Robert Lindsay (actor)
Robert Lindsay Stevenson (born December 13 1949) is an English actor known as Robert Lindsay. He is best known for his television work, starring in Citizen Smith, My Family and more recently as Sir Edward Pellew in the Hornblower mini-series.
Early career
Born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, the son of Norman and Joyce Stevenson, after leaving school, Lindsay enrolled in the drama department of a technical college in Nottingham, and intended to become a drama teacher. However, friends at Nottingham Playhouse encouraged him to apply to RADA, and in 1968 he was accepted there with the aid of a Government grant[1]. After he graduated, he took a job as a dialect coach for a repertory company in Essex, and then joined a regional theatre group
Lindsay first came to prominence as the cockney layabout Jakey Smith in ITV comedy series Get Some In!, and was then given the starring role as incompetent revolutionary Wolfie Smith in the BBC sitcom Citizen Smith. He followed this with roles in a number of the BBC Television Shakespeare productions, including Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. One of his finest comic performances was in the surreal 1990 Channel 4 sitcom Nightingales.
1990s
In 1991, Lindsay played the leading role in Alan Bleasdale's dark comedy serial G.B.H., and he won a BAFTA for his performance. He starred in the films Bert Rigby, You're a Fool and Fierce Creatures, before landing the recurring role of Captain Pellew in the ITV mini-series of Hornblower. He was also the original choice for the lead role in the drama Cracker, but turned the part down as he didn't want to become too associated with heavyweight, darker drama characters. He appeared as Fagin in the 1999 ITV Oliver Twist miniseries.
Stage career
Lindsay has also had a successful, if less prominent stage career, including lead roles in several significant Shakepearean productions. He starred in the 1984 revival of Me and My Girl in London and on Broadway, netting a Laurence Olivier Award and a Tony Award in the category of Best Actor in a Musical (against competition that included Colm Wilkinson in Les Mis in both cases). He won another Olivier Award in the same category in 1997, for his portrayal of Fagin in the revival of Oliver!.
Recent years
Lindsay is however now probably best known for playing Ben Harper in the BBC sitcom My Family. He had also portrayed Prime Minister Tony Blair in the More4 satire A Very Social Secretary.
In October 2005 he starred in a new ITV drama series Jericho, about a Scotland Yard detective investigating murder and kidnapping in London's Soho in the 1950's. In January and February 2006, he appeared as Sneath in two loosely linked Stephen Poliakoff dramas, Friends and Crocodiles and Gideon's Daughter, shown on BBC One. He was the only actor to appear in both productions.
Lindsay appeared in the 8th Ricky Gervais Video Podcast, where Gervais announced Lindsay will be starring in the second series of Extras.
Personal life
Lindsay was married to Citizen Smith co-star Cheryl Hall from 1974-1980. He then had a long relationship with the actress Diana Weston, and now lives with actress Rosemarie Ford. He had two sons by his relationship with Ford, Samuel (born 18 November 1999) and Jamie (born 8 April 2003). He also has a daughter, Sydney Laura (born 1988).
Robert Lindsay researched his family tree in the third series of Who Do You Think You Are?, and his episode was aired on 13 September2006, and he travelled to Turkey where his grandfather had taken part in the Gallipoli campaign during World War I.
External links
Footnotes
- ^ "BBC Biography". BBC.