British actor
He was the father of actor Jonathan Kydd.
Irish-born, he lived in England from early childhood. During his acting career, he specialised in playing irrepressible cockney characters.
Son of an army officer, he saw military action himself during World War II. Taken prisoner in Calais in 1940, he was interned in a POW camp in Poland for five years. There, he took charge of theatrical activities among the prisoners, writing and staging plays.
Subject of the "Spot Sam Kydd" game.
His wife, Lavender Pinkie Barnes, was an outstanding table tennis player, competing for England in three world team championships; later she became one of the first women advertising copywriters at Masius and Ferguson.
Outlived by his wife by over 30 years, Lavendar Kydd died in September 2012 at the age of 97.
