Richard Todd:THE ACTOR Richard Todd, who has died aged 90, will be best remembered for his role as wing commander Guy Gibson in The Dam Busters(1955), which he considered to be "the best military war film ever made". The star of more than 50 films, in his heyday he was one of British cinema's biggest box office draws.
As Gibson he played the leader of an airborne mission to destroy German industry in the Ruhr valley by bombing dams and thereby cause massive flooding, using specially-designed “bouncing bombs”.
Todd was a war hero in his own right. He was parachuted into France in advance of the D-Day landings, and during the invasion his battalion made contact with Maj John Howard at the Orne (now Pegasus) Bridge.
In The Longest Day, he played Howard whose meeting with Todd was re-enacted in the 1962 film. Earlier, in D-Day, the Sixth of June(1956) he had played his battalion commander in the same scene. Because of his wartime experience he was entrusted with directing all the film's battle scenes.
Throughout the war he kept his profession a secret, for fear he would be transferred to the Entertainments National Service Association.
Born in Dublin in 1919, he was the son of Maj Andrew William Palethorpe-Todd MC of Castlederg, Co Tyrone, and Marvill Agar-Daly of Ballymalis Castle, Co Kerry. His father, a British army physician, was capped three times for Ireland at rugby; his mother was a noted beauty and horsewoman. The family moved to Devon when Todd was a child, and also lived in India when his father was posted there. He was educated at Shrewsbury School, and later attended Sandhurst.
His mother wanted him to join the British diplomatic service, but he was determined to be a playwright. Accordingly he enrolled at the Italia Conti Academy to “learn something about the theatre”.
However, he was drawn to acting, widening the rift with his mother. After completing his studies, he toured with the Welsh Players before in 1939 joining the newly founded Dundee Repertory Theatre.
He first acted on the London stage when, just before the second World War, he appeared at the Regents Park open air theatre. He volunteered the day after war was declared and was commissioned in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in 1941.
In 1943 he was posted to the 7th Parachute Battalion, part of the 6th Airborne Division, and for the Normandy landings he was appointed assistant adjutant.
The war over, in 1946 he rejoined Dundee Rep before making his West End debut in John Patrick's The Hasty Heart. Praised for his portrayal of the dying Scots soldier "Lachie" MacLachlan, he also played the role on Broadway.
He appeared in the Warner Brothers’ film adaptation of the play, which co-starred Ronald Reagan, who became a friend (they were both to dine together at Downing Street as guests of Margaret Thatcher). Nominated for an Oscar for his performance in 1949, he won a Golden Globe the following year.
By now contracted to Associated British Films, he was effectively "sub-contracted" to Hollywood where he appeared in King Vidor's Lightning Strikes Twice(1950). He next starred with Marlene Dietrich in Hitchcock's Stage Fright(1950).
He played Robin Hood and Rob Roy in separate films before appearing as Sir Walter Raleigh, alongside Bette Davis, in The Virgin Queen(1955). Of the latter film, The Irish Times' critic wrote that it was "one of the dullest pseudo-historical films I have suffered for a long time".
Todd won critical acclaim for his portrayal of US Senate chaplain Peter Marshall in Henry Koster's A Man Called Peter(1955). Impressed, Koster cast him in D-Day, the Sixth of June, which also starred Dana Wynter and Robert Taylor.
Happier filming in England than in Hollywood, he nevertheless turned down the lead in The Guns of Navarone(1961) and, despite being Ian Fleming's choice for the role, could not play James Bond in Dr No(1962) because of other commitments.
He was back in uniform for The Long and the Short and the Tall(1961) and Operation Crossbow(1965), and was an unlikely hippie guru in The Love-Ins(1967).
Of his screen career he said: “The roles were good, bad and indifferent, but I always gave a part my best shot and tried to enjoy it.”
As film work dried up, he formed Triumph Theatre Productions, a vehicle for middlebrow plays. In the 1970s he toured the US in two Royal Shakespeare Company shows, The Hollow Crownand Pleasure and Repentance.
He subsequently enjoyed considerable success in the West End, playing the lead in Richard Harris's The Business of Murderfor eight years from 1981.
Of his later films, Michael Winner's remake of The Big Sleep(1978), with Robert Mitchum, is by far the best.
He appeared in the television mini-series Jenny's War(1985) and Sherlock Holmes and the Incident at Victoria Falls(1992). Roles in Holby City, Midsomer Murdersand The Royalfollowed. His final television appearance was in a 2007 episode of Heartbeat.
In addition to acting he ran a dairy farm for several years, selling his produce directly to restaurants, shops and supermarkets. Todd's cream was singled out for praise by the consumer magazine Which?
He always retained a strong affection for the land of his birth, which he often visited. He once told this newspaper’s diarist: “Dublin is always my number one port of call.”
He was a volunteer for Age Concern, and helped raise substantial sums for charity. In 1993 he was awarded an OBE; friends believe that a knighthood was merited.
He was twice married, first to Catherine Grant-Bogle, with whom he had a son and a daughter, and secondly to Virginia Mailer with whom he had two sons. Both marriages were dissolved.
He experienced tragedy when two sons, one from each marriage, killed themselves. His other two children survive him.
Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd: born June 11th, 1919; died December 3rd, 2009