Sir Donald Sinden

Born: October 9, 1923; Died: September 11, 2014.

Sir Donald Sinden, who has died aged 90, was an exuberant and melodramatic actor and sit-com star who was most recognisable for his distinctive flowery voice.

He was also one of the last of the generation of stars whose careers were shaped by serving as entertainers in the Second World War and was one of the last to join the film studio contract system before television finished it off for good.

In the 1950s, he found fame as a film star, first in the war movie The Cruel Sea, then in the African epic Mogambo with Clark Gable, and then as Benskin, the outrageous womaniser in the Doctor in the House series of films. But he never achieved A-list status and was often lumbered with films no one else wanted to do (he was in Rockets Galore!, for instance, the largely forgotten sequel to Whisky Galore!).

He was a fine classical actor, though, and away from films found acclaim on the stage, although most of his success was in comedy and that sometimes bothered him. He was in the first run of the stage comedy There's a Girl in My Soup, and in the 1970s and 80s starred in two popular television sitcoms: Two's Company as a snooty butler opposite a brash American played by Elaine Stritch and Never the Twain as an antiques dealer forever at war with his neighbour Windsor Davies.

His most distinctive attribute was always his voice which was fruity and plummy and was lampooned on Spitting Image, although his posh sound belied his ordinary origins. The son of a chemist, he was brought up in the village of Ditchling in Sussex and throughout his childhood suffered from recurring attacks of asthma which kept him at home and meant he could not keep up at school. It also meant that for much of his boyhood, he was, in his own words, a weak, asthmatic loner.

After failing his 11-plus, he became an apprentice joiner with a large firm of shopfitters, making parts for revolving doors, and only became involved in acting when a cousin asked him to take on his role in an amateur production. A talent spotter from the military entertainment body MESA (Mobile Entertainments Southern Area) saw the young joiner on the stage and asked him to join the company, which was where he was given the first of the voice lessons. He completed his joinery apprenticeship in 1944 and had to decide: actor or joiner? Acting won and he went to Webber-Douglas School of Dramatic Art on a scholarship and from there into repertory and life as a jobbing theatre actor.

It was while appearing as a Brazilian of all things in a play called Red Letter Day that he was talent spotted again, this time by the casting director of The Cruel Sea, which was centred on the struggle between British submarines and German U-boats during the Second World War. He was asked to do a test for the lead role, which was a gamble because he was unknown, but got the part.

He could hardly believe it, and never quite got used to his new status as a star. After being taken on as a contract player by Rank on the back of The Cruel Sea, a producer called Leslie Norman once took him aside and told him he was too nice. "You're not behaving like a star," he said. "We're making you one and you have to behave like one. You're letting yourself be pushed around."

But Sir Donald did not have it in him and his affability and agreeability meant that he ended up in parts that other actors had refused to do. There were some good roles for him, though, including Mogambo, starring Gable, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly. Sir Donald played the uptight British husband of Kelly's character who is lured away by the rugged Gable (although he wasn't that rugged - Sir Donald was order to shave his chest as Clark, who was hairless, had a clause in his contract that no other actor should appear with a hairy chest).

There followed a number of lighter films including Rockets Galore! which, like Whisky Galore!, was filmed on Barra. Sir Donald had a wonderful time on the island and remembered that as he left, he spotted a field full of wild irises. An islander turned to him and said: "Now isn't God the clever boy!" Later, as Sir Donald finished the film at Pinewood, he became friendly with Marilyn Monroe who was making The Prince and The Showgirl there.

His verdict on her was blunt: "As a sex symbol she was stunning, but, sadly, she must be one of the silliest women I have ever met."

Other film roles followed but the writing was on the wall for his movie career. By the late 1950s, television was in the ascendence and cinemas were shutting down all over the country and in 1960, the axe fell: Rank did not renew Sir Donald's contract and, although he knew it was coming after eight years with the studio, he was plunged into crisis.

The problem for him was that not only had movies changed, the theatre had too, largely because of the new wave of writers such as John Osborne. Would there be a place for Sir Donald? Was he a has-been?

He went out into his garden, started digging and contemplated whether he should think about another career.

Fortunately, he was offered a play, Guilty Party, which was a success and ran for a year, which led to him joining the Royal Shakespeare Company at a time when its stars included Ian Holm and David Warner.

Sir Donald hoped the RSC would help him to be taken seriously as a Shakespearian actor, although Peter Hall's thrusting young team of actors were suspicious of the comedy film star swanning in. After his first day, Sir Donald was in tears. "What have I done?" he asked himself. "I've stepped back 17 years."

He settled in, though, and found his groove with roles such as Richard Plantagenet in Henry VI and Lord Foppington in the Restoration comedy The Relapse - roles that required the kind of heightened reality for which Sir Donald was perfect. His other notable roles at the RSC included Malvolio in Twelth Night with Judi Dench and Henry VIII with Peggy Ashcroft as Katharine.

In time, the work restored Sir Donald's confidence, but there was a problem: he was broke. Fortunately, commercial television came along and offered him the lead role in a ecclesiastical sitcom called Our Man at St Mark's. Not only was it perfect for Sir Donald, who was fascinated by churches his whole life, the show was a success and was in the top ten for every one of its 39-week run. That programme has largely been forgotten but Sir Donald's two other successes in TV comedy - Two's Company and Never the Twain - have not. Two's Company ran from 1975 to 1979 and featured Sir Donald as a disapproving, snobbish British butler; Never the Twain ran for 11 years from 1981 with Sir Donald playing pretty much the same role, except this time he was an antiques dealer.

He continued to work through the 1990s and into the 2000s, appearing on and off as Sir Joseph Channing in the TV series Judge John Deed. He also pursued his extra-curriculur activities including church history and work for the British Theatre Museum Association. He was knighted in 1997 and is survived by his son Marc. He is pre-deceased by his other son Jeremy and his wife Diana.