Robert Atkins (actor)
Sir (Alexander) Robert Atkins, CBE (10 August 1886 – 9 February 1972) was an English actor, producer and director.
Born in Dulwich, London, England, Atkins was most famous for his participation in the theatre. An early graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he also appeared many times on film and in television, though not with the success of his theatre career. His first film was a 1913 production of Hamlet, playing Marcellus, with Johnston Forbes-Robertson in the title role. Atkins went on to appear in several other film and television roles over the next fifty years with the most famous production possibly being A Matter of Life and Death in which he played "The Vicar". He also produced and/or directed several adaptations of William Shakespeare plays during the 1940s and 1950s for British television.
Along with Sydney Carroll, he also founded Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.[1]
Robert Atkins was married twice: to Mary Sumner whom he divorced, and to Ethel Davey, a film editor. He died in London, England in 1972.
Selected filmography
- The Cardinal (1936)
- Everything Is Thunder (1936)
- He Found a Star (1941)
- Let the People Sing (1942)