Robert Lindsay (actor)

Robert Lindsay Stevenson (born 13 December 1949), known professionally as Robert Lindsay, is an English actor.

He is the recipient of a British Academy Television Award, a Tony Award, and two Laurence Olivier Awards.

His first major role on TV was playing Wolfie Smith in Citizen Smith.

He appeared in sitcoms, most notably as Ben Harper in My Family, playing the role for over a decade, and narrated the entire TV adaptation of the children's book series Brambly Hedge.

His film appearances include Fierce Creatures and Wimbledon.

He has appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company and in musical theatre.

Lindsay was born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, to Joyce ( Dunmore) and Norman Stevenson, who worked at the local Stanton Ironworks.

He was one of three children and his father was a World War II veteran, having been on a minesweeper.

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 the 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 a dialect coach for a repertory company in Essex, and then joined a regional theatre group.

Lindsay's early career included roles in British films such as That'll Be The Day (1973), Three for All (1975), and Adventures of a Taxi Driver (1976).

In 1974, he took over the David Essex Role in Godspell, at Wyndhams Theatre in London's West End.

He came to prominence as the cockney Teddy Boy Jakey Smith in the ITV comedy series Get Some In! (1975–1977) that was based on the National Service in the RAF.

He was given the starring role as delusional revolutionary Wolfie Smith in the BBC sitcom Citizen Smith (1977–1980), which raised his profile further.

Towards the end of the run of Citizen Smith, Lindsay won roles in the BBC Television Shakespeare series, including Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1981), Fabian in Twelfth Night (1980), and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (1984).

He played Edmund in the Granada Television production of King Lear (1983).

In 1984, he appeared as a car dealership manager called Mike Barnes in a salesman's training video for Austin Rover alongside Peter Egan and George A. Cooper, which trained staff on how to sell the Austin Montego, which was launched in April of that year.

He played the role of Bill Snibson in the hugely acclaimed 1984 London revival of Me and My Girl (for which he won an Olivier Award) which subsequently transferred to Broadway, earning him a Tony Award.

Lindsay's success on Broadway and in the West End led to a starring role in the film Bert Rigby, You're a Fool (1989), although it was not a commercial success.

His next role was in the James Scott-directed Strike It Rich (1990) alongside Molly Ringwald and John Gielgud.

Both Bleasdale serials were screened by Channel 4, as was the surreal Channel 4 sitcom Nightingales (1990–93), which also featured David Threlfall and James Ellis.

He continued, however, to enjoy success on television, and played the leading role in Alan Bleasdale's dark comedy serial G.B.H. (1991), winning a BAFTA for his performance.

Lindsay was also in Bleasdale's Jake's Progress (1995) the tale of a couple played by Lindsay and Julie Walters who were struggling to cope with a 'difficult' child (Barclay Wright).

In 1996, Lindsay played the title role of Becket, the play by Jean Anouilh, opposite Derek Jacobi as King Henry II for which was nominated for another Olivier Award.

Lindsay won his second Olivier award after he took over the role of Fagin during 1997 in Cameron Mackintosh's London revival of Oliver! at the London Palladium.

Lindsay appeared in the films Fierce Creatures (1997) and Divorcing Jack (1998) and 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 which ran until 2003.

Lindsay was also the original choice for the lead role in the drama Cracker; however, he turned the part down, reportedly as he did not want to become too associated with heavy, darker drama characters.

He later appeared as Fagin in the 1999 ITV Oliver Twist miniseries.

His longest-running role has been Ben Harper in the popular BBC sitcom My Family (2000–11).

In 2003, he appeared in an episode of Absolutely Fabulous playing the character of Pete, an old musician boyfriend of Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders), and narrated the BBC documentary series Seven Wonders of the Industrial World (2003).

In October 2005, he starred in 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 was the only actor (as Sneath) to appear in two loosely linked Stephen Poliakoff dramas, Friends and Crocodiles, and Gideon's Daughter, shown on BBC One.

Lindsay portrayed Prime Minister Tony Blair in the Channel 4 satires A Very Social Secretary and The Trial of Tony Blair.

He appeared in the 8th Ricky Gervais Video Podcast, in which Gervais announced that Lindsay would be in the second series of Extras, appearing in the last episode of the 2006 series as an arrogant, mean-spirited version of himself.

Lindsay also appeared in the romantic comedy Wimbledon, as the tennis club manager who hires Peter Colt.

In 2007 at the Old Vic Theatre, Lindsay played Archie Rice in John Osborne's The Entertainer, a role first performed by Olivier in 1957.

In 2009, he played the protagonist, Maddox, from the Radio 4 comedy Electric Ink by Alistair Beaton.

In 2010, Lindsay starred in the title role of Derby Live's production of Onassis before its transfer to London's West End.

He played the same role in Grace of Monaco.