Sybil Thorndike | |
|---|---|
 Thorndike in 1943 | |
| Born | Agnes Sybil Thorndike (1882-10-24)24 October 1882 Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England |
| Died | 9 June 1976(1976-06-09) (aged 93) Chelsea, London, England |
| Resting place | Westminster Abbey, London |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, includingChristopher Casson,Mary Casson,Ann Casson[1] |
| Relatives | Russell Thorndike (brother) |
Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 1882 – 9 June 1976), was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969.
Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her hands ruled out a musical career. She began her professional acting career with the company of the actor-managerBen Greet, with whom she toured the US from 1904 to 1908. In Britain she played in old and new plays on tour and in theWest End, often appearing with her husband, the actor and directorLewis Casson. She joined theOld Vic company during theFirst World War, and in the early 1920sGeorge Bernard Shaw, impressed by seeing her in a tragedy, wroteSaint Joan with her in mind. She starred in it with great success. She became known as Britain's leading tragedienne, but also appeared frequently in comedy.
During theSecond World War, Thorndike and her husband toured in Shakespeare productions, taking professional theatre to remote rural locations for the first time. Towards the end of the war she joinedRalph Richardson andLaurence Olivier for two seasons staged by the Old Vic company in the West End. After the war she and Casson made many overseas tours, playing in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. They also appeared onBroadway.
Thorndike was mainly known as a stage actress, but made several films from the 1920s to the 1960s, among themThe Prince and the Showgirl (1957) andUncle Vanya (1963), both with Olivier. She also broadcast from time to time on radio and television. Her last stage appearances were in 1969 at the theatre named in her honour, theThorndike Theatre,Leatherhead.
Thorndike was born on 24 October 1882 inGainsborough, Lincolnshire, the eldest of the four children of the Rev Arthur John Webster Thorndike (1853–1917) and his wife Agnes Macdonald,née Bowers (1857–1933), the daughter of a shipping merchant.[1] From both parents Thorndike learned values of tolerance and concern for others that remained with her throughout her life.[2] When she was two years old her father was appointed aminor canon ofRochester Cathedral.[3] She was educated atRochester Grammar School for Girls, and first trained as a classical pianist, making weekly visits to London for lessons at theGuildhall School of Music.[1]
In May 1899 Thorndike gave her first solo piano recital, but shortly afterwards she developed recurrent pianist's cramp, and although she performed in leading concert venues in London – theBechstein,Steinway andSt James's halls – by 1902 it was clear that a musical career would be impossible.[4] She studied for the stage at the drama school run byBen Greet, who engaged her for an American tour beginning in August 1904, in advance of which she made her professional début atCambridge in June, as Palmis inW. S. Gilbert'sThe Palace of Truth.[5] She remained in Greet's company for three years playing in Shakespearean repertory throughout the US.[6]
On her return to England, Thorndike was spotted byBernard Shaw in a one-off Sunday night performance at theScala Theatre in London; he invited her to join the company for a revival of hisCandida to be given inBelfast byAnnie Horniman's players. The company was based at theGaiety Theatre, Manchester, where she first appeared in September 1908 as Bessie Carter inBasil Dean'sMarriages are Made in Heaven. She played parts in nine other plays by authors ranging fromEuripides toJohn Galsworthy.[7] In the company she met, and formed a lifelong partnership with, the actorLewis Casson.[5] They married in December 1908 at her father's church. They had two daughters and two sons, all of whom went on the stage for some or all of their careers.[n 1]
Thorndike appeared at theCoronet Theatre, London, in June 1909 with the Horniman company, and at theDuke of York's Theatre in March 1910 withCharles Frohman's repertory company, appearing there as Winifred inThe Sentimentalists, Emma Huxtable inThe Madras House, Romp inPrunella and Maggie Massey inChains. She then went to New York, where she appeared at theEmpire Theatre in September 1910, as Emily Chapman inSmith oppositeJohn Drew.[6]
