Born October 24th 1882 in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England
Died June 9th 1976, London
Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike was an Actress of remarkable versatility. She was the daughter of a Canon of Rochester Cathedral and spent most of her childhood in Rochester. She lived in Minor Canon Row behind Rochester Cathedral attending to the school that was previously on the site of the surgery. For those of you visiting Rochester her house is clearly marked with a plaque but is in private ownership.
She initially trained as a Pianist at the Guildhall School of Music but made her acting debut in 1904 as Palmis in the 'Palace of Truth' and on the same evening went on to play in the Merry Wives of Windsor. She took every kind of role from the saint to the she-demon. During the 1914-18 war when the 'Old Vic' was short of men she even played male parts (as the fool in King Lear). To look at her list of parts, filling column after column in the theatrical 'Who's Who' is to realise that she must have memorised lines by the myriad. There scarcely seems to be a classic role which she has not played.
She met her future husband, Lewis Casson, in the lion house at Dublin zoo. Dame Sybil recalled that 'Lewis was there trying to mesmerise the animals and ended by mesmerising me'. With wedding clothes said to have been borrowed from the theatre wardrobe, they found time for marriage in 1906.
One of her more famous roles was as Saint Joan in Bernard Shaw's play, she was chosen for excellent reasons. She was able to combine the gritty good sense of comedy with the emotional impact of tragedy, establishing at once the peasant girl of Lorraine before becoming the conquering hero of the English wars.
She became Dame Commander of the British Empire in June 1931 and was given the freedom of the City of Rochester in 1929 .During the second world war Dame Sybil toured the mining areas as Lady Macbeth, Medea and Candida accompanied by her husband Sir Lewis.
Her health and vigour did not desert here in middle age,. In her sixties she broke new ground giving a whole gallery of portraits of elderly women. In 1962, she undertook an arduous tour of Australia. Even whilst celebrating her Golden wedding anniversary aged 80 she was still on the stage co-starring with her husband in the play 'Eighty in the Shade'