Sebastian Shaw

Sebastian Shaw

Born: May 29, 1905
Died: December 23, 1994
in Norfolk, England, UK
Sebastian Lewis Shaw was an English actor, director, novelist, playwright and poet. During his 65-year career, he appeared in dozens of stage performances and more than 40 film and television productions. Shaw was born and brought up in Holt, Norfolk, and made his acting debut at age eight at a London theatre. He studied acting at Gresham's School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Although he worked primarily on the London stage, he made his Broadway debut in 1929, when he played one of the two murderers in Rope's End. He appeared in his first film, Caste, in 1930 and quickly began to create a name for himself in films. He described himself as a "rotten actor" as a youth and said his success was primarily due to his good looks. He claimed to mature as a performer only after returning from service in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Shaw was particularly known for his performances in productions of Shakespeare plays which were considered daring and ahead of their time. In 1966, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he remained for a decade and delivered some of his most acclaimed performances. He also wrote several poems and a novel, The Christening, in 1975.

Movies for Sebastian Shaw...

The Story of Star Wars
Title: The Story of Star Wars
Character: Anakin Skywalker (archive footage)
Released: August 18, 2004
Type: Movie
The Skywalker family is at the heart of the Star Wars saga. Now hear the inside story of Luke and Anakin Skywalker from the characters who witnessed it all: the famous droid duo C-3PO and R2-D2. Episodes IV,V and VI are explored in "The Story of Luke Skywalker," which follows the young man escaping from his daily chores on Tatooine to his becoming a hero in the Rebal Alliance. In "The Story of Anakin Skywalker," you'll go behind the mask of the greatest Star Wars villain and discover how Darth Vader started life as a young Podracing Champ on Tatooine and later became a headstrong young Jedi seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. With clips from the Star Wars films, C-3PO and R2-D2 take you on an hour-long journey through the saga and prepare you for the explosive final chapter: Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.
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Chernobyl: The Final Warning
Title: Chernobyl: The Final Warning
Character: Grandpa
Released: April 22, 1991
Type: Movie
True story about the tragic nuclear power plant accident in Chernobyl.
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The Master Builder
Title: The Master Builder
Character: Knut Brovik
Released: May 15, 1988
Type: Movie
Ibsen's play is the story of Halvard Solness, Master Builder of a town in Norway. Solness is a successful architect but he's afraid of the being surpassed by those younger than himself. The arrival of a young woman called Hilda stirs up memories and feelings with stories of a promise he made her many years ago.
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High Season
Title: High Season
Character: Sharp
Released: September 1, 1987
Type: Movie
On the isle of Rhodes, Katherine, an expatriate English photographer, lives with her daughter. A young local wants to encourage tourism, so he commissions a sculpture of the Unknown Tourist for the town square; the sculptor he brings to Rhodes is Kate's ex-husband. Also there to see Kate is Sharp, an aging antiquarian and her dear friend. He has something important to tell her. As Kate, her ex, and Sharp sort out things that go back years, two English tourists bumble about, one thinking he's fallen in love with Kate, his wife thinking she's found her own lover. A rare vase, a spy, old friendships, the statue's unveiling, and off-hand English sorting-out play into the resolution.
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Title: Casualty
Character: Charles Howlett
Released: September 6, 1986
Type: TV
Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.
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The Weather in the Streets
Title: The Weather in the Streets
Character: Mr. Curtis
Released: November 30, 1983
Type: Movie
Passion comes calling when a man suffering through an unhappy marriage in 1920s England runs into first love.
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Title: Reilly: Ace of Spies
Character: Reverend Thomas
Released: September 5, 1983
Type: TV
Reilly, Ace of Spies is a 1983 television miniseries dramatizing the life of Sidney Reilly, a Russian Jew who became one of the greatest spies ever to work for the British. Among his exploits, in the early 20th century, were the infiltration of the German General Staff in 1917 and a near-overthrow of the Bolsheviks in 1918. His reputation with women was as legendary as his genius for espionage.
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Return of the Jedi
Title: Return of the Jedi
Character: Anakin Skywalker
Released: May 25, 1983
Type: Movie
Luke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, while the Emperor seeks to destroy the Rebellion once and for all with a second dreaded Death Star.