Between her return to Britain and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Thorndike appeared in theWest End at theAldwych Theatre in June 1912 as Beatrice Farrar inHindle Wakes, and at thePlayhouse Theatre in July 1912 in the same role. She returned to Manchester for a second season at the Gaiety later in the year, playing a range of roles in nine plays.[6] At theCourt Theatre in London in May 1913 she played the title role inSt John Ervine'sJane Clegg, and in October she appeared in both Manchester and London as Hester inEden Phillpotts'The Shadow.[6][8]
Between November 1914 and May 1918 Thorndike played in four seasons at theOld Vic (and one at theShakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1916) with a mostly Shakespearean repertory.[9] According to her biographerJonathan Croall, she played "most of the main female characters" and – with a shortage of young actors during the war – she took six male roles including Prince Hal inHenry IV Part 1, the Fool inKing Lear, Ferdinand inThe Tempest and Puck inA Midsummer Night's Dream.[n 2] Her non-Shakespearean roles included Lady Teazle inThe School for Scandal, Peg Woffington inMasks and Faces, Kate Hardcastle inShe Stoops to Conquer, the Angel Gabriel in themystery playThe Star of Bethlehem, and Nancy in a stage version ofOliver Twist adapted by her brotherRussell, who was the leading man of the company.[n 3] Together, the siblings wrote and co-starred in tworevues for the company:The Sausage String's Romance, or a New CutHarlequinade andSeaman's Pie, a Naval Review of Revues and Other Things.[9]
After leaving the Old Vic company, Thorndike was engaged byC. B. Cochran and appeared at theOxford Music Hall, London, in June 1918 as Françoise in a sketch, "The Kiddies in the Ruins", which was introduced intoThe Better 'Ole. In various West End theatres during 1919 she appeared as Sygne de Coûfontaine inThe Hostage, Naomi Melsham inThe Chinese Puzzle, Clara Bortswick inThe Great Day, Anne Wickham inNapoleon and in October she played Hecuba inThe Trojan Women, adding to her growing reputation as Britain's leading tragedienne.[6][12] Praising her as "a new leading lady" for the West End,The Times predicted, "Much as the Old Vic will regret it, it is hardly conceivable that Miss Thorndike will be allowed to cross over to the south side of the river again".[13] In the event, she continued to appear in Old Vic productions as well as in the West End for nearly thirty years.[14]
In early 1920 Thorndike successfully repeated her Hecuba and played the title roles in Shaw'sCandida and in another Euripides play,Medea. The criticJ. T. Grein wrote of the latter, "It is a great example of tragic acting, and a magnificent achievement".[15] Later in the year Thorndike joined her brother and her husband in a two-year run ofGrand Guignol melodramas at theLittle Theatre.[5]
The vogue for theatrical horror began to wane and Casson and Thorndike joinedBronson Albery andLady Wyndham in the management of theNew Theatre in 1922. They opened withShelley's verse tragedyThe Cenci. Shaw saw a performance, and told his wife, "I have found my Joan".[16] He was planning a play aboutJoan of Arc, which he completed in 1923.[17] It was his custom to open his plays onBroadway before their West End premieres,[n 4] and the first actress to play his Joan wasWinifred Lenihan, but the part was written with Thorndike in mind.[18]
Saint Joan opened at the New Theatre in March 1924.[19] Thorndike's performance received praise from the critics, but there were reservations: inThe Times,A. B. Walkley said that she performed beautifully, but he found her "rusticity of speech a superfluity". The critic ofThe Daily Telegraph felt that no other actress could have better "hit off the Maid's simplicity without losing her strength".Desmond MacCarthy in theNew Statesman, praised Thorndike for emphasising the "insistive, energetic, almost pert traits of the Maid as Mr Shaw conceives her" but thought she missed "the sweetness and simplicity of the Maid's replies and demeanour in the trial scene" though driving home Joan's "distress, her alertness, her courage".[20] InThe Observer,Lennox Robinson wrote that Thorndike's performance "was beautiful, was entirely satisfying. Mr Shaw was, indeed, nobly served."[21] The initial London production ran for 244 performances,[16] and Thorndike starred in revivals over the following 17 years not only in London (1925, 1926, 1931 and 1941) but at theThéâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris (1927) and on tours of South Africa (1928) and the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand (1932−33).[22]
