Robert Ashby (born Rashid Suhrawardy; 1940 – 7 February 2019) was a British actor. He worked on stage, television and film.

Early life and career

Ashby was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

1940 as Rashid Suhrawardy to East Pakistani

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

politician

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( bn, হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্‌রাওয়ার্দী; ur, ; 8 September 18925 December 1963) was a Bengali barrister and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 t ...

, who served as the

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Pa ...

, and a Russian mother of Polish descent, actress Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko Calder. He received his early education at Charterhouse School and graduated from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He attended the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 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 ...

in London and later joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. Described by '' Pakistan Today'' as "the quintessential theatre actor", on screen he was known for playing

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

in the film ''

Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

'' (1998) and a '' Doctor Who'' villain, the Borad, in the serial ''

Timelash ''Timelash'' is the fifth serial of the 22nd season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on BBC1 on 9 and 16 March 1985. In the serial, the Borad ( Robert Ashby), the m ...

'' (1985).

Politics

In politics, Ashby was deeply committed to the people of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. Where Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy's daughter, Begum Akhtar Suleiman, went out on a limb to support the Yahya Khan regime during the war of 1971, Robert Ashby loudly upheld the Bangladesh cause in London. As described by a friend in an obituary, it was “patriotism par excellence”. As a result of that, he had a strained relationship with his sisters and other relatives who were in favour of united Pakistan. He was invited to join politics in Bangladesh but declined, citing his language issues and saying that he was "not as great as his father". However, he headed Awami League's election steering committee in 1996. Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh since January 2 ...

expressed her "profound shock and sorrow" at the news of his death.

References

External links

* 1940 births 2019 deaths 20th-century British actors 20th-century British writers Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Alumni of the University of Oxford British people of Bengali descent British people of Pakistani descent British people of Polish descent British people of Russian descent Children of prime ministers of Pakistan People educated at Charterhouse School Suhrawardy family Urdu-speaking Bangladeshi 21st-century Bengalis 20th-century Bengalis {{UK-actor-stub