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A Bit of Singing and Dancing
Title: A Bit of Singing and Dancing
Character: Uncle Cecil
Released: August 22, 1982
Type: Movie
Freed at last by death from tyranny of an elderly, querulous mother, Esme Fanshaw is persuaded to take a man, Amos Curry, into her house as a paying guest. At first wary of him, Esme becomes increasingly fond of this dapper little man with his mysterious summer occupation. When she finally learns the nature of this occupation she is at first shocked then sympathetic.
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Timon of Athens
Title: Timon of Athens
Character: Old Athenian
Released: April 16, 1981
Type: Movie
Timon loves to give parties and objects to friends, but when he cannot pay his creditors, his "friends" refuse to help him, and he becomes a misanthropic hermit.
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Title: The Old Curiosity Shop
Character: Grandfather
Released: December 9, 1979
Type: TV
The Old Curiosity Shop is a 1979 BBC miniseries based on the novel by Charles Dickens. It was directed by Julian Amyes, and adapted by William Trevor.
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A Choice of Evils
Title: A Choice of Evils
Character: Abbot General
Released: April 19, 1977
Type: Movie
Cardinal Volponi tries to save his old friend, a priest-turned-militant communist, from being executed by the Nazis alongside 334 other hostages but struggles to reason with either the Vatican, the Nazis or his friend.
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Title: Rumpole of the Bailey
Released: December 17, 1975
Type: TV
Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It stars Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an aging London barrister who defends any and all clients, and has been spun off into a series of short stories, novels, and radio programmes.
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Title: Dead of Night
Released: November 5, 1972
Type: TV
Dead of Night was a British television anthology series of supernatural fiction, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in 1972. It ran for a single series; of its seven 50-minute episodes, only three—"The Exorcism", "Return Flight", and "A Woman Sobbing"—are known to survive in the BBC's archives. Another programme made by the Dead of Night production team under Innes Lloyd, The Stone Tape, intended to be the eighth episode, does survive in the archives but was not broadcast under the Dead of Night banner. BBC Four rebroadcast "The Exorcism" on 22 December 2007.
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
Title: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Character: Quince
Released: September 30, 1968
Type: Movie
Peter Hall's film adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy, filmed in and around an English country house and starring actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company.
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All's Well That Ends Well
Title: All's Well That Ends Well
Character: King of France
Released: March 6, 1968
Type: Movie
An adaptation directed by Claude Whatham for the BBC's Theatre 625 slot. Essentially a recording of John Barton's acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company production starring Catherine Lacey (the Countess), Ian Richardson (Bertram), Lynn Farleigh (Helen), Clive Swift (Parolles) and Sebastian Shaw (the King), it was broadcast on 3 June 1968.
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It Happened Here
Title: It Happened Here
Character: Dr. Richard Fletcher
Released: May 12, 1966
Type: Movie
World War II, 1940. When the Nazi hordes invade and occupy Great Britain, the English citizens are soon divided between those who choose to submissively collaborate and those who are willing to fight.
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Title: The Great War
Released: May 30, 1964
Type: TV
A milestone 26-part history of the First World War, conceived to mark the 50th anniversary of its outbreak.
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Laxdale Hall
Title: Laxdale Hall
Character: Hugh Marvell, M.P.
Released: April 1, 1953
Type: Movie
A starchy parliamentary delegation is sent to a remote Scottish Highlands community, where the residents are protesting the poor condition of their road by withholding their taxes, and spend a few days among the locals.
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Landfall
Title: Landfall
Character: Wing Commander Dickens
Released: September 30, 1949
Type: Movie
A British coastal command pilot is charged with neglect when it is thought that he has sunk a British submarine rather than a German U-boat. Unable to live with his actions, he volunteers for a deadly mission. His girlfriend meanwhile tries to prove that he is innocent.
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The Glass Mountain
Title: The Glass Mountain
Character: Bruce McLeod
Released: March 9, 1949
Type: Movie
An aspiring composer, in the British Air Force for WWII, is downed in Italy and rescued by an Italian girl. He returns home to his wife, inspired to write an opera and aware that he's fallen in love with his rescuer.
