Terry-thomas

Actor

About

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Also Known As

Terry Thomas, Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens, Thomas Terry

Birth Place

Finchley, England, GB

Born

July 14, 1911

Died

January 08, 1990

Cause of Death

Parkinson's Disease

Biography

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Gap-toothed comic player who used his expressive eyes, mobile eyebrows and Royal Guards' mustache to create a variety of asinine British characters, usually in supporting roles, occasionally in leads. His antic personae ranged from the comically malevolent to the naive in "I'm All Right, Jack" (1959), "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963) and, perhaps his signature role, Sir Percival ...

Filmography

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The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978)

The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977)

The Bawdy Adventures Of Tom Jones (1976)

Spanish Fly (1976)

Sir Percy Decourcy

The Mysterious House of Dr. "C" (1976)

Voice Of The Bull

Side By Side (1975)

Photos & Videos

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Wild Affair, The (1963) -- (Movie Clip) I Had My Eye On Frankenstein

Wild Affair, The (1963) -- (Movie Clip) First Class Sex Maniac

Family & Companions

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Ida Patlanskey

Wife

Dancer. Married 1938; divorced 1962.

Belinda Cunningham

Wife

Married August 20, 1963; mother of Terry-Thomas's two children, Tiger and Cushan.

Bibliography

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"Filling the Gap"

Terry-Thomas, Max Parrish & Co (1959)

Notes

He claimed he delayed working until the age of 27 "because my father bought my clothes and women and things."

His answer to a reporter's query why he sometimes accepted small roles: "I'm too busy to do big ones."

Biography

Gap-toothed comic player who used his expressive eyes, mobile eyebrows and Royal Guards' mustache to create a variety of asinine British characters, usually in supporting roles, occasionally in leads. His antic personae ranged from the comically malevolent to the naive in "I'm All Right, Jack" (1959), "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963) and, perhaps his signature role, Sir Percival War-Armitage in "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" (1965).

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978)

The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977)

The Bawdy Adventures Of Tom Jones (1976)

Spanish Fly (1976)

Sir Percy Decourcy

The Mysterious House of Dr. "C" (1976)

Voice Of The Bull

Side By Side (1975)

Who Stole the Shah's Jewels? (1974)

Robin Hood (1973)

The Vault of Horror (1973)

I Love a Mystery (1973)

Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

Arabella (1970)

Hotel manager/general/duke/insurance manager

2000 Years Later (1969)

Charles Goodwyn

Don't Look Now (1969)

Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (1969)

Sir Cuthbert Ware-Armitage

Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968)

H. William Homer

Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968)

Ladislau Walichek

How Sweet It Is! (1968)

Danger: Diabolik (1968)

Minister of Finance

A Guide for the Married Man (1967)

Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)

Capt. Sir Harry Washington-Smythe

The Perils of Pauline (1967)

Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die (1967)

Lord Aldric/James

The Karate Killers (1967)

The Daydreamer (1966)

Munster, Go Home! (1966)

The Wild Affair (1966)

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines; or How I Flew From London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes (1965)

Sir Percival Ware-Armitage

You Must Be Joking! (1965)

Strange Bedfellows (1965)

Assistant mortician

How To Murder Your Wife (1965)

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

J. Algernon Hawthorne

The Mouse on the Moon (1963)

A Matter of WHO (1962)

Archibald Bannister

Operation Snatch (1962)

Lieut. "Piggy" Wigg

Kill or Cure (1962)

J. Barker-Rynde

Bachelor Flat (1962)

Professor Bruce Patterson

The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)

I'm All Right Jack (1960)

Major Hitchcock

School For Scoundrels (1960)

Man in a Cocked Hat (1959)

Cadogen De Vere Carlton-Browne

Too Many Crooks (1959)

tom thumb (1958)

Your Past Is Showing (1958)

Happy Is the Bride (1958)

Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957)

Romney Carlton-Ricketts

Lucky Jim (1957)

Private's Progress (1956)

Major Hitchcock

The Green Man (1956)

The Brass Monkey (1948)

Cast (Special)

Life Events

1946

London stage debut in revue, "Piccadilly Hayride"

1949

Film debut, "Helter Skelter"

1956

First film success, "Private's Progress"

Photo Collections

Make Mine Mink - Movie Poster

Make Mine Mink - Movie Poster

Videos

Wild Affair, The (1963) -- (Movie Clip) I Had My Eye On Frankenstein From producer Ray Stark, working in the U-K with his own Seven Arts firm, clever end of the credits introduces his discovery Nancy Kwan as Marjorie, Bessie Love her mom and Donald Churchill as her hung-over fiancè, in the unsuccessful but edgy comedy The Wild Affair, 1963, from writer-director John Krish.

Wild Affair, The (1963) -- (Movie Clip) First Class Sex Maniac At her London cosmetics firm, conflicted Margie (Nancy Kwan), on the eve of her wedding and the office Christmas party, greets friend Mavis (Betty Marsden), boss Terry-Thomas (in maybe his only picture with no mustache!), nasty under-boss Tiny (Paul Whitsun-Jones) and gofer Bone (Bernard Adams), in The Wild Affair, 1963.

