Richard Todd
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Richard Todd OBE |
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|---|---|
Publicity photo, circa 1959.
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| Born |
Richard Andrew Palethorpe Todd 11 June 1919 Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, formerly United Kingdom |
| Died |
3 December 2009 (aged 90) Bourne,Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
| Occupation |
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| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 5 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
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| Service/branch |
 British Army
|
| Years of service | 1941–1946 |
| Unit |
King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Parachute Regiment |
| Battles/wars | |
Richard Andrew Palethorpe Todd OBE (11 June 1919 – 3 December 2009) was an Irish-born British soldier and stage and film actor.
Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for his country. Richard spent a few of his childhood years in India, where his father, an officer in the British Army, served as a physician.
Later his family moved to Devon and Todd attended Shrewsbury School. Upon leaving school, Todd trained for a potential military career at Sandhurst before beginning his acting training at the Italia Conti Academy.
This change in career led to estrangement from his mother. When he learned at age 19 that she had committed suicide, he did not grieve long for her, he admitted in later life.
He first appeared professionally as an actor at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park in 1936 in a production of Twelfth Night. He played in regional theatres and then co-founded the Dundee Repertory Theatre in 1939.
At the beginning of World War II Todd enlisted into the British Army, receiving a commission in 1941. Initially, he served in the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) before joining the Parachute Regiment, being assigned to the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion as part of the British 6th Airborne Division.
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