Thurston Hall(1882-1958)
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Movies, especially comedies, have always needed big, blustery, booming
authoritarian types for the lead to play off of (or against), and one
of the best was Thurston Hall, most famous for his role of Mr. Schuyler
in the Topper (1953) series of the early 1950s. Hall was a tall,
distinguished, imposing-looking man, which fit perfectly with the
variety of military officers, wealthy businessmen, bankers and
upper-crust types he played so well. The Boston-born Hall was attracted
to a theatrical career as a youth, and toured New England with a
theater troupe and eventually journeyed to Britain, where he spent
several years on the stage. He formed his own theater company and
successfully toured South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. By the
time he entered films he was an established and successful stage actor,
in both the U.S. and Europe. He started out in silent films, but his
rich baritone voice enabled him to easily transition into talkies. He
appeared in more than 200 films, his final one being Affair in Reno (1956), although
he had kept busy in television, with appearances on many different
series in addition to his co-starring role on "Topper". He died of a
heart attack in 1958.
