David Tomlinson | |
|---|---|
 Tomlinson as George Banks inMary Poppins, 1964 | |
| Born | David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson (1917-05-07)7 May 1917 Henley-on-Thames,Oxfordshire, England |
| Died | 24 June 2000(2000-06-24) (aged 83) Westminster, London, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1940–1980 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Service years | 1940–1945 |
| Rank | Flight Lieutenant |
| Unit | Film Unit |
| Conflicts | Second World War |
David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson (7 May 1917 – 24 June 2000) was an English stage, film and television actor, singer and comedian. Having been described as both aleading man and acharacter actor, he is primarily remembered for his roles withThe Walt Disney Company as the patriarch father George Banks inMary Poppins, hapless antagonist Peter Thorndyke inThe Love Bug and the friendly con man Professor Emelius Browne inBedknobs and Broomsticks. Tomlinson was posthumously inducted as aDisney Legend in 2002.
Tomlinson was born inHenley-on-Thames,Oxfordshire,[1] the son of Clarence Samuel Tomlinson (1883–1978), a well-respected London solicitor, and Florence Elizabeth, née Sinclair-Thomson (1890–1986).[2] He attendedTonbridge School and left to join theGrenadier Guards for 16 months.[2] His father then secured him a job as a clerk atShell Mex House.
His stage career grew from amateur stage productions to his 1940 film debut inQuiet Wedding. His career was interrupted when he enteredSecond World War service as aFlight Lieutenant in theRAF. During the war, he learned to fly inCanada and was assigned as a flying instructor in the UK, while also appearing in three more films.[2] He continued flying after the war. On one occasion, aTiger Moth plane he was piloting crashed into woodland near his back garden after he lost consciousness while performingaerobatics.
Tomlinson played Philip Rowe, one of the three British airmen escaping from a German POW camp, in the 1950 British FilmThe Wooden Horse.
Tomlinson played the role of George Banks, head of the Banks family, in theDisney filmMary Poppins (1964). Tomlinson continued work with Disney, appearing inThe Love Bug (1968) andBedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). Throughout the rest of Tomlinson's film career, he never steered far from comedies. His final acting appearance was inThe Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980), which was also the final film ofPeter Sellers. Tomlinson retired from acting at age 63 to spend more time with his family.[3] However, in 1992, at the age of 75, he appeared on theWogan talk show along withTommy Cockles.
Tomlinson was first married to Mary Lindsay Hiddingh, daughter of L. Seton Lindsay, the vice president of the New York Life Insurance Company. She had been widowed in 1941 when her husband, Major Armand Guy Hiddingh, was killed in action,[7] leaving her to care for their two young sons. Tomlinson married Mary in New York in September 1943, but on 2 December 1943, she killed herself and her two sons in amurder–suicide by jumping from a hotel in New York City, after learning that she could not take her two sons with her to join Tomlinson in England untilWWII ended.[8][9][10]
Tomlinson's second wife was actress Audrey Freeman (born 12 November 1931), whom he married on 17 May 1953, and the couple remained together for 47 years until his death. They had four sons.[11]
Tomlinson died peacefully in his sleep atKing Edward VII's Hospital, Westminster, at4 a.m. on 24 June 2000, after suffering astroke.[12][11] He was 83 years old. He was interred at his estate grounds inMursley,Buckinghamshire. Tomlinson had joked that he wanted "actor of genius, irresistible to women" as an epitaph.[13]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Garrison Follies | Uncredited | |
| 1941 | Quiet Wedding | John Royd | |
| 1941 | My Wife's Family | Willie Bagshott | |
| 1941 | "Pimpernel" Smith | Steve | |
| 1945 | The Way to the Stars | Prune' Parsons | |
| 1945 | Journey Together | Smith | |
| 1946 | I See a Dark Stranger | Intelligence Officer | |
| 1946 | School for Secrets | Mr. Watlington | |
| 1947 | Fame Is the Spur | Lord Liskeard | |
| 1947 | Master of Bankdam | Lancelot Handel Crowther | |
| 1948 | Easy Money | Martin Latham | |
| 1948 | Miranda | Charles | |
| 1948 | Broken Journey | Jimmy Marshall | |
| 1948 | My Brother's Keeper | Ronnie Waring | |
| 1948 | Sleeping Car to Trieste | Tom Bishop | |
| 1948 | Love in Waiting | Robert Clitheroe | |
| 1948 | Here Come the Huggetts | Harold Hinchley | |
| 1949 | Warning to Wantons | Count Max Kardak | |
| 1949 | Vote for Huggett | Harold Hinchley | |
| 1949 | Marry Me! | David Haig | |
| 1949 | Helter Skelter | Nick Martin | |
| 1949 | The Chiltern Hundreds | Lord Tony Pym | |
| 1949 | Landfall | Binks | |
| 1950 | So Long at the Fair | Johnny Barton | |
| 1950 | The Wooden Horse | Philip Rowe | |
| 1951 | Calling Bulldog Drummond | Algernon 'Algy' Longworth | |
| 1951 | Hotel Sahara | Captain Puffin Cheyne | |
| 1951 | The Magic Box | Assistant in Laboratory | |
| 1952 | Castle in the Air | Earl of Locharne | |
| 1952 | Made in Heaven | Basil Topham | |
| 1953 | Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? | Frank Betteron | |
| 1955 | All for Mary | Humphrey 'Humpy' Miller | |
| 1956 | Three Men in a Boat | Jerome | |
| 1957 | Carry On Admiral | Tom Baker | |
| 1958 | Up the Creek | Lt. Humphrey Fairweather | |
| 1958 | Further Up the Creek | Lt. Humphrey Fairweather | |
| 1960 | Follow That Horse! | Dick Lanchester | |
| 1963 | Tom Jones | Lord Fellamar | |
| 1964 | Mary Poppins | George Banks | |
| 1964 | The Truth About Spring | Charles Skelton | |
| 1965 | City Under the Sea | Harold Tufnell-Jones | |
| 1965 | The Liquidator | Quadrant | |
| 1968 | The Love Bug | Peter Thorndyke | |
| 1971 | Bedknobs and Broomsticks | Professor Emelius Browne | |
| 1975 | From Hong Kong with Love | Sir John MacGregor | |
| 1977 | Wombling Free | Roland Frogmorton | |
| 1978 | The Water Babies | Sir John / Polar Bear | Voice role |
| 1979 | Dominique | Lawyer | |
| 1980 | The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu | Sir Roger Avery |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | The Birdcage Room | Lord Tempest | Television film |
| 1954 | All for Mary | Clive Norton | Outside Broadcast of the theatre production |
| 1955 | Theatre Royal | Tom Pettigo | Episode: "The No Man" |
| 1957 | Theatre Night | David Warren | Episode: "Dear Delinquent" |
| 1960 | ITV Play of the Week | Tom Swinley | Episode: "The Happy Man" |
| 1967 | Comedy Playhouse | Charles Pinfold | Episode: "Loitering With Intent" |
| 1976 | Hawaii Five-O | Blake | Episode: "Nine Dragons" |
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