Donald Sinden

Sinden was born in St Budeaux, Plymouth, Devon[http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Plymouth-born-actor-Sir-Donald-Sinden-dies-aged/story-22915124-detail/story.html Sir Donald Sinden biography] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912163648/http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Plymouth-born-actor-Sir-Donald-Sinden-dies-aged/story-22915124-detail/story.html |date=12 September 2014}}, plymouthherald.co.uk; accessed 21 September 2014. on 9 October 1923, the middle child of chemist Alfred Edward Sinden and his wife Mabel Agnes (née Fuller). His elder sister Joy became an English teacher at Claverham Community College in Battle, East Sussex, and younger brother Leon (1927–2015) became an actor.{{Cite web|url=https://www.contactmusic.com/sir-donald-sinden/news/actor-leon-sinden-dies_5017871|title=Actor Leon Sinden Dies|date=9 November 2015|website=Contactmusic.com|access-date=22 December 2021}} They grew up in Ditchling, East Sussex, where their home 'The Limes' doubled as the local chemist's shop.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/04/theatre |title=Pieces of Me |work=The Guardian |access-date=4 February 2009 |date=4 February 2009}} After attending a number of private schools, Donald was sent to Hassocks Primary, and thence to Burgess Hill Secondary School after failing his 11-plus qualifying test.{{cite book |last1=Sinden |first1=Donald |title=A touch of the memoirs |date=1982 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |location=London |isbn=0-340-26235-4 |page=29}}

Sinden made his first stage appearance at the amateur Brighton Little Theatre (of which he later became president) in 1941, stepping into a part in place of his cousin Frank, who had been called up to war and so was unable to appear. Offered a professional acting part by the Brighton impresario Charles F. Smith, he made his first professional appearance in January 1942, playing Dudley in a production of George and Margaret for the Mobile Entertainments Southern Area company (known as MESA) and in other modern comedies, playing to the armed forces all along the South Coast of England during the Second World War[http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/search/results/3475/Donald%20Alfred+SINDEN.aspx Sir Donald Sinden profile] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717191100/http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/search/results/3475/Donald%20Alfred+SINDEN.aspx |date=17 July 2011}}, Debrett's People of Today; accessed 15 December 2013. and later trained as an actor for two terms{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11091536/Sir-Donald-Sinden-obituary.html|title=Sir Donald Sinden - obituary|website=Telegraph.co.uk|date=11 September 2014 |access-date=22 December 2021}} at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.

Rejected for World War II naval service because of asthma, Sinden joined a theatrical company that entertained soldiers, sailors and airmen during the war.{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0801786/|title=Donald Sinden|website=IMDb.com|access-date=22 December 2021}}

In 1942, in Hove, Sinden befriended Lord Alfred Douglas (known as "Bosie"), who had been Oscar Wilde's lover. He is believed to have been the last surviving person to have known Douglas.[https://archive.today/20121223061730/https://swww2.le.ac.uk:8443/uol/ebulletin/publications/2000-2009/2005/08/orations/sinden Sir Donald Sinden CBE (DLitt) – Actor — University of Leicester]. Swww2.le.ac.uk:8443.

After the critical and financial success of his first screen leading role in The Cruel Sea (1953), made by Ealing Studios, in which he co-starred and received top-billing with Jack Hawkins, Sinden was contracted for seven years to the Rank Organisation at Pinewood Studios and subsequently had prominent roles in 23 movies during the 1950s and early 1960s, including Mogambo; Doctor in the House; Above Us the Waves; The Black Tent; Eyewitness; Doctor at Large; The Siege of Sidney Street and Twice Round the Daffodils.{{cite web |last1=Botting |first1=Josephine |title=Remembering Donald Sinden |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/remembering-donald-sinden |website=British Film Institute |access-date=10 December 2014 |date=19 September 2014}}

Sinden became associated with his character of "Benskin" in the Doctor film series as the duffel-coated medical student, regularly failing his finals and spending most of his time chasing pretty nurses, accompanied by his trade-mark "wolf-growl".[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/540500 Donald Sinden profile], screenonline.org.uk; accessed 15 December 2013.

