Sam Kydd


Samuel John Kydd was a British actor. He appeared in more than 290 films, more than any other British actor, including 119 between 1946 and 1952.
His best-known roles were in two major British television series of the 1960s, as the smuggler Orlando O'Connor in Crane and its sequel Orlando. He also played a recurring character in Coronation Street. Kydd's first film was The Captive Heart, in which he played a POW.

Early life and career

An army officer's son, Kydd was born on 15 February 1915 in Belfast, Ireland. He moved to London as a child. He was educated at Dunstable School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. During the mid-1930s Kydd entered various talent contests and was spotted by Oscar Rabin who made him an MC for the Oscar Rabin Band and one of his "Hot Shots". He would warm up audiences with jokes, impressions and tap dance routines before introducing the singers and attractions on the bill. He also worked on the same bill as Bud Flanagan in Scarborough. During the late 1930s he briefly joined the Territorial Army serving with the Queen Victoria's Rifles to please a girlfriend and when war broke out he was called up for active service.
Early in the Second World War, he went to France with the British Expeditionary Force but was quickly captured, spending the rest of the war in Stalag XX-A, a camp in Toruń in German-occupied Poland. Kydd later wrote of his experiences as a POW in his autobiographical book For You the War Is Over. While held in a forced labour subcamp in Wyrzysk, he learned various Polish phrases through contact with the local Polish population and bartered with them illegally, on one occasion spending a month in solitary confinement on bread and water. He caught tuberculosis.
During his internment in the German prisoner-of-war camp, where he remained for the next five years, he played a prominent part in the camp's theatrical activities, acting in, devising and staging plays. He felt so strongly about his work there that, when he was offered repatriation after three years, he turned it down to continue with his theatrical work. In recognition of his valuable services during these years, he was awarded a pair of drama masks, made by the Red Cross from barbed wire.

Career

Returning to Britain after the war, Kydd auditioned for the film The Captive Heart, which was about life in a prison camp, and as this was an area where he had much experience, he got a part as an advisor cum actor. He went on to appear in more than 290 films and 1,000 TV plays and series, including films The Blue Lamp, Father Brown, The 39 Steps and I'm All Right Jack.
He often played the part of a strong and resilient cockney, though he made many appearances as Irishmen as well, in both comedy and drama. He appeared as a character actor in films such as Chance of a Lifetime, The Cruel Sea, Reach for the Sky, The Yangtse Incident, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Too Many Crooks, Sink the Bismarck!, Smokescreen, Island of Terror, Too Late the Hero, Steptoe and Son Ride Again and Eye of the Needle. He also appeared in the big-screen versions of Dad's Army and Till Death Us Do Part.
In 1963, Kydd appeared as the lovable smuggler Orlando O'Connor in Crane starring Patrick Allen as a Briton who moved to Morocco to run a cafe and had an aversion to smuggling. The programme ran for 39 episodes and was watched each week by over 16 million viewers. Kydd's character was so popular that when Crane finished he was given his own programme, Orlando, a children's adventure series which ran for 126 episodes 1965–1968.
He also appeared on TV in The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Pickwick Papers, Mess Mates, The Arthur Askey Show, The Benny Hill Show, The Charlie Drake Show, The Harry Worth Show, The Expert, 11 different characters in Dixon of Dock Green, Fossett Saga, Curry and Chips, The Tony Hancock Show,'' Hancock's Half Hour , Minder, Crossroads, Coronation Street, The Eric Sykes Show and Follyfoot.
He was the subject of This Is Your Life'' in 1974 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.

Personal life

Kydd married Pinkie Barnes, an ex-international table tennis champion and one of Britain's first women advertising copywriters. Their son, Jonathan Kydd, followed his father into the acting profession.
Kydd died at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton in London on 26 March 1982, aged 67. The cause of death of emphysema. Jonathan Kydd reported that his father smoked up to 80 cigarettes a day.

