British actor and Theatrical Manager. Tod Slaughter is best remembered today for his screen performance of the unctuous Squire William Corder in 'Maria Marten, or the Murder in the Red Barn' 1935, and as the eponymous villain in 'Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street' 1936.
Born Norman Carter Slaughter in Gosforth, Northumberland in 1885, he was the third and eldest surviving son of Marie Leishman Broomhead and William Carter Slaughter, whose family lineage could be traced back to the great navigational explorer Captain James Cook.
Harbouring a strong desire for the stage, Tod forsook a career in his father's advertising business and began his apprenticeship touring throughout the North of England before settling in London, where in 1912 he leased the Richmond & Croydon Hippodromes with his business partner Sydney Bransgrove. Here he met his wife of 44 years, actress Jenny Lynn (1873-1965).
After seeing minimal service in the Great War, Tod resumed his theatrical aspirations by staging popular productions at the 'Theatre Royal' in Chatham, London and then at the 'Elephant & Castle', where he produced a celebrated run of 'Maria Marten'. It wasn't until 1931 however, that Tod began to be associated with villainous roles on stage, boasting a tally of fifteen murders each day for a whole season.
His film career began in 1935 with his association with director/producer George King (1899-1966), and together they adapted several crime melodramas for the screen, including 'Maria Marten', 'Sweeney Todd', 'The Crimes of Stephen Hawke', 'It's Never too Late to Mend', 'The Ticket of Leave Man', 'Face at the Window' and 'Crimes at the Dark House'.
Following World War Two, Tod kept up his busy work rate by appearing in a further two feature films,'The Curse of the Wraydons' and 'The Greed of William Hart'; a series of featurettes made for television in 1952, and he continued his relentless touring schedule. In February 1956, after appearing in an evening's production of 'Maria Marten' at the Derby Hippodrome, he was found the following morning dead of a heart attack at his lodgings nearby, having given his last full-blooded performance.
He was cremated the same day as his funeral, and his ashes were scattered in Section 3M at Golders Green Crematorium, London, joined once more 9 years later by his wife Jenny in 1965.
Born Norman Carter Slaughter in Gosforth, Northumberland in 1885, he was the third and eldest surviving son of Marie Leishman Broomhead and William Carter Slaughter, whose family lineage could be traced back to the great navigational explorer Captain James Cook.
Harbouring a strong desire for the stage, Tod forsook a career in his father's advertising business and began his apprenticeship touring throughout the North of England before settling in London, where in 1912 he leased the Richmond & Croydon Hippodromes with his business partner Sydney Bransgrove. Here he met his wife of 44 years, actress Jenny Lynn (1873-1965).
After seeing minimal service in the Great War, Tod resumed his theatrical aspirations by staging popular productions at the 'Theatre Royal' in Chatham, London and then at the 'Elephant & Castle', where he produced a celebrated run of 'Maria Marten'. It wasn't until 1931 however, that Tod began to be associated with villainous roles on stage, boasting a tally of fifteen murders each day for a whole season.
His film career began in 1935 with his association with director/producer George King (1899-1966), and together they adapted several crime melodramas for the screen, including 'Maria Marten', 'Sweeney Todd', 'The Crimes of Stephen Hawke', 'It's Never too Late to Mend', 'The Ticket of Leave Man', 'Face at the Window' and 'Crimes at the Dark House'.
Following World War Two, Tod kept up his busy work rate by appearing in a further two feature films,'The Curse of the Wraydons' and 'The Greed of William Hart'; a series of featurettes made for television in 1952, and he continued his relentless touring schedule. In February 1956, after appearing in an evening's production of 'Maria Marten' at the Derby Hippodrome, he was found the following morning dead of a heart attack at his lodgings nearby, having given his last full-blooded performance.
He was cremated the same day as his funeral, and his ashes were scattered in Section 3M at Golders Green Crematorium, London, joined once more 9 years later by his wife Jenny in 1965.
