Robert Atkins (actor)

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Robert Atkins

Old Vic" Shakespeare Co. photo
Born
Robert Alexander Atkins

(1886-08-10)10 August 1886
Dulwich, London, England
Died9 February 1972(1972-02-09) (aged 85)
London, England
Occupation(s)Actor, producer & director
SpouseEthel Davey

Robert Atkins

CBE (10 August 1886 – 9 February 1972) was an English actor, producer and director.[1]

Biography

Born in

Old Vic company in 1915, and became Director of Productions for Lilian Baylis from 1921 to 1926.[2][3][4]
He also appeared many times on film and in television, though not with the success of his theatre career.

His first film was a 1913 production of Hamlet, as the First Player, with Johnston Forbes-Robertson in the title role.[5] Atkins went on to appear in several other film and television roles over the next 50 years with the most famous production possibly being A Matter of Life and Death.[6] He also produced and/or directed several adaptations of William Shakespeare plays during the '40s and '50s for British TV.[7][8]

He was director of the

Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford, and along with Sydney Carroll, also founded Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.[4][9][10]

Robert Atkins was married twice: to Mary Sumner whom he divorced, and to Ethel Davey, a film editor. He died in London, England in 1972.[2]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1935 Peg of Old Drury Dr. Samuel Johnson
1936 The Cardinal General Belmont
Everything Is Thunder Adjutant
1937 Victoria the Great Garter King-at-Arms
1941 He Found a Star Frank Forrester
1942 Let the People Sing Hassock
The Great Mr. Handel
1946 A Matter of Life and Death The Vicar
1949 That Dangerous Age George Drummond
Black Magic King Louis XV
1951 I'll Never Forget You Dr. Samuel Johnson Uncredited

References

External links