Robert Marsden
Encyclopedia
Robert Marsden was a British
actor
, director, dramatic recitalist and teacher of drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and elsewhere. He was also one of the earliest (and latest surviving) wartime members of the BBC Radio Drama Repertory Company, formed to meet the circumstances of World War II
.
. His theatre training was at LAMDA, the London Mask Theatre School, RADA
, and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
.
He made his professional debut at Warrington
in 1939.
At Stratford-on-Avon, aged nineteen, he played a round of Shakespearean roles, including Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet, Hotspur in Richard II
and Tranio in The Taming of the Shrew
. He first broadcast in 1942, and played a variety of parts, including Robert in The Letter
, Chorus to Laurence Olivier's Henry V
and the disciple Philip in Dorothy L. Sayers
' play cycle on Jesus The Man Born To Be King
.
In London, he was in John Drinkwater
's Abraham Lincoln both at the Westminster in 1940 and at the Playhouse in 1943. At the Arts he played leading parts in The Rivals
, The Constant Couple etc. In 1944 he appeared at the Chanticleer Theatre in such plays as The Lady From the Sea
and as the title character in John Gabriel Borkman
.
The following year he was approached by John Gielgud
about Rodney Ackland
's adaptation of Crime & Punishment
, and he played the leading character’s friend with Gielgud, Edith Evans
and Peter Ustinov
at the New Theatre, and elsewhere. Gielgud also cast him in Medea
at the Globe Theatre.
Marsden’s next broadcast was as Young Marlow in She Stoops To Conquer
, playing opposite Angela Baddeley
. He continued to freelance in radio, his parts including Macbeth
, Orsino in Twelfth Night, Tybalt (as at Stratford) and the King in Love's Labour's Lost
.
He was a fine pianist, and accompanied his own singing, on the air and later in recitations. He composed revue material and comic songs, such as a witty setting of Carroll's Jabberwocky
. On radio in the mid-fifties he played the title role in the series Mike Dudley, Charter Pilot. He was also a regular in the Bunkle series with Billie Whitelaw
, and he acted in In Parenthesis with Dylan Thomas
.
He also appeared on television, parts ranging from Antonio in The Tempest
, to the sinister Black Dog in Treasure Island
with Bernard Miles
.
In Fry's The Boy With A Cart, he played one of the brothers in the West End with Richard Burton
, and a different one on TV. In 1956 at the Phoenix he was in Peter Brook
's production of The Power & the Glory with Paul Scofield
(with whom he had trained).
His career as a director began at Whitby, and included Guildford (where he directed Philip Bond in Richard II
) and Coventry. At Preston he played Othello
and co-directed it. He also worked with Joan Littlewood
at Stratford East.
In 1959 he 'did the hat-trick' with Abraham Lincoln, playing the name character at the Belgrade, Coventry. At the Belgrade he also played Shylock in The Merchant of Venice
and Brutus in Julius Caesar
.
On television, he played Lincoln in the first episode of The Chase (Doctor Who)
, reciting about half of the Gettysburg Address
.
At Birmingham Rep in 1961 he was Enobarbus in Antony & Cleopatra. He also performed at Hampstead Theatre
in its early days, playing in He Who Gets Slapped
.
He started to vary his acting with work as a drama teacher, at RADA, Central School and the City Lit, as well as privately. He also gave solo recitations, which were both dramatic and musical.
In 1965, Marsden rejoined the Stratford-based Shakespeare company, now called the Royal Shakespeare Company
. He had played the major role of the Chorus in Henry V
on radio, and now he succeeded Eric Porter in the part at the Aldwych Theatre in London, with Ian Holm
as the King.
While with the RSC, he was in the earliest of their Theatre-Go-Round outreach programmes for school pupils, and he played Boretzki in Peter Weiss
's disturbing compilation from the concentration camp hearings, The Investigation. Performed at the Aldwych, it was recorded by the BBC and broadcast more than once.
After this, though he appeared both live and on television again, he did not work much as an actor. One of his latest personal appearances was at a verse recital performing alongside Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Jeremy Brett
. For many years he continued as a private drama teacher, specialising in coaching intense voice work.
