Sir Robert Graham Stephens (14 July 193112 November 1995) was a leading

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

actor in the early years of Britain's

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

. He was one of the most respected actors of his generation and was at one time regarded as the natural successor to

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...

Early life and career

Stephens was born in Shirehampton,

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, in 1931, the eldest of three children of shipyard labourer and costing surveyor Reuben Stephens (19051985) and chocolate-factory worker Gladys Millicent (née Deverill; 19061975). When aged 18, he won a scholarship to Esme Church's Bradford Civic Theatre School in Yorkshire, where he met his first wife Nora, a fellow student. His first professional engagement was with the Caryl Jenner Mobile Theatre, which he followed in 1951 by a year of more challenging parts in repertory at the Royalty Theatre,

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

, followed by seasons of touring and at the Hippodrome,

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

. The London director Tony Richardson saw a performance at the Royalty and this led to an offer of a place in the "momentous" first season of English Stage Company at the Royal Court in 1956. His success was assured. He appeared in two versions of ''

Epitaph for George Dillon ''Epitaph for George Dillon'' is an early John Osborne play, one of two he wrote in collaboration with Anthony Creighton (the other is '' Personal Enemy''). It was written before ''Look Back in Anger'', the play which made Osborne's career, ...

'' on Broadway during the 1958-59 season for which he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. His early films included ''

A Taste of Honey ''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalise British theatre and address social issues that ...

'' (1961), ''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

'' (1963) and '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1969) with his then wife

Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performer ...

. There was also a minor role as Prince Escalus in

Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...

's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' (1968), as well as a starring role in

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holl ...

's ''

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1970 DeLuxe Color film in Panavision written and produced by Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, and directed by Wilder. The film offers an affectionate, slightly parodic look at Sherlock Holmes, an ...

'' (1970) and the gothic horror film ''

The Asphyx ''The Asphyx'', also known as ''Spirit of the Dead'' and ''The Horror of Death'', is a 1972 British horror film/science fiction film directed by Peter Newbrook and starring Robert Stephens and Robert Powell. ''Asphyx'' refers to Old Greek ''as ...

'' (1972). Stephens played

Atahuallpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa (Quechua), Atabalica, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa (c. 1502 – 26-29 July 1533) was the last Inca Emperor. After defeating his brother, Atahualpa became very briefly the last Sapa Inca (sovereign emperor) of the Inca Empir ...

in the original 1964 National Theatre production of '' The Royal Hunt of the Sun''. He and Smith appeared together on stage and in film, notably in '' The Recruiting Officer'' at the Old Vic and the film version of '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' in 1969. However, following his departure from the National Theatre in 1970 and the break-up of their marriage in 1973, he suffered a career slump, not helped by heavy drinking and a breakdown. Although he continued to work on stage (notably in the National Theatre's'' The Mysteries'' in 1986), film ('' The Fruit Machine'' in 1988—titled ''Wonderland'' in the US—and Kenneth Branagh's '' Henry V''), and television (notably in the role of Abner Brown in the 1984 BBC TV dramatisation of the children's classic '' The Box of Delights'' and as the Master of an Oxford college in an episode of '' Inspector Morse''), it was not until the 1990s that he re-established himself at the forefront of his profession, when the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

invited him to play

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

in '' Henry IV'' for director

Adrian Noble Adrian Keith Noble (born 19 July 1950) is a theatre director, and was also the artistic director and chief executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990 to 2003. Education and career Noble was born in Chichester, Sussex, England. After l ...

(opening April 1991), the title roles in ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

'' (director

Steven Pimlott Steven Charles Pimlott (18 April 1953 – 14 February 2007) was an English opera and theatre director, whose obituary in ''The Times'' hailed him as "one of the most versatile and inventive theatre directors of his generation". His output ran the ...

) later in the year and then ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'', again for Noble, in May 1993. He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1993 for Best Actor, for his performance as Falstaff. Stephens provided the voice of Aragorn in the 1981 BBC Radio serialisation of ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an 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 children's boo ...

''. In 1985, he directed the British premiere production of ''Danny and the Deep Blue Sea'' by John Patrick Shanley at the Gate Theatre, London. Stephens was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

as a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

in the 1995 New Years Honours List "For services to Drama".

Personal life

Stephens was married four times: * 1951: to Nora Ann Simmons; they had one child, Michael Stephens, and divorced in 1952. * 1956: to Tarn Bassett; they had a daughter, Lucy, and divorced in 1967 * 1967: to

; they had two sons, the actors

Chris Larkin Chris Larkin (born Christopher Stephens, 19 June 1967) is an English actor. Early life Born Christopher Larkin Stephens on 19 June 1967 in London, Larkin is the elder son of actors Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Robert Stephens. His younger brot ...

and

Toby Stephens Toby Stephens (born 21 April 1969) is an English actor who has appeared in films in the UK, US and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film ''Die Another Day'' (for which he was nominated for the ...

, and divorced in 1975. *1995: to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

-born Patricia Quinn (Lady Stephens; born 28 May 1944).

Death

Following years of ill health, he died on 12 November 1995 at the age of 64 due to complications during surgery, eleven months after having been knighted.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

Bibliography

* Stephens, Robert; Coveney, Michael. (1995). ''Knight Errant.'' Hodder and Stoughton * Stevens, Christopher. (2010). ''Born Brilliant: The Life of Kenneth Williams.'' John Murray * McFarlane, Brian. (2005). ''The Encyclopaedia of British Film.'' Methuen, 2nd edition

External links

* *
Robert Stephens at screenonlinePortraits of Stephens at the National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Robert 1931 births 1995 deaths Actors awarded knighthoods English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male radio actors English male voice actors Knights Bachelor Laurence Olivier Award winners Royal Shakespeare Company members Male actors from Bristol 20th-century English male actors People from Shirehampton