Robert Lindsay

Robert Lindsay Stevenson (he would later drop the ‘Stevenson’ for the stage) was born on December 13, 1949, in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, the eldest of three children in a close-knit family.

Robert’s childhood in Ilkeston remains strong in his memory. He still follows the fortunes of the ‘Rams’, Derby County FC, and also remembers the strong influence of the region’s literary hero, D.H. Lawrence, who was born in Eastwood, only five miles from Ilkeston. The author had taught English at Robert’s old school, Gladstone Boys, and Robert identified with his aspirations to follow a career outside the local coalmines. It was Sons and Lovers that gave Robert a real buzz for reading and which, he says, resonates with his own life in many ways.

Encouraged by his parents, Robert enrolled on a drama course at Clarendon College in Nottingham after finishing school. He had intended to become a drama teacher, but friends at Nottingham Playhouse convinced him to apply to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in 1968. He borrowed £5 from a friend, travelled to London for the auditions and was accepted on a government grant. Robert graduated two years later with a thorough training in movement and voice (and minus the Derbyshire accent that RADA had coached out of him).

He’s been working ever since, moving his talent between television, film and theatre, ranging from light comedy to serious drama. His career began on the stage, as part of the progressive Northcott theatre company in Exeter in the early 1970s, and he’s returned to theatre periodically throughout his acting life, appearing on the major stages, from the National to the Haymarket and the Palladium. Major roles have included Hamlet at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, Henry II in Becket in the West End and Richard III for the Royal Shakespeare Company. However, most plaudits were won for Me and My Girl, the show that began in Leicester, moved to the West End and eventually took Robert to Broadway for a year, and for which he won Olivier, Fred Astaire and Tony awards. Robert has also appeared as Fagin in Oliver!, the musical written by his old friend Lionel Bart.