Sybil Thorndike

Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike ( born October 24, 1882 in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, † June 9, 1976 in London) was a British actress.

Life

She was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the daughter of the canon of Rochester Church Arthur Thorndike and his wife Agnes Macdonald. In Rochester, she attended primary school for girls. At the same time, she received classical piano lessons with weekly visits to London and lessons at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

At 11 she had her first public appearances as a pianist, but stopped in 1899 with the classic piano on. On the advice of her brother, she decided now for acting.

At age 21, she received her first contract and undertook in 1904 a tour in the U.S. in the first lines of Shakespeare plays. In 1908 she was discovered by George Bernard Shaw, who took them under contract for a theater tour. Here she played the role of Candida. However, they also met her future husband, the actor and theater director Lewis Casson, whom she married in December 1908 and with whom she had four children. When asked why she had never left her husband and how the relationship with him was, she should have said: Divorce never kill more often.

Later followed by appearances on Broadway (1910 ) and at the Old Vic Theatre. Large notoriety they reached in March 1924 by London in the title role in Shaw's drama " Saint Joan " played.

She played many large theater appearances, including Medea, Macbeth, Othello and A Family Reunion.

In 1931 she was appointed lady, after her death, her urn in Westminster Abbey was buried.

Thorndike was not only the theaters at home. In 1921 she appeared in the first silent films, and later she was seen in some sound films such as " The Fright " and "The Prince and the Showgirl ".

Filmography (selection)

Publications

• Sybil Thorndike: Religion and the stage. . E. Benn Ltd., London, 1928 ( 29 pages, part of the series " Affirmations: God in the modern world ").
• Sybil and Russell Thorndike: Lilian Baylis. Chapman & Hall, London 1938 ( biography).
• Sybil Thorndike: Favourites. A personal selection. Hodder & Stoughton, London 1973, ISBN 0-340-17825-6 ( collection of poems ).