Geoffrey Forbes Lumsden (26 December 1914 – 4 March 1984) was a British character actor who had a lengthy career on television. He often played pompous upper-class characters, army officers and the like.
Biography
editLumsden was born in London in 1914, the son of Alfred Forbes Lumsden, and attended Repton School, where he was a contemporary of Denton Welch. By the time he had left school, both his parents had died. While living with his uncle he reluctantly trained as an engineer at a colliery.[1] It was at the colliery that he first became interested in acting when he organised concerts for the workforce, and won a scholarship to train at RADA while still working there.
In 1938, he married Judith Cope. Working in repertory theatre, his theatrical career was interrupted by World War II during which he served in Burma. Returning to the theatre after the war, he became a playwright and appeared on various TV shows and films.[2] In 1947, he married Helen A. Syme at Cuckfield in Sussex.[3]
On Broadway he appeared as Sir Francis Getliffe in The Affair at the Henry Miller Theatre (1962) and as Major Hugh Beresford Maitland in Hostile Witness at the Music Box Theatre (1966).[4] He wrote and starred in the 1958 farce Caught Napping in the West End.[5] It was later revived in 1978 starring Arthur Lowe, Bill Pertwee and Edward Evans.[6]
His best known role was as Captain Square in Dad's Army, the pompous commander of the Eastgate platoon of the Home Guard, who is a rival of Captain Mainwaring.[7] Other TV appearances included Rookery Nook, Upstairs, Downstairs, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Edward & Mrs. Simpson and Jack the Ripper (where he played the editor of the Daily Telegraph), and two appearances in the BBC Television Shakespeare.[8][9]
Lumsden died in London in 1984, aged 69.[4] His uncles were the first-class cricketers Oswald and William Lumsden.
Selected screen credits
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men | Merrie Man #11 | |
| 1961 | Man at the Carlton Tower | Stocker | |
| 1965 | Dateline Diamonds | Army Officer | |
| 1965 | The Night Caller | Col. Davy | |
| 1967 | Mrs Thursday | Commander Barraclough | 'The Train from Dunrich House', Stapleford Park, episode |
| 1968 | A Dandy in Aspic | Ridley | |
| 1968 | Salt and Pepper | Foreign Secretary | |
| 1968 | Hostile Witness | Major Hugh Beresford Maitland | |
| 1969–1971 | The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder | Lord Rothbard | |
| 1970 | The Horror of Frankenstein | Instructor | |
| 1973 | Yellow Dog | Sir William Renfrew | |
| 1980 | Love in a Cold Climate | Sir Archibald Curtly | TV Mini-Series, 1 episode |
Selected stage credits
edit- The Iron Duchess by William Douglas Home (1957)
- Caught Napping by Geoffrey Lumsden (1959)
- Aunt Edwina by William Douglas Home (1959)
References
edit- ^ Pertwee, Bill (3 November 2009). Dad's Army: The Making of a TV Legend. Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 9781844861057 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Other Dad's Army Characters on the Dad's Army Appreciation Society website".
- ^ Geoffrey F Lumsden in the England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1916-2005 - Ancestry.com (subscription required)
- ^ a b >https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/geoffrey-lumsden-101615
- ^ "Production of Caught Napping | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
- ^ "Production of Caught Napping | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Dad's Army (1968-77) Credits". www.screenonline.org.uk.
- ^ "Geoffrey Lumsden". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019.
- ^ "Geoffrey Lumsden". www.aveleyman.com.
External links
edit
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