Contents
1 Early life and career 2 Personal life 3 Death 4 Filmography
4.1 Film 4.2 Television
5 References 6 Bibliography 7 External links
Early life and career[edit]
Stephens was born in Shirehampton, Bristol, in 1931. When aged 18, he
won a scholarship to Esme Church's Bradford Civic Theatre School in
Yorkshire, where he met his first wife Nora, a fellow student.[2] His
first professional engagement was with the Caryl Jenner Mobile
Theatre, which he followed in 1951 by a year of more challenging parts
in repertory at the Royalty Theatre, Morecambe, followed by seasons of
touring and at the Hippodrome, Preston. The
London
London director Tony
Richardson saw a performance at the Royalty and this led to an offer
of a place in the "momentous" first season of
English Stage Company
English Stage Company at
the Royal Court in 1956. His success was assured.[2]
His early films included A Taste of Honey (1961), Cleopatra (1963) and
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) with his then wife Maggie Smith.
There was also a minor role as Prince Escalus in Franco Zeffirelli's
Romeo and Juliet (1968), as well as a starring role in Billy Wilder's
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) and the science fiction
film
The Asphyx
The Asphyx (1973).
Stephens played
Atahuallpa
Atahuallpa in the original 1964 National Theatre
production of The Royal Hunt of the Sun. He and Smith appeared
together on stage and in film, notably in
The Recruiting Officer
The Recruiting Officer at
the
Old Vic
Old Vic and the film version of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in
1969.[3] However, following his departure from the National Theatre in
1970 and the break-up of their marriage in 1973, he suffered a career
slump, not helped by heavy drinking and a breakdown.[4]
Although he continued to work on stage (notably in the National
Theatre's
The Mysteries in 1986), film (
The Fruit Machine
The Fruit Machine in
1988—titled Wonderland in the US—and Kenneth Branagh's
Henry V), and television (notably in the role of Abner Brown in
the 1984 BBC TV dramatisation of the children's classic The Box of
Delights[5] and as the Master of an Oxford college in an episode of
Inspector Morse), it was not until the 1990s that he re-established
himself at the forefront of his profession, when the Royal Shakespeare
Company invited him to play
Falstaff
Falstaff in Henry IV for director Adrian
Noble (opening April 1991), the title roles in Julius Caesar (director
Stephen Pimlott) later in the year and then King Lear, again for
Noble, in May 1993.[6] He was awarded the
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier Theatre
Award in 1993 for Best Actor, for his performance as Falstaff.[1]
Stephens provided the voice of
Aragorn
Aragorn in the 1981 BBC Radio
serialisation of The Lord of the Rings. In 1985, he directed the
British premiere production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea by John
Patrick Shanley at the Gate Theatre.
Stephens was knighted in 1995.
Personal life[edit]
Stephens was married four times:
1951: to Nora Ann Simmons; they had one child, Michael Stephens, and
divorced in 1952.[2][3]
1956: to Tarn Bassett; they had a daughter, Lucy, and divorced in 1967
1967: to Dame Maggie Smith; they had two sons, the actors Toby
Stephens and Chris Larkin, and divorced in 1974.
1995: to Belfast-born
Patricia Quinn
Patricia Quinn (Lady Stephens; born 28 May
1944).
Death[edit] Following years of ill health, he died on 12 November 1995 at the age of 64 due to complications during surgery,[7] eleven months after having been knighted. Filmography[edit] Film[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1956 War and Peace Officer Talking with Natasha Uncredited
1960 A Circle of Deception Captain Stein
1961 A Taste of Honey Peter Smith
Pirates of Tortuga Henry Morgan
The Queen's Guards Henry Wynne-Walton
Lunch Hour The Man
1962 The Inspector Dickens Released as Lisa in USA
1963 The Small World of Sammy Lee Gerry Sullivan
Cleopatra Germanicus
1966 Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment Charlies Napier
1968 Romeo and Juliet The Prince of Verona
1969 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Teddy Lloyd
1970 The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes
1972 The Asphyx Sir Hugo Cunningham
Travels with My Aunt Ercole Visconti
1974 Luther Johan Von Eck
1977 The Duellists General Treillard
At Night All Cats Are Crazy Charles Watson
1978 The Shout Chief Medical Officer
1981 The Games of Countess Dolingen The Professor
1983 Ill Fares the Land
1986 Comrades Frampton
1987 High Season Konstantinis
Empire of the Sun Mr Lockwood