In 1927−28 Thorndike was again a member of the Old Vic company, for a season at theLyric Theatre, Hammersmith. She played Katherina inThe Taming of the Shrew, Portia inThe Merchant of Venice, Beatrice inMuch Ado About Nothing and Chorus and the Princess of France inHenry V.[19]
In the 1920s Thorndike entered films, appearing in four: as Mrs Brand inMoth and Rust (1921), various parts inTense Moments from Great Plays (1922),[n 5]Edith Cavell inDawn (1928) and the Mother inTo What Red Hell (1929).[9] In 1923 she made her first radio broadcasts for theBBC; during the decade these included two of her best-known stage roles: Medea and Saint Joan.[25]
Thorndike's roles of the early 1930s included the title part inRacine'sPhèdre, Mrs Alving inIbsen'sGhosts, and Emilia in a celebrated production ofOthello at theSavoy Theatre withPaul Robeson andPeggy Ashcroft as Othello and Desdemona.[26] In 1931 she was appointedDBE, the fourth actress to be made a Dame.[27][n 6] She appeared in a wide range of plays, both classical and modern, often under Casson's direction.[1]
From April 1932 to April 1933 Thorndike and Casson made a tour of Egypt, Palestine, Australia and New Zealand, in which she appeared in the satirical comedyAdvertising April; Shaw'sCaptain Brassbound's Conversion;Ghosts;Clemence Dane'sGranite;Macbeth; a romantic comedy,Madame Plays Nap;Milestones;The Painted Veil;Saint Joan andSidney Howard's domestic dramaThe Silver Chord.[28]
In the West End in September 1933 Thorndike appeared inThe Distaff Side, byJohn van Druten, which she took to Broadway the following year, having in the interim played Gertrude inHamlet for the Old Vic company atSadler's Wells in an uncut, five-hour production directed by Greet (who appeared as Polonius).[29][30] Thorndike and Casson were among the actors who felt an obligation to appear in the provinces as well as in the West End − according to the criticHannen Swaffer "Sybil is the only actress whom the provinces treat like a queen"[31] − and her expressed view was, "No actor has any business to say that they won't tour, it's part of our work".[32] In 1936 the couple toured in plays by Euripides, Shaw,Noël Coward andD. H. Lawrence, and followed this with a tour of a new play,Six Men of Dorset, byMiles Malleson and Harvey Brooks the following year.[33]
In 1938 Thorndike appeared in New York as Mrs Conway inJ. B. Priestley'sTime and the Conways,[33] and in London as Volumnia in the Old Vic production ofCoriolanus with Olivier in the title role as her son.[33][34] In the West End she created the role of Miss Moffat in the long-runningThe Corn is Green (1938) byEmlyn Williams. According toThe Times, this play "showed her at the top of her form as an English spinster with a vocation for teaching, and obtained for her and the author, who himself played the Welsh mining lad who was her star pupil, a heartening success on the eve of war and of new developments in theatrical life".[35]
Thorndike made three films during the decade, appearing as Madam Duval inA Gentleman of Paris (1931), Mrs Hawthorn inHindle Wakes (1931) and Ellen inTudor Rose (1936).[36] She made her television début in 1939 as the Widow Cagle in a melodrama,Sun Up.[37]
When theSecond World War began in September 1939, Thorndike, a convincedpacifist, protested against the conflict, but recognised that while it lasted the populace needed entertainment. In 1940 she took part in a film of Shaw'sMajor Barbara as General Baines, after which she and Casson joined a touring Old Vic company takingMacbeth to even the remotest corners of Wales. As there were few available hotels the actors frequently stayed with mining families, whom Thorndike found "wonderfully hospitable".[38] By 1941, with theLondon blitz coming to an end, it was practical for the London theatre to revive, and the Old Vic company presented Shakespeare's rarely seenKing John, in which Thorndike played Constance. As its own theatre had been severely bombed, the company played at the New Theatre. Later in the year the Cassons again toured Wales, addingCandida andMedea to their repertory.[33]
WhenRalph Richardson, Olivier andJohn Burrell were appointed to re-establish the Old Vic as a leading London company in 1944 they recruited Thorndike, who played Aase inPeer Gynt, Catherine Petkoff inArms and the Man, Queen Margaret inRichard III, Marina inUncle Vanya, Mistress Quickly inHenry IV, Parts1 and2, Jocasta inOedipus Rex and the Justice's Lady inThe Critic. Between August 1944 and April 1946 the company played in London and toured for the armed forces in Belgium, Germany and France.[39]
After the defeat of Germany in 1945 a Nazi blacklist was found in Berlin, naming eminent people to be arrested after an invasion of Britain. Among them was Thorndike, as a prominent member of theNational Council for Civil Liberties.[40]