British actor and Theatrical Manager. Tod Slaughter is best remembered today for his screen performance of the unctuous Squire William Corder in 'Maria Marten, or the Murder in the Red Barn' 1935, and as the eponymous villain in 'Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street' 1936.
Born Norman Carter Slaughter in Gosforth, Northumberland in 1885, he was the third and eldest surviving son of Marie Leishman Broomhead and William Carter Slaughter, whose family lineage could be traced back to the great navigational explorer Captain James Cook.
Harbouring a strong desire for the stage, Tod forsook a career in his father's advertising business and began his apprenticeship touring throughout the North of England before settling in London, where in 1912 he leased the Richmond & Croydon Hippodromes with his business partner Sydney Bransgrove. Here he met his wife of 44 years, actress Jenny Lynn (1873-1965).
After seeing minimal service in the Great War, Tod resumed his theatrical aspirations by staging popular productions at the 'Theatre Royal' in Chatham, London and then at the 'Elephant & Castle', where he produced a celebrated run of 'Maria Marten'. It wasn't until 1931 however, that Tod began to be associated with villainous roles on stage, boasting a tally of fifteen murders each day for a whole season.
His film career began in 1935 with his association with director/producer George King (1899-1966), and together they adapted several crime melodramas for the screen, including 'Maria Marten', 'Sweeney Todd', 'The Crimes of Stephen Hawke', 'It's Never too Late to Mend', 'The Ticket of Leave Man', 'Face at the Window' and 'Crimes at the Dark House'.
Following World War Two, Tod kept up his busy work rate by appearing in a further two feature films,'The Curse of the Wraydons' and 'The Greed of William Hart'; a series of featurettes made for television in 1952, and he continued his relentless touring schedule. In February 1956, after appearing in an evening's production of 'Maria Marten' at the Derby Hippodrome, he was found the following morning dead of a heart attack at his lodgings nearby, having given his last full-blooded performance.
He was cremated the same day as his funeral, and his ashes were scattered in Section 3M at Golders Green Crematorium, London, joined once more 9 years later by his wife Jenny in 1965.
Born Norman Carter Slaughter in Gosforth, Northumberland in 1885, he was the third and eldest surviving son of Marie Leishman Broomhead and William Carter Slaughter, whose family lineage could be traced back to the great navigational explorer Captain James Cook.
Harbouring a strong desire for the stage, Tod forsook a career in his father's advertising business and began his apprenticeship touring throughout the North of England before settling in London, where in 1912 he leased the Richmond & Croydon Hippodromes with his business partner Sydney Bransgrove. Here he met his wife of 44 years, actress Jenny Lynn (1873-1965).
After seeing minimal service in the Great War, Tod resumed his theatrical aspirations by staging popular productions at the 'Theatre Royal' in Chatham, London and then at the 'Elephant & Castle', where he produced a celebrated run of 'Maria Marten'. It wasn't until 1931 however, that Tod began to be associated with villainous roles on stage, boasting a tally of fifteen murders each day for a whole season.
His film career began in 1935 with his association with director/producer George King (1899-1966), and together they adapted several crime melodramas for the screen, including 'Maria Marten', 'Sweeney Todd', 'The Crimes of Stephen Hawke', 'It's Never too Late to Mend', 'The Ticket of Leave Man', 'Face at the Window' and 'Crimes at the Dark House'.
Following World War Two, Tod kept up his busy work rate by appearing in a further two feature films,'The Curse of the Wraydons' and 'The Greed of William Hart'; a series of featurettes made for television in 1952, and he continued his relentless touring schedule. In February 1956, after appearing in an evening's production of 'Maria Marten' at the Derby Hippodrome, he was found the following morning dead of a heart attack at his lodgings nearby, having given his last full-blooded performance.
He was cremated the same day as his funeral, and his ashes were scattered in Section 3M at Golders Green Crematorium, London, joined once more 9 years later by his wife Jenny in 1965.
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