Sinden was the recipient of several "audience-based" awards during this period, including "The actor who made most progress during 1954".Laughter in the Second Act, Donald Sinden. Hodder & Stoughton, (1985) In 1956, a profile was written on him which stated:{{blockquote|In the three years since his début in The Cruel Sea, the un-temperamental Sinden has moved steadily up the British film ladder until people are noticing, not without surprise, that he is suddenly one of the country's prime box-office favourites. It's as though he arrived on tiptoe. He is not colourful or flamboyant, yet he has his niche in public favour, as a recent poll proved: British women-folk voted him "The face we'd most like to see across our breakfast table." This defines with a certain accuracy the sure, dependable appeal of the man who, so far, has shared star billing with some other more boisterous male idols. He has usually been left, crestfallen and jilted, in the last reel.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44803823|title=New deal for star. |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |date=4 April 1956 |access-date=10 July 2012 |page=52 |via=National Library of Australia}}}}

File:An Evening with... DS (large).jpg

In 1949, he appeared in The Heiress at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket opposite Ralph Richardson and Peggy Ashcroft, directed by John Gielgud. In his Sky Arts documentary series Great West End Theatres, Sinden said that the play ran for 644 performances (19 months) and he was the only member of the cast not to have missed a performance: "As the play is the longest run in the [Haymarket] theatre's history, I therefore gave more consecutive performances in this theatre than any other actor since it was built in 1820." The management gave him an engraved silver ashtray as a present in recognition of the fact, which he showed in the episode.Episode 3, Great West End Theatres. Sky Arts. 17 August 2013; accessed 15 December 2013.

Theatre being his first "love",Croydon Life issue 14 June 2008 he was a noted farceur and won best actor awards for his appearances in the Ray Cooney farces Not Now, Darling (1967); Two into One (1984) and Out of Order (1990). In 1976, he was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Actor for his performance on Broadway as Arthur Wicksteed in Alan Bennett's comedy Habeas Corpus. His other notable leading performances in the commercial theatre included roles in productions such as There's a Girl in My Soup (1966); In Praise of Love (1973); An Enemy of the People (1975); Present Laughter (1981); The School for Scandal (1983); The Scarlet Pimpernel (1985); Major Barbara (1988); Diversions and Delights (one-man show as Oscar Wilde, 1989); She Stoops to Conquer (1993); That Good Night (1996) and Quartet (1999).{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9788722/Dustin-Hoffman-riles-Sir-Donald-Sinden-with-his-comments-about-new-film-Quartet.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |first=Tim |last=Walker |title=Dustin Hoffman riles Sir Donald Sinden with his comments about new film Quartet |date=9 January 2013}}

Sinden was a leading figure in the campaign to found the Theatre Museum in London's Covent Garden in the 1980s. In 2007, Sinden embarked on a UK, European and American theatre tour to talk about his life, work and anecdotes in An Evening with... Sir Donald Sinden. Produced by his son Marc, this included, on 8 November 2007 as part of Marc's British Theatre Season, Monaco, a performance in front of Prince Albert of Monaco (the son of Grace Kelly, his co-star in the film Mogambo) at the Théâtre Princesse Grace, Monte Carlo.[http://livebrum.co.uk/2009/09/19/an-evening-with-sir-donald-sinden An Evening with... Sir Donald Sinden at Solihull Arts Complex on 19 September 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927070608/http://livebrum.co.uk/2009/09/19/an-evening-with-sir-donald-sinden |date=27 September 2021 }}. Livebrum.co.uk.

Joining the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre company in 1946,{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/royal-shakespeare-company-looks-to-discover-a-new-musical-star-with-competition-to-reinterpret-songs-by-the-bard-10031411.html|title = RSC looks to discover a new musical star with new competition|website=Independent.co.uk|date = 8 February 2015}} Sinden was an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) from 1967. Outstanding among his many stage appearances for the RSC, both at Stratford-upon-Avon and in London's West End (usually at the Aldwych Theatre), was his performance in 1963 as the Duke of York in The Wars of the Roses opposite Peggy Ashcroft as Queen Margaret.

Other performances by Sinden for the company were Eh? by Henry Livings in 1964; as Lord Foppington in The Relapse in 1967; Malvolio in Twelfth Night (opposite Judi Dench as Viola) in 1969[https://archive.today/20130209071258/http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/london/E8831345021627/Michael+Coveney:+Stand-up+for+comedy+and+sit-down+criticism.html Michael Coveney: Stand-up for comedy & sit-down criticism – - Blog]. Whatsonstage.com. and again with Dench and her husband Michael Williams in 1972, as Sir Harcourt Courtly in London Assurance (New Theatre).