1988 American Roulette Screech
The Fruit Machine Vincent
Ada in the Jungle Lord Gordon
Testimony Vsevolod Meyerhold
1989 Henry V Auncient Pistol
1990 Wings of Fame Merrick
The Bonfire of the Vanities Sir Gerald Moore
The Children Azariah Dobree
1991 The Pope Must Die The Camarlengo
Ferdydurke Prof. Pimco Alternative title: 30 Door Key
Afraid of the Dark Dan Burns
1992 Chaplin Ted the Drunk
1993 Searching for Bobby Fischer Poe's teacher
The Secret Rapture Max Lopert
Century Mr Reisner
1995 England, My England John Dryden (Last appearance)
Television[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1956 Nom-de-Plume John Episode: The Counting House Clerk
1964 Channing Paddy Riordan Episode: A Bang and a Whimper
First Night Arnold Claybill Episode: The Improbable Mr Claybill
1971 The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes Max Carrados Episode: The Missing Witness Sensation
1974 QB VII Robert Highsmith TV miniseries, 3 episodes
1978 Holocaust Uncle Kurt Dorf TV miniseries, 4 episodes
1982 Anyone for Denis? Schubert TV Movie
1983 Studio Lyndsay 7 episodes
1984 The Box of Delights Abner Brown 6 episodes, recurring role
Fortunes of War Bill Castlebar 3 episodes
1986 Hell's Bells Bishop Godfrey Hethercote 6 episodes
1987 Inspector Morse Sir Wilfred Mulryne Episode: The Settling of the Sun
1988-89 War and Remembrance SS Maj. Karl Rahn TV mini series, 3 episodes
1989 South Bank Show[8] Raymond Chandler TV arts series, 1 episode, dramatised readings
1994 - 95 99-1 Commander Oakwood 7 episodes
References[edit]
^ a b Benedick, Adam (14 November 1995). "Obituary: Sir Robert
Stephens". The Independent. p. 18. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
^ a b c Stephens, Robert; Coveney, Michael (1995).
Knight
Knight Errant.
London: Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 11–15.
ISBN 0-340-64970-4.
^ a b Coveney, Michael (2004). "Stephens, Sir Robert Graham
(1931–1995)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford,
England: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/60387.
^ Stevens, Christopher (2010). Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth
Williams. John Murray. p. 269. ISBN 1-84854-195-3.
^
Piers Torday (30 November 2017). "Long before Harry Potter, The Box
of Delights remade children's fantasy". theguardian.com. The Guardian.
Retrieved 4 February 2018.
^ "RSC performance database". The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Archive
Catalogue. Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Archived from the original on
1 September 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
^ The New York Times
^
http://articles.latimes.com/1989-11-16/entertainment/ca-1817_1_raymond-chandler
Bibliography[edit]
Stephens, Robert; Coveney, Michael. (1995).
Knight
Knight Errant. Hodder and
Stoughton
Stevens, Christopher. (2010). Born Brilliant: The Life of Kenneth
Williams. John Murray
McFarlane, Brian. (2005). The Encyclopaedia of British Film. Methuen,
2nd edition
External links[edit]
Robert Stephens
Robert Stephens at Find a Grave
Robert Stephens
Robert Stephens on IMDb
Robert Stephens
Robert Stephens at screenonline
Portraits of Stephens at the National Portrait Gallery
v t e
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor
Antony Sher (1985)
Albert Finney
Albert Finney (1986)
Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon (1987)
Oliver Ford Davies
Oliver Ford Davies (1989/1990)
Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen (1991)
Nigel Hawthorne (1992)
Robert Stephens
Robert Stephens (1993)
Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance (1994)
David Bamber (1995)
Alex Jennings (1996)
Antony Sher (1997)
Ian Holm
Ian Holm (1998)
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey (1999)
Henry Goodman
Henry Goodman (2000)
Conleth Hill
Conleth Hill (2001)
Roger Allam
Roger Allam (2002)
Simon Russell Beale
Simon Russell Beale (2003)
Matthew Kelly (2004)
Richard Griffiths
Richard Griffiths (2005)
Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy (2006)
Rufus Sewell
Rufus Sewell (2007)
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Chiwetel Ejiofor (2008)
Derek Jacobi
Derek Jacobi (2009)
Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance (2010)
Roger Allam
Roger Allam (2011)
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Cumberbatch and
Jonny Lee Miller
Jonny Lee Miller (2012)
Luke Treadaway (2013)
Rory Kinnear
Rory Kinnear (2014)
Mark Strong
Mark Strong (2015)
Kenneth Cranham (2016)
Jamie Parker (2017)
Authority control
WorldCat Identities VIAF: 69131273 LCCN: n86138332 ISNI: 0000 0001 2138 2640 GND: 119540703 SUDOC: 13016657X BNF: cb140442184 (data) BNE: XX1743163 SN