Robert Powell
Biography
Robert Powell is an English actor, born in Salford, Lancashire, who began acting at school and worked in radio and repertory theater before his first film part in Robbery (1967). A small role in The Italian Job (1969) followed, and he gained wider attention in 1970 as Toby Wren, a scientist in the BBC science fiction series Doomwatch. He starred as Gustav Mahler in Ken Russell's Mahler (1974) and appeared in Russell's Tommy (1975), then played Jesus in Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth (1977), earning a BAFTA TV Award nomination. He portrayed Richard Hannay in The Thirty Nine Steps (1978), a role he later returned to in the television series Hannay. Other screen work includes Harlequin (1980), which earned him a best actor award from the Paris Film Festival, and What Waits Below (1984), his American film debut. He is also known as a narrator of documentaries and appeared in the sitcom The Detectives and the medical drama Holby City.
82years old
Turns 83 on June 1in 231 days
- Born Salford
- Star sign: GeminiThe sign runs May 21 to June 20
Movie Career
- Films
- 12
- Career span
- 17 years1967 to 1984
First and latest
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Big break
Robert Powell took the title role in Jesus of Nazareth, released in 1977, after a second audition with Franco Zeffirelli went well.
First role
Robert Powell got his first film part in Robbery (1967), a movie about the Great Train Robbery that starred Stanley Baker. He was cast as the second man, also called the locomotive driver's assistant.
Big break
Powell took the part of an incompetent detective in Jasper Carrott's sketches at the request of his friend and golf partner, and it became his only sitcom.
First role
While still a schoolboy, Powell took on the title part in Shakespeare's King Lear, which marked the start of his acting career.
Early training
As a teenager, Powell appeared in The Adventures of Samuel Poppleton on BBC Radio Children's Hour, broadcast from Manchester in the North of England, where producer Trevor Hill guided him.
Beyond film
Powell played John Watson on the 2002 rock opera The Hound of the Baskervilles by Clive Nolan and Oliver Wakeman, and narrated two Rick Wakeman rock albums.
Robert Powell movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Ken Russell directed two of these films, Don Sharp two. Five actors appear in two of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Michael Caine's page
Ronald Pickup's page
Rosalie Crutchley's page
David Kelly's page
David Collings's page
Don SharpDirector, 2 films, 1978 to 1984
All films by Don Sharp
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.