Leonard Sachs

Leonard Meyer Sachs (26 September 1909 – 15 June 1990) was a South African-born British actor.[1]

For similarly named people, see Leonard Sax (disambiguation).

Leonard Sachs
Born
Leonard Meyer Sachs

(1909-09-26)26 September 1909
Roodepoort, Transvaal, South Africa
Died15 June 1990(1990-06-15) (aged 80)
Westminster, London, England
OccupationActor
Years active1936–1983
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1947)​
Children2, including Robin Sachs

Life and career

Sachs was born in the town of Roodepoort, Transvaal (now Gauteng), South Africa.[2] He was Jewish.[3] He emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1929 and had many television and film roles from the 1930s to the 1980s, including Mowbray in the 1950 version of Richard II, John Wesley in the 1954 film of the same name and Lord Mount Severn in East Lynne from 1976.[4][5][6]

He founded an Old Time Music Hall, named the Players' Theatre, in Villiers Street, Charing Cross, London. He appeared as the Chairman of the Leeds City Varieties in the long-running BBC television series The Good Old Days, which ran from 1953 to 1983, and became well known for his elaborate, sesquipedalian introductions of the performers.[7] Sachs was honoured in a 1977 episode of This is Your Life.[8]

Sachs appeared in Danger Man with Patrick McGoohan.[9] He had two appearances in the science fiction series Doctor Who: as Admiral Gaspard de Coligny in The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve in 1966 and as Lord President Borusa in Arc of Infinity in 1983.[10] He also appeared in the 1985 Royal Variety Performance in a tribute to The Good Old Days.

Personal life

Sachs married the actress Eleanor Summerfield in 1947. They had two sons, the actor Robin Sachs and Toby Sachs.[11]

In January 1984, he was fined £75 for "importuning men for an immoral purpose" at Notting Hill Gate tube station.[12]

Sachs died in Westminster, London in 1990 at the age of 80.

Selected filmography

References
  1. "Leonard Sachs". BFI. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012.
  2. "Leonard Sachs". TV.com.
  3. "British Jewry Hall of Fame". ukinformedinvestor.co.uk.
  4. "The Tragedy of King Richard II (1950)". BFI. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012.
  5. "Leonard Sachs – Movies and Filmography". AllMovie.
  6. "East Lynne (1976)". BFI. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015.
  7. "BFI Screenonline: Good Old Days, The (1953–83)". screenonline.org.uk.
  8. "Big Red Book article". bigredbook.info.
  9. "Danger Man: The Coyannis Story". TV.com.
  10. "Leonard Sachs". TV.com.
  11. Eric Shorter. "Obituary: Eleanor Summerfield". The Guardian.
  12. "Sachs fined". The Times. 17 January 1984. p. 3. Leonard Sachs, aged 74, compere of the BBC's Good Old Days television show, was fined £75... for importuning men for an immoral purpose in Notting Hill Gate Station public lavatories.
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