Editing Sybil Thorndike (section)

{{good article}}
{{Short description|English actress (1882–1976)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = [[Dame]]
| name             = Sybil Thorndike
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|CH|DBE|size=100%}}
| image            = Sybil Thorndike.jpg
| imagesize        =
| caption          = Thorndike in 1943
| birth_name       = Agnes Sybil Thorndike
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=y|1882|10|24}}
| birth_place      = [[Gainsborough, Lincolnshire]], England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=y|1976|6|9|1882|10|24}}
| death_place      = [[Chelsea, London]], England
| resting_place    = [[Westminster Abbey]], London
| occupation       = Actress
| spouse           = {{marriage|[[Lewis Casson]]|1908|1969|end=died}}
| children         = 4, including [[Christopher Casson]], [[Mary Casson]], [[Ann Casson]]<ref name=odnb/>
| relatives        = [[Russell Thorndike]] (brother)
}}
'''Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson''' (24 October 1882{{spaced ndash}}9 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969.

Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her hands ruled out a musical career. She began her professional acting career with the company of the actor-manager [[Ben Greet]], with whom she toured the US from 1904 to 1908. In Britain she played in old and new plays on tour and in the [[West End theatre|West End]], often appearing with her husband, the actor and director [[Lewis Casson]]. She joined the [[the Old Vic|Old Vic]] company during the [[First World War]], and in the early 1920s [[George Bernard Shaw]], impressed by seeing her in a tragedy, wrote ''[[Saint Joan (play)|Saint Joan]]'' with her in mind. She starred in it with great success. She became known as Britain's leading tragedienne, but also appeared frequently in comedy.

During the [[Second World War]], Thorndike and her husband toured in Shakespeare productions, taking professional theatre to remote rural locations for the first time. Towards the end of the war she joined [[Ralph Richardson]] and [[Laurence Olivier]] for two seasons staged by the Old Vic company in the West End. After the war she and Casson made many overseas tours, playing in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. They also appeared on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]].

Thorndike was mainly known as a stage actress, but made several films from the 1920s to the 1960s, among them ''[[The Prince and the Showgirl]]'' (1957) and ''[[Uncle Vanya (1963 film)|Uncle Vanya]]'' (1963), both with Olivier. She also broadcast from time to time on radio and television. Her last stage appearances were in 1969 at the theatre named in her honour, the [[Thorndike Theatre]], [[Leatherhead]].