Geoffrey Forbes Lumsden (26 December 1914 – 4 March 1984) was a British

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

who had a lengthy career on television. Lumsden was born in London in 1914 and attended

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, ...

, where he was a contemporary of

Denton Welch Maurice Denton Welch (29 March 1915 – 30 December 1948) was a British writer and painter, admired for his vivid prose and precise descriptions. Life Welch was born in Shanghai, China, to Arthur Joseph Welch, a wealthy British rubber merchant, ...

. By the time he had left school, both his parents had died. While living with his uncle he reluctantly trained as an engineer at a colliery. It was at the colliery that he first became interested in acting when he organised concerts for the workforce, and won a scholarship to train at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

while still working there. In 1938, he married Judith Cope. Working in

repertory theatre A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...

, his theatrical career was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

during which he served in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. Returning to the theatre after the war, he became a

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and appeared on various TV shows and films. In 1947, he married Helen A. Syme at

Cuckfield Cuckfield ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeas ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. On

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

he appeared as Sir Francis Getliffe in '' The Affair'' at the

Henry Miller Theatre The Stephen Sondheim Theatre, formerly Henry Miller's Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 124 West 43rd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Owned by the Durst Organization and managed by the Roundabout Theatre ...

(1962) and as Major Hugh Beresford Maitland in ''

Hostile Witness A hostile witness, also known as an adverse witness or an unfavorable witness, is a witness at trial (law), trial whose testimony on direct examination is either openly antagonistic or appears to be contrary to the legal position of the party ...

'' at the

Music Box Theatre The Music Box Theatre is a Broadway theater at 239 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1921, the Music Box Theatre was designed by C. Howard Crane in a Palladian-inspir ...

(1966). He wrote and starred in the 1958

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

Caught Napping ''Caught Napping'' is a 1959 comedy play by the British writer Geoffrey Lumsden. It premiered at the Salisbury Playhouse, under its original title ''Gwendolyn'' before transferring to the Piccadilly Theatre in London's West End where it ran for ...

'' in the West End. It was later revived in 1978 starring

Arthur Lowe Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was an English actor. His acting career spanned 36 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom ''Dad' ...

Bill Pertwee William Desmond Anthony Pertwee, (21 July 1926 – 27 May 2013) was a British comedy actor. He played the role of Chief ARP Warden Hodges in the sitcom ''Dad's Army''. Early life Pertwee was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on 21 July 1926 ...

and Edward Evans. His best known role was as

Captain Square ''Dad's Army'' is a British television sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran for ...

in ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

'', the pompous commander of the Eastgate platoon of the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...

, who is a rival of

Captain Mainwaring Captain George Mainwaring () is a fictional Home Guard captain, first portrayed by Arthur Lowe in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. In the 2016 movie he is played by Toby Jones and in the 2019 remake of three missing episodes he is p ...

. Other TV appearances included '' Rookery Nook'', '' Upstairs, Downstairs'', ''

It Ain't Half Hot Mum ''It Ain't Half Hot, Mum'' is a BBC television sitcom about a Royal Artillery concert party based in Deolali in British India and the fictional village of Tin Min in Burma, during the last months of the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy ...

'' and '' Edward & Mrs. Simpson''. Lumsden died in London in 1984, aged 69.>https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/geoffrey-lumsden-101615 His uncles were the first-class cricketers

Oswald Oswald may refer to: People * Oswald (given name), including a list of people with the name *Oswald (surname), including a list of people with the name Fictional characters *Oswald the Reeve, who tells a tale in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbu ...

and

William Lumsden William Forbes Lumsden (4 September 1879 — 28 October 1956) was a Scottish people, Scottish first-class cricketer and British Army officer. The son of the advocate James Forbes Lumsden, he was born in September 1879 at Peterculter, Petercul ...

Selected screen credits

Selected stage credits

* ''

The Iron Duchess ''The Iron Duchess'' is a 1957 comedy play by the British writer William Douglas Home. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Brighton before transferring to the Fortune Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 83 performances from the 14 Marc ...

'' by

William Douglas Home William Douglas Home (3 June 1912 – 28 September 1992) was a British dramatist and politician. Early life Douglas-Home (he later dropped the hyphen from his surname) was the third son of Charles Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home, and Lady Lili ...

(1957) * ''

'' by Geoffrey Lumsden (1959) * ''

Aunt Edwina ''Aunt Edwina'' is a 1959 comedy play by the British writer William Douglas Home. It premiered at Devonshire Park Theatre in Eastbourne before beginning a run of 101 performances in London between 3 November 1959 and 6 February 1960 initially at ...

'' by

(1959)

References

External links

* * British male television actors 1914 births 1984 deaths 20th-century British male actors People educated at Repton School British Army personnel of World War II Royal Scots officers {{UK-tv-actor-1910s-stub