Robert Lang (actor)
Encyclopedia
Robert Lang was an English
actor of stage and television. Laurence Olivier
invited him to join the new National Theatre Company
, at the Old Vic
, Robert Lang was already earning high praise as an actor. From 1971 until his death he was married to Ann Bell
, best known for her portrayal of Marion Jefferson in the BBC war drama Tenko
. The couple appeared together in Tenko Reunion.
, the son of Lily Violet (née
Ballard) and Richard Lionel Lang. He was educated at Fairfield Grammar School
and St Simon’s Church School. He had intended to become a meteorologist but then trained for the stage at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
.
’s “total admiration” for his performance as Ejnar, a painter, in an important revival of Ibsen
’s Brand
; his performance as Robespierre in Georg Büchner
’s Danton's Death
with the same company was also praised.
In 1962, Olivier “stole” Lang (along with other actors) from the newly established Royal Shakespeare Company
, where Lang had impressed him with his performances as Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream
and as the Actor in Maxim Gorki’s The Lower Depths
. Playing Pierre Cauchon
, the Bishop of Beauvais, in George Bernard Shaw
’s Saint Joan
at the National Theatre, Lang drew the praise of critic Caryl Brahms
for his "quiet grandeur, cogency and gravity".
Lang also showed a finely-judged talent for comic parts. In the deadpan role of diplomat Richard Greatham in the National Theatre revival in 1964 of Noël Coward
’s Hay Fever
, under the author's own direction, Lang showed his acute feeling for what amuses a theatre audience without appearing to seek to do so.
His small-screen credits include That Was The Week That Was
, The New Avengers ("Last of the Cybernauts", 1976), 1990
(1977), Rumpole of the Bailey (1979), King Lear (1983), A Dance to the Music of Time (1997), The Forsyte Saga (2002), Our Mutual Friend (1998), and Heartbeat (2002). In the cinema he appeared in Savage Messiah
(1972), and The First Great Train Robbery
(US title: The Great Train Robbery, 1979), and Four Weddings and a Funeral
(1994). His final movie appearance was as Mr Osbourne in Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
(2005), screened a few months after his death from cancer in November 2004 at the age of 70.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor of stage and television. Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
invited him to join the new National Theatre Company
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
, Robert Lang was already earning high praise as an actor. From 1971 until his death he was married to Ann Bell
Ann Bell
Ann Bell is a British actress, best known for playing war internee Marion Jefferson in the BBC World War II drama series Tenko during the early 1980s. She was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, daughter of John Forrest Bell and Marjorie Bell, and educated at Birkenhead High School...
, best known for her portrayal of Marion Jefferson in the BBC war drama Tenko
Tenko
Tenko may refer to:*Tenko , a BBC television drama*Princess Tenko, a Japanese magician, upon whom the cartoon Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic was based...
. The couple appeared together in Tenko Reunion.
Early life
Lang was born in BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, the son of Lily Violet (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Ballard) and Richard Lionel Lang. He was educated at Fairfield Grammar School
Fairfield Grammar School
Fairfield Grammar School was a secondary school in Bristol, England, founded in 1898 as Fairfield Secondary and Higher Grade School. It became a grammar school in 1945 and closed in 2000, to be replaced by a new comprehensive, Fairfield High School, at first on the same site, but now located in...
and St Simon’s Church School. He had intended to become a meteorologist but then trained for the stage at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, opened by Laurence Olivier in 1946, is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, an organisation securing the highest standards of training in the performing arts, and is an associate school of the Faculty of Creative Arts of the University of the...
.
Career
Lang made his London debut in 1957 as Uncle Ernest in Oh! My Papa!. With the ’59 Theatre Company at the Lyric, Hammersmith, he won Kenneth TynanKenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan was an influential and often controversial English theatre critic and writer.-Early life:...