After the production transferred to New York in 1975, Sinden became the first recipient of the newly established Broadway Drama Desk Special Award.Who's Who in the Theatre, 17th edition (1981){{cite web |url=http://www.dramadeskawards.com/about.html |title=About the Drama Desk Awards |publisher=Dramadeskawards.com |access-date=26 May 2014 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131027102619/http://www.dramadeskawards.com/about.html |archive-date=27 October 2013}} Sinden sought and received advice about the character's costume and mannerisms in the role from the Regency novelist Georgette Heyer.Jennifer Kloester, "Fine and Dandy", The Weekend Australian, 22–23 May 2004, p. R13

For the 1976 Stratford season and then at the Aldwych Theatre in 1977, Sinden won the Evening Standard Award as Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear (with Michael Williams as the Fool). Meanwhile, he was also portraying in repertory, Benedick (regarded as "the most admired Benedick in living memory"){{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/jun/17/shakespeare-much-ado-wyndhams-globe |work=The Guardian |first=Michael |last=Dobson |title=The darkness at the heart of Much Ado About Nothing |date=17 June 2011}} opposite Judi Dench's Beatrice in John Barton's highly acclaimed{{cite web |author=Stanley Wells |url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/features/2011/04/rsc-at-50-celebrate-good-times |title=RSC at 50: Celebrate good times |work=The Stage |access-date=2014-05-26}} 'British Raj' revival of Much Ado About Nothing.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/william-shakespeare/10307341/The-top-ten-Beatrice-and-Benedicks.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |title=The top ten Beatrice and Benedicks |date=19 September 2013}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/sep/12/donald-sinden?CMP=share_btn_link|title=Sir Donald Sinden obituary|website=Theguardian.com|date=12 September 2014}} At the same time he was also rehearsing the third season of the LWT sitcom Two's Company with Elaine Stritch during the daytime and filming the show at the studio in front of a live audience on Sunday evenings.Laughter in the Second Act, Donald Sinden. Hodder & Stoughton, 1985, p. 160 He claimed "RSC money isn't very good compared with a normal commercial theatre rate. I was on their 'star' salary, which meant it worked out at about £47 per performance! You work for them 'for the honour' of doing the greatest classical plays, not for the money, so you have to make up the financial short-fall somewhere".

In 1979, he played the title role in Othello, directed by Ronald Eyre, becoming the last 'blacked-up white' actor to play the role for the RSC.{{efn|Ben Kingsley emphasised that his Anglo-Indian parentage demonstrated authentic casting when he took the role in the company's 1985 production.{{cite book |editor1-last=Neill |editor1-first=Michael |title=Othello, the moor of Venice |date=2006 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-812920-2 |page=62}}}} Everyman editor and critic Gareth Lloyd Evans observed that his interpretation was "not…about colour or racialism" but one that illuminated the character's personal tragedy.{{cite web |url=http://www.rscshakespeare.co.uk/othello.html |title=Plot Summaries, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice |publisher=The RSC Shakespeare |access-date=26 May 2014}}quoted in {{cite book |editor1-last=Neill |editor1-first=Michael |title=Othello, the Moor of Venice |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780199535873 |page=60 |chapter=The play in performance}}

In 2013, Sinden presented a documentary series, Great West End Theatres, detailing the history and stories associated with each of ten London theatres. Directed and produced by his son Marc, it was intended as a 40-part DVD and Sky Arts TV series, with only the first ten episodes completed. It was shown on Sky Arts 2 in 2013.[http://www.thestage.co.uk/features/feature.php/32076/open-access-documenting-londons-theatres Open access: Documenting London's theatres], thestage.co.uk; accessed 21 September 2014.

In their review of the series, the British Theatre Guide said "Sir Donald's gorgeous plummy tones are a joy to listen to whatever he is saying but when he is extolling the virtues of one of his own favourite theatres, the pleasure is heightened. At his first entrance, he announces that he is "tingling with excitement" which is just what one wants from a tour guide. Soon enough, so are viewers."{{cite news |url=http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/great-west-end-7230 |title=Reviews |publisher=British Theatre Guide |date=19 February 2012|access-date=19 February 2012 |location=London, UK}}

The Daily Telegraph{{'}}s review states: "Great West End Theatres is a lovely documentary series, made by the director Marc Sinden. Its star, and – it transpires – the best documentary frontman of all time, is his actor-father: Sir Donald Sinden, 90 years old next month. Sir Donald has been let loose and the effect is enchanting beyond belief. It is also, at times, incredibly funny. One has the sense of a lifetime spent in this world, being poured out for our delight like glasses of vintage champagne."{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/10324418/Tracing-Londons-theatrical-history.html |title=Tracing London's theatrical history |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=23 September 2013 |access-date=15 December 2013 |first=Laura |last=Thompson}}

Sinden appeared in ITV's 1960 adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, starring as John Jasper. No audio or video recordings of the production are known to have survived. In 1963, he appeared in the Associated Rediffusion series Our Man at St. Mark's.Laughter in the Second Act Donald Sinden Hodder & Stoughton 1985, pp. 112–117 His other television roles included The Colonel in an episode of The Prisoner ("Many Happy Returns", 1967).

