Robert Stephens


Sir Robert Graham Stephens was an English actor in the early years of Britain's Royal National Theatre.

Early life

Robert Graham Stephens was born on 14 July 1931 in Shirehampton, Bristol, the eldest of three children of shipyard labourer and costing surveyor Reuben Stephens and chocolate-factory worker Gladys Millicent. 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.

Career

Stephens's 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, followed by seasons of touring and at the Hippodrome, Preston. London director Tony Richardson saw a performance at the Royalty; this led to an offer of a place in the "momentous" first season of English Stage Company at the Royal Court in 1956.
Stephens appeared in two versions of Epitaph for George Dillon on Broadway during the 1958-59 season for which he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.
Stephens's early films included A Taste of Honey, Cleopatra and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie with his then wife Maggie Smith. He also had a minor role as Prince Escalus in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet, as well as a starring role in Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and the gothic horror film The Asphyx.
Stephens played Atahuallpa 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 Stephens continued to work on stage, film, and television, it was not until the 1990s that he re-established himself at the forefront of his profession, when the Royal Shakespeare Company invited him to play Falstaff in Henry IV for director Adrian Noble, the title roles in Julius Caesar later in the year and then King Lear, 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. 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 as a Knight Bachelor in the 1995 New Years Honours List "For services to Drama".

Personal life and death

Stephens was married four times:
  • 1951: to Nora Ann Simmons; they had one child and divorced in 1952
  • 1956: to Tarn Bassett; they had one child and divorced in 1967
  • 1967: to Maggie Smith; they had two sons, the actors Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens and divorced in 1975
  • 1995: to Belfast-born Patricia Quinn
Following years of ill health, Stephens died on 12 November 1995, aged 64, due to complications during surgery, a little under a year after having been knighted.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1956War and PeaceOfficer Talking with NatashaUncredited
1960A Circle of DeceptionCaptain Stein
1961A Taste of HoneyPeter Smith
1961Pirates of TortugaHenry Morgan
1961The Queen's GuardsHenry Wynne-Walton
1961Lunch HourThe Man
1962The InspectorRoger DickensReleased as Lisa in USA
1963The Small World of Sammy LeeGerry Sullivan
1963CleopatraGermanicus
1966Morgan – A Suitable Case for TreatmentCharles Napier
1968Romeo and JulietThe Prince of Verona
1969The Prime of Miss Jean BrodieTeddy Lloyd
1970The Private Life of Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes
1972The AsphyxSir Hugo Cunningham
1972Travels with My AuntErcole Visconti
1974LutherJohan Von Eck
1977The DuellistsGeneral Treillard
1977At Night All Cats Are CrazyCharles Watson
1978The ShoutChief Medical Officer
1981The Games of Countess DolingenThe Professor
1983Ill Fares the Land
1986ComradesJames Frampton
1987High SeasonKonstantinis
1987Empire of the SunMr. Lockwood
1988American RouletteScreech
1988The Fruit MachineVincent
1988Ada in the JungleLord Gordon
1988TestimonyVsevolod Meyerhold
1989Henry VAncient Pistol
1990Wings of FameMerrick
1990The Bonfire of the VanitiesSir Gerald Moore
1990The ChildrenAzariah Dobree
1991The Pope Must DieThe Camarlengo
199130 Door KeyProf. Pimco
1991Afraid of the DarkDan Burns
1992ChaplinTed the Drunk
1993Searching for Bobby FischerPoe's teacher
1993The Secret RaptureMax Lopert
1993CenturyMr. Reisner
1995England, My EnglandJohn Dryden

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1956Nom-de-PlumeJohnEpisode: The Counting House Clerk
1964ChanningPaddy RiordanEpisode: A Bang and a Whimper
1964First NightArnold ClaybillEpisode: The Improbable Mr Claybill
1971The Rivals of Sherlock HolmesMax CarradosEpisode: The Missing Witness Sensation
1974QB VIIRobert HighsmithTV miniseries, 3 episodes
1976GangstersSir George Jeavons2 episodes
1978HolocaustUncle Kurt DorfTV miniseries, 4 episodes
1982Anyone for Denis?SchubertTV movie
1983StudioLyndsay7 episodes
1984The Box of DelightsAbner Brown6 episodes, recurring role
1984Fortunes of WarBill Castlebar3 episodes
1985By the Sword DividedSir Ralph Winter
1986Hell's BellsBishop Godfrey Hethercote6 episodes
1987Inspector MorseSir Wilfred MulryneEpisode: The Settling of the Sun
1988–1989War and RemembranceSS Sturmbannführer Karl RahmTV mini series, 3 episodes
1989South Bank ShowRaymond ChandlerTV arts series, 1 episode, dramatised readings
1990The Storyteller: Greek MythsHades1 episode
1994–199599-1Commander Oakwood7 episodes