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
Lumsden 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. 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
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
during which he served in
Burma
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
. Returning to the theatre after the war, he became a
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just
Readin ...
and appeared on various TV shows and films. In 1947, he married Helen A. Syme at
Cuckfield in
Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
.
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).
[ He wrote and starred in the 1958 ]farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...
'' Caught Napping'' in the West End. It was later revived in 1978 starring Arthur Lowe, Bill Pertwee and Edward Evans.
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. 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
The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to ...
.London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1984, aged 69 from a coronary occlusion.[>https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/geoffrey-lumsden-101615] His uncles were the first-class cricketers Oswald and William Lumsden.
Selected screen credits
Selected stage credits
* '' The Iron Duchess'' by William Douglas Home (1957)
* '' Caught Napping'' by Geoffrey Lumsden (1959)
* '' Aunt Edwina'' by William Douglas Home (1959)
References
External links
*
*
British male television actors
1914 births
1984 deaths
20th-century British male actors
People educated at Repton School
British Army personnel of World War II
Royal Scots officers
Military personnel from London
Male actors from London
{{UK-tv-actor-1910s-stub