Robert Flemyng
Encyclopedia
Robert Flemyng OBE
, MC
(3 January 1912 – 22 May 1995) was a British film and stage actor.
Flemyng was born in Liverpool
, the son of a doctor, and was educated at Haileybury
. He began his career as a medical student before abandoning medicine to become an actor. Flemyng made his stage debut in the early 1930s, and worked steadily in both London and Broadway. His first film appearance was in 1937, but he didn't appear steadily in films until after he served in World War II. During the war he was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps
and served with great distinction, reaching the rank of full colonel at the age of 33. He was awarded the Military Cross
in 1941, mentioned in despatches, and was appointed OBE
in 1944.
He played the idealistic schoolmaster in the 1948 Roy Boulting film, The Guinea Pig, starring Richard Attenborough
, and the key role of Detective Sergeant Roberts in the 1950 film The Blue Lamp
.
One memorable role was as a necrophiliac in the film The Horrible Dr. Hichcock
in 1962. He ably played a sardonic British Secret Intelligence Service
chief (his boss being George Sanders
) in the 1966 film The Quiller Memorandum
. The character actor worked in films and television until his death in 1995. Some of his later films include Kafka
(1991) and Shadowlands
(1993).
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(3 January 1912 – 22 May 1995) was a British film and stage actor.
Flemyng was born in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, the son of a doctor, and was educated at Haileybury
Haileybury and Imperial Service College
Haileybury and Imperial Service College, , is a prestigious British independent school founded in 1862. The school is located at Hertford Heath, near Hertford, from central London, on of parkland occupied until 1858 by the East India College...
. He began his career as a medical student before abandoning medicine to become an actor. Flemyng made his stage debut in the early 1930s, and worked steadily in both London and Broadway. His first film appearance was in 1937, but he didn't appear steadily in films until after he served in World War II. During the war he was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
and served with great distinction, reaching the rank of full colonel at the age of 33. He was awarded the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
in 1941, mentioned in despatches, and was appointed OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1944.
He played the idealistic schoolmaster in the 1948 Roy Boulting film, The Guinea Pig, starring Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
, and the key role of Detective Sergeant Roberts in the 1950 film The Blue Lamp
The Blue Lamp
The Blue Lamp is a British crime film released in early 1950 by Ealing Studios, directed by Basil Dearden and produced by Michael Balcon. It stars Jack Warner as police constable George Dixon, Jimmy Hanley and Dirk Bogarde in an early role...
.
One memorable role was as a necrophiliac in the film The Horrible Dr. Hichcock
The Horrible Dr. Hichcock
The Horrible Dr. Hichcock is a 1962 Italian horror film directed by Riccardo Freda and written by Ernesto Gastaldi. The film stars Barbara Steele and Robert Flemyng....
in 1962. He ably played a sardonic British Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
chief (his boss being George Sanders
George Sanders
George Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
) in the 1966 film The Quiller Memorandum
The Quiller Memorandum
The Quiller Memorandum is a film adaptation of the 1965 spy novel The Berlin Memorandum, by Trevor Dudley-Smith under the name "Adam Hall", screenplay by Harold Pinter, directed by Michael Anderson, featuring George Segal, Max von Sydow, Senta Berger and Alec Guinness. The film was shot on...
. The character actor worked in films and television until his death in 1995. Some of his later films include Kafka
Kafka (film)
Kafka is a 1991 mystery thriller film directed by Steven Soderbergh. Ostensibly a biopic, based on the life of Franz Kafka, the film blurs the lines between fact and Kafka's fiction , creating a Kafkaesque atmosphere...
(1991) and Shadowlands
Shadowlands (film)
Shadowlands is a 1993 British biographical film directed by Richard Attenborough. The screenplay by William Nicholson is based on his 1985 television production and 1989 stage adaptation of the same name. The original television film began life as a script entitled I Call it Joy written for Thames...
(1993).
Filmography
- Head Over HeelsHead Over Heels (1937 film)Head Over Heels is a 1937 British musical film directed by Sonnie Hale and starring Jessie Matthews, Robert Flemyng and Louis Borel. It was based on the play Pierre ou Jac by Francis de Croisset.-Cast:* Jessie Matthews - Jeanne Colbert...
