Early life: 1911–1933 , where Terry-Thomas engaged in amateur dramatics. Terry-Thomas was born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens at 53 Lichfield Grove,
Finchley,
North London. He was the fourth of five children born to Ernest Frederick Stevens, managing director of a butcher's business at
Smithfield Market and part-time amateur actor, and his wife Ellen Elizabeth Stevens (née Hoar). As a child, Terry-Thomas was often referred to as Tom, the diminutive used by his family. He led a generally happy childhood, but believed his parents secretly desired a daughter in his place. By the time he reached adolescence, his parents' marriage had failed and both had become alcoholics. In an attempt to bring them together, he often entertained them by performing impromptu slapstick routines, reciting jokes and singing and dancing around the family home. The performances seldom worked, and his father became increasingly distant from his family. In 1921 Terry-Thomas began to nurture his distinctive, well-spoken voice, reasoning that "using good speech automatically suggested that you were well-educated and made people look up to you". He used the speech of the actor
Owen Nares as a basis for his own delivery. Terry-Thomas became fascinated by the stage, and regularly attended the
Golders Green Hippodrome to see the latest shows. It was there that he developed an interest in fashion, and adopted the debonair dress-sense of his hero
Douglas Fairbanks. Terry-Thomas attended Fernbank School in Hendon Lane, Finchley, which was a welcome escape from the stresses of his parents' break-up. When he was 13, he transferred to
Ardingly College, a
public school in
Sussex. He excelled in
Latin and geography, and briefly took up drama. The latter subject later led to his expulsion from the school, after his frequent and inappropriate use of
ad lib during lessons. He also took up a position in the school jazz band, first playing the
ukulele and then percussion. He also often performed comedy dance routines to the band's music. , on whom Terry-Thomas based his early look. Terry-Thomas enjoyed his time at Ardingly, and relished his association with
upper middle class school friends. His academic abilities were modest, and he came to the notice of staff only through his frequent tomfoolery. Although he initially felt intimidated by his school surroundings, his confidence grew as he put on "a bold, undiluted and sustained show of
chutzpah", according to his biographer, Graham McCann. On his return home to Finchley in 1927, his more mature manner impressed the family's housekeeper Kate Dixon, who seduced him at the family home. He stayed at Ardingly for one more term and returned home to London, but made no plans to further his education or start long-term work. Instead, he accepted a temporary position at Smithfield Market, where he earned 15
shillings a week as a junior transport clerk for the Union Cold Storage Company. By his own admission, he never stopped "farting around" and often kept his colleagues entertained with impersonations of the
Hunchback of Notre-Dame and
Erich von Stroheim. He invented various characters, including Colonel Featherstonehaugh-Bumleigh and Cora Chessington-Crabbe, and frequently recited comic stories involving them to his colleagues. His characterisations soon came to the notice of the company's management who prompted him to enrol in the company's amateur drama club. He made his début with the drama company as Lord Trench in
The Dover Road which was staged at the
Fortune Theatre, London. The production was popular with audiences, and he subsequently became a regular performer in amateur productions. Terry-Thomas made his professional stage début on 11 April 1930 at a social evening organised by the Union of Electric Railwaymen's Dining Club in
South Kensington. He was billed as Thos Stevens, but only appeared as a minor turn. His performance brought
heckles from the drunken audience, but earned him a commission of 30 shillings. After this, he played a few minor roles in
Gilbert and Sullivan productions by the Edgware Operatic Society at the
Scala Theatre. In 1933, he left Smithfield Market to work briefly with a friend at an electrical shop before he became a travelling salesman of electrical equipment. He enjoyed the job and relished being able to dress up in elaborate clothing in order to make his pitch. In his spare time, he began playing the ukulele with a local jazz band called the Rhythm Maniacs. He took up dancing and formed a partnership with a sister of
Jessie Matthews. The act starred in local exhibitions and at minor venues, and they earned well from it. News soon travelled of the couple's talent, and they were engaged as ballroom dancers at a hall in
Cricklewood. He found the dance-style too restrictive and he left the act to try other aspects of entertainment.
