Robert Lindsay (actor)
Encyclopedia
Robert Lindsay is an English actor who is best known for his television work, especially his roles of Wolfie Smith in Citizen Smith
, Michael Murray in G.B.H., Captain Sir Edward Pellew in Hornblower
and Ben Harper in My Family which has been on television screens since 2000.
, Derbyshire, to Norman and Joyce Stevenson. After leaving Gladstone Boys' School, Lindsay enrolled in the drama department of Clarendon College
in Nottingham
, intending to become a drama teacher. However, friends at Nottingham Playhouse
encouraged him to apply to Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
(RADA), and in 1968 he was accepted there with the aid of a government grant. After graduation he worked as dialect coach for a repertory company in Essex
, and then joined a regional theatre group.
Lindsay first came to prominence as the cockney layabout Jakey Smith in the ITV
comedy series Get Some In!
, and he appeared in the fourth series of the BBC
sitcom The Good Life. He was then given the starring role as incompetent revolutionary Wolfie Smith in the BBC sitcom Citizen Smith
. He followed this with roles in a number of the BBC Television Shakespeare
productions, including Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing
, and as Edmund in King Lear
opposite Sir Laurence Olivier in 1983.
. Earlier, a young Lindsay appeared in The Good Life in the 1977 series 4 episode entitled Our Speaker Today. Lindsay's success on Broadway and in the West End led to the starring role in the film Bert Rigby, You're a Fool
, although it was not a commercial success. However, he continued to enjoy success on television, and in 1991 played the leading role in Alan Bleasdale
's dark comedy serial G.B.H., for which he won a BAFTA
for his performance. He was also in Bleasdale's Jake's Progress (Channel 4, 1995) the story of a couple (Robert Lindsay and Julie Walters) struggling to cope with a 'difficult' child (Barclay Wright).
He also starred in the surreal Channel 4
sitcom Nightingales
, and appeared in the films Fierce Creatures
and Divorcing Jack
. In 1998 he was cast in the recurring role of Captain Pellew
in the ITV
mini-series Hornblower
, based on the novels of C. S. Forester
. He was also the original choice for the lead role in the drama Cracker
, but turned the part down as he did not want to become too associated with heavyweight, darker drama characters. He later appeared as Fagin
in the 1999 ITV
Oliver Twist
miniseries.
plays his on-screen wife Susan.
In October 2005 he starred in an ITV
drama series Jericho, about a Scotland Yard
detective investigating murder and kidnapping in London's Soho
in the 1950s. In January and February 2006, he appeared as Sneath in two loosely linked Stephen Poliakoff
dramas, Friends and Crocodiles
and Gideon's Daughter
, shown on BBC One
. He was the only actor to appear in both productions.
He has also portrayed Prime Minister Tony Blair
in the Channel 4
satires A Very Social Secretary and The Trial of Tony Blair
. In 2003 he appeared in an episode in Absolutely Fabulous
, and also narrated the BBC documentary series Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
.
Lindsay appeared in the 8th Ricky Gervais Video Podcast, where Gervais announced that Lindsay would be in the second series of Extras
. He appeared in the last episode of the second series playing an egotistical, pushy version of himself. He also appeared in the romantic comedy Wimbledon, as the tennis club manager who hires Peter Colt. In 2009 he played the protagonist, Maddox, from the Radio 4
comedy Electric Ink
by Alistair Beaton
.
Lindsay is starring in British Sitcom Spy
in October 2011, which is airing on Sky 1
Lindsay sings the recorded version of Derby County F.C.
's song "Steve Bloomer's Watchin'
", played and sung by the fans at the beginning of every home game, and usually at the start of the second half and after a good win.
, who later appeared alongside him in Citizen Smith. They divorced in 1980, when he started a long-term relationship with actress Diana Weston
, with whom he has a daughter, Sydney Laura Stevenson (born at Hammersmith
, London, 2 April 1988), who co-starred with him in three episodes of My Family. Since acting as Admiral Pellew in the Hornblower series, Lindsay has become good friends with the real Pellew family.