’s “total admiration” for his performance as Ejnar, a painter, in an important revival of Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
’s Brand
Brand (play)
Brand is a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It is a verse tragedy, written in 1865 and first performed in Stockholm on 24 March 1867. Brand was an intellectual play that provoked much original thought....
; his performance as Robespierre in Georg Büchner
Georg Büchner
Karl Georg Büchner was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose. He was the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchner. Büchner's talent is generally held in great esteem in Germany...
’s Danton's Death
Danton's Death
Danton's Death was the first play written by Georg Büchner, set during the French Revolution.-History:Georg Büchner wrote his works in the period between Romanticism and Realism in the so-called Vormärz era in German history and literature...
with the same company was also praised.
In 1962, Olivier “stole” Lang (along with other actors) from the newly established Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
, where Lang had impressed him with his performances as Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
and as the Actor in Maxim Gorki’s The Lower Depths
The Lower Depths
The Lower Depths is perhaps Maxim Gorky's best-known play. It was written during the winter of 1901 and the spring of 1902. Subtitled "Scenes from Russian Life," it depicted a group of impoverished Russians living in a shelter near the Volga. Produced by the Moscow Arts Theatre on December 18,...
. Playing Pierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon , bishop of Beauvais. A strong partisan of English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War, his role in arranging Joan of Arc's downfall led most subsequent observers to condemn his extension of secular politics into an ecclesiastical trial...
, the Bishop of Beauvais, in George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
’s Saint Joan
Saint Joan (play)
Saint Joan is a play by George Bernard Shaw, based on the life and trial of Joan of Arc. Published not long after the canonization of Joan of Arc by the Roman Catholic Church, the play dramatises what is known of her life based on the substantial records of her trial. Shaw studied the transcripts...
at the National Theatre, Lang drew the praise of critic Caryl Brahms
Caryl Brahms
Caryl Brahms, born Doris Caroline Abrahams was an English critic, novelist, and journalist specialising in the theatre and ballet. She also wrote film, radio and television scripts....
for his "quiet grandeur, cogency and gravity".
Lang also showed a finely-judged talent for comic parts. In the deadpan role of diplomat Richard Greatham in the National Theatre revival in 1964 of Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
’s Hay Fever
Hay Fever
Hay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York...
, under the author's own direction, Lang showed his acute feeling for what amuses a theatre audience without appearing to seek to do so.
His small-screen credits include That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme that was shown on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost...
, The New Avengers ("Last of the Cybernauts", 1976), 1990
1990 (TV series)
1990 is a British then-futuristic political drama television series produced by the BBC and shown in 1977 and 1978.- Plot :The series is set in a dystopian future in which Britain is under the grip of the Home Office's Department of Public Control , a tyrannically oppressive bureaucracy riding...
(1977), Rumpole of the Bailey (1979), King Lear (1983), A Dance to the Music of Time (1997), The Forsyte Saga (2002), Our Mutual Friend (1998), and Heartbeat (2002). In the cinema he appeared in Savage Messiah
Savage Messiah
Savage Messiah is a 1972 British biographical film of the life of French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, made by Russ-Arts and distributed by MGM. It was directed and produced by Ken Russell with Harry Benn as associate producer, from a screenplay by Christopher Logue, based on the book Savage...
(1972), and The First Great Train Robbery
The First Great Train Robbery
The First Great Train Robbery — known in the U.S. as The Great Train Robbery — is a 1979 film directed by Michael Crichton, who also wrote the screenplay based on his novel The Great Train Robbery...
(US title: The Great Train Robbery, 1979), and Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It was the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant...
(1994). His final movie appearance was as Mr Osbourne in Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is a 2005 comedy-drama film made by Claremont Films and distributed by Picture Entertainment Corporation. It was directed by Dan Ireland and produced by Lee Caplin, Carl Colpaert and Zachary Matz from a screenplay by Ruth Sacks, based on the novel by Elizabeth...
(2005), screened a few months after his death from cancer in November 2004 at the age of 70.