West End theatres planned to dimmed their lights tonight in memory of Sir Donald Sinden, the actor who has died aged 90 after years of battling with cancer.

Sinden, who made his name as a Shakespearean actor and appeared in more than 70 film and TV productions since the late 1940s, died at his home in Kent just weeks before his 91st birthday.

Marc Sinden, his son and fellow actor, said: “My father has finished dying. He suffered for a few years from prostate cancer which slowly spread. Even though his death was expected, it is still a huge loss to his family.” Mr Sinden said his father had a “unique career” with a total of only five weeks’ unemployment between 1942 and 2008.

Dame