Jeremy Sinden
Encyclopedia
Jeremy Sinden was an English
actor
who specialised in playing eccentric military men and overgrown schoolboys.
and Lancing College
.
Festival Theatre to train as an assistant stage manager and then spent two seasons in Stratford-upon-Avon
with the Royal Shakespeare Company
in 1970-71 also as an assistant stage manager and understudied 45 parts. He appeared in pantomime
and rep
in Bournemouth
, Farnham
, Leatherhead
and Windsor
and he spent one season at the Chichester Festival Theatre
. He then decided to enrol at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
(LAMDA)
where he spent three years and won the Forsyth Award. Whilst still at drama school he made his West End
stage acting début in 1972 at the Cambridge Theatre
as Private Broughton in R. C. Sherriff
's Journey's End
and then returned to the Chichester Festival Theatre
and appeared in four plays there. Jeremy played 'Baloo' the bear in a 1984 West End production of Rudyard Kipling
's The Jungle Book
, at the Adelphi Theatre
, a production that also featured Fenella Fielding
as Kaa the Python. In 1994 he appeared at the Royal National Theatre
as Major Swindon in Shaws'
The Devils Disciple and his last performance was also for the National the following year at the Old Vic
playing Toad
in Alan Bennett
's adaptation of The Wind in the Willows
. The Times reviewer described his performance as "a nice smug Toad, who wears everything down to his convict's arrows like a model on a Paris catwalk."
(1977) and appeared in such films as Chariots of Fire
(1981), playing the president of the Gilbert and Sullivan
society; Madame Sousatzka
(1988); The Object of Beauty
(1991) and The Innocent
(1993).
; Henry Weldon in Have His Carcase
; "Boy" Mulcaster in Brideshead Revisited
; The Far Pavilions
; Never the Twain
; Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy; Middlemarch
; The House of Windsor and As Time Goes By
. His last role was as Mr Barling in The Famous Five
series episode Five Go To Smugglers Top, which was dedicated to him following its broadcast in 1996.
in 1996, at the age of 45. They had two daughters, Kezia (born 18 December 1979) and Harriet (born 1 July 1984).
He was the brother of the West End theatre producer
Marc Sinden
.
Jeremy Sinden and his brother Marc were part of the 'Na-Na' chorus on Hey Jude
, recording and filming the song with The Beatles
at Twickenham Film Studios
on 4 September 1968.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who specialised in playing eccentric military men and overgrown schoolboys.
Early life
He was born into a theatrical family, both his parents were actors. His father is Sir Donald Sinden and his mother was Diana Mahony. He was educated at EdgeboroughEdgeborough School
Edgeborough School is a prep school located in Farnham, Surrey in England. It is situated at Frensham Place and provides education for 350 boys and girls aged between 3 and 13. It became co-ed in 1992 and since this time, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of girls attending the...
and Lancing College
Lancing College
Lancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...
.
Theatre
He went to the PitlochryPitlochry
Pitlochry , is a burgh in the council area of Perth and Kinross, Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. Its population according to the 2001 census was 2,564....
Festival Theatre to train as an assistant stage manager and then spent two seasons in Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
with the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
in 1970-71 also as an assistant stage manager and understudied 45 parts. He appeared in pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
and rep
Repertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
in Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
, Farnham
Farnham
Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...
, Leatherhead
Leatherhead
Leatherhead is a town in the County of Surrey, England, on the River Mole, part of Mole Valley district. It is thought to be of Saxon origin...
and Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
and he spent one season at the Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
. He then decided to enrol at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art is a leading British drama school in west London. LAMDA's president is Timothy West and its new principal is Joanna Read, who recently succeeded Peter James...
(LAMDA)
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art is a leading British drama school in west London. LAMDA's president is Timothy West and its new principal is Joanna Read, who recently succeeded Peter James...
where he spent three years and won the Forsyth Award. Whilst still at drama school he made his West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
stage acting début in 1972 at the Cambridge Theatre
Cambridge Theatre
The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929-30. It was designed by Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie; interior partly by Serge Chermayeff, with interior bronze friezes by sculptor Anthony Gibbons...
as Private Broughton in R. C. Sherriff
R. C. Sherriff
-External links:**...
's Journey's End
Journey's End
Journey's End is a 1928 drama, the seventh of English playwright R. C. Sherriff. It was first performed at the Apollo Theatre in London by the Incorporated Stage Society on 9 December 1928, starring a young Laurence Olivier, and soon moved to other West End theatres for a two-year run...
and then returned to the Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
and appeared in four plays there. Jeremy played 'Baloo' the bear in a 1984 West End production of Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
's The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book is a collection of stories by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling. Kipling was born in India and spent the first six...
