Tod Slaughter
Tod Slaughter | |
---|---|
Born | Norman Carter Slaughter 19 March 1885 Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
Died | 19 February 1956 Derby, England | (aged 70)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1905–1956 |
Spouse | Jenny Lynn |
Norman Carter Slaughter (19 March 1885 – 19 February 1956), also known as Tod Slaughter, was an English actor, best known for playing over-the-top maniacs in macabre film adaptations of Victorian melodramas.
Early life
Slaughter was born on 19 March 1885 in
Career
Early career
During Slaughter's early career, his stage name was "N. Carter Slaughter" and he primarily played the conventional leading man or character roles. After the war, he ran the
It was in 1925 that he adopted the stage name "Tod Slaughter", but his primary roles were still character and heroic leads. He played the young hero in
In 1931 at the
Film career
In 1934, at age 49, Slaughter began in films. Usually cast as a villain, his first film was
Slaughter's next film role was as Sweeney Todd in
There were, however, some non-melodramatic roles in his career. He was a supporting player in The Song of the Road (1937) and Darby and Joan (1937). In Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror (1938), he played the head of an international gang of supervillains.
Slaughter was busy on stage during
After the war Slaughter resumed melodramatic roles on screen and starred in
Later years
During the early 1950s Slaughter appeared as the villain in two crime films King of the Underworld (1952) and Murder at Scotland Yard (1953), which was adapted from the seven-part television series 'Inspector Morley: Late of Scotland Yard', starring Patrick Barr, Dorothy Bramhall, and Tucker McGuire. He also still regularly toured the provinces and London suburbs. However the public's appetite for melodrama seemed to have abated somewhat by this stage and he was declared bankrupt in 1953,[3] owing to a downturn in his touring income. He continued to act in stage productions, such as Molière's The Gay Invalid opposite future horror star Peter Cushing, and acting as the MC at an evening of old-fashioned music hall entertainment.
His last two films were each three episodes of the television series Inspector Morley cobbled together for theatrical release. A version of Spring-Heeled Jack starring Slaughter was one of the first live TV plays mounted by the BBC after the war. He continued performing on stage even at the end of his life.
He was guest on the BBC radio programme Desert Island Discs on 24 March 1955.[4]
Death
On 19 February 1956, at the age of 70, Slaughter died of
Filmography
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1935 | Maria Marten, or The Murder in the Red Barn | William Corder |
1936 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Sweeney Todd |
1936 | The Crimes of Stephen Hawke | Stephen Hawke |
1937 | Darby and Joan | Mr. Templeton |
1937 | It's Never Too Late to Mend | Squire John Meadows |
1937 | The Song of the Road | Dan Lorenzo |
1938 | The Ticket of Leave Man | The Tiger |
1938 | Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror | Michael Larron |
1939 | The Face at the Window | Chevalier Lucio del Gardo |
1940 | Crimes at the Dark House | The False Percival Glyde |
1945 | Bothered by a Beard | Sweeney Todd |
1946 | The Curse of the Wraydons | Philip Wraydon (The Chief) |
1948 | The Greed of William Hart | William Hart |
1952 | King of the Underworld | Terence Reilly |
1952 | Murder at Scotland Yard | Terence Reilly |
1952 | Murder at the Grange | Patrick Reilly aka Clarence Beacham - posing as butler |
1952 | A Ghost for Sale | Caretaker |
1954 | Puzzle Corner No. 14 | Sweeney Todd |
References
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/77200. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ It is available on YOUTUBE at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi2tTPPUNL0#.
- ^ BT226/5647, National Archives
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Tod Slaughter". BBC. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ Richards pp.139–159
Bibliography
- Richards, Jeffrey (ed.) The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929-1939. I.B. Tauris, 1998.
External links
- Tod Slaughter at IMDb