Memoirs

Jonathan Kydd has edited four volumes of his father's memoirs, Sam Kydd: The Unpublished Memoirs, the first of which to be published was Volume 1: Be a Good Boy Sam, 1945–1952 in 2021. He has also created a website for him.

Selected filmography

  • The Captive Heart as POW in Top Bunk
  • They Made Me a Fugitive as Eddie
  • Fortune Lane
  • A Song for Tomorrow as Sergeant
  • Trouble in the Air
  • Colonel Bogey as Bit Role
  • To the Public Danger as Police Driver
  • Love in Waiting as Bit Part
  • It's Hard to Be Good as Husband
  • Scott of the Antarctic as Leading Stoker E. McKenzie R.N.
  • A Piece of Cake as Uncredited
  • The Last Load as a policeman
  • Once a Jolly Swagman as Johnny Briggs
  • Portrait from Life as Army Truck Driver
  • The Small Back Room as Crowhurst, door sentry
  • Badger's Green as Uncredited
  • Forbidden as Joe
  • Floodtide as Barman
  • Passport to Pimlico as Sapper
  • Stop Press Girl as Railway Ticket Clerk
  • Poet's Pub as George
  • Vengeance Is Mine as Stacey
  • Obsession as Club steward
  • Trottie True as 'Bedford' Stage Manager
  • Saints and Sinners as Man in Bar
  • Madness of the Heart as Soldier at airport
  • The Hasty Heart as Driver
  • The Cure for Love as Charlie Fox
  • The Blue Lamp as Bookmakers Assistant White City
  • Chance of a Lifetime as Worker
  • The Body Said No! as Sam
  • Treasure Island as Cady
  • The Miniver Story as Removal Man
  • No Trace as Mechanic
  • Seven Days to Noon as Soldier in House Search
  • Cage of Gold as Waiter
  • Blackout
  • The Magnet as Postman
  • The Clouded Yellow as Police Radio Operator
  • Highly Dangerous as Customs Man
  • The Second Mate as Wheeler
  • The Dark Man as Sergeant Major
  • Mister Drake's Duck
  • Pool of London as 2nd Engineer
  • Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. as Seaman Garvin
  • Penny Points to Paradise as Porter / Taxi Driver
  • Assassin for Hire as Bert
  • The Galloping Major as Newspaper Vendor
  • Hell Is Sold Out
  • Cheer the Brave
  • High Treason as Sam - Printer
  • Mr. Denning Drives North as Minor Role
  • Secret People as Irish Police Sergeant
  • Judgment Deferred as Ambulance Man
  • Sing Along with Me
  • Hunted as Potman
  • Angels One Five as Mess Waiter
  • Curtain Up as Ambulanceman
  • Brandy for the Parson as Lorry Driver
  • Derby Day as Harry Bunn
  • The Brave Don't Cry as Porter
  • The Lost Hours as Fred - mechanic at Bristow & Brown
  • The Hour of 13 as Reporter
  • Trent's Last Case as Inspector Murch
  • The Voice of Merrill as Sgt. Baker
  • Hot Ice as Adams
  • Time Bomb as Train Ticket Clerk
  • Appointment in London as Ackroyd
  • The Titfield Thunderbolt as Policeman
  • The Cruel Sea as Carslake
  • Death Goes to School as Sergeant Harvey
  • The Steel Key as Chauffeur
  • Single-Handed as Naval Rating
  • Malta Story as Soldier
  • The Master of Ballantrae
  • The Saint's Return as Barkley
  • Love in Pawn
  • They Who Dare as Marine Boyd
  • The Runaway Bus as Security Officer
  • Devil on Horseback as Darky
  • The Rainbow Jacket as Bruce
  • Father Brown as Scotland Yard Sergeant
  • The Embezzler as Railway Inspector
  • The Young Lovers as Driver, Embassy car JAK711
  • Radio Cab Murder as George Spencer
  • Final Appointment as Vickery
  • Lilacs in the Spring as Actor in Beaumont Film
  • The End of the Road as First Postal Clerk
  • Impulse as Ticket Inspector
