DISNEY'S BRITISH GENTLEMAN

Sub-titled 'The Life and Career of David Tomlinson', with his bowler hat, fluffy moustache, big ears and rolling eyes, who can forget David Tomlinson's famous role as George Banks in Mary Poppins? A star of British film and stage in the 1940s and 1950s, by the time the actor went to Hollywood for the first time in 1963 to make Mary Poppins he had made 35 films and appeared countless times on the London stage. And 20 years after his death in 2000 there was a successful one man show with Tomlinson played by Miles Jupp. Packed full of anecdotes, Tomlinson was the epitome of post-war British comedy, starring as Professor Browne in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Peter Thorndyke in The Love Bug. But at times his life was more tragedy than comedy. A distinguished RAF pilot in WWII, his first marriage was to end in horrific tragedy and his next romance ended with his lover marrying the founder of the American Nazi Party. Tomlinson did find love and security in his second marriage, but drama still played its part in his life, from the uncovering of an earthshattering family secret to the fight for an autism diagnosis for his son, up against the titans of the British medical establishment. Nathan Morley reveals the remarkable story of one of Disney's most beloved icons for the very first time, and the index is a real who's who of entertainment. 256pp, archive photos reproduced.