, at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
, a production that also featured Fenella Fielding
Fenella Fielding
Fenella Fielding — "England's first lady of the double entendre" — is an English actress, popular in the 1950s and 1960s. She is known for her seductive image and distinctively husky voice.-Family:...
as Kaa the Python. In 1994 he appeared at the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
as Major Swindon in Shaws'
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
The Devils Disciple and his last performance was also for the National the following year at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
playing Toad
Toad of Toad Hall
Toad of Toad Hall is the first of several dramatisations of Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows. It was written by A. A. Milne, with incidental music by Harold Fraser-Simson....
in Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett is a British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research mediaeval history at the university for several years...
's adaptation of The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows is a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters in a pastoral version of England...
. The Times reviewer described his performance as "a nice smug Toad, who wears everything down to his convict's arrows like a model on a Paris catwalk."
Film
He made his film debut as a rebel fighter pilot in Star WarsStar Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
(1977) and appeared in such films as Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
(1981), playing the president of the Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
society; Madame Sousatzka
Madame Sousatzka
Madame Sousatzka is a 1988 British drama film directed by John Schlesinger, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. It is based upon the novel of the same name by Bernice Rubens.-Plot synopsis:...
(1988); The Object of Beauty
The Object of Beauty
The Object of Beauty is a 1991 film directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg.-Cast:* John Malkovich - Jake* Andie MacDowell - Tina* Lolita Davidovich - Joan* Rudi Davies - Jenny* Joss Ackland - Mr. Mercer* Bill Paterson - Victor Swayle...
(1991) and The Innocent
The Innocent (1993 film)
-Cast:*Anthony Hopkins... Glass*Isabella Rossellini... Maria*Campbell Scott... Leonard*Hart Bochner... Russell*Jeremy Sinden... Captain Lofting*Corey Johnson.....
(1993).
TV
His work on television included playing Anthony Mortimer in Crossroads for two years; The Expert; Danger UXBDanger UXB
Danger UXB is a 1979 British ITV television series developed by John Hawkesworth and starring Anthony Andrews as Lieutenant Brian Ash, a new direct commission officer in World War II....
; Henry Weldon in Have His Carcase
Have His Carcase
Have His Carcase is a 1932 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her seventh featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and her second novel in which Harriet Vane appears...
; "Boy" Mulcaster in Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited (TV serial)
Brideshead Revisited is a 1981 British television serial produced by Granada Television for broadcast by the ITV network. The teleplay is based on Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited...
; The Far Pavilions
The Far Pavilions
The Far Pavilions is an epic novel of British-Indian history by M. M. Kaye, first published in 1978, which tells the story of an English officer during the Great Game. The novel, rooted deeply in the romantic epics of the 19th century, has been hailed as a masterpiece of storytelling...
; Never the Twain
Never the Twain
Never the Twain is a British sitcom that ran for eleven series from 1981 to 1991. It was created by Johnnie Mortimer, and was the only sitcom he ever created without his usual writing partner, Brian Cooke...
; Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy; Middlemarch
Middlemarch (1994 TV serial)
George Eliot's novel Middlemarch has been adapted for television twice. The most recent version in 1994 was directed by Anthony Page from a screenplay by Andrew Davies...
; The House of Windsor and As Time Goes By
As Time Goes By (TV series)
As Time Goes By is a British sitcom that aired on BBC One from 1992 to 2005. Starring Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer, it follows the relationship between two former lovers who meet unexpectedly after not having been in contact for 38 years....
. His last role was as Mr Barling in The Famous Five
The Famous Five (series)
The Famous Five is the name of a series of children's novels written by British author Enid Blyton. The first book, Five on a Treasure Island, was published in 1942....
series episode Five Go To Smugglers Top, which was dedicated to him following its broadcast in 1996.
Personal life
Jeremy Sinden was the husband of the actress Delia Lindsay from 1978 until his death from lung cancerLung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
in 1996, at the age of 45. They had two daughters, Kezia (born 18 December 1979) and Harriet (born 1 July 1984).
He was the brother of the West End theatre producer
West End theatre producer
A West End theatre producer is a theatre producer who causes theatrical productions to be presented in one or more of the 41 West End theatres of London, as defined by the governing body of West End producers, The Society of London Theatre.Not to be confused with a Regional theatre producer who...
Marc Sinden
Marc Sinden
Marc Sinden is an English theatre producer, documentary director and actor. His father is the actor Sir Donald Sinden.-Theatre:...
.
Jeremy Sinden and his brother Marc were part of the 'Na-Na' chorus on Hey Jude
Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce—although this explanation is not...
, recording and filming the song with The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
at Twickenham Film Studios
Twickenham Film Studios
Twickenham Film Studios is a film studio located in St Margarets, London, England used by many motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Dr. Ralph Jupp on the site of a former ice-rink. At the time of its original construction, it was the largest film studio in the...
on 4 September 1968.
External links
- Film of Hey Jude recording Jeremy Sinden (wearing white shirt) standing behind Marc Sinden (wearing grey jacket & tie and horn-rim spectacles) identified (starting at 3' 42") as standing behind Ringo StarrRingo StarrRichard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
during recording of Hey JudeHey Jude"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce—although this explanation is not...
by The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
on 4 Sept 1968.