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| “ | YOU! There is indeed a higher power to warn me thus in time… Johanna elope with YOU?! Deceiving sl-t! I’ll lock her up in some obscure retreat where neither you nor any other vile corrupting youth shall ever lay eyes on her again! And as for you, barber, it is all too clear what company you keep. Service them well and hold their custom… for you’ll have none of mine. | „ |
| ~ Judge Turpin confronting Anthony and warning Sweeney Todd. |
Judge Sam Turpin, also known as Lord Turpin, is the main antagonist of the 1979 musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and its 2007 film adaptation of the same name. He is a corrupt judge who ruined the life of innocent barber Benjamin Barker and is thus indirectly responsible for his transformation into the serial killer Sweeney Todd.
Portrayals[]
- The late Edmund Lyndeck played the original Judge Turpin.
- Timothy Nolen played the role in 2001.
- Mark Jacoby portrayed Judge Turpin in the 2005 revival musical.
- Austin Kent played Judge Turpin in the 1980 London Production.
- Denis Quilley portrayed Judge Turpin in the London revival.
- In the film, he was portrayed by the late Alan Rickman, who also played Hans Gruber in Die Hard, Elliot Marston in Quigley Down Under, the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movie franchise and Joe in Help! I'm a Fish.
Personality[]
| “ | This is the second time, sir, that you have been brought before this bench. Though it is my earnest wish to ever temper justice with mercy, your persistent dedication to a life of crime is an abomination before God and man. I therefore sentence you to hang by the neck until you are dead and may the Lord have mercy on your soul. This court is adjourned. | „ |
| ~ Judge Turpin sentencing a child to hang by the neck until he dies for no reason whatsoever. |
Judge Turpin is an extremely malevolent, cruel, and diabolical man. He is deceitful and manipulative, as he ruined the life of Sweeney Todd by sending him away and later raping his wife. Despite his villainous tendencies, he is also highly elegant, polite, and sophisticated. Destroying Sweeney's life was his fatal weakness which led to his demise at the hands of his enemy.
He is motivated largely by his puritanical devotion to the law, and by his sexual obsession. He is partly aware of his own perversion, as in one musical scene, not included in the Tim Burton film, and left out of some theatrical productions, he watches Johanna through a keyhole while whipping himself, trying to purify his thoughts of her. Sondheim admits in his collected lyrics that he implied the judge finds sexual release during this moment. At the end of the song, the Judge decides to marry Johanna, believing she is the only person who can "cure" him from his lust.
Biography[]
Judge Turpin first appeared when he had Benjamin Barker arrested, due to his infatuation with Barker's wife Lucy. He exiles Barker to Australia on false charges. Lucy is heartbroken, and becomes a recluse, never coming down from her home. Judge Turpin continuously pursues her, sending her flowers each day. He sends his right-hand Beadle Bamford to summon her to his home, "blaming himself for her dreadful plight". At his house, during a masque ball, where he rapes a drunk Lucy, who later tries to kill herself by drinking poison, though she survives and is driven insane before being reduced to begging in the street.
Turpin then takes Barker's infant daughter Johanna and raises her as his ward. He keeps her locked away from the world and spies on her through a peephole in her wall (film only). When Johanna turns sixteen, Turpin offers her his hand in marriage. She refuses, to which he seems baffled. When he spots a young sailor named Anthony Hope with Johanna, he threatens to kill him if he ever returns. Turpin is later seen sentencing a child to be hanged for petty crimes.
On Bamford's advice, he goes for a shave at Sweeney Todd's barbershop, in order to impress Johanna. Unbeknownst to Turpin, Todd is in fact Barker, who returned from Australia and is hell-bent on revenge. Todd is about to cut Turpin's throat when he is interrupted by Anthony, who reveals Johanna's plan to escape. Turpin promptly leaves, renouncing Todd's business. Turpin returns home and commits Johanna to an insane asylum, telling the owner Jonas Fogg that she is mad and he agrees to keep her there until she agrees to marry Turpin.
| “ | Benjamin Barker. | „ |
| ~ Judge Turpin's last words before he got killed by Sweeney Todd. |
Turpin receives a letter (from Toby in the film, someone else in the musical) claiming that Johanna has repented, and only wants his love. He is delighted, and following the direction of the letter, he goes to Todd's shop, where he is persuaded to have a shave. During the shave, Todd talks about the two's similar tastes in women, and asks him if he recognizes him. Turpin realizes Todd's true identity, before Todd repeatedly stabs Turpin in the neck before slitting his throat. He then drops Turpin down the chute. Before he bleeds to death, Turpin grabs at Todd's accomplice Mrs. Lovett when she discovers him lying on her cellar floor.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
External Links[]
- Judge Turpin on the Pure Evil Wiki
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 Villains
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The String of Pearls Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street TODD by King and Jester | ||