Robert Dorning
| Robert Dorning | |
|---|---|
| Born |
13 May 1913 St Helens, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 21 February 1989 (aged 75) |
| Occupation | Musician, ballet dancer, actor |
Robert Dorning (13 May 1913 – 21 February 1989) was a musician, dance band vocalist, ballet dancer and stage, film and television actor. He is known to have performed in at least 77 television and film productions between 1940 and 1988.
Robert Dorning was born at 108 Croppers Hill in St Helens, Lancashire, England, on 13 May 1913. His father was Robert John Dorning who worked in a local pit as a coal miner haulier and his mother was Mary Elizabeth Dorning, formerly Howard. He was educated at Cowley Grammar School in St Helens, where he also learnt to play violin and saxophone. After leaving school, Dorning studied drama and dance in Liverpool with the intention of becoming a ballet dancer. During the 1930s he had a brief career as a musical comedian in theatre, before choosing acting as his profession.
His first known film role was in the crime drama, They Came By Night (1940). However, his acting career was interrupted by World War II and Dorning served in the RAF. After being demobbed, he utilised his ballet dancing talents when cast as a dancer in The Red Shoes (1948). During the 1950s he had supporting roles in at least ten films, mainly B-film crime dramas. Although his film career was overshadowed by his more prolific television work, towards the end of his career he was cast in a number of notable film productions. These included the Hammer film Fanatic (1965), Cul-de-Sac (1966), directed by Roman Polanski, Man About the House (1974), Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975), Carry On Emmannuelle (1978), The Human Factor (1979), Ragtime (1981), Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun (1982) and Mona Lisa (1986).
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