Marsden died on at Elstree
, Hertfordshire
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, director, dramatic recitalist and teacher of drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and elsewhere. He was also one of the earliest (and latest surviving) wartime members of the BBC Radio Drama Repertory Company, formed to meet the circumstances of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Biography
Robert Marsden was born in West HampsteadWest Hampstead
West Hampstead is an area in northwest London, England, situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to the east, and South Hampstead to the south. Until the late 19th century, the locale was a small village called West End...
. His theatre training was at LAMDA, the London Mask Theatre School, RADA
Rada
Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....
, and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, formerly the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, was a drama school, and originally a singing school, in London. It was one of the leading drama schools in Britain, and offered comprehensive training for those intending to pursue a...
.
He made his professional debut at Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
in 1939.
At Stratford-on-Avon, aged nineteen, he played a round of Shakespearean roles, including Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet, Hotspur in Richard II
Richard II (play)
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
and Tranio in The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
. He first broadcast in 1942, and played a variety of parts, including Robert in The Letter
The Letter
- Film :* The Letter , a 1929 film directed by Jean de Limur starring Jeanne Eagels, adapted from the Somerset Maugham play* The Letter , a 1940 film directed by William Wyler starring Bette Davis, also adapted from the Somerset Maugham play* The Letter , a 1997 South Korean film, also known as...
, Chorus to Laurence Olivier's Henry V
Henry V (play)
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
and the disciple Philip in Dorothy L. Sayers
Dorothy L. Sayers
Dorothy Leigh Sayers was a renowned English crime writer, poet, playwright, essayist, translator and Christian humanist. She was also a student of classical and modern languages...
' play cycle on Jesus The Man Born To Be King
The Man Born to be King
The Man Born to Be King is a radio drama based on the life of Jesus, produced and broadcast by the BBC during the Second World War. It is a play cycle consisting of twelve plays depicting specific periods in Jesus' life, from the events surrounding his birth to his death and resurrection...
.
In London, he was in John Drinkwater
John Drinkwater
John Drinkwater was an English poet and dramatist.He was born in Leytonstone, London, and worked as an insurance clerk...
's Abraham Lincoln both at the Westminster in 1940 and at the Playhouse in 1943. At the Arts he played leading parts in The Rivals
The Rivals
The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...
, The Constant Couple etc. In 1944 he appeared at the Chanticleer Theatre in such plays as The Lady From the Sea
The Lady from the Sea
The Lady from the Sea is a play written in 1888 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.Kvinnan från havet is a ballet by choreographer Birgit Cullberg, and based on Ibsen's play...
and as the title character in John Gabriel Borkman
John Gabriel Borkman
John Gabriel Borkman is the penultimate composition of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, written in 1896.-Plot:The Borkman family fortunes have been brought low by the imprisonment of John Gabriel who used his position as a bank manager to illegally speculate with his investors' money...
.
The following year he was approached by John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
about Rodney Ackland
Rodney Ackland
Rodney Ackland was an English playwright, actor, theatre director and screenwriter.He was educated at Balham Grammar School in London...
's adaptation of Crime & Punishment
Crime & Punishment
Crime & Punishment is a 2002 reality television spin-off of the Law & Order franchise. It premiered on NBC on Sunday, June 16, 2002, and ran through the summers of 2002, 2003, and 2004.-Description:...
, and he played the leading character’s friend with Gielgud, Edith Evans
Edith Evans
Dame Edith Mary Evans, DBE was a British actress. She was known for her work on the British stage. She also appeared in a number of films, for which she received three Academy Award nominations, plus a BAFTA and a Golden Globe award.Evans was particularly effective at portraying haughty...
and Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
at the New Theatre, and elsewhere. Gielgud also cast him in Medea
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
at the Globe Theatre.
Marsden’s next broadcast was as Young Marlow in She Stoops To Conquer
She Stoops to Conquer
She Stoops to Conquer is a comedy by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith, son of an Anglo-Irish vicar, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a great favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in Britain and the United States. It is one of the few plays from the 18th...
, playing opposite Angela Baddeley
Angela Baddeley
Angela Baddeley, CBE , born Madeline Angela Clinton-Baddeley, was an English actress best remembered for her role as Mrs Bridges in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs...
. He continued to freelance in radio, his parts including Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, Orsino in Twelfth Night, Tybalt (as at Stratford) and the King in Love's Labour's Lost
Love's Labour's Lost
Love's Labour's Lost is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s, and first published in 1598.-Title:...