When the Old Vic company played a season in New York in 1946 Thorndike chose to remain in England to appear with Casson.[35] They were in Priestley'sThe Linden Tree in 1947,[35] in which year Thorndike played Mrs Squeers inNicholas Nickleby for the cinema, followed by another film,Britannia Mews in 1948, as Mrs Mouncey.[36] In the theatre Thorndike and Casson were in a revival ofJohn Home's tragedyDouglas at theEdinburgh Festival (1950),[35] and without Casson, Thorndike starred with her old friendEdith Evans inN. C. Hunter'sWaters of the Moon. The play, described by Croall as "a cosy middle-class drama [with] certain elements ofChekhov", received tepid reviews but proved popular with audiences and ran for 835 performances at theTheatre Royal, Haymarket between 1951 and 1953.[41] The Cassons rejoined forces in Hunter's next play,A Day by the Sea (1953), directed by and co-starringJohn Gielgud. Like its predecessor, the play appealed more to the public than to the critics,[42] and ran for 386 performances at the Haymarket.[43][n 7]
During the mid- and late-1950s Thorndike and Casson were seen more abroad than at home. They toured the Far East, New Zealand and India in 1954, giving dramatic recitals.[33] Together with Richardson they toured Australia and New Zealand in 1955, presentingThe Sleeping Prince andSeparate Tables.[46] The couple toured southern Africa, Kenya, Israel, and Turkey in 1956, giving dramatic recitals.[46] In the West End in June 1956 Thorndike played Amy, Lady Monchensey inThe Family Reunion, with Casson,Paul Scofield andGwen Ffrangcon-Davies.[47] In New York the couple appeared in the world premiere ofGraham Greene'sThe Potting Shed, which ran on Broadway for 143 performances in 1957,[48] after which they revisited Australia and New Zealand, touring inThe Chalk Garden.[49]
During the 1950s Thorndike appeared in eleven films:Stage Fright (as Mrs Gill, 1950),Gone to Earth (Mrs Marston, 1951),The Lady with a Lamp (Miss Bosanquet, 1951),The Magic Box (the Aristocratic Client, 1951),Melba (Queen Victoria, 1953),The Weak and the Wicked (Mabel, 1953),The Prince and the Showgirl (The Queen Dowager, 1957),Alive and Kicking (Dora, 1958),Smiley Gets a Gun (Granny, 1958),Shake Hands with the Devil (Lady Fitzhugh, 1959) andJet Storm (Emma Morgan, 1959).[50] Among her television appearances was a studio production ofWaters of the Moon with Evans, Casson andKathleen Harrison.[51]
Thorndike's first stage role of the 1960s was Lotta Bainbridge in Coward'sWaiting in the Wings; she andMarie Löhr played the lead roles of two residents in a retirement home for actors and actresses, perpetuating, and finally resolving, an ancient feud.[n 8] She said of it, "I loved that play. It's the most lovely modern play I've played",[53] but the piece was not a great box-office success and closed after 188 performances.[54] In 1961 Thorndike played the longest part of her career, the title role inHugh Ross Williamson'sTeresa of Avila, about theeponymous saint. She thought it "the most thrilling part I've been offered since Saint Joan", but Williamson's script, even after extensive revision by Casson, proved disappointing.[55] Reviews were enthusiastic in their praise of Thorndike's performance, but neither the critics nor the public liked the play, which closed after six weeks.[55]
In 1962 Olivier, as director of theChichester Festival, mounted a production ofUncle Vanya. He assembled a cast headed byMichael Redgrave in the title role, supported by Olivier (as Astrov),Fay Compton,Joan Greenwood andJoan Plowright, in addition to Thorndike as Marina, the nurse, and Casson as Waffles.[56] The criticJ. C. Trewin wrote of "the most remarkably complete production – in my experience at least – of any play in our period". He called Thorndike's nurse "a miracle of gruff tenderness".[57] The production was acknowledged as the highlight of the festival, and was revived the following year.[58] Between the two stagings Thorndike appeared for the first time in a musical – playing the formidable Miss Crawley in an adaptation ofThackeray'sVanity Fair. The piece received bad reviews.The Guardian said that at her age Thorndike "should have known better than be caught up in this piece of prolonged nonsense",[59] althoughThe Times found consolation in her "blazingly theatrical figure" who "stamps every line with comic authority".[60]