After starring in the series The Organisation (1971), he co-starred in the London Weekend Television situation comedy Two's Company which debuted in 1975. Sinden was cast in the role of an English butler, Robert, to Elaine Stritch's American character, Dorothy. Much of the humour derived from the culture clashes between Robert's very stiff-upper-lip Britishness and Dorothy's devil-may-care New York view on life. Two's Company was well received in Britain and ran for four seasons until 1979. The programme was nominated for a 'Best Situation Comedy' BAFTA in 1977.{{cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1977/television/situation-comedy |title=1977 Television Situation Comedy | BAFTA Awards |publisher=Awards.bafta.org |access-date=2014-05-26}} Stritch and Sinden also sang the theme tune for the opening credits to the programme, which received a BAFTA nomination. They each received a BAFTA nomination in 1979 for 'Best Light Entertainment Performance'{{cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1979/television/light-entertainment-performance|title=1979 Television Light Entertainment Performance|publisher=Awards.bafta.org|access-date=26 May 2014}} and the show received two additional BAFTA nominations that year.

In 1978, Sinden was the leading guest star in the first "special" of Thames Television's The Morecambe & Wise Show, in which he carried on the butler's role.

In 1979, Sinden presented a documentary series on BBC2 (later repeated in 1981 on BBC1), Discovering English Churches inspired by his grandfather's architectural drawings and watercolours. Over ten episodes, Sinden explored the unique history of the English church, and the influences that shaped the development of 16,000 churches, showing the history of two or three churches in each episode.{{cite web|url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?adv=0&q=discovering+english+churches&media=all&yf=1923&yt=2009&mf=1&mt=12&tf=00%3A00&tt=00%3A00#search|title=Discovering English Churches|website=Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk|access-date=22 December 2021}}

File:Silvey-never-the-twain.jpg, with Windsor Davies in the 1980s.]]

From 1981, Sinden starred in the Thames Television situation comedy, Never the Twain. He played snooty antiques dealer Simon Peel who lived next door to a competitor, Oliver Smallbridge (played by Windsor Davies). The characters hated each other and were horrified when they discovered that their son and daughter were to be married – thus meaning they were related. The series was a TV ratings success and ran for 11 series until 1991.

He was the subject of an extended edition of This Is Your Life in 1985 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews while filming on location in Surrey.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

Sinden was regularly spoofed on Spitting Image, the 1980s British satirical television programme in which famous people were lampooned by caricatured latex puppets. Much of the Spitting Image humour was centred around Sinden being a "ham" actor, forever overacting and behaving in an overly theatrical way. For example, when his puppet, sitting in a restaurant, summons a waiter and asks "Do you serve a ham salad?" the waiter replies "Yes, we serve salad to anyone".

From 2001 to 2007, he played the part of senior judge (and father-in-law of the title character), Sir Joseph Channing in Judge John Deed and was the voice of Totally Viral. In 2008, he played Colonel Henry Hammond in the Midsomer Murders episode "Shot at Dawn." In 2010 he played Sir Henry Clithering in the Agatha Christie's Marple episode "The Blue Geranium".

He starred in the Walt Disney Productions family film The Island at the Top of the World (1974), playing Sir Anthony Ross, which was filmed at Disney's studios in Burbank, California.

Sinden's distinctive voice was heard frequently on radio, including as Sir Charles Baskerville in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes story The Hound of the Baskervilles. He starred in multiple adaptations of John Dickson Carr's Dr. Gideon Fell mysteries, including The House on Gallows Lane, The Hollow Man and Black Spectacles, To Wake the Dead, The Blind Barber and The Mad Hatter Mystery.{{IMDb name|id=0801786|name=Donald Sinden}}

Sinden wrote two autobiographical volumes: A Touch of the Memoirs (1982) and Laughter in the Second Act (1985), edited the Everyman Book of Theatrical Anecdotes (1987), wrote a book to coincide with his BBC TV series The English Country Church (1988) and a collection of "epitaphs and final utterances" titled The Last Word (1994).{{cite web |last1=Quinn |first1=Michael |title=Obituary: Donald Sinden |url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/people/obituaries/2014/09/obituary-donald-sinden/ |website=The Stage |access-date=10 December 2014 |date=16 September 2014}}

Sinden was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1979 and knighted in 1997.Who's Who (2007) He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in 1966 and received the Freedom of the City of London in 1997.

