Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s.
Early life
Cuthbertson was born in Perth, Western Australia, son of Ernest and Isobel Ferguson (Darling) Cuthbertson.[1] He performed on stage and radio from an early age.
He was often cast in military roles, which was quite common in actors of his generation, especially those with a military air about them.[4] He made a brief appearance as a harassed staff officer, who then gets blown up, at the beginning of Ice Cold in Alex (1958). He was Captain Eric Simpson in Tunes of Glory (1960) as well as being cast as more stuffy regimental types in such films as Carrington V.C. (1954) and The Guns of Navarone (1961), (both of which starred David Niven)[5] and as the callous and officious Colonel Cavendish in The 7th Dawn (1964) with William Holden. In 1961 he appeared in the TV series Danger Man in the episode entitled "The Island" as Mr. Wilson. In 1962 he played a school teacher in Term of Trial with Laurence Olivier. He appeared four times in the television series The Avengers.[3]
Cuthbertson was long married to Dr Gertrude Willner, a refugee from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, who had been a lawyer originally, but became a teacher in Britain. They had an adopted son.
At the time of his death, Cuthbertson was living in Surbiton, Greater London.
