- When he first became a stage actor, his speaking voice was comparatively high-pitched, so he had voice coaching to lower it and make it more imposing and sonorous. When he later started acting in films, his modified voice was too deep for the young parts that he was auditioning for, so he had further voice coaching to raise it about an octave.
- When his cousin Frank was called up into the RAF during WWII, he was in mid-rehearsal for a play, and asked Donald to take over his role. Frank was later killed in action.
- Because he had negative buoyancy when he was filming The Cruel Sea (1953) and had to be in the water, he lay on top of a stuntman.
- Spitting Image (1984) created a puppet of him and he featured in several of their sketches. In one scene he is in a restaurant, and asks "Do you serve a ham salad?", to which the waiter replies "Yes, we serve salad to anyone".
- He trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, whose alumni include Terence Stamp, Hugh Bonneville, Rupert Friend, Angela Lansbury, Matthew Goode, Sue Johnston, Minnie Driver, Daniel Hunt, Nicholas Courtney and Julian Fellowes.
- He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1979 Queen's New Year Honours List and created a Knight Bachelor in the 1997 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama.
- He was nominated for Broadway's 1976 Tony Award as Best Actor (Play) for "Habeas Corpus".
- He joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1946, despite having hated Shakespeare when he was at school.
- He performed extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
- Was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
- First appeared on television in 1948 in Bullet in the Ballet.
- His father, brother and sister were keen actors, and he and his mother had to watch them perform.
- He was brought up in Ditching, Sussex.
- He was given the freedom of the City of London.
- Grandfather of Henry Hal Sinden and Bridie Sinden.
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