Robin Ellis
Encyclopedia
Robin Ellis is an English
actor
best known for his role as Captain Ross Poldark in 29 episodes of the BBC classic series Poldark
, adapted from a series of books by the late British author, Winston Graham. He also appeared in Fawlty Towers
, Cluedo, The Good Soldier
(an adaptation of the Ford Madox Ford novel), Elizabeth R
(playing Essex), The Moonstone
, Bel-Ami, Sense and Sensibility
(which also featured Clive Francis), The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, She Loves Me
(in which he sings) and Blue Remembered Hills
(written by Dennis Potter). He co-starred with Lee Remick in the Merchant Ivory film, The Europeans
(1979), playing the role of John Acton. He appeared in the CBS mini-series The Curse of King Tut's Tomb
(playing Howard Carter, the Englishman who discovered the tomb of King Tut), in the British TV drama, Heartbeat and in a BBC adaptation of A Dark-Adapted Eye
(1994) a psychological thriller written by Ruth Rendell. His most recent TV appearance was in the Swedish detective series, Wallander (2006) in the episode entitled "The Photographer".
Ellis played the male lead in The Europeans
, the 1979 Merchant Ivory film adaptation of the novel The Europeans
by Henry James
. The film was directed by James Ivory
, produced by Ismail Merchant
, and with an adapted screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
.
Ellis had a long career in the theatre as well, including a stint with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He appeared there in a musical version of The Comedy of Errors
playing Pinch; in King Lear
playing Edgar; Troilus and Cressida
playing Achilles; and in Much Ado About Nothing
playing Don Pedro. His last West End theatre performance was with Zoe Wanamaker in Sylvia
by A.R. Gurney at the Apollo Theatre in 1996.
His first West End performance was in Sheridan's The Rivals
at the Haymarket Theatre. He played Captain Jack Absolute. He went on to play in The Real Inspector Hound
at the Criterion Theatre and Widower's Houses at the Royal Court. He was part of the innovative Actors Company, founded in 1972 by Ian McKellen and Edward Petherbridge, organized and run democratically by the actors themselves. In that repertory company he appeared in 'Tis Pity She's a Whore
, Ruling the Roost, The Way of the World
, The Wood Demon, The Bacchae
, Tartuffe
, King Lear
and Knots (based on the R.D. Laing book).
He is a well-known voiceover artist and co-owned a voiceover agency called Voices in London for many years.. He narrated many award-winning documentaries, including Fall of the Wall, The Second Russian Revolution and End of Empire.
Ellis was educated at the independent Highgate School
in Highgate
in North London
, and at Fitzwilliam College at the University of Cambridge
where he read history and appeared in over 20 plays.
He is the author of a book called Making Poldark about the series (Bossney Books, ISBN 0906456002). His cookbook entitled Delicious Dishes for Diabetics: A Mediterranean Way of Eating was published 4 August 2011 by Constable & Robinson, under their RightWay imprint. The American publishers, Skyhorse, are releasing the book in November 2011 under a slightly different title: Delicious Dishes for Diabetics: Eating Well with Type 2 Diabetes. He also writes a blog about food, cooking and life in rural France: http://robin-ellis.net/.
Ellis lives with his wife in Southern France. His brother is the actor Jack Ellis. His agent is Ken McReddie Associates Ltd.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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...
best known for his role as Captain Ross Poldark in 29 episodes of the BBC classic series Poldark
Poldark
Poldark is a BBC television series based on the novels written by Winston Graham which was first transmitted in the UK between 1975 and 1977.-Outline:...
, adapted from a series of books by the late British author, Winston Graham. He also appeared in Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters...
, Cluedo, The Good Soldier
The Good Soldier
The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion is a 1915 novel by English novelist Ford Madox Ford. It is set just before World War I and chronicles the tragedy of Edward Ashburnham, the soldier to whom the title refers, and his own seemingly perfect marriage and that of two American friends...
(an adaptation of the Ford Madox Ford novel), Elizabeth R
Elizabeth R
Elizabeth R is a BBC television drama serial of six 85-minute plays starring Glenda Jackson in the title role. It was first broadcast on BBC2 from February to March 1971, through the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Australia and broadcast in America on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre.- Episodes...
(playing Essex), The Moonstone
The Moonstone
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel, generally considered the first detective novel in the English language. The story was originally serialized in Charles Dickens' magazine All the Year Round. The Moonstone and The Woman in White are considered Wilkie...
, Bel-Ami, Sense and Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility, published in 1811, is a British romance novel by Jane Austen, her first published work under the pseudonym, "A Lady." Jane Austen is considered a pioneer of the romance genre of novels, and for the realism portrayed in her novels, is one the most widely read writers in...
(which also featured Clive Francis), The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, She Loves Me
She Loves Me
She Loves Me is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock.The musical is the fifth adaptation of the play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo, following the 1940 James Stewart-Margaret Sullavan film The Shop around the Corner and the...
(in which he sings) and Blue Remembered Hills
Blue Remembered Hills
Blue Remembered Hills is a television play by Dennis Potter, originally broadcast on January 30, 1979 as part of the BBC's Play for Today series....
(written by Dennis Potter). He co-starred with Lee Remick in the Merchant Ivory film, The Europeans
The Europeans
The Europeans: A sketch is a short novel by Henry James, published in 1878. It is essentially a comedy contrasting the behaviour and attitudes of two visitors from Europe with those of their relatives living in the 'new' world of New England. The novel first appeared as a serial in The Atlantic...
