Rowland Stone
Released: February 13, 1922
Type: Movie
After his father's death, Roland Stone learns that his will stipulates that he must go to the South American country of Bunkonia and sell life insurance.
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Romance
Title: Romance
Released: May 16, 1920
Type: Movie