Robert Henderson (December 19, 1904 – September 9, 1985
) was an American actor and director.
He was known for ''
Superman
Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
'' (1978), ''
Superman III
''Superman III'' is a 1983 superhero film directed by Richard Lester from a screenplay by David Newman and Leslie Newman based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the third installment in the ''Superman'' film series and the sequel to ''S ...
'' (1983), and ''
Phase IV'' (1974).
Henderson was born in
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...
.
His father was dean at the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
(UM).
He played an important role in the early career of
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...
.
On a 2003 episode of
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson (28 March 1935 – 16 August 2023) was an English television presenter, broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other ta ...
's talkshow, Sean Connery told Parkinson, and guests
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
and actor
Ricky Tomlinson
Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in the soap opera '' Brookside'' (1982–1988), DCI Charlie Wise in '' Cracker'' (1993–2006) and Jim Royle in '' T ...
, that when he was touring as a chorus member in
South Pacific, "An American actor in the cast, Robert Henderson, said to me 'Don't you want to be an actor,'and I said 'Me, an actor? What would I have to do?' And he said, 'First of all, you're totally illiterate. You will have to give yourself an education,' which I never had. So he gave me ten titles, that included all the plays of
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
, all of Shakespeare,
An Actor Prepares
''An Actor Prepares'' () is the first of Konstantin Stanislavski's books on acting, followed by '' Building a Character'' and '' Creating a Role''. Stanislavski intended to publish the contents of ''An Actor Prepares'' and ''Building a Character ...
,
The Count of Monte Cristo
''The Count of Monte Cristo'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...
,
My Life in Art,
Remembrance of Things Past. I read them all." (The full interview is available on YouTube).
In the fall of 1932, Henderson became manager of the Detroit Civic Theatre. In the early 1930s he began the Ann Arbor Festival, which began with one week of plays presented in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theater on the UM campus. By its fourth year it had expanded to five weeks. Actors, including those from Broadway, went to the campus to present plays.
[
Henderson directed a production of '']The Merry Wives of Windsor
''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...
'' in Hollywood in 1937, and in 1938 he directed plays at His Majesty's Theatre in Montreal, Canada.London, England
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
Filmography
References
1904 births
1985 deaths
20th-century American male actors
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