(1979), playing the role of John Acton. He appeared in the CBS mini-series The Curse of King Tut's Tomb
The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (1980 film)
The Curse of King Tut's Tomb is a 1980 British-American mystery thriller film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Eva Marie Saint, Harry Andrews and Paul Scofield, with Tom Baker.- Plot :...
(playing Howard Carter, the Englishman who discovered the tomb of King Tut), in the British TV drama, Heartbeat and in a BBC adaptation of A Dark-Adapted Eye
A Dark-Adapted Eye
A Dark-Adapted Eye is a psychological thriller novel by Ruth Rendell, written under the nom-de-plume Barbara Vine. The novel won the American Edgar Award...
(1994) a psychological thriller written by Ruth Rendell. His most recent TV appearance was in the Swedish detective series, Wallander (2006) in the episode entitled "The Photographer".
Ellis played the male lead in The Europeans
The Europeans (film)
The Europeans is a 1979 Merchant Ivory Film, directed by James Ivory, produced by Ismail Merchant, and with an adapted screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. It is based upon the novel, The Europeans, by Henry James. It was entered into the 1979 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:*Lee Remick - Eugenia...
, the 1979 Merchant Ivory film adaptation of the novel The Europeans
The Europeans
The Europeans: A sketch is a short novel by Henry James, published in 1878. It is essentially a comedy contrasting the behaviour and attitudes of two visitors from Europe with those of their relatives living in the 'new' world of New England. The novel first appeared as a serial in The Atlantic...
by Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
. The film was directed by James Ivory
James Ivory
James Ivory may refer to:*James Ivory *James Ivory...
, produced by Ismail Merchant
Ismail Merchant
Ismail Merchant was an Indian-born film producer, best known for the results of his famously long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included director James Ivory as well as screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala...
, and with an adapted screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, CBE is a Booker prize-winning novelist, short story writer, and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter. She is perhaps best known for her long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of director James Ivory and the late producer Ismail Merchant...
.
Ellis had a long career in the theatre as well, including a stint with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He appeared there in a musical version of The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
playing Pinch; in King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
playing Edgar; Troilus and Cressida
Troilus and Cressida
Troilus and Cressida is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1602. It was also described by Frederick S. Boas as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. The play ends on a very bleak note with the death of the noble Trojan Hector and destruction of the love between Troilus...
playing Achilles; and in Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
playing Don Pedro. His last West End theatre performance was with Zoe Wanamaker in Sylvia
Sylvia
Sylvia may refer to:* A feminine given name of Latin origin, also spelled Silvia. The French form is Sylvie.* Sylvia, Kansas, a town in Kansas-Persons:*Saint Silvia*Queen Silvia of Sweden*Sylvia , American country singer born Sylvia Jane Kirby...
by A.R. Gurney at the Apollo Theatre in 1996.
His first West End performance was in Sheridan's 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 :...
at the Haymarket Theatre. He played Captain Jack Absolute. He went on to play in The Real Inspector Hound
The Real Inspector Hound
The Real Inspector Hound is a short, one-act play by Tom Stoppard. The plot follows two theatre critics named Moon and Birdboot who are watching a ludicrous setup of a country house murder mystery, in the style of a whodunit...
at the Criterion Theatre and Widower's Houses at the Royal Court. He was part of the innovative Actors Company, founded in 1972 by Ian McKellen and Edward Petherbridge, organized and run democratically by the actors themselves. In that repertory company he appeared in 'Tis Pity She's a Whore
'Tis Pity She's a Whore
'Tis Pity She's a Whore is a tragedy written by John Ford. It was likely first performed between 1629 and 1633, by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre. The play was first published in 1633, in a quarto printed by Nicholas Okes for the bookseller Richard Collins...
, Ruling the Roost, The Way of the World
The Way of the World
The Way of the World is a play written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London...
, The Wood Demon, The Bacchae
The Bacchae
The Bacchae is an ancient Greek tragedy by the Athenian playwright Euripides, during his final years in Macedon, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in 405 BC as part of a tetralogy that also included Iphigeneia at Aulis, and which...
, Tartuffe
Tartuffe
Tartuffe is a comedy by Molière. It is one of his most famous plays.-History:Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664...
, King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
and Knots (based on the R.D. Laing book).
He is a well-known voiceover artist and co-owned a voiceover agency called Voices in London for many years.. He narrated many award-winning documentaries, including Fall of the Wall, The Second Russian Revolution and End of Empire.
Ellis was educated at the independent Highgate School
Highgate School
-Notable members of staff and governing body:* John Ireton, brother of Henry Ireton, Cromwellian General* 1st Earl of Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice, owner of Kenwood, noted for judgment finding contracts for slavery unenforceable in English law* T. S...
in Highgate
Highgate
Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
in North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
, and at Fitzwilliam College at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
where he read history and appeared in over 20 plays.
He is the author of a book called Making Poldark about the series (Bossney Books, ISBN 0906456002). His cookbook entitled Delicious Dishes for Diabetics: A Mediterranean Way of Eating was published 4 August 2011 by Constable & Robinson, under their RightWay imprint. The American publishers, Skyhorse, are releasing the book in November 2011 under a slightly different title: Delicious Dishes for Diabetics: Eating Well with Type 2 Diabetes. He also writes a blog about food, cooking and life in rural France: http://robin-ellis.net/.
Ellis lives with his wife in Southern France. His brother is the actor Jack Ellis. His agent is Ken McReddie Associates Ltd.
External links
- Robin Ellis Biography (archived version)
- Robin Ellis' Blog
- Robin Ellis Interview at Best British TV