Robin Hawdon (born 28 March 1939) is an English playwright and novelist, with previous additional careers as

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

. He is best known for his stage comedies and novels.

Education

Robin Hawdon was educated at Whitgift Grammar School and Uppingham public school. He later attended the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

(RADA) in

London 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 ...

Career

Acting

His career as an actor was first established with seasons at Chesterfield, York, Guildford and Bristol Old Vic repertory theatres, and in London's West End in a variety of roles including ''Roar Like A Dove'' (Phoenix), ''The Last Joke'' (Phoenix), ''The Easter Man'' (title role - Globe), ''Misalliance'' (Royal Court), '' One Over The Eight'' (Duke of Yorks). He also played ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' in Cape Town, Prince Hal and '' Henry V'' at York, and Henry Higgins in '' Pygmalion'' at Salisbury. He made many TV appearances, in particular in the series ''

Compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact, a type of agreement used by U.S. states * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a t ...

'' (BBC 1964), '' The Flying Swan'' (BBC 1965), ''Spasms'' (co-star with Jonathan Pryce - Thames TV) and '' Chalk and Cheese'', (co-star with Michael Crawford - Thames TV 1977). He appeared in a number of films, including ''

The Day the Earth Caught Fire ''The Day the Earth Caught Fire'' is a 1961 British science-fiction disaster film directed by Val Guest and starring Edward Judd, Leo McKern, and Janet Munro. It is one of the classic apocalyptic films of its era. The film opened at the Odeon Ma ...

'' (1961), '' We Joined the Navy'' (1962), '' Bedazzled'' (1967), '' Zeta One'' (star) (''The Love Factor'' in the USA) (1969), ''

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth ''When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth'' (titled ''When Dinosaurs Ruled the World'' in the U.K.) is a 1970 British fantasy film from Hammer Films, written and directed by Val Guest, and starring Victoria Vetri. It was produced by Aida Young. This w ...

'' (star) (1970), Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) Episode 26 – The Smile Behind the Veil as Grant (1970), '' Burke & Hare'' (1971) and '' I Want What I Want'' (1972). He was scheduled by the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

producers to film test for the role, but the test was cancelled when Roger Moore finally accepted the part.

Writing

His writing career began in the early 1960s with plays produced at the Hampstead Theatre, and The King's Lynn and Salzburg Festivals, and with a nationwide tour of ''The Hero'' starring Roy Dotrice. His first large commercial success was with the comedy ''The Mating Game'', which had a long run at London's Apollo Theatre and played in over 30 countries around the world. Subsequently, a number of comedies played regularly on tour and internationally, many being published by Samuel French and Josef Weinberger. These were followed by his farce '' Don't Dress for Dinner'' (loosely based on a French play by Marc Camoletti) which ran for six years in London and subsequently on Broadway, and plays regularly in theatres around the English speaking world. Hawdon's comedy ''Birthday Suite'' has played on and off for over thirty-five years across Europe, as it was first played in 1983 at the Redgrave Theatre, Farnham. His comedy ''Shady Business'' played in Paris for five months at the Michodière Theatre. His most globally performed comedy, with several hundred productions across thirty countries, is '' Perfect Wedding'' His straight play, ''God And Stephen Hawking'', based on Hawking’s life and his best-selling book '' A Brief History of Time'', toured the UK in 2000 starring

Robert Hardy Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy (29 October 1925 – 3 August 2017) was an English actor who had a long career in theatre, film and television. He began his career as a classical actor and later earned widespread recognition for roles such as Siegf ...

and Stephen Boxer. He has written several novels, notably ''A Rustle In The Grass'' ( Hutchinson), and ''Survival Of The Fittest'' (Strategic Publishing). 'Number Ten' political thriller short-listed for the International Thriller Prize His memoir ''Almost Famous'' (2021) was published on Amazon. Among his latest stage comedies are ''Stage Fright'' and ''A Night in Provence''. ''Stage Fright'' is also known as ''Coup de Grace'' and in the United States as ''Diamonds and Divas''. The comedy was premiered in Germany, in 2017 and later played in Australia and Canada. ''A Night in Provence'' premiered in Germany and United Kingdom and later played in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland and

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, United States.

Directing

Hawdon directed various plays in the provinces and in London, including ''The Magic Of Young Houdini'' (Phoenix), Suez (Savoy). He founded the Bath Fringe Festival in the 1980s and subsequently became Director of Bath Theatre Royal, where he created what later became the Ustinov Theatre, one of UK's most distinguished studio theatres.

Personal life

He was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, the son of Bunty (née Middleton) and James Hawdon, a businessman. At the age of eight his family moved to

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

where he lived for most of his school years. After graduating from RADA he lived in

for twenty years, after which he decided to curtail his acting career and concentrate on writing, and he and his family moved to

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, Somerset. In 1968, he married actress and psychoanalyst Sheila Davies with whom he has two daughters. Hawdon lives between

, the

South of France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

, and Australia.

References

External links

* * * *
Robin Hawdon
at

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawdon, Robin 1939 births 20th-century English writers 21st-century English writers English male dramatists and playwrights English male film actors English male novelists English theatre directors Living people Male actors from Newcastle upon Tyne Male actors from Surrey Writers from Bath, Somerset Writers from Newcastle upon Tyne Male actors from Bath, Somerset People educated at Uppingham School