On 12 July 2005, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Leicester[https://archive.today/20121223023617/http://www2.le.ac.uk/ebulletin/publications/2000-2009/2005/08/orations/sinden Sir Donald Sinden CBE awarded DLitt from University of Leicester], 2.le.ac.uk, accessed 15 December 2013. and, on 20 July 2011, an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Kent.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-14217313 Sir Donald Sinden awarded Honorary Doctor of Arts from University of Kent], BBC News; accessed 15 December 2013.

In reply to a question from an audience member during a performance at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre of An Evening with... Sir Donald Sinden, he said he had worked out that, apart from "gaps before the next job started", he had only had a total of five weeks' unemployment between 1942 and 2008.

In 2004, the purpose-built theatre located in the grounds of Homewood School at Tenterden in Kent was named the Sinden Theatre.{{cite web |url=http://www.tenterdentown.co.uk/locate/service/Theatre.html |title=Tenterden website |website=Tenterdentown.co.uk |access-date=1 March 2017 |archive-date=7 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307123907/http://www.tenterdentown.co.uk/locate/service/Theatre.html |url-status=dead }}

Sinden was honorary president of the Garden Suburb Theatre, an amateur theatre group based in Hampstead Garden Suburb where he was resident from 1954 until 1997.Hampstead Garden Suburb Notable Residents and where they lived, compiled by Eva Jacobs and published by Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust; {{ISBN|978-0-9516742-9-1}}

On 9 October 2012, he celebrated his 89th birthday and his retirement after 30 years as the longest-standing president of the Royal Theatrical Fund (founded by Charles Dickens in 1839) with a celebratory lunch for 350 guests at the Park Lane Hotel, London; this was compered by Russ Abbot, and the subsequent charity auction was conducted by Lord Archer. Leading the tributes was Jean Kent, who had co-starred with Sinden in Bernard Delfont's 1951 stage production of Froufrou; letters from Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Albert of Monaco were read out, and speeches made by Gyles Brandreth, Ray Cooney, and Julian Fellowes.

Sinden received, posthumously, the Gielgud Award for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts at the Guildhall, London, during the 2014 Theatre Awards UK ceremony, held on 19 October. The award was collected on his behalf by his son, Marc Sinden.{{Cite web|url=https://www.shakesguild.org/award.html|title=The Shakespeare Guild - Gielgud Award Festivities|website=Shakesguild.org|access-date=22 December 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/leicester-theatre/news/paul-kerryson-uk-theatre-awards_36132.html|title=Leicester Curve's Paul Kerryson to be honoured at UK Theatre Awards |website=Whatsonstage.com|date=16 October 2014 |access-date=22 December 2021}}

Sinden was married to the actress Diana Mahony from 3 May 1948 until her death from stomach cancer aged 77 on 22 October 2004.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/diana-sinden-18737.html|title=Diana Sinden|website=Independent.co.uk|access-date=16 January 2025}}[http://www.thestage.co.uk/features/obituaries/feature.php/5022/lady-sinden Lady Sinden obituary], The Stage.{{cite news |url= https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/funeral-of-actress-with-great-g-a15596/|title=Funeral of actress with 'great gift for friendship' |work=Kent Online|date=4 November 2004 |access-date=21 February 2012}} The couple had two sons: actor Jeremy Sinden (1950-1996) who died of lung cancer, and actor and filmmaker Marc Sinden (born 1954). Sinden had four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/10074218/Prince-Harrys-Chelsea-Flower-Show-garden-is-brave-says-Prince-Michael-of-Kent.html "Profile of Donald Sinden"], The Daily Telegraph; accessed 15 December 2013.

Sinden was colour blind and suffered from asthma, which prevented him from joining the armed forces during the Second World WarA Touch of the Memoirs by Donald Sinden. Hodder & Stoughton Publ. (1982), pp. 27, 164, 165 and suffered from negative buoyancy, meaning that he was unable to float or swim in water, which was discovered while filming The Cruel Sea when the ship was sinking. Co-star Jack Hawkins saved him from drowning in the open-air water tank at Denham Studios.

