Background
Tomlinson was born in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire on 7 May 1917, to a well-respected London solicitor father. His father then secured him a job as a clerk at Shell Mex House.
Tomlinson was born in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire on 7 May 1917, to a well-respected London solicitor father. His father then secured him a job as a clerk at Shell Mex House.
He attended Tonbridge School and left to join the Grenadier Guards for 16 months.
He is primarily remembered for his roles as authority figure George Banks in Mary Poppins, fraudulent magician Professor Emelius Browne in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and as hapless antagonist Peter Thorndyke in The Love Bug. His stage career grew from amateur stage productions to his 1940 film debut in Quiet Wedding. His career was interrupted when he entered Second World War service as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force. During the war, he served as a flight instructor in Canada and made three films.
His flying days continued after the war and he crashed a Tiger Moth plane near his back garden after he lost consciousness while flying.
David Tomlinson was known to generations of children for his role as George Banks, head of the Banks family, in the 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins brought Tomlinson continued work with Disney, asking him to appear in The Love Bug (1968) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971).
Throughout the rest of Tomlinson"s film career, he never steered far from comedies. He retired from acting in 1980 to spend more time with his family.
However, the enduring popularity of Mary Poppins ensured that he remained well-known.
Tomlinson was first married to Mary Lindsay Hiddingh, daughter of L. Seton Lindsay, the vice president of the New York Life Insurance Company. Tomlinson married Mary in September 1943. They had four sons: David Junior., William, Henry and James.
Tomlinson died peacefully in his sleep at King Edward VII Hospital, Westminster, at 4 a.m. on 24 June 2000, after suffering from a sudden stroke.
He was 83 years old. He was interred at his estate grounds in Mursley, Buckinghamshire.
Pilot Royal Air Force, 1940-1946.
Son of Clarence Samuel Tomlinson and Florence Elizabeth Sinclair Thomson;m. Audrey Freeman; children: David Redvers, James Adam, William John, Henry Sinclair.