Jump to content

Marc Sinden

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Captainclegg (talk | contribs) at 20:07, 13 December 2009 (Factual & sourced info added + small deletions). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Marc Sinden
Born
Marcus Andrew Sinden

(1954-05-09) 9 May 1954 (age 70)
London, England
NationalityEnglish
EducationEdgeborough;
Stanbridge Earls;
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Occupation(s)Theatrical Producer and Actor
Known forcreating the British Theatre Season in Monaco
SpouseJo Gilbert (1977 – 1997)
ChildrenHenry (Hal) Sinden (b 1980)
Bridie Sinden (b 1990)
AwardsNominated: Sony Awards - Voice Over: Apple Computers 1984
Society Of London Theatre Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment 1998
Winner: Stage Award for Best Ensemble work 1999
WebsiteMarc Sinden Productions

Marc Sinden (born 9 May 1954) is an English theatre producer, artistic director and actor. His father is the actor Sir Donald Sinden.

As Producer

Theatre

His decision to change from being an actor to a producer coincided with being offered the position in 1993 of artistic director at Bernard Miles' famous Mermaid Theatre in Blackfriars, London where he created the Bernard Miles Studio, but left after a year.[2]

He then formed his own theatrical production company, presenting in 1996 the premiere of N.J. Crisp's That Good Night on a critically acclaimed national tour starring Sir Donald Sinden, Patrick Ryecart and Nigel Davenport and directing his first commercial tour, Edward Hall.[3] During this period he also produced a highly successful series of audio tapes including The Ballad of Reading Gaol read by Sir Donald Sinden and Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales with readings by Dame Judi Dench, Jeremy Irons, Sinéad Cusack, Joanna Lumley and Elaine Stritch.[4]

In 1997 Sinden was appointed associate producer for Bill Kenwright Ltd. As associate producer his West End credits are Lady Windermere's Fan (Haymarket); An Ideal Husband (Haymarket and Gielgud) and Pygmalion (Albery), which he cast and co-directed. Marc was responsible for the output of the Theatre Royal, Windsor, casting and producing such shows and subsequent tours as Catch Me If You Can; Canaries Sometimes Sing; My Fat Friend; Dangerous To Know; Huckleberry Finn; Aladdin; Pygmalion (tour); Lady Windermere's Fan (a co-production tour with the Royal Exchange, Manchester); Noël and Gertie; Passion (in concert at the Golders Green Hippodrome for CD recording); Fallen Angels; The Woman in Black; Move Over Mrs Markham and Time's Up.[5]

As associate producer he liaised between Bill Kenwright Ltd. and the Peter Hall Company for which he cast and was associate producer on the tour of Just The Three Of Us by Simon Gray and helped organise the Australian co-production tour of An Ideal Husband.[5]

In 1998 he resumed his independent career as Marc Sinden Productions and produced and co-directed Shakespeare's Villains with Steven Berkoff (Haymarket), which was nominated for a Society Of London Theatre Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment.[6]

Poster for the British Theatre Season, Monaco

He also produced the 25th anniversary revival of East, directed by the plays author Steven Berkoff, winning the Stage Award for Best Ensemble work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, (Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, Le Théâtre Silvia Monfort, Paris & Vaudeville) and produced the best-selling DVD of the production. Other productions include The Glee Club (Duchess) following its transfer from the Bush Theatre; Seven Deadly Sins Four Deadly Sinners, which he directed and also co-wrote with Carry On... writer Norman Hudis which is still touring; Asking For Trouble with Sheridan Morley; Sex Wars with Louise Jameson and Straker Sings Brel directed by Mel Smith.[7]

HSH Prince Albert of Monaco & Sinden, Monte Carlo Oct '07

In 2003 he established The One Night Booking Company,[8] which presents celebrity-led anthologies and recitals nationally and internationally on 'One Night Stands' and includes the enormously successful and trademarked An Evening with... series, showcasing famous actors and comedians, such as Terence Stamp, Julian Clary etc..[3]

In 2005 he created UK Theatre Availability.co.uk[9] a website specifically for Theatre Managers and Theatre Producers use only.[10]

In 2007 he created the British Theatre Season, Monaco bringing star-led theatrical shows to the Théâtre Princesse Grace in Monte Carlo.[11] On 17 October 2007, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco awarded the British Theatre Season his High Patronage.[12]

His latest production is to be Jeffrey Archer's Prison Diaries by FF8282, the theatrical adaptation of all three of the best-selling diaries chronicling Lord Archer's time in jail.[3]