Early performances: 1933–1939 By 1933 Terry-Thomas had moved out of Finchley and into a friend's flat; the friend was a
film extra who introduced him to the idea of working in the industry. Terry-Thomas made his uncredited film debut in the 1933 film,
The Private Life of Henry VIII, which starred
Charles Laughton in
the title role. Later the same year he appeared in
Make Mine Mink as Major Albert Rayne, a veteran of the Second World War who forms a gang of
mink coat thieves with his female co-lodgers. When he made an appearance at a screening of the film in
Dalston, north-east London, he was presented with a white mink waistcoat by a local furrier. In 1961 Terry-Thomas played Archibald Bannister in
A Matter of WHO, which he described as "my first (fairly) serious role". He was joined in the film by his cousin's son
Richard Briers, with Terry-Thomas noting that he provided "no nepotic help" in getting Briers the part. The film was not well received by the critics; an internal BBC memo described that in the UK the film was "murdered by the critics", although it was "something of a success" in America. By this time Terry-Thomas had decided to stop being a stand-up comedian and compere and instead concentrate solely on making films. He stopped appearing on television and radio shows of his own, declaring "it was the cinema for me and me for the cinema!" Having accumulated considerable experience by appearing in British films, he decided to try Hollywood, and moved to America.
Breaking into Hollywood: 1961–1965 Terry-Thomas spent part of 1961 in America, filming the role of Professor Bruce Patterson in
Bachelor Flat—his first Hollywood role—before flying to
Gibraltar to film
Operation Snatch, in which he teamed up with
Lionel Jeffries. By the end of 1961 Terry-Thomas was appearing on radio, such as the December broadcast of
The Bing Crosby Show and in guest spots on American television shows; he was frequently the subject of US newspaper interviews. In 1962
Bachelor Flat and
Operation Snatch were both released, Although he initially struggled to find the right plot of ground for the right price, he eventually settled on an appropriate location; declaring he was "allergic to architects", he designed the house himself. His former wife Pat moved to the nearby island of
Mallorca, and Terry-Thomas's relationship with her became warm and friendly; Patlanski also had a firm friendship with Terry-Thomas's wife. In between films Terry-Thomas appeared on television on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US in March–April 1967 he was in "The Five Daughters Affair", a two-part story in the TV series
The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and on 22 May he appeared on
The Red Skelton Hour. On British television, in an episode of the
Comedy Playhouse called "The Old Campaigner", he played James Franklin-Jones, a salesman for a plastics company who was continually searching for love affairs while travelling on business. This character was "yet another variation on his rakish cad persona", according to Mark Lewisohn. The episode was well-received, and a six-part series was commissioned that ran over December 1968 and January 1969. Although the series performed well in the ratings, a second series was not commissioned. In between the pilot and the series of
The Old Campaigner, in April 1968, Terry-Thomas appeared on the British
ITV network in a one-off variety special,
The Big Show, which combined musical numbers and his urbane monologues. Robert Ross commented that Terry-Thomas "seemed to delight in resurrecting his vintage sophisticated patter after years in movies ... the top raconteur was back where he belonged". In 1969 he again teamed up with Eric Sykes and director
Ken Annakin for a joint Italian, French and British production
Monte Carlo or Bust!. The film was "the only copper-bottomed sequel to ...
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines", according to Richard Ross. Terry-Thomas played Sir Cuthbert Ware-Armitage, the "thoroughly bad egg son of flying ace Sir Percy Ware-Armitage", his role in
Those Magnificent Men. Terry-Thomas secured four other roles in minor films that year, including
Arthur? Arthur! (which he joked had "never been shown anywhere—as far as I know!"), as well as on television in the UK, US and Australia. The 1970s began well for Terry-Thomas; television appearances in the UK and US were augmented by filming for
The Abominable Dr. Phibes, which became what author Bruce Hallenbeck called a "camp classic", despite being described by
Time Out critic
David Pirie, as "the worst horror film made in England since 1945"; the film was released in 1971. On 1 August 1970 Terry-Thomas made his second appearance on
Desert Island Discs; his luxury item was a case of brandy, chosen because it lasted longer than champagne.