Wild Affair, The (1963) -- (Movie Clip) The Vampire Look Lecher-ey cosmetics firm boss Deane (Terry-Thomas with NO mustache!), fussy stylist Quentin (Victor Spinetti) and visiting sales ace Craig (Jimmy Logan) all show sudden interest in staffer Marjorie (Nancy Kwan), her wedding and the Christmas party imminent, and whose mirror-based alter-ego happens to match the hot new look, in The Wild Affair, 1963.

School For Scoundrels (1960) -- (Movie Clip) They Have A Tendency To Sulk Joining the scene in which downtrodden Palfrey (Ian Carmichael), looking to impress April (Janette Scott) finds his staff didn’t make a reservation, working on the headwaiter (John Le Mesurier) when the villain (Terry-Thomas as Delauney) makes his first appearance, in the British-made School For Scoundrels, 1960.

tom thumb (1958) -- (Movie Clip) He Can Wiggle Through The Keyhole! The tiny title character (Russ Tamblyn) joins his new adoptive woodcutter dad (Bernard Miles) for a first day at work when two new characters appear in the forest, Terry-Thomas and Peter Sellers as Ivan and Antony, with a plot in mind, in producer-director George Pal’s tom thumb, 1958.

It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) -- (Movie Clip) Natural Born Flyer Desperate to find the dead gangster’s loot, Ding and Benjy (Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett) have enlisted boozy pilot Fitzgerald (Jim Backus), and would-be seaweed tycoon Finch (Milton Berle) loses it with Hawthorne (Terry-Thomas), whom he’s promised a share, in It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, 1963.

How To Murder Your Wife (1965) -- (Movie Clip) Splunk! Writer-producer George Axelrod and director Richard Quine have made no effort to explain why affluent Manhattan bachelor Stanley Ford (Jack Lemmon) and his man Charles (Terry-Thomas) appear to be staging a major jewel caper on the waterfront, early in How To Murder Your Wife, 1965.

How To Murder Your Wife (1965) -- (Movie Clip) Sober As A Judge At the derailed bachelor party for jilted Tobey (Max Showalter), marriage-averse Stanley (Jack Lemmon) encounters Judge Blackstone (Sidney Blackmer) then a girl in a cake (Virna Lisi), his manservant (Terry-Thomas) telepathically connected, in How To Murder Your Wife, 1965.

Man In A Cocked Hat -- (Movie Clip) No Lavatories The newly arrived young king (Ian Bannen) baffles the Brits (Terry-Thomas, Thorley Walters) then his own Prime Minister Amphibulos (Peter Sellers) in the Boulting brothers' Man In A Cocked Hat (a.k.a. Carlton-Browne Of The F.O.), 1959.

Man In A Cocked Hat -- (Movie Clip) Aeroporta Gaillardia Carlton-Browne (Terry-Thomas, in outrageous hat) and Bellingham (Thorley Walters) arrive in Gaillardia and meet Prime Minister Amphibulos (Peter Sellers) in Man In A Cocked Hat (a.k.a. Carlton-Browne Of The F.O.), 1959..

Man In A Cocked Hat -- (Movie Clip) Miscellaneous Territories Jaunty opening introducing the British territory of Gaillardia, and Carlton-Browne (Terry Thomas) and parents (Kynaston Reeves, Marie Lohr), in the Boulting brothers' Man In A Cocked Hat (a.k.a. Carlton-Browne Of The F.O.), 1959.

I'm All Right Jack -- (Movie Clip) Fred Kite Stanley (Ian Carmichael) has his first encounter with the efficient shop steward Fred Kite (Peter Sellers) in the Boulting brothers' I'm All Right Jack, 1960.

tom thumb - (Re-Issue Trailer) A six-inch-tall boy takes on a pair of comical crooks in the fantasy film, tom thumb (1958), directed by George Pal and starring Russ Tamblyn.

Karate Killers, The - (Original Trailer) The men from U.N.C.L.E. fight off The Karate Killers (1967) to track down a secret formula that can turn sea water into gold.

Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, The - (Teaser Trailer) Laurence Harvey stars in The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962), a film biography of the German storytellers.

Don't Raise The Bridge, Lower The River - (Original Trailer) Jerry Lewis' get-rich-quick schemes nearly drive his British wife to divorce in Don't Raise The Bridge, Lower The River (1968).

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - (Original Trailer) A group of greedy clowns tear up the countryside in search of buried treasure in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) featuring an all-star cast including Spencer Tracy, Sid Caesar, Milton Berle & Jonathan Winters.

Family

Tiger Stevens

Child

Cushan Stevens

Child

Companions

Ida Patlanskey

Wife

Dancer. Married 1938; divorced 1962.

Belinda Cunningham

Wife

Married August 20, 1963; mother of Terry-Thomas's two children, Tiger and Cushan.

Bibliography

"Filling the Gap"

Terry-Thomas, Max Parrish & Co (1959)

Notes

He claimed he delayed working until the age of 27 "because my father bought my clothes and women and things."

His answer to a reporter's query why he sometimes accepted small roles: "I'm too busy to do big ones."

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