Sydney Tafler

British actor (1916-1979)

Sydney Tafler

Born	(1916-07-31)31 July 1916 Hackney, London, England^[1]
Died	8 November 1979(1979-11-08) (aged 63) Richmond upon Thames, Surrey, England^[2]
Education	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1936–1980
Spouse	Joy Shelton (1944–1979)

Sydney Tafler (31 July 1916 – 8 November 1979) was an English actor who after having started his career on stage, was best remembered for numerous appearances in films and television from the 1940s to the 1970s.^[3]

Personal life

Tafler was born into a Jewish family, the son of Eva (née Kosky) and Mark Tafler, an antique dealer.^[4]^[5] His sister, Hylda, married the film director Lewis Gilbert. Another sister, Sheila, was also an actress.^[6]

He was married to the actress Joy Shelton from 1941 until his death^[7] from cancer; they had three children – two sons, Jeremy and Jonathan, and a daughter, Jennifer, who became a child actress.

Career

After two years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Tafler first appeared on stage in London's West End in 1936, with Sir Seymour Hicks in The Man in Dress Clothes. His other stage roles included the menacing character of Nat Goldberg in a production of Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party, directed by the playwright;^[8] a role he reprised in William Friedkin's 1968 film version, alongside Robert Shaw and Patrick Magee.

On British television he appeared alongside Sid James in Citizen James. His other television work included Angel Pavement, The Gentle Killers, The Infernal Machine, Focus, Dixon of Dock Green, Wodehouse Playhouse, and Hadleigh. He appeared in many films from 1947 to 1977, including The Lavender Hill Mob, The Sea Shall Not Have Them, and Alfie, frequently being directed by his brother-in-law Lewis Gilbert.

He most commonly played spiv characters, one notable exception being the film Reach for the Sky (1956) in which he played the sympathetic prosthetics expert to Douglas Bader.^[9] There again, he appeared briefly in a drily comic role as a uniformed policeman in the film The Cockleshell Heroes (also 1956). His film career ended with a featured role as the captain of the supertanker Liparus in the popular James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).

Selected filmography

Film

Cottage to Let (1941) as RAF Officer (uncredited)
The Little Ballerina (1947) as (uncredited)
It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) as Morry Hyams
Uneasy Terms (1948) as Maysin
London Belongs to Me (1948) as Nightclub Receptionist
No Room at the Inn (1948) as Stranger
The Monkey's Paw (1948) as The Dealer
Broken Journey (1948), uncredited, final scene.
Passport to Pimlico (1949) as Fred Cowan
Dance Hall (1950) as Manager
Once a Sinner (1950) as Jimmy Smart
Assassin for Hire (1951) as Antonio Riccardi
Scarlet Thread (1951) as Marcon
The Galloping Major (1951) as Mr. Leon
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) as Clayton
Chelsea Story (1951) as Fletcher Gilchrist
Hotel Sahara (1951) as Corporal Pullar
Mystery Junction (1951) as Larry Gordon
Blind Man's Bluff (1952) as Rick Martin
Secret People (1952) as Syd Burnett
Wide Boy (1952) as Benny
Emergency Call (1952) as Brett
Time Gentlemen, Please! (1952) as Joseph Spink
Venetian Bird (1952) as Boldesca
The Floating Dutchman (1952) as Victor Skinner
There Was a Young Lady (1953) as Johnny
Johnny on the Run (1953) as Harry
The Square Ring (1953) as 1st Wiseacre
The Saint's Return (1953) as Max Lennar
Operation Diplomat (1953) as Wade
The Crowded Day (1954) as Alex
The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954) as Cpl. Robb
The Glass Cage (1955) as Rorke
A Kid for Two Farthings (1955) as Madam Rita
The Woman for Joe (1955) as Butch
The Cockleshell Heroes (1955) as Policeman
Dial 999 (1955) as Alf Cressett
The Long Arm (1956) as Stone
Fire Maidens from Outer Space (1956) as Dr. Higgins
Reach for the Sky (1956) as Robert Desoutter
The Counterfeit Plan (1957) as Harry Flint
Interpol (1957) as Curtis
The Surgeon's Knife (1957) as Dr. Hearne
Carve Her Name with Pride (1958) as Potter
The Bank Raiders (1958) as Bernie Shelton
Too Many Crooks (1959) as Solicitor
The Crowning Touch (1959) as Joe
Follow a Star (1959) as Pendlebury
Tommy the Toreador (1959) as Ramon (uncredited)
Sink the Bismarck! (1960) as First Workman
Bottoms Up (1960) as Sid Biggs
Let's Get Married (1960) as Pendle
Light Up the Sky! (1960) as Ted Green
Make Mine Mink (1960) as Lionel Spanager
The Bulldog Breed (1960) as Speedboat Owner
Five Golden Hours (1961) as Alfredo
No Kidding (1961) as Mr. Rockbottom
Carry On Regardless (1961) as Strip Club Manager
A Weekend with Lulu (1961) as Stationmaster
The 7th Dawn (1964) as Tom. Chief Petty Officer
Promise Her Anything (1965) as Panel Participant
Runaway Railway (1965) as Mr. Jones
Alfie (1966) as Frank
The Sandwich Man (1966) as First Fish Porter
Berserk! (1967) as Harrison Liston
The Birthday Party (1968) as Nat Goldberg
The Adventurers (1970) as Col. Gutierrez
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) as Liparus captain

