Sir Donald Alfred Sinden, CBE (born Plymouth, 9 October 1923) is an English stage and film actor. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... Plymouth is a city of 243,795 inhabitants (2001 census) in the south-west of England, or alternatively the West Country, and is situated within the traditional and ceremonial county of Devon at the mouths of the rivers Plym and Tamar and at the head of one of the world... October 9 is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area...

A stalwart of the Royal Shakespeare Company he first acted at the Brighton Little Theatre (of which he later became President) in 1941 and broke into professional acting after appearing in revues for the armed forces during the Second World War. He subsequently appeared in many British films of the 1950s including The Cruel Sea and Doctor in the House. Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon The Royal Shakespeare Company is a British theatre company. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The Cruel Sea (1953) was a British film starring Jack Hawkins, Denholm Elliott and Virginia McKenna. ... Doctor in the House is a 1954 British comedy film, directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty Box. ...

He reached widespread fame in the long-running London Weekend Television situation comedy Two's Company, in which he played an English butler, Robert, to Elaine Stritch's American character, Dorothy. Much of the humour derived from the culture clashes between Robert's very stiff-upper-lip Britishness and Dorothy's devil-may-care New York view on life. Both Sinden and Stritch performed the title music. He was also to star as Simon Peel in the comedy Never the Twain (1981), in which he played a snooty antiques dealer who had to live next door to Oliver Smallbridge (Windsor Davies), who also ran an antique shop. The pair hated each other, and were thus horrified when they discovered that their son and daughter were to be married - thus meaning they were related. Despite the lack of critical acclaim, this series was to run for 11 years. He also appeared on radio including Sir Charles Baskerville in the Radio 4 adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes story The Hound of the Baskervilles. Other roles include many stage appearances in the works of Shakespeare for which he gained plaudits and won numerous awards for his portrayals, a regular appearance as a senior judge (and father-in-law to the title character) in Judge John Deed, and even a guest role in the cult series The Prisoner. He also appeared in the 1978 film The National Health. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Elaine Stritch (born on February 2, 1925) is an Irish-American actress and singer. ... Windsor Davies as Oliver Smallbridge and Donald Sinden as Simon Peel Never the Twain was a British sitcom produced by Thames Television, created by Johnnie Mortimer and starring Windsor Davies as Oliver Smallbridge and Donald Sinden as Simon Peel. ... Windsor Davies (born August 28, 1930) is an English-born Welsh actor. ... The Hound of the Baskervilles is a crime novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, originally serialised in the Strand Magazine in 1901 and 1902, which is set largely on Dartmoor 1889. ... Shakespeare redirects here. ... Judge John Deed is a BBC television drama series about a high court judge, created, written and produced by G. F. Newman. ... The Prisoner was a 1967 UK science fiction television series, starring Patrick McGoohan. ... The National Health is a play by Peter Nichols. ...

He was spoofed mercilessly on Spitting Image (a British satirical television programme in which famous people were usually lampooned by viciously caricatured latex puppets) for his stage actorly delivery and fruity voice (for example, his puppet, sitting in a restaurant, summons a waiter and asks "Do you serve a ham salad?" the waiter replies "Yes, we serve salad to anyone") and was shown fawning to the Queen and requesting a knighthood from her. He did however receive a knighthood in 1997. Spitting Image was a satirical puppet show that ran on the United Kingdoms ITV television network from 1984 to 1996. ...

Sinden has written two autobiographical volumes, A Touch of the Memoirs (1982) and Laughter in the Second Act (1985), as well as a collection of "epitaphs and final utterances," The Last Word (1994). He was also a leading figure in the fight to launch the Theatre Museum in Covent Garden in the 1980s.

One of his sons, actor Jeremy Sinden (who played a recurring role as Anthony Mortimer in the British soap opera Crossroads), and his wife, Diana Sinden, née Mahony, an actress, both died from cancer. Jeremy Sinden (14 June 1950-29 May 1996), born in London, was an English actor. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The French word née (feminine) or né (masculine) (or the English word nee) is still commonly used in some newspapers when mentioning the maiden name of a woman in engagement or wedding announcements. ...

His other son is Marc Sinden an actor and West End theatre producer, whose own son (Sir Donald's grandson) is Hal Sinden, also an actor and singer for the UK metal band Interlock. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... An interlock is a device used to help prevent a machine from harming its operator or damaging itself by stopping the machine when tripped. ...

As of 2007, Sir Donald Sinden is currently embarking on a national UK tour, taking in various venues to talk about his life and work.

External links

• Donald Sinden at the Internet Movie Database