David Tomlinson

David Tomlinson
Tomlinson as he appeared in Mary Poppins.
Born	David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson 7 May 1917(1917-05-07) Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England
Died	24 June 2000 (aged 83) Westminster, London, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1940–1980
Spouse(s)	Mary Lindsay Hiddingh (September 1943–2 December 1943) Audrey Freeman (17 May 1953–24 June 2000) (four sons David Jr, William, Henry, James)

David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson (7 May 1917 – 24 June 2000) was an English film actor. He is primarily remembered for his roles as authority figure George Banks in Mary Poppins, fraudulent magician Professor Emelius Brown in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and as hapless antagonist Peter Thorndyke in The Love Bug.

Early life

Born in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England on 7 May 1917,^[1] Tomlinson attended the Tonbridge School, but left to join the Grenadier Guards. His introduction to the working world was as a clerk for London's Shell House. His stage career grew from amateur stage productions to his 1940 film debut in Quiet Wedding. His career was interrupted when he entered WWII service as a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF. His flying days continued after the war and he crashed a Tiger Moth plane near his backyard much to the chagrin of his neighbours. His father Clarence, a prominent London lawyer, defended him at his subsequent trial (for flying too low).

Film career

As George Banks, head of the Banks family, in the 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins, David Tomlinson was known to generations of children for his role in one of the most popular family films of all time. Although Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke's characters are often seen as the breath of fresh air brushing through the Banks home, Mr. Banks's role, and indeed Tomlinson's performance, is also noteworthy. Mr. Banks is a junior officer in a bank who takes his job very seriously and has little time for or patience with his children. Following a riot at the bank, precipitated by the actions of his young son, his character is forced to relinquish his job in a moving scene in which his bowler hat and umbrella are symbolically destroyed. By the end of the film, however, Mr. Banks is finally made a partner in the bank in a touching performance from Tomlinson. Mary Poppins decides that her services are no longer required as Mr. Banks has learned to engage with his children on their level.

Mary Poppins brought Tomlinson continued work with Disney, appearing in The Love Bug (1969) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). Throughout the rest of Tomlinson's film career, he never steered far from comedies. He retired from acting in 1979 to spend more time with his family; however, the enduring popularity of Mary Poppins ensured that he remained well-known.

As a testament to Tomlinson's decency and popularity with other entertainers, when Peter Sellers was recuperating in a London hospital following a heart attack he apparently said: "I only want to see David."

Personal life

Tomlinson was married for 47 years to actress Audrey Freeman and they had four sons, David Jr., William, Henry and James. He died peacefully in his sleep at King Edward VII Hospital, Westminster at 4:00am on 24 June 2000^[2][3] after suffering a series of strokes. He was 83 years old.

He was interred at Home Grounds at Stratford Saye in Berkshire.

Filmography

• Garrison Follies (1940)
• Name Rank and Number (1941)
• Pimpernel Smith (1941)
• Quiet Wedding (1941)
• My Wife's Family (1941)
• The Way to the Stars (1945)
• Journey Together (1946)
• I See a Dark Stranger (1946)
• School for Secrets (1946)
• Master of Bankdam (1947)
• Fame is the Spur (1947)
• Warning to Wantons (1948)
• Easy Money (1948)
• Miranda (1948)
• Broken Journey (1948)
• Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948)
• My Brother's Keeper (1948)
• Love in Waiting (1948)
• Here Come the Huggetts (1948)
• Vote for Huggett (1949)
• Marry Me (1949)
• Helter Skelter (1949)
• The Chiltern Hundreds (1949)
• Landfall (1949)
• So Long at the Fair (1950)
• The Wooden Horse (1950)
• Calling Bulldog Drummond (1951)
• Hotel Sahara (1951)
• The Magic Box (1951)
• Made in Heaven (1952)
• Castle in the Air (1952)
• Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? (1953)
• All for Mary (1955)
• Three Men in a Boat (1956)
• Carry on Admiral (1957) [note: not a Carry On film]
• Up the Creek (1958)
• Further up the Creek (1959)
• Follow That Horse! (1960)
• Tom Jones (1963)
• The Truth About Spring (1964)
• Mary Poppins (1964)
• The City Under the Sea (1965)
• The Liquidator (1965)
• The Love Bug (1968)
• Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
• Bons baisers de Hong Kong (From Hong Kong with Love) (1975)
• Wombling Free (1977)
• The Water Babies (1978)
• Dominuque (1978)
• The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980)

References

Further reading

• Luckier Than Most, Tomlinson's autobiography, published in 1990.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: David Tomlinson

• David Tomlinson at the Internet Movie Database
• David Tomlinson at Find A Grave
• Mary Poppins Star Dies - BBC News obituary from 2000