Robert Robertson (3 July 1930 – 17 January 2001) was a Scottish actor and theatre director. He was best known for playing Doctor Stephen Andrews in the television show ''

Taggart ''Taggart'' is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries ''Killer'' from 6 until 20 Septe ...

''.

Biography

Robertson was born in

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. His acting career started with the Manchester Repertory Theatre shortly after World War II. He moved to London appearing in a variety of roles most notably as Dr Grimwig in ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a 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 opening in the W ...

'',

Lionel Bart Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was an English writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's "Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical ''Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his work ...

's acclaimed Dicken's musical, at the New Theatre. Robertson also wrote and performed his own one-man show, Your Humble Servant, at the

Open Space Theatre The Open Space Theatre was created by Charles Marowitz and Thelma Holt in 1968. It began in a basement on Tottenham Court Road in London, then transferred to an art deco post office on the Euston Road in 1976. Thelma attracted a team of volunte ...

, London. In 1973 Robertson returned to Scotland to perform in Dundee and stayed. He acted and directed with the

Dundee Repertory Theatre Dundee Repertory Theatre, better known simply as the Dundee Rep, is a theatre and arts company in Dundee, Scotland. It operates as both a producing house with some shows co-produced by other theatres and a receiving house – hosting work from ...

, serving as the company's artistic director from 1976 to 1992. On stage he played Willy Loman in ''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by the American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a ...

'' and Frank in ''

Educating Rita ''Educating Rita'' is a stage comedy by British playwright Willy Russell. It is a play for two actors set entirely in the office of an Open University tutor. Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, ''Educating Rita'' premièred at The ...

''. He directed ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde, the last of his four drawing-room plays, following ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' (1892), ''A Woman of No Importance'' (1893) and ''An Ideal Husban ...

'', ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' and ''

The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' () is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Pu ...

''. Robertson also oversaw the move to a new purpose-built theatre in the centre of Dundee. In 1983 he was cast in the three-part pilot of ''Taggart'' as Dr Stephen Andrews. The show became an international success and Robertson became famous for his role as the pathologist. He appeared in 51 episodes of the show. Other notable television appearances include ''

The Ambassadors of Death ''The Ambassadors of Death'' is the third serial of the Doctor Who (season 7), seventh season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in seven weekly parts on BBC One, BBC1 from 21 March to 2 May ...

'', a ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' serial in 1970 and the role of Palanguez in the BBC's ''

The Day of the Triffids ''The Day of the Triffids'' is a 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. After most people in the world are blinded by an apparent meteor shower, an aggressive species of plant starts killing people. A ...

''. On the big screen Robertson appeared in the 1996 film ''

Breaking the Waves ''Breaking the Waves'' is a 1996 psychological romantic melodrama film directed and co-written by Lars von Trier and starring Emily Watson in her feature film acting debut, and with Stellan Skarsgård, a frequent collaborator with von Trier. ...

'', directed by

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (né Trier; born 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. Beginning in the late-1960s as a child actor working on Danish television series ''Secret Summer'', von Trier's career has spanned more than five decad ...

. Robertson died on 17 January 2001, at the age of 70, after suffering a heart attack while reading a Robert Burns poem, ''

Holy Willie's Prayer "Holy Willie's Prayer" is a poem by Robert Burns. It was written in 1785 and first printed anonymously in an eight-page pamphlet in 1789.Daiches, David (1952). Robert Burns. London: G. Bells It is considered the greatest of all Burns' satirical po ...

'', on stage in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. He was rushed to hospital, where he succumbed shortly afterwards to heart failure (cardiovascular disease).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Robert 1930 births 2001 deaths People educated at Strathallan School Scottish male stage actors Scottish male television actors People from St Andrews Scottish male film actors People associated with Dundee Male actors from Fife