Leon Sinden and his 50 starring years at Pitlochry Festival Theatre: An Appreciation

Pitlochry Festival Theatre announced today the sad news that the wonderful Stage and TV actor, Leon Sinden passed away yesterday morning. He had been battling cancer for the last two years.

A member of the great Sinden acting dynasty – the late Sir Donald was his brother – Leon first appeared at PFT in the 1965 Summer Season and went on to feature regularly in the PFT ensemble over the next thirty years, often alongside his partner and fellow actor, the great Walter Carr.

Numerous roles at the Theatre in the Hills include Anselme in The Miser, Lord Augustus Lorton in Lady Windermere’s Fan, Mr Codie in Dear Brutus, Mr Venables in What Every Woman Knows and Lord Caversham in An Ideal Husband.

Over his wide ranging dramatic career, he appeared regularly in many TV series including Take the High Road, Taggart, Z Cars, The Avengers, Dr. Finlay's Casebook and Upstairs Downstairs.

A theatre critic, writing about 'The Happy Prisoner' in 1951 said ‘Leon Sinden again shows his remarkable versatility. Indeed only the keenest programme readers probably ever spot Mr Sinden. That is because he never appears on stage as himself; he is lost in whatever characterisation he has to assume. This is good acting.’

He also starred in Terence Rattigan’s Ross with Sir Alec Guiness at the Haymarket Theatre, London, enjoyed a year with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and also performed with his brother Donald in an eight month’s run in Peter Hall’s production of She Stoops to Conquer. The two brothers worked together only five times in 50 years.

Leon Sinden retired from the stage after the 1994 PFT Summer Season but he continued his close relationhip with the Theatre due to his passionate supporter of the PFT repertoire system. With six plays performed in tandem across the summmer season, the hard working actors take on contrasting parts in up to three plays.

To recognise these talented actors, he created the annual Leon Sinden Awards. Audience members may vote for the ensemble members whom they consider to have contributed the Best Performance in a Supporting Role.

Despite his illness, Mr Sinden was able to join the Pitlochry company on stage at the last night of the Summer Season on 19th October, 2015 to present the Awards which bear his name.

PFT’s Artistic Director, John Durnin, said that the sense of loss felt at PFT would be shared throughout the theatre industry in Scotland and the UK . He went on:

“Always a true gentleman, in the very best sense of that word, courteous, generous, enthusiastic, and always supportive of the newer generations of actors and of everything that PFT did, Leon was a true friend to everyone at the Theatre in the Hills. The awards which he created will live on, thanks to a generous endowment that Leon made a few years ago. His passing will be felt deeply by us all."