According to his second autobiography, while investigating his family genealogy he discovered that the only previous relatives who were also members of the theatrical profession were the Victorian brother and sister act of Bert and Topsy Sinden, who were distant cousins. Topsy achieved "some fame as a 'skirt dancer' and première danseuse at the Empire Theatre of Varieties in Leicester Square."Laughter in the Second Act, by Donald Sinden. Hodder & Stoughton Publ. (1985), pp 9–12

Sinden died at his home in Wittersham on the Isle of Oxney, Kent, on 12 September 2014, less than a month shy of his 91st birthday, from prostate cancer diagnosed several years earlier.{{ODNB|title=Sinden, Sir Donald Alfred}}[https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/donald-sinden-multifaceted-british-actor-of-movies-tv-and-stage-dies-at-90/2014/09/18/b7db9e9e-3e92-11e4-b0ea-8141703bbf6f_story.html Notice of death of Sir Donald Sinden], The Washington Post, 12 September 2014; accessed 21 September 2014. Speaking at his funeral, held on 19 September at St John the Baptist Church, Wittersham, were his grandson Hal Sinden, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Patrick Stewart. The eulogy was read by Lord Archer. An honorary life member and trustee of the Garrick Club in London, which he joined in 1960,{{Cite web |url=http://www.str.org.uk/news/latest/?p=422 |title=Scenes of Beauty and Glory at the Garrick Club | STR News |access-date=30 September 2014 |archive-date=6 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006081425/http://www.str.org.uk/news/latest/?p=422 |url-status=dead }} Sinden was cremated in a coffin painted in the club's 'salmon and cucumber' colours.{{cite web|url=http://www.kentonline.co.uk/tenterden/news/family-and-friends-mourn-sir-23764/|title=Dame Judi Dench joins mourners at Wittersham church at funeral service for actor Sir Donald Sinden|website=Kentonline.co.uk|date=18 September 2014 |access-date=22 December 2021}}

The lights on the marquees of the West End's theatres were dimmed in his honour, in the traditional mark of respect to theatre's most notable contributors, on 12 September 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/west-end-dims-lights-in-honour-of-sir-donald-sinden?amp|title=West End Dims Lights in Honour of Sir Donald Sinden|website=Londontheatre.co.uk|date=8 June 2016 |access-date=22 December 2021}}

It was announced that his estate on his death was valued at £2.3 million.{{Cite web|url=https://www.contactmusic.com/sir-donald-sinden/news/donald-sinden-leaves-3-7-million-in-his-will_4708528|title=Donald Sinden Leaves $3.7 Million In His Will|date=4 May 2015|website=Contactmusic.com|access-date=22 December 2021}}

A blue plaque in his memory was attached to his former family home in Hampstead Garden Suburb in 2015{{Cite web|url=https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/sir-donald-sinden/|title=Sir Donald Sinden|website=Londonremembers.com|access-date=22 December 2021}} and another to his country home in Wittersham, Isle of Oxney, Kent, in 2021.

• A Touch of the Memoirs (1982) {{ISBN|0340262354}}
• Laughter in the Second Act (1985) {{ISBN|0340285400}}
• Everyman Book of Theatrical Anecdotes (1987) {{ISBN|0460046926}}
• The English Country Church (1988) {{ISBN|0283995041}}
• The Last Word (1994) {{ISBN|0860518922}}

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|id=0801786}}
• {{tcmdb name|id=178341|name=Donald Sinden}}
• {{IBDB name}}
• {{Screenonline name|id=540500}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080324235759/http://www.sindentheatre.biz/index.php?act=about Sinden Theatre, Tenterden]
• [http://www.britishpathe.com/video/donald-sinden-at-home "Donald Sinden at Home, 1959 – British Pathe"]
• {{British Comedy Guide|people|donald_sinden}}

{{Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinden, Donald}}

Category:1923 births

Category:2014 deaths

Category:20th-century English male actors

Category:20th-century English male writers

Category:20th-century English non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century English male actors

Category:21st-century English male writers

Category:21st-century English non-fiction writers

Category:Actors awarded knighthoods

Category:Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art

Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire

Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in England

Category:English autobiographers

Category:English male film actors

Category:English male radio actors

Category:English male stage actors

Category:English male television actors

Category:Knights Bachelor

Category:People from Ditchling

Category:Male actors from Plymouth, Devon

Category:People from Wittersham

Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members

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