Wissenswertes

He used to say that the hyphen in his name Terry-Thomas represented the famous gap between his teeth.

Changed his professional name from Thomas Terry after repeatedly being asked if he was related to stage legend Ellen Terry.

Had been destitute by the time of his passing in 1990. Various people from show business helped to raise money for Terry-Thomas, as he and his wife could only afford a tiny bedsit.

Was charged with driving a car in Great Windmill Street, Soho, on December 23 1957 "while under the influence of drink to such an extent as to be incapable of proper control of the vehicle."

At Bow Street Court on January 16, 1958 he pled not guilty and elected to go for trial. At the trial on March 14, 1958 he was found not guilty and discharged.

He and Belinda Terry-Thomas had two sons, Timothy ("Tiger") and Cushan.

Became good friends with actor Stuart Whitman while filming Die tollkühnen Männer in ihren fliegenden Kisten (1965). Whitman said he was greatly saddened by his friend's illness, which took away most of his motor functions toward the end of his life.

The gap in his upper teeth is so famous that in British medicine there is a Terry-Thomas sign - the gap between the scaphoid and lunate bones (scapho-lunate disassociation) on x-rays. These two bones are in the human wrist.

In 1966 he was about to co-star in a movie called "Easy Come, Easy Go" with Jan Berry and Dean Torrence in the leading roles. Due to a car wreck during shooting, in which Berry suffered a severe brain damage and paralysis, the film was canceled. The film would have marked the screen debut of Mel Brooks, who also would have starred in the movie.

In 1965 he brought a successful court action against "Private Eye" magazine after a cartoon image in the August 23 edition depicted him as a "drunken dissolute character standing under a stage door" (The Times, February 9, 1965).

The Marvel UK comic book villain Mad Jim Jaspers is based on him.

The producer of Two's Company (1975) tried to get him to play a recurring character part in the series, but Thomas's suffering from Parkinson's disease made it impossible for him to sign the contract.

A comic heritage plaque now commemorates his ownership of 11 Queen's Gate Mews, South Kensington, London, SW7. He lived at the West London Mews from 1949 until 1981.

He and producer Douglas Rankin headed their own production company together. It was called Thomkins Productions Ltd.

Although some sources give his birthdate as July 10, 1911, Terry-Thomas himself gave July 14, 1911 as his birthdate in all official records.

He was the first choice to play the role of Dr. Ezra Mungo in Bob auf Safari (1963), but he turned it down so it went to Lionel Jeffries.

He was asked by director Derek Jarman to star as "Prospero" in his William Shakespeare adaptation Der Sturm - The Tempest (1979), but his failing health didn't allow him to play this role, which was eventually portrayed by Heathcote Williams.

Having played Bertie Wooster in two radio plays in 1964 ('Indian Summer of an Uncle' and 'Jeeves Takes Charge'), he was also the first choice for the same role in the television series The World of Wooster (1965), eventually portrayed by Ian Carmichael.

Was one of the very few British comedy film stars of his era to succeed in America.

Henri-Georges Clouzot wanted him to star in the movie Spione am Werk (1957), but Terry-Thomas had to reject due to his full working schedule.

His first wife Ida divorced him on the rounds that he deserted her in 1954.

Cousin of actor Richard Briers's father, making him Richard's first cousin, once removed.

Although mentioned in some German Edgar Wallace books, Terry-Thomas did not appear in Das Geheimnis der weißen Nonne (1966) as "Thompson", neither in the original English nor in the German version of the film. The role was played by Allan Cuthbertson.

Terry-Thomas used a hyphen in official documentation of his birth name, thus Thomas Terry Hoar-Stevens, despite most references omitting that hyphen.

The comedian had to sell his house in Majorica, due to his medical expenses for his illness.

Terry's and his wife Ida Patlanski had a dachshund dog which appeared in the film Miss Tulip Stays the Night (1955) credited as Archie Terry-Thomas.

He based most of his career on playing wealthy scoundrels and caddish aristocrats, who were often wearing Edwardian suits regardless of the actual setting . Hanna-Barbera's animated villain Dick Dastardly and Marvel Comics' corrupt politician and dictator James "Mad Jim" Jaspers were both designed to look like him and were based on his screen persona.