He then left Weston for actress/presenter Rosemarie Ford
. The couple have two sons, both born in Hillingdon
, London: Samuel Lindsay Stevenson (born 18 November 1999) and James Lindsay Stevenson (born 8 April 2003). The couple married on 31 December 2006.
Lindsay researched his family tree in the third series of Who Do You Think You Are?, which aired on 13 September 2006. He travelled to his hometown and to Turkey
, where his grandfather Raymond Dunmore had taken part in the Gallipoli campaign
during World War I. Lindsay has been a life-long supporter of Derby County F.C.
, a fact which he stated in a short section for CBBC's Newsround entitled 'My Team'.
. He usually describes himself as a staunch socialist, and has marched in the past in support of miners. However he was a outspoken critic about Prime Minister Tony Blair
's decisions to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, saying he was "furious" and now feels disillusioned with mainstream politics: "You see those images of Iraq and Afghanistan and Lebanon, don't you? And I suspect somewhere, when he goes home at night and the kids are in bed, he must go, Jesus, what have I done?"
Citizen Smith
Citizen Smith is a British television sitcom. The show was written by John Sullivan, who later wrote Only Fools and Horses. The pilot was transmitted on 12 April 1977 in the Comedy Special series of one-off plays, and the series proper ran from 3 November 1977 to 31 December 1980.Citizen Smith...
, Michael Murray in G.B.H., Captain Sir Edward Pellew in Hornblower
Hornblower (TV series)
Hornblower is the umbrella title of a series of television drama programmes based on C. S. Forester's novels about the fictional character Horatio Hornblower, a Royal Naval officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars....
and Ben Harper in My Family which has been on television screens since 2000.
Early life
Lindsay was born Robert Lindsay Stevenson in IlkestonIlkeston
Ilkeston is a town within the Borough of Erewash, in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the River Erewash, from which the local borough takes its name. Its population at the 2001 census was 37,550...
, Derbyshire, to Norman and Joyce Stevenson. After leaving Gladstone Boys' School, Lindsay enrolled in the drama department of Clarendon College
New College Nottingham
New College Nottingham is an amalgamation of education establishments in the City of Nottingham. The College caters for students from the age of 14 and has several campuses throughout the Nottingham conurbation, primarily in the City itself...
in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, intending to become a drama teacher. However, friends at Nottingham Playhouse
Nottingham Playhouse
The Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in the 1950s when it operated from a former cinema. Directors during this period included Val May and Frank Dunlop.-The building:...
encouraged him to apply to Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
(RADA), and in 1968 he was accepted there with the aid of a government grant. After graduation he worked as dialect coach for a repertory company in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, and then joined a regional theatre group.
Lindsay first came to prominence as the cockney layabout Jakey Smith in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
comedy series Get Some In!
Get Some In!
Get Some In! was a British television series about life in Royal Air Force National Service broadcast between 1975 and 1978 by Thames Television...
, and he appeared in the fourth series of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
sitcom The Good Life. He was then given the starring role as incompetent revolutionary Wolfie Smith in the BBC sitcom Citizen Smith
Citizen Smith
Citizen Smith is a British television sitcom. The show was written by John Sullivan, who later wrote Only Fools and Horses. The pilot was transmitted on 12 April 1977 in the Comedy Special series of one-off plays, and the series proper ran from 3 November 1977 to 31 December 1980.Citizen Smith...
. He followed this with roles in a number of the BBC Television Shakespeare
BBC Television Shakespeare
The BBC Television Shakespeare was a set of television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, produced by the BBC between 1978 and 1985.-Origins:...
productions, including Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
, and as Edmund in King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
opposite Sir Laurence Olivier in 1983.
