Robert Gillespie - Biography
Robert starred as Dudley Rush, a harassed cartoonist, in five series of a sit. com. called Keep It In The Family especially written for him by Brian Cooke, first shown on Thames Television, and then round the world via satellite and cable.
He has played policemen, solicitors, drunks, vets. editors, doctors, con. men, dentists, even Charles Boyer. He appeared in The Likely Lads, Robin’s Nest, Butterflies, Liver Birds, Dad’s Army, George and Mildred and Rising Damp. He featured as Gilbert Herring, the music master, in Bonjour La Classe and as Molia in The Last Englishman.
Returns to the stage have included Peter Hall's production of The Rose Tattoo and Robert was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company for over two years, playing in four productions finishing with a five month American tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He played The Player in an acclaimed production of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at the Arcola Theatre and was Charlie (Chaplin) - amongst other things - in a promenade production of Mincemeat at The Old Jam Factory for Cardboard Citizens.
He has just played “The Abbot” (drawn into a plot to assassinate pope Pius XII) in a revival of Hochhuth’s The Representative at The Finborough. He has directed plays in the West End, New York, Israel and Dublin and also seventeen shows at the King’s Head Theatre. (see below). Recently… Jeremy Kingston’s Oedipus at the Crossroads with Sophocles’ tragedy; a mixed-media version of The Comedy of Error; Deborah Cook’s Sex, Death & A Baked Swan (about two female gladiators) and the world premiere of Jeremy Kingston’s Making Dickie Happy at the Rosemary Branch Theatre, revived last autumn at The Warehouse Theatre.
Robert wrote satire for That Was the Week That Was, in the great old days, including A Consumer’s Guide To Religion which had a seventy year old clergyman fulminating from the pulpit and provoked questions in the House. (It was originally performed by David Frost!) Latest is a two-handed stage piece, My Heart, about death which he and an actress perform within driving distance of London.BackgoundAs a director Robert started with David Turner’s Semi-Detached at Lincoln in 1963 but soon became associated with productions of new writing. He staged Tom Gallacher's Mr Joyce Is Leaving Paris at the Basement Theatre in Soho which transferred to the Dublin Theatre Festival and led to productions at five Festivals in all; then came work at the Gate, the Eblana and Brian Friel's Volunteers at the Abbey Theatre.
Mr Joyce returned to London, playing at the King's Head Theatre where Robert directed four Gallacher plays and seventeen productions in all, including Stewart Parker’s musicals Spokesong and Catchpenny Twist, David Mercer’s Let's Murder Vivaldi with A.R. Gurney's The Problem, Andrew Davies' musical Fearless Frank and Hugh Leonard's Da.
He has staged Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire at Norwich and J.B. Priestley's Dangerous Corner at the Ambassadors' in the West End. He was invited to direct three plays at the Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv, including Michael Freyn's Noise's Off and Marsha Norman's 'Night Mother. He also staged Strindberg's Creditors and Stephen Fry's Latin at the New End Theatre.
He produced and directed T. Williams’ Portrait of a Madonna at a new venue, The Spitz, and directed Bob Kingdom’s latest one man show, Elsa Edgar, for the Edinburgh Festival. He returned to the Dublin theatre Festival with Dion Boucicault’s London Assurance for the Juno Theatre Company in 1998.
Most recently he has directed and produced David Mamet’s Oleanna at Hampton Hill Playhouse, Ghosts In The Cottonwoods by rising American author Adam Rapp at the Arcola Theatre, Peter Nichol’s Passion Play at Hampton Hill and The Rosemary Branch Theatre and an Oedipus double bill - of which the second, comic, play Oedipus At The Crossroads, is by Times reviewer Jeremy Kingston; also played at The Rosemary Branch...
Robert started with two years of Shakespeare at the Old Vic, acted at Glasgow Citizens and other reps., worked with Joan Littlewood, with Bernard Miles at the Mermaid and George Devine at the Royal Court. He was born in France in the city of Lille and his mother was from Budapest.