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Robert Inglis (born in 1933) is an actor, writer, journalist, critic and producer who has primarily worked in Australia and England. He is the narrator of the unabridged audiobook editions of
J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
's ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 c ...
'' and ''
The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...
''.


Life and career

Inglis was born in Australia but has lived and worked in England for many years. As of 2012, he lives in Somers Town, a district in central London. His plays include ''Voyage of the Endeavour'' (1965), based on the journal of Captain James Cook; ''Canterbury Tales'' (1968), dramatised readings from
Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
; ''Erf'' (1971), a one-actor play about the twenty-first century; ''A Rum Do'' (1970), a musical based on the governorship of
Lachlan Macquarie Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Lachlan Macquarie, Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (; gd, Lachann MacGuaire; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie se ...
; and ''Men Who Shaped Australia, for Better or for Worse'' (1968), a one-actor play dealing with significant historical figures. His more recent works include a play about Lisa Pontecorvo, the daughter of geneticist Guido Pontecorvo, it played in small theatres and community centres around England in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, he was awarded a £16,000 Arts Council grant to write ''Regent's Canal, a Folk Opera'', a musical that celebrates the 200th anniversary of the digging of the eight-mile
Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames ...
. He has adapted works to stage for one-man performances of ''A Christmas Carol'' (1983), and ''Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'', for which Inglis was called "one of the wonders of the Fringe." He has also adapted Chaucer, Shakespeare, Tolkien and Orwell to one act performances. Inglis has appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the
Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal ...
, playing characters such as the Ghost and Claudius in ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...
'' and Mr. Bumble in ''
Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before ...
''. Inglis' TV appearances including as
Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...
in ''The Stringybark Massacre'' (short, 1968); as Chief sub in ''
Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stag ...
'' (TV series, 1978/79); as Professor Doom in ''
Wizbit ''Wizbit'' is a 1980s BBC children's television show about an alien magician, Wizbit. It starred the established TV and stage magician Paul Daniels and his assistant Debbie McGee. The series is set in Puzzleopolis, a town inhabited by walking, t ...
'' (TV series, 1986); as Alan Clark in '' Casualty'' (TV series, 2002). Inglis has narrated audiobooks by Tolkien (described below), and the first three books by
Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...
in the Earthsea Cycle.


Tolkien works

In the 1970s and 80s, Inglis wrote, produced and acted in one-man stage dramatisations of ''The Hobbit'' and '' The Lord of the Rings''. These performances have been described as "award winning". It was through his one-man stage adaptations that he was noticed by
Recorded Books Recorded Books is an audiobook imprint of RBMedia, a publishing company with operations in countries globally. Recorded Books was formerly an independent audiobook company before being purchased and re-organized under RBMedia, where it is now an ...
and asked to narrate an unabridged edition of ''Lord of the Rings'' (1990) and soon after ''The Hobbit'' (1991). It was one of Recorded Books best-selling titles however prior to 2012 it was only available on physical media (CD-ROM or tape) at which point it was released in digital format. Laura Miller of ''
Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including r ...
'' said :"Inglis strikes precisely the right note in his narration. It is an old-fashioned audiobook narration, one that feels more read than performed, although the voices of the many characters are all well-developed. It's ever so slightly prosy, and the sensation conveyed is exactly like listening to a favourite relative read to a beloved child the same book he (beautifully) read to you when you were a child." Until Andy Serkis' 2020 recording,'The Hobbit' is getting a new audiobook edition read by Andy Serkis
/ref> Inglis' reading of ''The Hobbit'' was the only unabridged edition of the book ever made. The ''J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia'' (2006) called it a "remarkable performance in which he provides distinctive voices for the various characters and sings the songs in the story". The encyclopaedia says of ''The Lord of the Rings'', "his voices for the characters are less dramatic and there are no sound effects". In a 2001 '' AudioFile'' interview, Inglis says they recorded ''Lord of the Rings'' in an "intense" six-week period in 1990 at the New York studio of Recorded Books. They then recorded ''The Hobbit'' about a year later. Inglis prepared with guidance from acting colleges in dramatic societies to perfect the many character voices. Inglis says, "There is much in the original writing that suggests how a character should be brought to life. It's quite strange. At times it felt like Tolkien himself was talking to me through his prose, telling me how things should be." Inglis says he composed some of the music for the songs himself, some music was composed by Tolkien, and Claudia Howard of Recorded Books composed the rest.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inglis, Rob 1933 births Tolkien artists Australian male actors Australian writers Australian emigrants to England Living people