Richard Todd, 1919-2009

Today marks the birth anniversary of Irish-born British actor Richard Todd. Todd wasn't quite the biggest success in Hollywood, but he does appear in several interesting movies. When it comes to Hollywood, I could mention The Hasty Heart, which earned Todd an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, as a British soldier at an army field hospital during World War II who is terminally ill, but who isn't being told about it. One other notable Hollywood movie would be Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright, in which he plays the ex-boyfriend of Jane Wyman who is accused of a murder he may or may not have committed.

As for the British movies, you could do far worse than to watch The Dam Busters, which has Todd as a bomber who engages in a daring nighttime rade on the dams that provided hydroelectric power for the Nazi war machine. In fact, Todd appeared in several of those World War II action films, including both D-Day the Sixth of June and The Longest Day.