Stage career
Lindsay enjoyed a successful stage career, especially during the 1980s and '90s. Highlights of his theatrical career include:- the role of Edmund, the illegitimate son of Gloucester in King LearKing LearKing Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
opposite Laurence OlivierLaurence OlivierLaurence 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... - the role of Bill Snibson in the hugely acclaimed 1984 London revival of Me and My GirlMe and My GirlMe and My Girl is a musical with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay. It takes place in the late 1930s in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth....
(for which Lindsay won an Olivier Award) which subsequently transferred to Broadway, earning him a Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
(against competition that included Colm WilkinsonColm WilkinsonColm Wilkinson is an Irish tenor, best known for originating the role of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and for playing the title role in The Phantom of the Opera .Due to his association with these musicals, he reprised the role of...
, Roger AllamRoger AllamRoger Allam is an English actor, known primarily for his stage career, although he has performed in film and television. He played Inspector Javert in the original London production of the stage musical Les Misérables....
and Terrence MannTerrence MannTerrence Vaughan Mann is an American actor, director, singer, songwriter and dancer who has been prominent on the Broadway stage for the past three decades...
in Les MisLes Misérables (musical)Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
in both cases). - the role of the titular BecketBecketBecket or The Honor of God is a play written in French by Jean Anouilh. It is a depiction of the conflict between Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England leading to Becket's murder in 1170. It contains many historical inaccuracies, which the author acknowledged.-Background:Anouilh's...
opposite Derek JacobiDerek JacobiSir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
as King Henry IIHenry II of EnglandHenry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
in 1996 (for which he won another Olivier Award) - the role of Fagin in Cameron MackintoshCameron MackintoshSir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York...
's acclaimed London revival of Oliver!Oliver!Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
at the Palladium. Lindsay won a third Olivier for this performance. - a starring role in The EntertainerThe Entertainer (film)The Entertainer is a 1960 film adaptation of the stage play of the same name by John Osborne, which told the story of a failing third-rate music hall stage performer who tried to keep his career going even as his personal life fell apart....
at the Old VicOld VicThe 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...
in 2007 - in 2010 he returned to his native DerbyDerbyDerby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
to star in the title role of Derby Live's production of Onassis before its transfer to London's West End.
1970s–1990s
Lindsay became famous in the UK for his role as incompetent revolutionary Wolfie Smith in the BBC sitcom Citizen SmithCitizen Smith
Citizen Smith is a British television sitcom. The show was written by John Sullivan, who later wrote Only Fools and Horses. The pilot was transmitted on 12 April 1977 in the Comedy Special series of one-off plays, and the series proper ran from 3 November 1977 to 31 December 1980.Citizen Smith...
. Earlier, a young Lindsay appeared in The Good Life in the 1977 series 4 episode entitled Our Speaker Today. Lindsay's success on Broadway and in the West End led to the starring role in the film Bert Rigby, You're a Fool
Bert Rigby, You're a Fool
Bert Rigby, You're a Fool is a 1989 American musical film directed by Carl Reiner, and starring Robert Lindsay in the title role.-Plot:Bert Rigby is a miner in a small dying town of Langmore in northern England, with aspirations to show business. He tells the story in flashback, while sitting in a...
, although it was not a commercial success. However, he continued to enjoy success on television, and in 1991 played the leading role in Alan Bleasdale
Alan Bleasdale
Alan Bleasdale is an English television dramatist, best known for writing several social realist drama serials based on the lives of ordinary people.The Bleasdales live in prescot,liverpool,wales and london.-Early life:Bleasdale is an only child; his father worked in a food factory and his mother...
's dark comedy serial G.B.H., for which he won a BAFTA
British Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
for his performance. He was also in Bleasdale's Jake's Progress (Channel 4, 1995) the story of a couple (Robert Lindsay and Julie Walters) struggling to cope with a 'difficult' child (Barclay Wright).
He also starred in the surreal Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
sitcom Nightingales
Nightingales
Nightingales is a British situation comedy set around the antics of three security guards working the night shift. It was produced by Alomo Productions for Channel 4 in 1990.-Outline:...