  • The Glass Cage as George
  • Raising a Riot as Messenger
  • As Long as They're Happy as Milkman
  • Where There's a Will as Jeep driver
  • The Dark Avenger as Minor Role
  • The Constant Husband as Adelphi Barman
  • Passage Home as Sheltia
  • A Kid for Two Farthings
  • The Quatermass Xperiment as Police sergeant questioning Rosie
  • One Way Out as Gang Member
  • Josephine and Men as Desk Sergeant
  • The Cockleshell Heroes as fish lorry driver
  • The Ladykillers as Second Cab Driver
  • Portrait of Alison as Bill, the Telephone Engineer
  • Storm Over the Nile as Joe
  • A Town Like Alice as Australian Driver
  • Soho Incident as Sam
  • It's Never Too Late
  • Ramsbottom Rides Again
  • Jacqueline as Foreman
  • The Long Arm as Police Constable in Information Room
  • Reach for the Sky as Warrant Officer Blake
  • The Baby and the Battleship as Chief Steward
  • It's a Wonderful World as Attendant
  • Home and Away as Albert West
  • Tiger in the Smoke as Tom Gripper
  • Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst as AB Walker RN
  • Carry On Admiral as Attendant
  • You Can't Escape as Ted the Poacher
  • The Long Haul as Taxi Driver
  • The Scamp as Shopkeeper
  • Just My Luck as Craftsman
  • Barnacle Bill as Frogman
  • Dangerous Exile
  • A Tale of Two Cities as Joe—Coach Guard
  • Happy Is the Bride as Foreman
  • The Safecracker as McCullers
  • Orders to Kill
  • Up the Creek as Bates
  • Law and Disorder as Shorty
  • A Question of Adultery as Court Reporter
  • I Was Monty's Double as Go-Between
  • Further Up the Creek as Bates
  • The Captain's Table as Sailor Opening Water Valve
  • Too Many Crooks as Tramp
  • Make Mine a Million as Mail Van Robber
  • Carlton-Browne of the F.O. as Signaller
  • The 39 Steps as Train Steward
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles as Perkins
  • I'm All Right Jack as Shop Steward
  • Upstairs and Downstairs as Driver
  • Libel as Newspaper Vendor
  • Sink the Bismarck! as Civilian Worker on 'Prince of Wales'
  • Life Is a Circus as Removal man
  • Dead Lucky as Harry Winston
  • Follow That Horse! as Farrell
  • The Price of Silence as Slug
  • There Was a Crooked Man as Foreman
  • Suspect as Slater.
  • The House in Marsh Road as Morris Lumley
  • The Treasure of Monte Cristo as Albert
  • Clue of the Silver Key ' as Tickler
  • The Iron Maiden as Fred Carter
  • Smokescreen as Hotel Waiter
  • The Projected Man as Harry Slinger
  • Island of Terror as Constable John Harris
  • Smashing Time as Workman
  • Till Death Us Do Part as Fred
  • The Killing of Sister George as Taxi Driver
  • Moon Zero Two as Barman
  • The Last Grenade
  • Too Late the Hero as Colour-Sergeant
  • 10 Rillington Place as Furniture Dealer
  • Dad's Army as Nazi Orderly
  • Quest for Love as Taximan
  • Up the Chastity Belt as Locksmith
  • The Magnificent Six and 1/2
  • The Alf Garnett Saga
  • My Name is Harry Worth T.V. show
  • Steptoe and Son Ride Again as Claude
  • Confessions of a Window Cleaner as 1st Removal Man
  • Great Expectations as Arthur Compeyson
  • The Amorous Milkman as Wilf
  • Confessions of a Driving Instructor as Mr.Gibson
  • Yesterday's Hero as Sam Turner
  • Coronation Street as Frank Baldwin, 12 episodes
  • Danger on Dartmoor
  • The Shillingbury Blowers as Reggie
  • The Mirror Crack'd as Film Technician
  • Eye of the Needle'' as Lock Keeper