Olivier moved from Chichester to become the founding director of theNational Theatre in late 1963. He includedUncle Vanya in his first season, with many of his Chichester cast reprising their roles, but Casson, by this time in his late eighties, declined, and Thorndike did likewise.[61] At theDuchess Theatre in January 1964 she appeared as the Dowager Countess of Lister inWilliam Douglas-Home's playThe Reluctant Peer, a comic fictionalisation of the author'selder brother's recent renunciation of his peerage so as to be eligible for the premiership. Once again, Thorndike's notices were better than those for the play.Bernard Levin wrote, "she gets her fangs deep into the meatiest part she has had for years" and praised "the relish and zest she brings to her playing". She thought the critics were wrong to dismiss the play – "they only want avant-garde and classics now" – and was sorry when her contractual commitments forced her to leave the cast six months into the eighteen-month run.[62]
After appearing in two successive box-office failures –Arthur Marshall'sSeason of Goodwill (1964) andWilliam Corlett'sReturn Ticket (1965) – Thorndike rejoined Casson in what turned out to be their last West End production together, a revival of the classic black comedyArsenic and Old Lace. WithAthene Seyler co-starring as her equally well-meaning and homicidally lunatic sister, Thorndike enjoyed herself, the critics were enthusiastic, and the play ran from February to November 1966.[63]
Thorndike appeared no more on the London stage after that. At theYvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, in January 1967 she played Claire Ragond inThe Viaduct, and at the same theatre in February 1968 she appeared as Mrs Basil inCall Me Jacky. Later in that year she toured as Mrs Bramson in Emlyn Williams's thrillerNight Must Fall.[49]
During the 1960s Thorndike appeared in three films, as Lady Caroline inHand in Hand (1960), Aunt Cathleen inThe Big Gamble (1961), and as Marina ina film adaptation of Olivier's Chichester production ofUncle Vanya (1963).[64] The television was not her favourite medium – she found it restricting – although she had a success in 1965 as Mrs Moore in a BBC adaptation ofE. M. Forster'sA Passage to India. Forster congratulated her on her performance, but she replied, "I loved Mrs Moore, but I am not wild about TV as a medium to express her! She's bigger than that".[65]
Casson died in May 1969, and Thorndike's only stage role after that was in the inaugural performance of the theatre named in her honour, theThorndike Theatre, Leatherhead, in October of that year, as the Woman inThere Was an Old Woman by John Graham. She was appointedMember of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1970.[16] Her last public appearance was at the National Theatre's final night at the Old Vic in February 1976, where from a wheelchair she acknowledged the applause of her fellow members of the audience.[66]
Brian Harrison recorded an oral history interview with Thorndike, in December 1975, as part of the Suffrage Interviews project, titledOral evidence on the suffragette and suffragist movements: the Brian Harrison interviews.[67] In it she talks about the progressive nature of the theatre, and her freedom as an actress as well as her support for women's suffrage.
Thorndike and Casson had long lived atSwan Court, Chelsea, where she died on 9 June 1976, aged 93.[16] Her ashes were interred inWestminster Abbey the following month, after a memorial service there.[68]
Thorndike described herself as "an old-fashioned socialist, an Anglican and a pacifist – a mixture of whichMr Marx might disapprove".[69]Corin Redgrave recalled, "Her shining spirit came through almost everything she did. She never wavered in her humanitarian Christian socialist beliefs".[70] Giving the address at her memorial service, Gielgud called Thorndike "the most loved actress sinceEllen Terry".[16] Her obituarist inThe Times said the same.[35] Croall and many others have concurred.[71]
Opinion is more divided about Thorndike's qualities as an actress.Sheridan Morley enlarged on Gielgud's comment, writing that she was not only the most loved actress but "one might add also the best".[16] Gielgud thought her very fine in her playing of tragedy − "she was one of the few actresses of her generation who dared even to attempt it [and] riveted her audiences with her superb authority and vocal power" − but he thought her inclined to "hit too hard" in comedy.[72]Hallam Tennyson felt "she over-elocuted: she was the last trace of theIrving-Terry era in which the important thing was to speak beautifully and clearly and be heard throughout the auditorium".[73] Paul Scofield thought her "a glorious actress who suggested immense power. She aimed at the big targets, and used every ounce of her being to do justice to great classical themes".[74]
