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Geoffrey Toone

{{Short description|British actor (1910–2005)}}

{{EngvarB|date=April 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Geoffrey Toone

| image = Geoffrey Toone in One Step Beyond (The Villa).jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Toone in the TV series One Step Beyond, episode The Villa, 1961

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1910|11|15|df=y}}

| birth_place = Dublin, Ireland

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|06|01|1910|11|15|df=y}}

| death_place = Northwood, London, England

| othername =

| occupation = Actor

| yearsactive = 1933–2002

| spouse =

}}

Geoffrey Toone (15 November 1910 – 1 June 2005){{cite web|author=Eric Shorter |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/jun/03/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries |title=Obituary: Geoffrey Toone | Film |work=The Guardian |date= 3 June 2005|accessdate=2018-06-16}} was an English actor and former matinee idol.{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f4f0426 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225055954/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f4f0426 |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 February 2018 |title=Geoffrey Toone |publisher=BFI |date= |accessdate=2018-06-16}} He was born in Ireland to English parents. Most of his film roles after the 1930s were in supporting parts, usually as authority figures, though he did play the lead character in the Hammer Films production The Terror of the Tongs in 1961.{{cite web|author=Synopsis by Hal Erickson |url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-terror-of-the-tongs-v112977 |title=The Terror of the Tongs (1961) - Anthony Bushell | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related |publisher=AllMovie |date=1961-03-15 |accessdate=2018-06-16}}

Early life

Born in Dublin, Ireland to English parents, he was educated at Charterhouse School and Christ's College, Cambridge. He served in the Royal Artillery during World War II, but was invalided out in 1942.{{cite web|author=12:01AM BST 07 Jun 2005 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1491504/Geoffrey-Toone.html |title=Geoffrey Toone |publisher=Telegraph |date=2005-06-07 |accessdate=2018-06-16}}

Career

Toone's notable appearances include:

  • As Sir Edward Ramsay in the musical film The King and I (he dances with Deborah Kerr in the banquet sequence, much to the annoyance of the King).{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-king-and-i-v27374/cast-crew |title=The King and I (1956) - Walter Lang | Cast and Crew |publisher=AllMovie |date=1956-06-28 |accessdate=2018-06-16}}
  • As retired boxer and pimp Denny Lipp in "Jeff", a noteworthy 1960 episode of the TV series The Westerner, produced, directed and co-written by Sam Peckinpah. The episode also featured in a small role Warren Oates, who became a Peckinpah stalwart.
  • The BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who:
  • As Temmosus in the film of Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965){{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a9079a7 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222045757/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a9079a7 |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 February 2018 |title=Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) |publisher=BFI |date= |accessdate=2018-06-16}}
  • As Hepesh in the television story The Curse of Peladon in 1972.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/doctor-who-the-curse-of-peladon-episode-1-v243112/cast-crew |title=Doctor Who: The Curse of Peladon, Episode 1 (1972) - Lennie Mayne | Cast and Crew |publisher=AllMovie |date= |accessdate=2018-06-16}}
  • In Freewheelers as the Nazi officer Karl von Gelb who continually tries to avenge Germany's World War II defeat.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/freewheelers-v268839/cast-crew |title=Freewheelers (1968) - | Cast and Crew |publisher=AllMovie |date= |accessdate=2018-06-16}}
  • As R. A. Crichton in "The Greasy Pole", a 1981 episode of Yes Minister.{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7cf913c4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222051313/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7cf913c4 |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 February 2018 |title=The Greasy Pole (1981) |publisher=BFI |date= |accessdate=2018-06-16}}
  • As Lord Ridgemere, owner of the stately home where Delboy and Rodney dropped a chandelier in the Only Fools and Horses episode, "A Touch of Glass".{{cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/mndw/only-fools-and-horses--s2-e7-a-touch-of-glass/ |title=Only Fools and Horses - what time is it on TV? Episode 7 Series 2 cast list and preview |publisher=Radiotimes.com |date= |accessdate=2018-06-16}}
  • As Lord Bittlesham, a recurring character in the TV adaptation of P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster.{{cite web|author=|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/geoffrey-toone-1-717000 |title=Geoffrey Toone |publisher=The Scotsman |date=2005-06-15 |accessdate=2018-06-16}}

Personal life

For many years Toone shared a house with his close friend, the actor Frank Middlemass.{{cite web|author=Alan Stachan|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/geoffrey-toone-224208.html |title=Geoffrey Toone |work=The Independent |date=2005-06-03 |accessdate=2018-06-16}} "To their general amusement", they were often mistaken to be lovers, but in fact were not.{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/sep/11/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries|title=Obituary: Frank Middlemass|date=11 September 2006|website=the Guardian}}

Death

Toone died from natural causes, aged 94, at Denville Hall in Northwood, London.{{cite web|last=Newley |first=Patrick |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/obituaries/2005/geoffrey-toone/ |title=Geoffrey Toone | Obituaries |publisher=The Stage |date= |accessdate=2018-06-16}} At the time of his death, Toone was one of the last survivors of the Old Vic theatre company of the 1930s, having appeared alongside the likes of John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier in productions of Shakespeare.{{cite web|url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw45720/John-Gielgud-as-Romeo-Laurence-Olivier-as-Mercutio-Geoffrey-Toone-as-Tybalt-in-Romeo-and-Juliet?LinkID=mp52160&role=sit&rNo=0 |title=NPG x14523; John Gielgud as Romeo; Laurence Olivier as Mercutio; Geoffrey Toone as Tybalt in 'Romeo and Juliet' - Portrait - National Portrait Gallery |publisher=Npg.org.uk |date= |accessdate=2018-06-16}} At the time, he was also the longest-lived actor to have appeared in Doctor Who.{{cite web|url=http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=17222 |title=Geoffrey Toone |publisher=Aveleyman.com |date= |accessdate=2018-06-16}}

Selected filmography

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References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

  • {{IMDb name|0867555|Geoffrey Toone}}
  • {{IBDB name|97254}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toone, Geoffrey}}

Category:1910 births

Category:2005 deaths

Category:20th-century English male actors

Category:Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge

Category:British Army personnel of World War II

Category:English male film actors

Category:English male stage actors

Category:English male television actors

Category:Male actors from Dublin (city)

Category:Military personnel from Dublin (city)

Category:People educated at Charterhouse School

Category:Royal Artillery personnel