Richard Todd

Born in Ireland and raised in England, handsome leading man Richard Todd was a founding member of the Dundee Repertory Theatre of Scotland prior to his long and distinguished WWII service, first with the King's Own Light Infantry and later with a parachute regiment. After the war, he burst upon the scene as the doomed Scot of "The Hasty Heart" (1949), earning an Oscar nomination as Best Actor for his compelling performance, and he would also deliver one of his most highly-acclaimed portrayals as another Scotsman, US Senate chaplain Peter Marshall, in Henry Koster's "A Man Called Peter" (1955). Todd was a dashing Robin Hood (though overshadowed by his supporting characters) in "Robin Hood and His Merrie Men" (1953) and an ambitious Sir Walter Raleigh, whose eye for toothsome Joan Collins alienates the affections of monarch Bette Davis in Koster's "The Virgin Queen" (also 1955), but for the most part, his best work came in World War II dramas that gave the former soldier the chance for his art to imitate his life.