Television

During the summer of 1998, Sinden had been teamed by the Ministry of Defence with Lt Col Mike Watkins MBE, head of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) at the Directorate of Land Service Ammunition, Royal Logistics Corps and the British Army’s leading Ammunition Technical Officer (commonly referred to by non-military personnel as Bomb Disposal expert).[13] Sinden was producing a documentary for LWT about the operation to clear unexploded mines and other volatile ordnance from First World War tunnels deep underground in Vimy Ridge, near Arras, northern France.[13] The tunnels, as described in Sebastian Faulks' novel Birdsong, are on the site of a battlefield where 60,000 troops died and are known to still contain a very large number of unexploded devices. This highly dangerous mission was being led by Lt Col Watkins.[14] In early August, he had successfully defused a single mine of over three tons of deteriorated ammonal explosive in one of the tunnels which threatened the Canadian National Vimy Memorial on the surface above. He had uncovered a 20-mile network of tunnels and had personally trained the small, crack team surveying the area and filming the assignment, which included Sinden.[13] On 11 August Lt Col Watkins was killed when earth fell on top of him as he worked in the entrance to a new tunnel. He and a junior officer colleague were six feet underground when it collapsed. The junior officer managed to scramble out unhurt.[13] Following the death of Lt Col Watkins the full extent of his covert EOD work could be made public. Sinden was quoted in various national daily newspapers: "His work was often secretive and undercover and it would have put him in great danger to publicise his actions while he was alive. Now he is dead it doesn't matter. I admired him more than anyone I have ever known. This man was the one true hero I have ever met. He single-handedly saved more lives than you can possibly imagine."[14] The ensuing Army Board of Inquiry found no one to blame, but made some recommendations concerning future safety on the site.[14] A finished documentary was released on DVD as One of our Mines is Missing.[15]

In 1999 he was appointed executive producer on the TV series Business Profiles for the satellite channel EuroNews.[16]

As Actor

Theatre

Sinden's acting work in the theatre is extensive with over 40 tours or West End productions to his credit, including 'Charles Surface' in The School for Scandal (Duke of York's) with his father Sir Donald Sinden. This was chosen as the British Council's 50th anniversary tour, playing in 21 cities in 10 countries.[4] He also starred in Two Into One (Shaftesbury) and Her Royal Highness (Palace), both written and directed by Ray Cooney; ‘Squire Sullen’ in The Beaux' Stratagem (Lyttelton, Royal National Theatre) opposite Brenda Blethyn; Over My Dead Body (Savoy) with June Whitfield; Underground with Raymond Burr (Prince of Wales and Royal Alexandra, Toronto); Ross with Simon Ward (Old Vic and Royal Alexandra, Toronto); Ray Davies' first musical Chorus Girls (Theatre Royal, Stratford East) and the première of Alan Bennett's Enjoy (Vaudeville) with Joan Plowright.[4]

A season at the Chichester Festival Theatre included ‘Stephen Undershaft’ in George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara with Sir Donald Sinden, directed by Christopher Morahan. At the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, ‘Broadbent’ in Shaw's rarely seen John Bull's Other Island with Cyril Cusack, directed by Joe Dowling and a very long national tour of Noël Coward's Private Lives with Gemma Craven.[4]

Television

He recently filmed Judge John Deed; the series Island set on Jersey and prior to that was ‘Martin Pryce’ in the multi award winning The Politician's Wife with Trevor Eve and Juliet Stevenson. He has also played leading roles in the BBC drama series' Century Falls and Country Boy; Against All Odds filmed in Lipik, Croatia during the height of the Bosnian War, with Roy Marsden; 'Inspector Stokesay' in two episodes of Magnum PI with Tom Selleck in a 2-hour feature length special; Never the Twain; Bergerac; Home Front; Rumpole of the Bailey with Leo McKern; Emmerdale; If You Go Down in the Woods Today written, directed by and with Eric Sykes; a regular character in the original series of Crossroads; Dick Turpin with Richard O'Sullivan; All at No 20 with Maureen Lipman and Wolf to the Slaughter, the first of the Ruth Rendell adaptations.[16]

Film / DVD

He made a guest appearance as 'Surveyor White' in the film version of Spike Milligan's novel Puckoon with Richard Attenborough, Elliott Gould, and Sean Hughes along with most of the rest of the cast from his previous feature film, the comedy The Brylcreem Boys (the first movie to be shot on the Isle of Man since the 1930s) in which he played 'Group Captain White' opposite Gabriel Byrne, Billy Campbell and Jean Butler, which won the London International Film Festival and he is slated to star as the Devil in the British indie movie Dealing for the Devil, filming in 2010.[17]

His other film work has taken him around the world and to a number of war zones. He was in Baghdad at the height of the Iran–Iraq War in al-Mas' Ala Al-Kubra with Oliver Reed, which was nominated for the Golden Prize at the 1983 Moscow International Film Festival. During one cavalry charge sequence, Sinden and British stuntman Ken Buckle took part in probably the last ever filming of the highly dangerous (and now banned) 'Running W' stunt, invented by the legendary Yakima Canutt. In 1990 the BBC and ITN bought some of the photographs that Sinden had taken in Baghdad and used them frequently in broadcasts during the early stages of the first Gulf War.[18]

