Dam Busters star and real-life war hero Todd dies aged 90
Matinee idol Richard Todd, best remembered for his lead role in the Second World War classic The Dam Busters, has died at the age of 90.
The British film star, who was also a real-life military hero after taking part in the Normandy landings, had been suffering from cancer.
The son of an Army physician, he was one of cinema's biggest stars during his heyday in the Fifties and Sixties and was seen to personify the British characteristic of calmness in a crisis.
His biggest break came playing Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC in the 1954 depiction of the daring RAF "bouncing bomb" raids on the Ruhr Valley dams. He was closely associated with the part for the rest of his life and as recently as June was given the tribute of a fly-past by a Lancaster bomber to mark his 90th birthday.
He appeared in dozens of other movies, playing swash-bucklers such as Robin Hood and Rob Roy, and was Ian Fleming's first choice to play James Bond, but the role went to Sean Connery. His career included appearing in classics such as Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright as well as TV shows such as Dr Who. Two of his best known films D-Day, The Sixth Of June (1956) and The Longest Day (1962) depicted events in which he played a key role. As an officer in the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion, he was one of the first British soldiers to land in Normandy in 1944.
The actor, whose full name was Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd, linked up with Major John Howard, who led the airborne assault on Pegasus Bridge, on D-Day itself. In The Longest Day, Todd played Major Howard with, ironically, another actor playing him.
He was last seen on screen in a 2007 episode of ITV drama Heartbeat. Twice married and divorced Todd suffered tragedy in his own life with the suicide of two of his sons. Another son and a daughter survive him.