.
He was a fine pianist, and accompanied his own singing, on the air and later in recitations. He composed revue material and comic songs, such as a witty setting of Carroll's Jabberwocky
Jabberwocky
"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense verse poem written by Lewis Carroll in his 1872 novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, a sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
. On radio in the mid-fifties he played the title role in the series Mike Dudley, Charter Pilot. He was also a regular in the Bunkle series with Billie Whitelaw
Billie Whitelaw
Billie Honor Whitelaw, CBE is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works...
, and he acted in In Parenthesis with Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
.
He also appeared on television, parts ranging from Antonio in The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
, to the sinister Black Dog in Treasure Island
Treasure Island
Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
with Bernard Miles
Bernard Miles
Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre opened in the City of London since the 17th century....
.
In Fry's The Boy With A Cart, he played one of the brothers in the West End with Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
, and a different one on TV. In 1956 at the Phoenix he was in Peter Brook
Peter Brook
Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE is an English theatre and film director and innovator, who has been based in France since the early 1970s.-Life:...
's production of The Power & the Glory with Paul Scofield
Paul Scofield
David Paul Scofield, CH, CBE , better known as Paul Scofield, was an English actor of stage and screen...
(with whom he had trained).
His career as a director began at Whitby, and included Guildford (where he directed Philip Bond in Richard II
Richard II (play)
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
) and Coventry. At Preston he played Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
and co-directed it. He also worked with Joan Littlewood
Joan Littlewood
Joan Maud Littlewood was a British theatre director, noted for her work in developing the left-wing Theatre Workshop...
at Stratford East.
In 1959 he 'did the hat-trick' with Abraham Lincoln, playing the name character at the Belgrade, Coventry. At the Belgrade he also played Shylock in The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
and Brutus in Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
.
On television, he played Lincoln in the first episode of The Chase (Doctor Who)
The Chase (Doctor Who)
The Chase is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 22 May to 26 June 1965. The story is set on multiple locations including the Mary Celeste, the Empire State Building, and the planet Aridius...
, reciting about half of the Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well-known speeches in United States history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery...
.
At Birmingham Rep in 1961 he was Enobarbus in Antony & Cleopatra. He also performed at Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage and Belsize Park, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. In 2009 it celebrates its 50 year anniversary.The original theatre was...
in its early days, playing in He Who Gets Slapped
He Who Gets Slapped
He Who Gets Slapped is a 1924 film starring Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, and John Gilbert. It was directed by Victor Sjöström. The film is based on the Russian play Тот, кто получает пощёчины by playwright Leonid Andreyev, which was published in 1914 and in English, as He Who Gets Slapped, in 1922...
.
He started to vary his acting with work as a drama teacher, at RADA, Central School and the City Lit, as well as privately. He also gave solo recitations, which were both dramatic and musical.
In 1965, Marsden rejoined the Stratford-based Shakespeare company, now called the 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...
. He had played the major role of the Chorus in Henry V
Henry V (play)
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
on radio, and now he succeeded Eric Porter in the part at the Aldwych Theatre in London, with Ian Holm
Ian Holm
Sir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...
as the King.
While with the RSC, he was in the earliest of their Theatre-Go-Round outreach programmes for school pupils, and he played Boretzki in Peter Weiss
Peter Weiss
Peter Ulrich Weiss was a German writer, painter, and artist of adopted Swedish nationality. He is particularly known for his plays Marat/Sade and The Investigation and his novel The Aesthetics of Resistance....
's disturbing compilation from the concentration camp hearings, The Investigation. Performed at the Aldwych, it was recorded by the BBC and broadcast more than once.
After this, though he appeared both live and on television again, he did not work much as an actor. One of his latest personal appearances was at a verse recital performing alongside Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett , born Peter Jeremy William Huggins, was an English actor, most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in four Granada TV series.-Early life:...
. For many years he continued as a private drama teacher, specialising in coaching intense voice work.
Marsden died on at Elstree
Elstree
Elstree is a village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire on the A5 road, about 10 miles north of London. In 2001, its population was 4,765, and forms part of the civil parish of Elstree and Borehamwood, originally known simply as Elstree....
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
.