Remembering the versatile British-Indian actor Sam Dastor, who passed away at 84, known for his extensive work in theatre and television and for portraying Mahatma Gandhi twice on screen.
Key Points
- Sam Dastor, a prominent British-Indian actor, passed away on June 5 at the age of 84.
- He was considered for the lead role of Mahatma Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi and later played the iconic figure twice in Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy (1986) and Jinnah (1998).
- Born in Mumbai on October 2, the same day as Mahatma Gandhi, Dastor had a distinguished career in British television and theatre.
If Ben Kingsley hadn't played Mahatma Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, India would have probably known Sam Dastor a lot better. After all, he was considered for the star-making role.
Still, Dastor, who succumbed to cancer on June 5 at the age of 84, went on to play Gandhi twice -- in the mini series, Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy (1986) and the film Jinnah (1998).
Ironically, Dastor was born on October 2, the same day as the Mahatma.
A Life in Acting
A familiar face on British television and theatre, Dastor was born in Mumbai to a Parsi family. According to his son Nick Dastoor's obituary in The Guardian, his father was introduced to Shakespeare at a young age by his aunt Roshen.
His parents moved to Britain -- father Homi was an optician -- and Sam caught the 'acting bug' at prep school.
Nick writes that Sam dropped an 'o' from his surname in the hope of being less typecast, but felt cursed by being too Indian for English roles and sometimes too English for Indian ones.
Stage and Screen Highlights
The Telegraph lists the many highlights of his stage career, like Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea Of Stories, and The Clandestine Marriage, for which he got rave reviews, and toured the world with the solo performance of Shakespeare's Sonnets.
He starred in three Simon Gray plays, including Cell Mates in 1995.
His television credits, lists The Telegraph, are Inspector Ghote, Space: 1999, Coronation Street, Blake's 7, Yes Minister, A Touch Of Frost and Spooks.
He starred in the 2004 film, The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers.
Photograph curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
