Dam Busters star Todd dies, 90

Dam Busters star Richard Todd, who went to Shrewsbury School, has died aged 90.

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The actor was best known for his role as Wing Commander Guy Gibson, leader of Operation Chastise, in the film about the 1943 mission.

The Dam Busters told of the development of the bouncing bomb used during World War II to destroy the Ruhr dams in Germany.

Todd was also known for playing dashing big screen heroes like Sir Walter Raleigh in the 1955 film The Virgin Queen opposite Bette Davis, Robin Hood and Rob Roy.

He also appeared with Marlene Dietrich in Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright and continued to make TV appearances in recent years, including one-off roles in Holby City and Heartbeat.

Todd was one of the first British soldiers to parachute into France on D-Day - a day he later relived in 1962 film The Longest Day.

Richard Andrew Palethorpe Todd was born in Dublin on June 11 1919, the son of a British officer. He grew up in Devon and attended Shrewsbury.

After the war, he gained fame in the London stage version of The Hasty Heart, which took him to Broadway. He returned to England to appear in the film version, and was nominated for the best actor Oscar in 1949.

He was probably best known in America for his role as the United States Senate chaplain Peter Marshall in A Man Called Peter.

Todd was the first choice of author Ian Fleming to play James Bond, but because of other commitments he had to turn it down. The role went to Sean Connery.

Todd's autobiography Caught In The Act was written in 1986. He was named a Disney Legend in 2002.

He was twice married, first to Catherine Grant Bogle (1949-1970) and then to Virginia Mailer (1970-1992). Both marriages, which each produced two children, ended in divorce.

Two of his sons, one from each marriage, subsequently committed suicide.