Most noted for his roles in popular Disney movies such as Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and The Love Bug.
David Tomlinson was born May 7th, 1917 in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. After attending Tonbridge School he left home to join the Grenadier Guards. After working as a clerk for London’s Shell House he began his acting career by appearing in amateur stage productions up until his film debut in 1940 in ‘Quiet Wedding’. He did experience a break in his acting career during WWII, were he entered the service as a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF. There is a story of his flying days continuing after the war had ended and he crashed a Tiger Moth plane very near to his backyard. Luckily his father, a prominent lawyer was able to defend him when he was put on trial for flying too low.
David Tomlinson's most famous role, known to generations of children is that of Mr. George Banks in Mary Poppins, he played the serious senior bank employee who has little time or patience for his children, after a run on the bank caused by his son he is forced to re-evaluate his priorities. The popularity of this movie at Disney enabled David Tomlinson to enjoy further roles in The Love Bug (1969) were he plays the devilishly evil Peter Thorndyke, who is bent on winning at any costs. David Tomlinson had the uncanny knack of playing an evil character that we all knew was the bad guy, but we couldn’t quite dislike him. He also went on to play another devilishly character in bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). David Tomlinson’s gift was in being able to play a character that may not have the most enduring qualities but he was able to bring lightheartedness to it that enabled you to enjoy and even root for his character.
David Tomlinson throughout his career never steered too far from comedies; he decided to retire from acting in 1979 in order to spend more time with his family. He was married for 47 years to Aubrey Freeman and they had four sons. David Tomlinson died peaceful in his sleep at the age of 83 years old on June 24th, 2000 after suffering a series of strokes.
He was interred at Home Grounds at Stratford Saye in Berkshire.
Garrison Follies (1940) • Name Rank and Number (1941)
• Pimpernel Smith (1941)
• Quiet Wedding (1941)
• My Wife's Family (1941)
• The Way to the Stars (1945)
• Journey Together (1946)
• I See a Dark Stranger (1946)
• School for Secrets (1946)
• Master of Bankdam (1947)
• Fame is the Spur (1947)
• Warning to Wantons (1948)
• Easy Money (1948)
• Miranda (1948)
• Broken Journey (1948)
• Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948)
• My Brother's Keeper (1948)
• Love in Waiting (1948)
• Here Come the Huggetts (1948)
• Vote for Huggett (1949)
• Marry Me (1949)
• Helter Skelter (1949)
• The Chiltern Hundreds (1949)
• Landfall (1949)
• So Long at the Fair (1950)
• The Wooden Horse (1950)
• Calling Bulldog Drummond (1951)
• Hotel Sahara (1951)
• The Magic Box (1951)
• Made in Heaven (1952)
• Castle in the Air (1952)
• Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? (1953)
• All for Mary (1955)
• Three Men in a Boat (1956)
• Carry on Admiral (1957) [note: not a Carry On film]
• Up the Creek (1958)
• Further up the Creek (1959)
• Follow That Horse! (1960)
• Tom Jones (1963)
• The Truth About Spring (1964)
• Mary Poppins (1964)
• The City Under the Sea (1965)
• The Liquidator (1965)
• The Love Bug (1968)
• Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
• Bons baisers de Hong Kong (From Hong Kong with Love) (1975)
• Wombling Free (1977)
• The Water Babies (1978)
• Dominuque (1978)
Most noted for his roles in popular Disney movies such as Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and The Love Bug.
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