David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson (7 May 1917 – 24 June 2000) was an English stage, film and television actor, singer and comedian. Having been described as both a leading actor and a character actor, he is primarily remembered for his roles with The Walt Disney Company as the patriarch father George Banks in Mary Poppins (1964), hapless antagonist Peter Thorndyke in The Love Bug (1968) and the friendly con man Professor Emelius Browne in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). Tomlinson was posthumously inducted as a Disney Legend in 2002.

Early life David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson was born on 7 May 1917 in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire,General Register Office of England and Wales – Birth Register for June Quarter of 1917, Henley Registration District, reference 3a 1531, listed as David C.M. Tomlinson, mother's maiden name as Sinclair-Thomson the son of Clarence Samuel Tomlinson (1883–1978), a well-respected London solicitor, and Florence Elizabeth, née Sinclair-Thomson (1890–1986). He attended Tonbridge School and left to join the Grenadier Guards for 16 months. His father then secured him a job as a clerk at Shell Mex House.

His stage career grew from amateur stage productions to his 1940 film debut in Quiet Wedding. His career was interrupted when he entered Second World War service as a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF. During the war, he learned to fly in Canada and was assigned as a flying instructor in the UK, while also appearing in three more films. He continued flying after the war. On one occasion, a Tiger Moth plane he was piloting crashed into woodland near his back garden after he lost consciousness while performing aerobatics.

Film career Tomlinson played Philip Rowe, one of the three British airmen escaping from a German POW camp, in the 1950 British film The Wooden Horse.

Tomlinson played the role of George Banks, head of the Banks family, in the Disney film Mary Poppins (1964). Tomlinson continued work with Disney, appearing in The Love Bug (1968) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). Throughout the rest of Tomlinson's film career, he never steered far from comedies. His final acting appearance was in The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980), which was also the final film of Peter Sellers. Tomlinson retired from acting at age 63 to spend more time with his family. However, in 1992, at the age of 75, he appeared on the Wogan talk show along with Tommy Cockles.

Accolades 7th Grammy Awards - Winner - Best Recording for Children ( Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke with David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Ed Wynn - Mary Poppins) 15th Eddie Awards - Winner - Best Performance by an Actor in a Film Debut Disney Legends Award - 2002

Personal life and death Tomlinson was first married to Mary Lindsay Hiddingh, daughter of L. Seton Lindsay, the vice president of the New York Life Insurance Company. She had been widowed in 1941 when her husband, Major Armand Guy Hiddingh, was killed in action, CWGC Casualty Record, Major Armand Guy Hiddingh. Date retrieved 1 May 2023. leaving her to care for their two young sons. Tomlinson married Mary in New York in September 1943, but on 2 December 1943, she killed herself and her two sons in a murder–suicide by jumping from a hotel in New York City, after learning that she could not take her two sons with her to join Tomlinson in England until WWII ended.

Tomlinson's second wife was actress Audrey Freeman (born 12 November 1931), whom he married on 17 May 1953, and the couple remained together for 47 years until his death. They had four sons.

Owing to the autism diagnosis of his third son, Willie, Tomlinson campaigned for early awareness of autism in the UK, using his connections to gain the help of friends in showbusiness, and raising a record amount of money from a television appeal, in the 1970s. He and his wife Audrey, among others, helped to found Somerset Court, the first residential home in Europe dedicated to adults with autism.

Tomlinson died peacefully in his sleep at King Edward VII's Hospital, Westminster, at on 24 June 2000, after suffering a stroke.General Register Office of England and Wales – Death Register for June 2000, Westminster Registration District, reference C49C 281, listed as David Cecil Tomlinson with a date of birth of 7 May 1917. He was 83 years old. He was interred at his estate grounds in Mursley, Buckinghamshire. Tomlinson had joked that he wanted "actor of genius, irresistible to women" as an epitaph.

Filmography

+ Film performances Year Title Role Notes 1940 Garrison Follies Uncredited 1941 Quiet Wedding John Royd 1941 My Wife's Family Willie Bagshott 1941 "Pimpernel" Smith Steve 1945 The Way to the Stars Prune' Parsons 1945 Journey Together Smith 1946 I See a Dark Stranger Intelligence Officer 1946 School for Secrets Mr. Watlington 1947 Fame Is the Spur Lord Liskeard 1947 Master of Bankdam Lancelot Handel Crowther 1948 Easy Money Martin Latham 1948 Miranda Charles 1948 Broken Journey Jimmy Marshall 1948 My Brother's Keeper Ronnie Waring 1948 Sleeping Car to Trieste Tom Bishop 1948 Love in Waiting Robert Clitheroe 1948 Here Come the Huggetts Harold Hinchley 1949 Warning to Wantons Count Max Kardak 1949 Vote for Huggett Harold Hinchley 1949 Marry Me! David Haig 1949 Helter Skelter Nick Martin 1949 The Chiltern Hundreds Lord Tony Pym 1949 Landfall Binks 1950 So Long at the Fair Johnny Barton 1950 The Wooden Horse Philip Rowe 1951 Calling Bulldog Drummond Algernon 'Algy' Longworth 1951 Hotel Sahara Captain Puffin Cheyne 1951 The Magic Box Assistant in Laboratory 1952 Castle in the Air Earl of Locharne 1952 Made in Heaven Basil Topham 1953 Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? Frank Betteron 1955 All for Mary Humphrey 'Humpy' Miller 1956 Three Men in a Boat Jerome 1957 Carry On Admiral Tom Baker 1958 Up the Creek Lt. Humphrey Fairweather 1958 Further Up the Creek Lt. Humphrey Fairweather 1960 Follow That Horse! Dick Lanchester 1963 Tom Jones Lord Fellamar 1964 Mary Poppins George Banks 1964 The Truth About Spring Charles Skelton 1965 City Under the Sea Harold Tufnell-Jones 1965 The Liquidator Quadrant 1968 The Love Bug Peter Thorndyke 1971 Bedknobs and Broomsticks Professor Emelius Browne 1975 From Hong Kong with Love Sir John MacGregor 1977 Wombling Free Roland Frogmorton 1978 The Water Babies Sir John / Polar Bear Voice role 1979 Dominique Lawyer 1980 The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu Sir Roger Avery

+ Television performances Year Title Role Notes 1954The Birdcage Room Lord TempestTelevision film 1954All for Mary Clive NortonOutside Broadcast of the theatre production 1955Theatre Royal Tom Pettigo Episode: "The No Man" 1957Theatre Night David Warren Episode: "Dear Delinquent" 1960ITV Play of the Week Tom Swinley Episode: "The Happy Man" 1967Comedy Playhouse Charles Pinfold Episode: "Loitering With Intent" 1976Hawaii Five-O Blake Episode: "Nine Dragons"

See also The Life I Lead, a 2019 one-man comedy play by James Kettle which explores Tomlinson's life, starring Miles Jupp.

References

Further reading Luckier Than Most, Tomlinson's autobiography, published 1990. Nathan Morley, Disney's British Gentleman: The Life and Career of David Tomlinson (History Press), 2021.

External links

Mary Poppins Star Dies – BBC News obituary from 2000 David Tomlinson at the Disney Legends website Actor David Tomlinson's life plagued by tragedy and misfortune despite finding fame, a 2021 Daily Express article by Nathan Morley describing Tomlinson's personal story, plagued by misfortune.