Career Highlights: Frankenstein Created Woman, Ring of Treason, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
First Major Screen Credit: Secret Journey (1939)
Biography
Beefy British actor Thorley Walters was appearing in "quota quickies" as early as 1934's First Love. But it was in the '50s that Walters truly came into his own as an irresistably deflatable authority figure in such British comedies as Private's Progress (1955), Carleton Brown of the FO (1958) and Two Way Stretch (1961). Even in cameo roles, Walters made his acting weight effectively felt, as witness Rotten to the Core (1965) and Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1965). Thorley Walters was also a excellent Dr. Watson, essaying the role in the German-made Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962) and Gene Wilder's The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1977). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In the DVD commentary to The Man Who Haunted Himself, Roger Moore mentioned that co-star Walters lived in Dolphin Square, the prestigious apartment block in Pimlico, London in which some scenes of the film were shot.
Thorley and Richard Hope-Hawkins visited the ailing Terry-Thomas in Barnes, London in 1989. Walters had starred with Terry in the Boulting Brother's film Carlton-Browne of the F.O., and was shocked at his appearance (he was ill with Parkinson's Disease). That visit resulted in the "Terry-Thomas Gala" held in the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in the same year which raised funds to help Terry live the rest of his life in comfort. Hope-Hawkins was with Walters and actress Siobhan Redmond, when he died in a London nursing home. Actor Ian Bannen gave the main address at his funeral held at Golders Green.