- Born: Sep 07, 1924
- Occupation: Actor
- Active: '50s
- Major Genres: Drama, War
- Career Highlights: The Invisible Man, The Haunted Strangler
- First Major Screen Credit: The Haunted Strangler (1958)
Biography
Kent-born actor Tim Turner made his career in British movies and television from his late twenties. After playing uncredited roles in productions such as Mario Zampi's 1952 comedy Top Secret (aka Mr. Potts Goes to Moscow) starring George Cole, and John Huston's Moulin Rouge (1952), he moved on to slightly bigger parts in movies such as The Red Beret (1953), The Dam Busters (1954), A Town Like Alice (1956), and A Night to Remember (1958). In 1958, he got his one major big-screen role, playing Kenneth McColl in The Haunted Strangler (1958). The starring role put him alongside screen legend Boris Karloff and in the company of such top British film names as Jean Kent and Anthony Dawson. That same year, Turner was cast in the role for which he would achieve -- after a lapse of many years -- the greatest recognition of his career, but it was very peculiar brand of recognition and "fame."Writer/producer Ralph Smart had done a pilot episode for a proposed television series called The Invisible Man, and while the results weren't good enough to air, the idea had proved sound. In revamping the series, Turner was cast to voice the role of Dr. Peter Brady, the never-seen hero of the series. Turner's trans-Atlantic accent made him ideal for this new variety of action-adventure series, to be shot on film and sold overseas. Smart and other producers were always looking for actors (and usually finding them in Australia) whose accents could pass muster with audiences on either side of the Atlantic. The irony is that, as part of the means of generating mystique and publicity for the The Invisible Man, Turner was never credited -- the star was simply listed as The Invisible Man, and his identity remained a secret until 1965, when it was revealed in a U.K. magazine article published just as the series was about to end its latest rerun cycle in England. Turner continued to work in movies into the early '60s, and, among other credits, he was the actor who "re-voiced" American actor Todd Armstrong (again, without credit) in the Ray Harryhausen-created fantasy adventure epic Jason and the Argonauts (1963). He has since achieved an unusual variety of cult fame, especially in England, because of The Invisible Man. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
