Arthur Russell Thorndike, a British actor, novelist, and author, was born on February 6, 1885, in Rochester, Kent, to a family with strong artistic roots. His father, a canon at Rochester Cathedral, encouraged his early interest in music, and Russell became a chorister of the Chapel Royal. He was educated at St George's School, Windsor Castle, and later attended Ben Greet's Academy, where he began his acting career in 1903 alongside his sister, Dame Sybil Thorndike.
Russell's early years in the theatre were marked by a series of tours, including a North American tour in 1905, during which he performed in New York. He remained with Ben Greet's company for three-and-a-half years, taking on a variety of roles, including three performances as Hamlet in different versions of the play on the same day. He also toured in South Africa and Asia, honing his craft and gaining valuable experience.
In 1914, Russell entered military service, where he was severely wounded at Gallipoli and discharged. After his recovery, he rejoined his sister and Ben Greet's company at the Old Vic, where he played a range of classical roles, including King John, Richard II, and King Lear. He also acted alongside his sister and her husband, Lewis Casson, in their touring repertory of melodramas.
In the 1920s, Russell's film career began to take off, with appearances in silent versions of classic plays such as Macbeth, A Christmas Carol, and The School for Scandal. He continued to work in film and theatre throughout the 1930s and 1940s, including a minor priest role in Laurence Olivier's productions of Hamlet and Richard III.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Russell continued to act on stage, playing a range of roles, including his own character, Dr Syn, and entertaining audiences as Smee in ten revivals of "Peter Pan." Despite his success as an actor, Russell's true passion was writing, and he went on to publish several novels, including "The House of Jeffreys." He married Rosemary Dowson, a daughter of the actress Rosina Filippi, in 1918, and died on November 7, 1972, at the age of 87.
