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

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

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 (RADA) in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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 The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

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 ''One Over the Eight'' was a comedy revue which opened on April 5, 1961. It was written by Peter Cook and starred Kenneth Williams. The material included a "One Leg Too Few" sketch and "Interesting Facts" sketch with Williams playing an E. L. W ...

'' (Duke of Yorks). He also played ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' in Cape Town, Prince Hal and ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

'' at York, and Henry Higgins in ''

Pygmalion Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to: Mythology * Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue Stage * ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau * ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...

'' 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 * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a type of colonial rule utilized in British ...

'' (BBC 1964), ''

The Flying Swan ''The Flying Swan'' is a 1965 British TV series starring Margaret Lockwood and her daughter Julia. It ran for 24 episodes on the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is th ...

'' (BBC 1965), ''Spasms'' (co-star with Jonathan Pryce - Thames TV) and '' Chalk and Cheese'', (co-star with

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian. Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' an ...

Thames TV Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broad ...

1977). He appeared in a number of films, including ''

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

'' (1961), ''

We Joined the Navy ''We Joined the Navy'' is a 1962 British comedy film directed by Wendy Toye and starring Kenneth More, Lloyd Nolan, Joan O'Brien, Derek Fowlds, Graham Crowden, Esma Cannon and John Le Mesurier. Produced by Daniel M. Angel, it was based on th ...

'' (1962), '' Bedazzled'' (1967), ''

Zeta One ''Zeta One'' is a 1969 British comedy science fiction film directed by Michael Cort and starring James Robertson Justice, Charles Hawtrey and Dawn Addams. Plot A spy for Section 5, James Word, finds a secretary for the section waiting as he re ...

'(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 prehistoric dinosaur film from Hammer Films, written and directed by Val Guest, and starring Victoria Vetri. It was produced by Aida Yo ...

(star)'' (1970), '' Burke & Hare'' (1971) and '' I Want What I Want'' (1972). He was scheduled by the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

producers to film test for the role, but the test was cancelled when

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 19 ...

finally accepted the part.

Writing

His writing career began in the early 1960s with plays produced at the

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...

, and The King's Lynn and Salzburg Festivals, and with a nationwide tour of ''The Hero'' starring

Roy Dotrice Roy Dotrice (26 May 1923 – 16 October 2017) was a British actor famed for his portrayal of the antiquarian John Aubrey in the record-breaking solo play ''Brief Lives''. Abroad, he won a Tony Award for his performance in the 2000 Broadway re ...

. 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 Samuel French (1821–1898) was an American entrepreneur who, together with British actor, playwright and theatrical manager Thomas Hailes Lacy, pioneered in the field of theatrical publishing and the licensing of plays. Biography French founde ...

and Josef Weinberger. These were followed by his farce ''

Don't Dress for Dinner ''Don't Dress for Dinner'' is an adaptation of a two-act play titled ''Pyjama Pour Six'' by French playwright Marc Camoletti, who wrote '' Boeing-Boeing.'' It ran in London for six years and opened on Broadway in 2012. Productions After a succes ...

'' (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 The Redgrave Theatre was a theatre in Farnham in Surrey from 1974 to 1998. The theatre, named after Sir Michael Redgrave, had regular repertory seasons and also staged a variety of plays and musical productions until financial difficulties force ...

. His comedy ''Shady Business'' played in Paris for five months at the Michodière Theatre. His most globally performed comedy is ''

Perfect Wedding ''Perfect Wedding'' is a 2010 Hong Kong film co-produced by Shaw Brothers Studio, Television Broadcasts Limited and Sil-Metropole Organisation. Cast * Miriam Yeung as Suen Lok Yan (孫洛昕), a wedding planner of ''Perfect Wedding'', Ling Yu F ...

'' His straight play, ''God And Stephen Hawking'', based on

Hawking Hawking may refer to: People * Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), English theoretical physicist and cosmologist * Hawking (surname), a family name (including a list of other persons with the name) Film * ''Hawking'' (2004 film), about Stephen Ha ...

’s life and his best-selling book ''

A Brief History of Time ''A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes'' is a book on theoretical cosmology by English physicist Stephen Hawking. It was first published in 1988. Hawking wrote the book for readers who had no prior knowledge of physics. I ...

'', 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 Sieg ...

and

Stephen Boxer Stephen Boxer (born 19 May 1950) is an English actor who has appeared in films, on television and on stage. He is known for his role as Joe Fenton on the BBC soap opera '' Doctors''. Career Stephen Boxer was educated at New College School in ...

. 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 Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, Switzerland and

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, 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 The Bath Fringe Festival is an annual art festival, held in Bath, England. Bath Fringe was founded in 1981 as a counterbalance to the 'classical'-dominated Bath Music Festival, which some people perceived to be elitist and out-of-touch with w ...

{{cite web, url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/bio/Robin-Hawdon/, title=Robin Hawdon Biography on BroadwayWorld.com, website=www.broadwayworld.com, access-date=11 December 2018 in the 1980s and subsequently became Director of

Bath Theatre Royal The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audienc ...

Personal life

He was born in

Newcastle-on-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

, the son of Bunty (née Middleton) and James Hawdon, a businessman.{{cite web, url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/hawdon-robin-1939, title=Hawdon, Robin 1939- {{! Encyclopedia.com, website=www.encyclopedia.com, access-date=11 December 2018 At the age of eight his family moved to

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

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

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

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

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

, and Australia.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* {{official website, https://robinhawdon.com/ * {{IMDb name, 0369937 * {{IBDB name, 491122 * {{Rotten Tomatoes person, robin_hawdon
Robin Hawdon
at

Open Library Open Library is an online project intended to create "one web page for every book ever published". Created by Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Alexis Rossi, Anand Chitipothu, and Rebecca Malamud, Open Library is a project of the Internet Archive, ...

* {{TCMDb person, 82977 {{authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawdon, Robin 1939 births Living people English theatre directors 20th-century English writers 21st-century English writers English male dramatists and playwrights English male novelists Male actors from Newcastle upon Tyne Writers from Newcastle upon Tyne Male actors from Surrey English male film actors People from Bath, Somerset