14 Facts About Sam Kydd

An army officer's son, Sam Kydd was born on 15 February 1915 in Belfast, Ireland, and moved to London as a child.

Sam Kydd was educated at Dunstable School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire.

Sam Kydd worked on the same bill as Bud Flanagan in Scarborough.

Sam Kydd later wrote of his experiences as a POW in his autobiographical book For You the War Is Over.

Sam Kydd felt so strongly about his work there that, when he was offered repatriation after three years, he turned it down to continue with his theatrical work.

Sam Kydd went on to appear in more than 290 films and 1,000 TV plays and series, including such films as The Blue Lamp, Father Brown, The 39 Steps and I'm All Right Jack.

Sam Kydd often played the part of a strong and resilient cockney, though he made many appearances as Irishmen as well, in both comedy and drama.

Sam Kydd appeared in the big-screen versions of Dad's Army and Till Death Us Do Part.

In 1963, Sam Kydd appeared as the lovable smuggler Orlando O'Connor in Crane starring Patrick Allen as a Briton who moved to Morocco to run a cafe and had an aversion to smuggling.

Sam Kydd appeared on TV in The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Pickwick Papers, Mess Mates, The Arthur Askey Show, The Benny Hill Show, The Charlie Drake Show, The Harry Worth Show, The Expert, 11 different characters in Dixon of Dock Green, Fossett Saga, Curry and Chips, The Tony Hancock Show, Minder, Crossroads, Coronation Street, The Eric Sykes Show, and Follyfoot.

Sam Kydd was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1974 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.

Sam Kydd married Pinkie Barnes, an ex-international table tennis champion and one of Britain's first women advertising copywriters.

Sam Kydd died of emphysema on 26 March 1982, aged 67.

Jonathan Sam Kydd reported that his father smoked up to 80 cigarettes a day.