Tribute to a gentlemen and officer (From Borehamwood Times)

Tribute to a gentlemen and officer

10:31am Monday 14th December 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

PAUL WELSH devotes his column to the actor Richard Todd, star of the iconic film The Dam Busters.

I AM devoting this week’s column to actor Richard Todd, who I had the pleasure of knowing for more than 20 years.

Richard died last Thursday, aged 90, and it was gratifying to see the fullsome obituaries on television and in the press, even though it is nearly half a century since his heyday as a movie star.

No doubt, that is because Richard played the real-life hero Guy Gibson in the iconic British war film The Dam Busters.

I met Richard when we were both working on a BBC TV documentary about Elstree Studios.

In one shot, Richard was walking outside the old sound stages, recalling the studio in the Fifties, when Harrison Ford walked out of a door dressed as Indiana Jones. It was a classic encounter of two screen heroes, separated by a lifetime. Alas, it ended up on the cutting-room floor.

A couple of years later, I invited Richard to be guest of honour at the Elstree film evening, and I repeated the invitation 15 years after that.

On both occasions, he was warmly received by the audience. By that time, his film career had long since petered out. His type of English leading man had been replaced on screen by so-called “more realistic” actors. However, he embarked on a very successful career on the West End stage .

Richard began acting in the provincial theatre, then volunteered for the army when war broke out. He became an officer and enjoyed a distinguished career.

After the war, he was signed by Elstree Studios, which had just reopened and was now part-owned by Warner Brothers. At that time, Elstree needed to find an unknown actor for the lead role in The Hasty Heart, with Ronald Reagan.

The film’s director, Vincent Sherman, told me: “I attended a welcome reception party at Elstree, but we had still not cast the role. I noticed a young actor with a military bearing but a warmth in his face.

“I said I wanted to interview him the next day. It turned out he had played the role in the theatre. I liked him and took a chance. Obviously, I was not wrong because he was Oscar nominated and it made him a star overnight.”

Richard once told me: “It was a pleasure to work with Reagan in his only British film. We remained friends even after he became president of the United States. That film launched my career and I spent about 16 years making movies at Elstree Studios, which really was my second home.”

Richard’s career embraced some Hollywood movies, with mixed success, but in the UK, he had a number of hits and co-starred with the likes of Robert Taylor and Marlene Dietrich.

However, the lead role in The Dam Busters cemented his stardom.

When I organised the unveiling of a plaque in his honour in 1996, he said: “The film was two years in preparation, because we were determined it would be accurate and a fitting tribute to the brave men in Bomber Command.

“Obviously, the special-effects could be improved today, but the atmosphere, actors and director perfectly reflected that period of time.”

A couple of years ago, Elstree Screen Heritage invited the then 88-year-old to return to Borehamwood for a special screening of the legendary film. I had the pleasure of conducting one of the last public interviews with Richard before the screening.

He was physically frail, but his memory was 100 per cent intact and, thanks to years of stage acting, he used his natural voice to project, rather than a microphone.

It was a great pleasure to sit next to him and view the film again. For him, it must have been strange to watch himself 50 years earlier, in the prime of life, at a time when Elstree had to employ two full-time secretaries to deal with his fan mail.

When we said goodbye I felt it would be our last meeting because I knew he had heart trouble. But I was upset to read he spent his last months fighting cancer.

Richard Todd was one of the fast-dwindling number of English gentlemen. I, for one, feel we are worse for their parting. It was an honour to have known you sir.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)