Dealing with Parkinson's: 1971–1983 in
The Red Skelton Show (1968) While appearing in ''Don't Just Lie There, Say Something!'' at the
Metro Theatre,
Sydney in 1971, Terry-Thomas felt unwell and visited a doctor, who noticed his patient's left hand was shaking slightly. The doctor suggested he visit a specialist on his return to the UK, who diagnosed him with
Parkinson's disease. Fearing the condition would affect offers of work, Terry-Thomas did not make the news public, but as the symptoms began to manifest themselves in tremors, a shuffling gait, stooped posture and affected speech, he made the news known—partly to stop rumours of on-set drunkenness. Terry-Thomas continued to work as much as possible, although—as the film historian Geoff Mayer pointed out—the situation "reduced his film career to supporting roles and cameos". The lucrative voice-over role of Sir Hiss in the 1973
Walt Disney film
Robin Hood was one notable part, while others were less well-known, such as
The Vault of Horror, a film described by Richard Ross as a "cornball terror", in which he starred with
Curd Jürgens,
Tom Baker and Denholm Elliott. He also continued to appear on television shows in both the US and UK, as well as advertisements, including appearing with
June Whitfield for
Birds Eye fish fingers, a series of
vermouth advertisements filmed in Italy, and an award-winning series for
Benson & Hedges cigarettes, with Eric Sykes. During the 1970s he starred in a series of low-budget British films, including two in 1975,
Spanish Fly—called a "gruesome smutfest" by the writer
Christopher Fowler—and
The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones, described by the
Film Review Digest as a "cheap, crude, sexed-up rehash" of the other film adaptations of
Henry Fielding's
source novel. In 1977 he starred in
The Last Remake of Beau Geste and
The Hound of the Baskervilles, the latter starring
Peter Cook and
Dudley Moore as
Holmes and
Watson; Terry-Thomas thought "it was the most outrageous film I ever appeared in ... there was no magic ... it was bad!" By then he had exhibited
a decrease in bodily movement, a sign of how serious his condition had become. His distinctive voice had developed a softer tone and his posture was contorted. Between 1978 and 1980, he spent much time with medical consultants. Despite this he was offered a few engagements and was voted the most recognisable Englishman among Americans in a poll which also featured
Laurence Olivier,
Robert Morley and
Wilfrid Hyde-White. As a result, he secured a lucrative advertising contract with the
Ford Motor Company.
Derek Jarman offered Terry-Thomas a role in his 1979 film
The Tempest, but the actor was forced to pull out because of his deteriorating health. Terry-Thomas undertook his final film role in 1980 in
Febbre a 40!, a German-Italian co-production that was "nondescript and barely screened", according to Robert Ross, and did not even have a theatrical release in its two domestic markets. He continued his involvement in the film industry, where he funded three films during the early 1980s (noted by Ross to be "destined from the outset for B-picture status or straight-to-video exposure"); he commented that "I have made a loss of one hundred per cent". In 1982, with his condition worsening, Terry-Thomas appeared in two episodes of the BBC series
The Human Brain, which examined his condition; his frank interview brought much public awareness of the disease and raised £32,000 for the
Parkinson's Disease Society. Privately, he was becoming more depressed; his London flat had been sold to provide badly needed funds, and his work offers were decreasing.
Final years and death: 1983–1990 By 1983, with his medical bills at £40,000 a year and no longer able to work, Terry-Thomas's financial resources were dwindling. He and his wife sold their dream house on Ibiza and moved into the small cottage in Spain once owned by his former wife Pat Patlanski, which she left to him in her will on her death in June that year. Shortly afterwards he worked with
ghostwriter Terry Daum on an autobiography,
Terry-Thomas Tells Tales. Although the first draft was completed by late summer 1984, Terry-Thomas refused to release the manuscript and continued making alterations, but never completed his copyediting: the book was finally published after his death. By 1984 Terry-Thomas was increasingly depressed by his condition and when he was interviewed that year, he admitted that "one doctor said I've got about four more years to live. God forbid! I shall probably blow my brains out first". In 1987 the couple could no longer afford to live in Spain, so moved back to London. They lived in a series of rented properties before ending up in a three-room, unfurnished charity flat, where they lived with financial assistance from the Actors' Benevolent Fund.
Richard Briers was one of his first visitors at the flat, and was shocked by the change he saw: "Sitting there, motionless, he was just a mere shadow. A crippled, crushed, shadow. It was really bloody awful." On 9 April 1989 the actor
Jack Douglas and Richard Hope-Hawkins organised a benefit concert for Terry-Thomas, after discovering he was living in virtual obscurity, poverty and ill health. The gala, held at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, ran for five hours, and featured 120 artists with
Phil Collins topping the bill and
Michael Caine as the gala chairman. The show raised over £75,000 for Terry-Thomas and
Parkinson's UK. The funds from the charity concert allowed Terry-Thomas to move out of his charity flat and into Busbridge Hall nursing home in
Godalming, Surrey. He died there on 8 January 1990, at the age of 78. The funeral service was held at
St. John the Baptist Church,
Busbridge, where the theme from
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines was played; he was cremated at
Guildford Crematorium. ==Screen persona and technique==