(1937) - Bond StreetBond Street (film)Bond Street is a 1948 British drama film directed by Gordon Parry and based on a story by Terence Rattigan. It starred Jean Kent, Roland Young, Kathleen Harrison and Derek Farr...
(1948) - The Guinea Pig (1948)
- ConspiratorConspirator (1949 film)Conspirator is a 1949 British thriller film directed by Victor Saville and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Taylor and Robert Flemyng. A British guards officer who is a spy for the Soviet Union is ordered by his KGB handlers to murder his young American wife when she discovers his true...
(1949) - The Blue LampThe Blue LampThe Blue Lamp is a British crime film released in early 1950 by Ealing Studios, directed by Basil Dearden and produced by Michael Balcon. It stars Jack Warner as police constable George Dixon, Jimmy Hanley and Dirk Bogarde in an early role...
(1950) - BlackmailedBlackmailed (1951 film)Blackmailed is a 1951 British drama film directed by Marc Allégret and starring Mai Zetterling, Dirk Bogarde, Fay Compton and Robert Flemyng. It was adapted from a novel by Elizabeth Myers and was also released as Mrs...
(1951) - The Magic BoxThe Magic BoxThe Magic Box is a fictional magic shop in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon. It is located in Sunnydale and was last owned and operated by Rupert Giles, and served as the primary headquarters of the Scooby Gang for seasons five and six.-Ownership history:The shop went...
(1952) - The Holly and the IvyThe Holly and the Ivy (film)The Holly and the Ivy is a 1952 drama film about an English clergyman whose neglect of his grown offspring, in his zeal to tend to his parishioners, comes to the surface at a Christmas family gathering. It stars Ralph Richardson, Celia Johnson, and Margaret Leighton...
(1952) - Cast a Dark ShadowCast a Dark ShadowCast a Dark Shadow is a 1955 British suspense film directed by Lewis Gilbert. The black-and-white film was based on the play Murder Mistaken by Janet Green about a psychotic Bluebeard.-Plot:...
(1955) - The Man Who Never WasThe Man Who Never WasThe Man Who Never Was is a nonfiction 1953 book by Ewen Montagu and a 1956 Second World War war film, based on the book and dramatising actual events...
(1956) - Funny FaceFunny FaceFunny Face is an American musical film released in 1957 in VistaVision Technicolor, with assorted songs by George and Ira Gershwin. The film was written by Leonard Gershe and directed by Stanley Donen. It stars Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, and Kay Thompson...
(1957) - Let's Be HappyLet's Be HappyLet's Be Happy is a 1957 British musical film directed by Henry Levin, written by Dorothy Cooper and Diana Morgan. This is also Vera-Ellen's last film.-Credited cast:*Vera-Ellen ... Jeannie*Tony Martin ... Stanley Smith...
(1957) - Windom's WayWindom's WayWindom's Way is a 1957 British thriller film directed by Ronald Neame. It was nominated for four British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards in 1958.-Cast:* Peter Finch as Alec Windom* Mary Ure as Lee Windom* Natasha Parry as Anna Vidal...
(1957) - Blind DateBlind Date (1959 film)Blind Date is a 1959 murder mystery film. A police inspector investigates a woman's death, with her lover being the prime suspect...
(1959) - A Touch of LarcenyA Touch of LarcenyA Touch of Larceny is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Guy Hamilton and starring James Mason, George Sanders, Vera Miles, Harry Andrews, Rachel Gurney, and John Le Mesurier. It is based on a diverting and mildly cynical novel, The Megstone Plot , by Paul Winterton under the pseudonym Andrew...
(1959) - The Horrible Dr. HichcockThe Horrible Dr. HichcockThe Horrible Dr. Hichcock is a 1962 Italian horror film directed by Riccardo Freda and written by Ernesto Gastaldi. The film stars Barbara Steele and Robert Flemyng....
(1962) - Mystery SubmarineMystery Submarine (1963 film)Mystery Submarine is a 1963 British war film directed by C.M. Pennington-Richards and starring Edward Judd, James Robertson Justice and Laurence Payne...