, and appeared in the films Fierce Creatures
Fierce Creatures
Fierce Creatures is a 1997 comedy film. Although not a sequel, it was a follow-up to the wildly popular A Fish Called Wanda, starring the same four actors, John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin...
and Divorcing Jack
Divorcing Jack (film)
Divorcing Jack is a 1998 satirical black comedy. The plot is set around the Northern Irish reporter Dan Starkey who gets entangled into a web of political intrigue and Irish sectarian violence, at the same time as Northern Ireland is set to elect a new Prime Minister...
. In 1998 he was cast in the recurring role of Captain Pellew
Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth
Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary, and the Napoleonic Wars...
in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
mini-series Hornblower
Hornblower (TV series)
Hornblower is the umbrella title of a series of television drama programmes based on C. S. Forester's novels about the fictional character Horatio Hornblower, a Royal Naval officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars....
, based on the novels of C. S. Forester
C. S. Forester
Cecil Scott "C.S." Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith , an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of naval warfare. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen...
. He was also the original choice for the lead role in the drama Cracker
Cracker (UK TV series)
Cracker is a British crime drama series produced by Granada Television for ITV and created and principally written by Jimmy McGovern. The series is centered on a criminal psychologist , Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, played by Robbie Coltrane. Set in Manchester, it consists of three series which were...
, but turned the part down as he did not want to become too associated with heavyweight, darker drama characters. He later appeared as Fagin
Fagin
Fagin is a fictional character who appears as an antagonist of the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, referred to in the preface of the novel as a "receiver of stolen goods", but referred to more frequently within the actual story as the "merry old gentleman" or simply the "Jew".-Character:Born...
in the 1999 ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist (TV miniseries)
Oliver Twist is a 1999 television mini-series produced by ITV based on the book Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.-Plot:The first episode revolved around Oliver's parents as they struggled to fight their love for each other...
miniseries.
2000s
Lindsay has become familiar to a new generation of viewers as Ben Harper in the popular BBC sitcom My Family, which ran from 2000 until 2011. Zoe WanamakerZoe Wanamaker
Zoë Wanamaker, CBE is an American-British actress. She has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company; in films, including the Harry Potter series; and in a number of television productions, including a long-time role as Susan Harper in the sitcom My Family.-Early life and family:Wanamaker was...
plays his on-screen wife Susan.
In October 2005 he starred in an ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
drama series Jericho, about a Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
detective investigating murder and kidnapping in London's Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
in the 1950s. In January and February 2006, he appeared as Sneath in two loosely linked Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, widely judged amongst Britain's foremost television dramatists.-Early life and career:...
dramas, Friends and Crocodiles
Friends and Crocodiles
Friends and Crocodiles is a one-off British television drama production, written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff and first broadcast on BBC One on 15 January 2006.-Overview:...
and Gideon's Daughter
Gideon's Daughter
Gideon's Daughter is the second of two linked BBC television dramas written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff.Produced independently for the BBC by Talkback Thames and starring Bill Nighy, Miranda Richardson, and Emily Blunt, it aired in the UK on BBC One on 26 February 2006 and in the US on BBC...
, shown on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. He was the only actor to appear in both productions.
He has also portrayed Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
in the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
satires A Very Social Secretary and The Trial of Tony Blair
The Trial of Tony Blair
The Trial of Tony Blair is a satirical drama, based around the notion that the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair is to face charges of war crimes by an international tribunal, following his departure from 10 Downing Street...
. In 2003 he appeared in an episode in Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
, and also narrated the BBC documentary series Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
Seven Wonders of the Industrial World is a 7-part British documentary/docudrama television miniseries that originally aired from to on BBC...
.
Lindsay appeared in the 8th Ricky Gervais Video Podcast, where Gervais announced that Lindsay would be in the second series of Extras
Extras (TV series)
Extras is a British sitcom about extras working on TV and film sets and in theatre. The series was co-produced by the BBC and HBO, and is created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, both of whom also star in it...
