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 Shirehampton is a district of Bristol in England, near Avonmouth, at the northwestern edge of the city. It originated as a separate village, retains a High Street with a parish church and shops, and is still thought of as a village by many of it ...

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 Esme Church (10 February 1893 – 31 May 1972) was a British actress and theatre director. In a long career she acted with the Old Vic Company, the Royal Shakespeare Company and on Broadway. She directed plays for the Old Vic, became head of the ...

'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 A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...

at the Royalty Theatre,

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, followed by seasons of touring and at the Hippodrome, Preston. The London director

Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film ''Tom Jones (1963 film ...

saw a performance at the Royalty and this led to an offer of a place in the "momentous" first season of

English Stage Company The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

at the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

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 (theatre), 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 Osbor ...

'' on Broadway during the 1958-59 season for which he received a nomination for the

Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality leading roles in a Broadway p ...

. His early films included '' A Taste of Honey'' (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 ''

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'' (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 Empi ...

in the original 1964 National Theatre production of ''

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''. He and Smith appeared together on stage and in film, notably in ''

The Recruiting Officer ''The Recruiting Officer'' is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury (the town where Farquhar himse ...

'' at the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

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 ''The Mysteries'' is a version of the medieval English mystery plays first presented at London's National Theatre in 1977. The cycle of three plays tells the story of the Bible from the creation to the last judgement. Background It is based lar ...

'' in 1986), film ('' The Fruit Machine'' in 1988—titled ''Wonderland'' in the US—and

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus ...

's '' Henry V''), and television (notably in the role of Abner Brown in the 1984 BBC TV dramatisation of the children's classic ''

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'' and as the Master of an Oxford college in an episode of ''

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''), 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

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

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'' (director Stephen Pimlott) later in the year and then ''

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'', again for Noble, in May 1993. He was awarded the

Laurence Olivier Theatre Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

in 1993 for Best Actor, for his performance as Falstaff. Stephens provided the voice of

Aragorn Aragorn is a fictional character and a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. Aragorn was a Ranger of the North, first introduced with the name Strider and later revealed to be the heir of Isildur, an ancient King of Ar ...

in the 1981

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serialisation of ''

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''. In 1985, he directed the British premiere production of ''Danny and the Deep Blue Sea'' by

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at the

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, 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