Leonard Sachs
Leonard Meyer Sachs was a South African-British actor.
Life and career
Sachs was born in the town of Roodepoort, in the then Transvaal Colony, present day South Africa. He was Jewish. He emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1929 and had many television and film roles from the 1930s to the 1980s, including Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk#CITEREFShakespeare1623|Mowbray] in the 1950 BBC Television version of Richard II, John Wesley in the 1954 film of the same name and Lord Mount Severn in East Lynne from 1976.
He founded an Old Time Music Hall, named the Players' Theatre, in Villiers Street, Charing Cross, London. He appeared as the Chairman of the Leeds City Varieties in the long-running BBC television series The [Good Old Days (British TV series)|The Good Old Days], which ran from 1953 to 1983, and became known for his elaborate, sesquipedalian introductions of the performers. Sachs was honoured in a 1977 episode of This Is Your Life.
Sachs appeared in Danger Man with Patrick McGoohan. He had two appearances in the science fiction series Doctor Who: as Admiral Gaspard de Coligny in The Massacre of [St Bartholomew's Eve] in 1966 and as Lord President Borusa in Arc of Infinity in 1983. He appeared in the 1985 Royal Variety Performance in a tribute to The Good Old Days.
Personal life
Sachs married the actress Eleanor Summerfield in 1947. The couple had two sons, including Robin Sachs. In January 1984, he was fined £75 for "importuning men for an immoral purpose" at Notting Hill Gate tube station. Sachs died from kidney failure on 15 June 1990 in Westminster, London, at the age of 80.
Selected filmography
The Secret of Stamboul – ArifState Secret – Dr PoldoiThe Story of Gilbert and Sullivan – SmytheJohn Wesley – John WesleyMalaga – Paul DupontThe Men of Sherwood Forest – Sheriff of NottinghamGentlemen Marry Brunettes – M. DufyCount of Twelve – Mark Dyson The Gamma People – Telegraph ClerkOdongo – Game WardenFace in the Night – VictorAfter the Ball – Richard WarnerSeven Thunders – German Officer Man from Tangier – HeinrichThe Man Who Wouldn't Talk – Professor HorvardBehemoth the Sea Monster – ScientistThe Dover Road Mystery – Herbert RobertsBeyond the Curtain – WaiterOscar Wilde – Richard LegallienneThe Siege of Sidney Street – Svaars The Bulldog Breed – Yachtsman Five Golden Hours – Mr MoriniKonga – Bob's FatherTaste of Fear – Mr. SprattPit of Darkness – Clifton ConradBomb in the High Street – FreelingLocker Sixty-Nine – SpencerShe Knows Y'Know – John DawsonNumber Six – WellandFreud: The Secret Passion – BrouhardierStranglehold – The DutchmanPanic – Len CollierThe Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders – Prison doctorThunderball – Group Captain PritchardOnce Is Not Enough – Dr Peterson