Television

Sunday-Night Theatre (1950-1957, 8 episodes) as Harry Soames / George Ware / Professor Frey / Alexander Lopakhin / Chauvelin / Petronius Arbiter / Dorn / Chauvelin
Back to Methuselah (1952, 2 episodes) as Ghost of Cain / Cain
Your Favorite Story (1953, 1 episode)
ITV Play of the Week (1955, 1 episode) as Nacky
Theatre Royal (1955, 1 episode)
Angel Pavement (1957-1958, 4 episodes) as Mr. Golspie
Educated Evans (1957, 1 episode) as Morry Green
The Gentle Killers (1957, 6 episodes)
ITV Television Playhouse (1957-1960, 3 episodes) as Gregor / Charlie / Landrieu
East End, West End (1958, 1 episode)
Dick and the Duchess (1958, 2 episodes) as Giuseppe
Theatre Night (1958, 1 episode) as Pedro Juarez
Dial 999, ( including the 'Night Mail', and 'The Big Fish', episodes, plus one more)-(1958-1959, 3 episodes) as Pete / Smiler Harris / Mick Coletta
Alfred Marks Time (1959, 1 episode)
Playhouse 90 (1959, 1 episode) as Club Manager
The Third Man (1959-1962, 2 episodes) as George Freeman / Colonel Abu Said
Whack-O! (1959, 1 episode) as Harrison Jessel
Glencannon (1959, 1 episode) as Mr. Daninds
Citizen James (1960-1962, 31 episodes) as Charlie Davenport
Boyd Q.C. (1960, 1 episode) as De Viani
The Larkins (1960, 1 episode) as Sidney Foskett
Knight Errant Limited (1960, 1 episode) as Angelo Broza
Danger Man (1960, 1 episode) as Mikhail Radek
A Christmas Night with the Stars (1960, 1 episode) as Charlie Davenport - with Sid James
No Hiding Place (1961-1965, 3 episodes) as Marty Cook / Charlie Monkton / Lew Hemming
The Arthur Askey Show (1961, 2 episodes) as Oscar Lamouche
Three Live Wires (1961, 1 episode)
Hamlet (1961, 5 episodes) as Claudius
Here's Harry (1961, 1 episode)
Deadline Midnight (1961, 1 episode) as Bluey Roxon
Comedy Playhouse (1962, 1 episode) as Lionel
Z-Cars (1963-1974, 5 episodes) as Ray Dawson / Willy Tyndale / Wasilewski / Ray Dawson / Oliver Snow
A World of His Own (1964, 1 episode)
Gideon's Way (1964, 1 episode) as Gabriel Lyon
Dixon of Dock Green (1964-1969, 3 episodes) as Mr. Green / Peter Cassidy / Ralph Edwards
Front Page Story (1965, 1 episode) as Waterman
A Slight Case of... (1965, 1 episode)
Theatre 625 (1966, 2 episodes) as Shamrayef / Finkelstein
The Wednesday Play (1966-1970, 2 episodes) as Blaustein / Arthur Bradshaw
Sam and Janet (1967, 1 episode) as Mr. Spalding
The World of Wooster (1967, 1 episode) as Jas. Waterbury
Man in a Suitcase (1968, 1 episode) as Reynolds
The Ugliest Girl in Town (1968, 1 episode) as Bert Pooley
Me Mammy (1969, 1 episode) as Sir Gerald Bronstein
Hadleigh (1969, 1 episode) as Zinneman
Coronation Street (1969, 2 episodes) as Mr. Maddox-Smith
W. Somerset Maugham (1970, 1 episode) as Sir Adolphus Bland
Misleading Cases (1971, 1 episode) as Mr. Benkle
Alexander the Greatest (1971-1972, 13 episodes) as Joe Green
The Adventurer (1973, 1 episode) as Wyvern
Love Story (1973, 1 episode) as Mr. Miller
Van der Valk (1973, 3 episodes) as Halsbeek
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1973, 1 episode) as Lockwood
Play for Today (1973-1977, 2 episodes) as Harry Perlman / Mr. Crowley
Vienna 1900 (1974, 1 episode) as Herr Klingemann
Marked Personal (1974, 1 episode) as Cartwright
Village Hall (1974, 1 episode) as Arthur Bolton
Churchill's People (1975, 1 episode) as Haskelot
Crown Court (1975, 1 episode) as Harry Simons
The Sweeney (1975, 1 episode) as Manny Bellow
Wodehouse Playhouse (1975-1976, 2 episodes) as Isadore Q. Fishbein
Yes, Honestly (1976, 1 episode) as Harry Burton
Survivors (1976, 2 episodes) as Manny
Victorian Scandals (1976, 1 episode) as Achille Fould
Thriller (1976, 1 episode) as Sam Meadows
Do You Remember? (1978, 1 episode) as Ambrose Solto
Devenish (1978, 1 episode) as Sidney Bloom
Potter (1979, 1 episode) as Harry Tooms
Cannon and Ball (1979, 1 episode) as The Agent
BBC2 Playhouse (1980, 1 episode) as Kugelmann
The Enigma Files (1980, 1 episode) as Solly King (final appearance)

References

^ "England & Wales Births 1837-2006". Findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
^ "England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007". Findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
^ "Sydney Tafler". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2014. Born: 31 July 1916, London. Died: 7 November 1979, London.
^ "England & Wales Marriages 1837-2005". Findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
^ "England & Wales Marriages 1837-2005". Findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
^ Howard Maxford (2 November 2018). Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. McFarland. p. 780. ISBN 978-1-4766-2914-8.
^ McGillivray, David (15 May 2000). "Joy Shelton". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
^ Plays and Players. Hansom Books. 1974.
^ "Tafler, Sydney (1916-79)". Screenonline. Retrieved 6 November 2013.