Not all actors are a waste of time........

[David Morton]

Occasionally the stage and screen has a real hero and this man was one of them:

Dam Busters Actor Richard Todd Dies Aged 90

• December 4, 2009
• |
• By: Pete Stanton
• Comments (0)

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The actor Richard Todd, best known for his role in the classic war film The Dam Busters, has died at the age of 90. His spokeswoman said Todd, who had been suffering from cancer, died peacefully in his sleep last night.

Best known for his role as Wing Commander Guy Gibson in the classic 1954 film about the daring British raids on the Ruhr dams, Todd was also a war hero in his own right and was one of the first British soldiers parachuted into France on D-Day.

He was an officer in the Parachute Regiment and made contact with Major Howard at the Orne Bridge now called Pegasus Bridge but, in a bizarre movie twist, later relived his past when he played the role of Major Howard in the 1962 war film, The Longest Day, with, ironically, another actor playing himself.

Todd appeared in scores of other films including Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright, as Sir Walter Raleigh in The Virgin Queen, opposite Bette Davis, as Robin Hood in Robin Hood and his Merrie Men, and in Breakout/Danger Within, a tale of the escape of British POWs from an Italian prison camp near the end of the second world war.

Todd was also the first choice of author Ian Fleming to play James Bond, but because of other commitments he had to turn it down. The role eventually went to Sean Connery.

Watch a scene from The Dam Busters which apparently influenced the attack on the Death Star scene in Star Wars IV: A New Hope...

[Eric Johnson]

Very interesting. I had not heard of him .I'll have to get that movie.

RIP

[JimmyMac]

The memory of the man and his films take me back to those Saturday matinees at the old Olympia Cinema in Bridgeton, Glasgow in the fifties and sixties.

I saw his interview with the BBC on the D-Day 60th Anniversary and the paras were very brave men.
He appeared to be of a humble character despite his war record and his later fame as an actor.

Requiescat in pace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Longest_Day_(film)

[Jack]

Great actor, real hero! I have seen these movies. Dam Busters was spectacular. I was unaware that he was asked to be James Bond.

RIP Richard Todd.

[David Morton]

To bring a bit of mirth to a sombre event, I'm sure Richard Todd would have been smiling every time this beer advert was screened. He briefly appeared and would have got royalties from it after all.
For those of you who have never seen the film, it depicts 617 Squadron R.A.F. (history here : RAF - 617 Squadron ) and Todd played the part of the leader, Wing Commander Guy Gibson. Their task was to
fly low enough (60 feet) to launch a revolutionary new bomb/mine designed by Barnes Wallis which would inflict serious damage on the dams on the River Ruhr in Germany. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCRIs...eature=related is an extract from the real film and below the advert.

Maybe this advert is peculiar to the British sense of humour and the possibly you might not get the funny side of it.
Here is the Advert :

YouTube - Dambusters

[Ron Earp]

Originally Posted by David Morton

Occasionally the stage and screen has a real hero and this man was one of them:.

RIP

Thanks for sharing the info. I remember this movie from seeing it as a kid and just saw the tail end of it sometime this past summer.

[David Morton]

A bit more to wet your appetite - if you are an aeroplane person.
This is the R.A.F. Memorial Flight Lancaster and is being beautifully flown
and turned well within the valley walls with no apparent signs of being
flown hard or ruddered around the turns.
One brief glimpse of Richard Todd.


YouTube - Dambusters Anniversary Flypast

[Pete McCluskey.]

I remember the movie very well, watched it at least six or seven times.
Thanks for posting.
R.I.P.

[Mike]

Great clip of the anniversary Lanc raid. What an awesome feat, movie and book. Richard Todd ranks right up there with Kenneth More (who did that wonderful portrayal of D. Bader in 'Reach For the Sky"...my uncle met DB in later years when he flew for Shell), a much 'cooler' actor if not quite as 'amiable'. He will be missed.

As an aside, the intro to the anniversary film clip mentioned Johnnie Johnson. I didn't realize he was still alive...or is he? When was the clip made? Another great book, "Wing Leader", if I recall.

[Gill]

Johnnie Johnson died in 2001 and the film was from the 2008 memorial fly past (I assume), so I dont really understand the comment. There is a video clip on the BBC coverage of the event

BBC NEWS | UK | Dambusters remembered 65 years on (hope that works)

I'd thought for years that Richard Todd was "just" an actor. He must have had an amazingly varied life. R.I.P.

[David Morton]

Johny Johnson died in 2001.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnnie...n_(RAF_officer)
Interestingly I interviewed for a secretary for the Marconi Elliot Avionics Systems trials team in 1977 during the Nimrod AEW phase at BAe Woodford and the finalist was Johny Johnsons secretary at the time, in his company selling anything that could be considered ordnance to anybody who would buy it - no questions asked and no end user certificates required. She took the new job with us. She was quite a dish as well as being a great secretary. Johnson kept calling her to go back but she never did.
I'm unsure why he was mentioned in the context of this 65th anniversary as he was a fighter jockey and I did not see him in this video footage.


Gill,
Thanks for that clip from the BBC. The sounds of the 4 Merlins are just beautiful.

[Dalton Veitch]

I remember enjoying the movie greatly, and had previously read "The Dam Busters" by Paul Brickhill if my memory is correct. But I was unaware of the real life experiences of Richard Todd. Thanks for sharing this.