(1963) - The King's Breakfast (1963)
- The Deadly AffairThe Deadly AffairThe Deadly Affair is a 1966 British espionage–thriller film, based on John le Carré's first novel Call for the Dead. The film stars James Mason, Harry Andrews, Simone Signoret and Maximilian Schell and was directed by Sidney Lumet from a script by Paul Dehn. In it George Smiley, the central...
(1966) - The Quiller MemorandumThe Quiller MemorandumThe Quiller Memorandum is a film adaptation of the 1965 spy novel The Berlin Memorandum, by Trevor Dudley-Smith under the name "Adam Hall", screenplay by Harold Pinter, directed by Michael Anderson, featuring George Segal, Max von Sydow, Senta Berger and Alec Guinness. The film was shot on...
(1966) - The Spy with a Cold NoseThe Spy with a Cold NoseThe Spy with a Cold Nose is a 1966 British comedy film directed by Daniel Petrie.-Cast:* Laurence Harvey as Dr. Francis Trevelyan* Daliah Lavi as Princess Natasha Romanova* Lionel Jeffries as Stanley Farquhar* Eric Sykes as Wrigley...
(1966) - The Blood Beast TerrorThe Blood Beast TerrorThe Blood Beast Terror is a 1968 British horror film released by Tigon. It was known in the United States under the title The Vampire-Beast Craves Blood.-Story:A series of grisly murders is occurring in the English countryside...
(1968) - Oh! What a Lovely WarOh! What a Lovely WarOh! What a Lovely War is a musical film based on the stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War! originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop created in 1963,...
(1969) - The Body StealersThe Body StealersThe Body Stealers is a 1969 British science fiction film directed by Gerry Levy, about the disappearance of British military paratroopers in mid-air whilst on a routine jump. Two investigators try to figure out what happened and uncover an alien plot to steal bodies of earthlings by snatching them...
(1969) - Battle of BritainBattle of Britain (film)Battle of Britain is a 1969 Technicolor film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz. The film broadly relates the events of the Battle of Britain...
(1969) - The FirechasersThe FirechasersThe Firechasers is a 1971 British crime film directed by Sidney Hayers and starring Chad Everett, Anjanette Comer and Keith Barron. A journalist tries to find out who is behind a series of arson attacks.-Cast:* Chad Everett - Quentin Barnaby...
(1971) - The Darwin Adventure (1972)
- Young WinstonYoung WinstonYoung Winston is a 1972 British film based on the early years of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.The film was based on the book My Early Life: A Roving Commission by Winston Churchill. The first part of the film covers Churchill's unhappy schooldays, up to the death of his father...
(1972) - Travels with My AuntTravels with My Aunt (film)Travels with My Aunt is a 1972 American comedy film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay by Jay Presson Allen and Hugh Wheeler is based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Graham Greene.-Plot:...
(1972) - Golden RendezvousGolden RendezvousGolden Rendezvous is a 1977 South African thriller film directed by Ashley Lazarus and starring Richard Harris, Ann Turkel and Gordon Jackson. A luxury cruise ship is hijacked by terrorists. It was based on the 1962 novel The Golden Rendezvous by Alistair MacLean.-Cast:* Richard Harris - John...
(1977) - The Medusa TouchThe Medusa Touch (film)The Medusa Touch is a 1978 British supernatural thriller film directed by Jack Gold. It starred Richard Burton, Lino Ventura, Lee Remick and Harry Andrews, with cameos by Alan Badel, Derek Jacobi, Gordon Jackson, Jeremy Brett and Michael Hordern...
(1978) - The Thirty Nine Steps (1978)
- Paris by Night (1988)
- KafkaKafka (film)Kafka is a 1991 mystery thriller film directed by Steven Soderbergh. Ostensibly a biopic, based on the life of Franz Kafka, the film blurs the lines between fact and Kafka's fiction , creating a Kafkaesque atmosphere...
(1991) - ShadowlandsShadowlands (film)Shadowlands is a 1993 British biographical film directed by Richard Attenborough. The screenplay by William Nicholson is based on his 1985 television production and 1989 stage adaptation of the same name. The original television film began life as a script entitled I Call it Joy written for Thames...
(1993)