. He appeared in the last episode of the second series playing an egotistical, pushy version of himself. He also appeared in the romantic comedy Wimbledon, as the tennis club manager who hires Peter Colt. In 2009 he played the protagonist, Maddox, from the Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
comedy Electric Ink
Electric Ink
Electric Ink is a BBC Radio sitcom written by Alistair Beaton and journalist Tom Mitchelson. It stars Robert Lindsay as Maddox Bradley, a 50-something political journalist on a "quality" newspaper that is heading relentlessly downmarket, while also establishing an online presence...
by Alistair Beaton
Alistair Beaton
Alistair Beaton is a Scottish left wing political satirist, journalist, radio presenter, novelist and television writer. At one point in his career he was also a speechwriter for Gordon Brown....
.
Lindsay is starring in British Sitcom Spy
Spy (2011 TV series)
Spy is a British television comedy series created and written by Simeon Goulden. It is one of the few new television comedy series that has been comissioned and aired on a digital only channel Sky1.-Premise:...
in October 2011, which is airing on Sky 1
SKY 1
The Box is an entertainment channel in New Zealand available on SKY Network Television.The channel shows are a variety of the most recent shows such as from the United States, for example CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Simpsons, Family Guy, World Wrestling Entertainments hit shows, and...
Lindsay sings the recorded version of Derby County F.C.
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
's song "Steve Bloomer's Watchin'
Steve Bloomer's Watchin'
The song Steve Bloomer's Watchin has been the official club anthem of Derby County Football Club since Boxing Day 1997, where the finished version of the song was played for the first time before the league game against Newcastle United. Derby won the game 1-0...
", played and sung by the fans at the beginning of every home game, and usually at the start of the second half and after a good win.
Personal life
In 1974 Lindsay married Cheryl HallCheryl Hall
Cheryl Hall is a British actress.She is best known for playing the role of Shirley, the girlfriend of Wolfie Smith in the British sitcom Citizen Smith....
, who later appeared alongside him in Citizen Smith. They divorced in 1980, when he started a long-term relationship with actress Diana Weston
Diana Weston
Diana Weston is an English actress who has been on British television since 1975. She is a grandchild of Charles Basil Price.-Career:...
, with whom he has a daughter, Sydney Laura Stevenson (born at Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, London, 2 April 1988), who co-starred with him in three episodes of My Family. Since acting as Admiral Pellew in the Hornblower series, Lindsay has become good friends with the real Pellew family.
He then left Weston for actress/presenter Rosemarie Ford
Rosemarie Ford
Rosemarie Ford is an English dancer, actress and television presenter.-Television career:Ford is best known for her stint as the female host on the BBC TV game show The Generation Game with Bruce Forsyth in the early 1990s. She later hosted Come Dancing, again for the BBC...
. The couple have two sons, both born in Hillingdon
Hillingdon
Hillingdon is a suburban area within the London Borough of Hillingdon, situated 14.2 miles west of Charing Cross.Much of Hillingdon is represented as the Hillingdon East ward within the local authority, Hillingdon Council...
, London: Samuel Lindsay Stevenson (born 18 November 1999) and James Lindsay Stevenson (born 8 April 2003). The couple married on 31 December 2006.
Lindsay researched his family tree in the third series of Who Do You Think You Are?, which aired on 13 September 2006. He travelled to his hometown and to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, where his grandfather Raymond Dunmore had taken part in the Gallipoli campaign
Battle of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
during World War I. Lindsay has been a life-long supporter of Derby County F.C.
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
, a fact which he stated in a short section for CBBC's Newsround entitled 'My Team'.
Politics
Lindsay is known for his left-wing politicsLeft-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
. He usually describes himself as a staunch socialist, and has marched in the past in support of miners. However he was a outspoken critic about Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
's decisions to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, saying he was "furious" and now feels disillusioned with mainstream politics: "You see those images of Iraq and Afghanistan and Lebanon, don't you? And I suspect somewhere, when he goes home at night and the kids are in bed, he must go, Jesus, what have I done?"