Sinden was in Sierra Leone during the coup d’état in a French film Mangeuses d'Hommes; Luxembourg in Decadence with Steven Berkoff and Joan Collins; Vienna for an Italian movie Piccolo Grande Amore with Susannah York and David Warner; Michael Winner's The Wicked Lady with Faye Dunaway, Alan Bates and Sir John Gielgud; Taylor Hackford's White Nights with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Helen Mirren and Isabella Rossellini (which was the Royal Film Performance of 1986); 'Captain Perez' in Carry On Columbus directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Sindens' godfather Peter Rogers[19] and was 'Mr. Honeythunder' in Charles Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood with Robert Powell.[20]

Personal life

Marc Sinden is divorced from his film producer wife Jo and has two children from that marriage: Henry Sinden (born February 6 1980) who sang as Hal Sinden with his band Interlock and Bridie Sinden (born September 1 1990).[7]

He has been linked in the press with several high-profile women, but consistently refuses to divulge in press interviews who he is 'dating', or even reveal who he has 'dated' and will "neither confirm nor deny" any stories, saying "I don't discuss it".[21][22] In January 2009, some international newspapers romantically linked the former wife of Sir Paul McCartney, the model and campaigner Heather Mills, with Sinden[23][24] as a result of some photographs of them at a private event at London’s’ Tate Modern gallery being published in several UK tabloids.[25][26] The story was denied by Sinden[27] and following a PCC ruling, the story was retracted and an apology was also published concerning the way the photographs of them had been obtained.[28]

He is an atheist and secularist, a supporter of the British Humanist Association and National Secular Society, a Fellow of the Zoological Society, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Innholders, is believed to be a Freemason, has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London by the Lord Mayor Sir Kenneth Cork and was made an Honorary Member of Stunts Incorporated.[29] He represents the UK on the Artistic Advisory Board of the Colorado Festival of World Theatre, is a Founder Member of The Piccadilly Dance Orchestra's Honorary Advisory Development Board and broadcasts a regular live monthly slot ‘UK Theatre News’ on ‘The Magazine’ for BBC Radio Guernsey.

In Debrett's People of Today he lists his recreations as "exploring Provence, clay pigeon shooting and polo"[29].

He is a member of the Noël Coward Society, London Rowing Club, the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association and Guards Polo Club.[29]

Trivia

  • He worked as a jeweller at the Hampstead shop of H. Knowles Brown Ltd. from 1973 until his return to acting in 1978.[2]
  • In 2009 he was named as one of the sponsors of the proposal for a 100 ft-high statue of Dr Syn's "The Scarecrow of the South", to be placed in the centre of Romney Marsh, Kent.[33]

References

  1. ^ "The Insider". Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  2. ^ a b c d Daily Mail 'Relative Values' Angela Brooks 1994-12-06
  3. ^ a b c "Marc Sinden - A Business called Show". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 2001-04-23.
  4. ^ a b c d Who's Who in the Theatre 17th edition. Who's Who. 2000.
  5. ^ a b BKL
  6. ^ SOLT
  7. ^ a b Debrett's People of Today. Debrett's Ltd. 2007. ISBN 978-1-870520-95-9.
  8. ^ "The Stage - production news". The Stage.
  9. ^ "UK Theatre Availability". UKTA. Retrieved 2004-01-12.
  10. ^ "New Website Set to Revolutionise Theatre Management". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 2004-02-26.
  11. ^ "Théâtre Princesse Grace". TPG. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  12. ^ "Monaco announcements in English". Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  13. ^ a b c d "EOD1". Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  14. ^ a b c "EOD2". Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  15. ^ "Fougasse Films". Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  16. ^ a b Who's Who on Television. Who's Who. 2000.
  17. ^ Brunskill Management
  18. ^ Evening Standard 1992-06-15
  19. ^ "IMDB - trivia". Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  20. ^ "IMDB - acting CV". Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  21. ^ "Sinden won't tell". Riviera Times. 2007-09-18. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  22. ^ "'etcetera' feature, pp. II". Ham & High. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
  23. ^ "Heather's secret boyfriend". Publika. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
  24. ^ "Heather Mills slaat theatermiljonair aan de haak". hln.be. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  25. ^ "New man for Mills". Sunday Express. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  26. ^ "Heather one year on". Living TV celebrity starsnaps. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  27. ^ "Richard Kay column". Daily Mail. 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  28. ^ "Mills Vindicated". New York Post. 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  29. ^ a b c Debrett's People of Today. Debrett's Ltd. 2009. ISBN 1870520513.
  30. ^ Pinch, Emma (2009-03-06). "Marc Sinden on John Lennon: We were in the presence of God". Liverpool Daily Post. Retrieved 2009-03-07. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  31. ^ Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. p. 151. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
  32. ^ "Kevchino - Ray Davies". Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  33. ^ "Scarecrow of the South". Retrieved 2009-06-20.
  34. ^ "IMDB - biog". Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  35. ^ "Richard Bebb obituary". The Independent. 2006-05-11. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marc_Sinden&oldid=331482856"