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Journey Together
Title: Journey Together
Character: Squadron Leader Marshall
Released: October 1, 1945
Type: Movie
Two Englishmen (Richard Attenborough, Jack Watling) train with the Royal Air Force, ending with a bombing raid on Berlin.
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East of Piccadilly
Title: East of Piccadilly
Character: Tamsie Green
Released: June 23, 1941
Type: Movie
A series of murders in the West End of London baffle the officers of Scotland Yard and draw the interest of a crime reporter to the case.
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The Flying Squad
Title: The Flying Squad
Character: Inspector Bradley
Released: October 12, 1940
Type: Movie
Inspector Bradley of Scotland Yard is on the trail of the murderous ringleader of a smuggling organization in London.
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Three Silent Men
Title: Three Silent Men
Character: Sir James Quentin
Released: September 7, 1940
Type: Movie
An inventor of a deadly weapon to be used against the allies is injured in a crash. Surgeon, Sir James (Sebastian Shaw) saves his life but learns of the inventors plot.
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Now You're Talking
Title: Now You're Talking
Character: Charles Hampton
Released: March 1, 1940
Type: Movie
Commissioned by the Ministry of Information and specifically target working class audiences; ‘Now you’re talking’ follows a plant worker, who lets slip vital information about some overnight research on a captured enemy aircraft. This inevitably leads to this most important of secrets falling into the lap of the enemy.
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The Spy in Black
Title: The Spy in Black
Character: Ashington
Released: August 3, 1939
Type: Movie
A German submarine is sent to the Orkney Isles in 1917 to sink the British fleet.
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Prison Without Bars
Title: Prison Without Bars
Released: July 29, 1939
Type: Movie
1939 BBC studio production of Peggy Barwell’s play Prison without Bars, set in a girls’ reformatory, which was adapted from a German play by Gina Kaus and Otto Edgar Eis. An inmate of a girl's reformatory competes with its superintendent for the affections of its young doctor.
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Julius Caesar
Title: Julius Caesar
Character: Marcus Brutus
Released: December 9, 1938
Type: Movie
The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony
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The Squeaker
Title: The Squeaker
Character: Frank Sutton
Released: November 11, 1937
Type: Movie
London's jewel thieves are under the thumb of a mysterious fence, who ruthlessly exposes any thief who crosses him. Desperate, Scotland Yard re-hires ex-Inspector Barrabal who, as a known drunkard, is ideally suited to go undercover with a faked criminal record (which may spoil his chances with lovely Carol Stedman).
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Farewell Again
Title: Farewell Again
Character: Capt. Gilbert Reed
Released: January 5, 1937
Type: Movie
Farewell Again is a multiplotted British comedy/drama about soldiers on leave and the people they've left. Given a six-hour pass after a tour of duty in India, several British Tommies (among them Robert Newton, Sebastian Shaw and Anthony Bushell) try to unravel their domestic tribulations before having to ship out again. American expatriate Tim Whelan was the directorial hand who kept the various plot threads from entangling, while another Hollywood vet, James Wong Howe, manned the cameras. The film became instantly dated with the advent of World War II, but in its own time Farewell Again was a box-office smash. The film was issued in the US as Troopship.
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Men Are Not Gods
Title: Men Are Not Gods
Character: Edmund Davey
Released: November 26, 1936
Type: Movie
Actor Edmund Davey becomes a star overnight when his wife and co-star teams up with the secretary of a noted stage critic to produce a glowing review of his 'Othello'.
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Tomorrow We Live
Title: Tomorrow We Live
Character: Eric Morton
Released: October 6, 1936
Type: Movie
Financier Sir Charles Hendra, on the brink of ruin, contemplates ending his own life. After pondering the difficult decision, Charles decides to invite twelve similarly desperate individuals to dinner so they can all discuss their problems. Will his generosity change the course of their lives?
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Birds of a Feather
Title: Birds of a Feather
Character: Jack Wortle
Released: April 12, 1936
Type: Movie
A sausage-making tycoon rents a castle from an impoverished aristocrat.
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Jury's Evidence
Title: Jury's Evidence
Character: Philip
Released: January 1, 1936
Type: Movie
'Foreman of Old Bailey jury refuses to accept circumstantial evidence and helps solve murder case.' (British Film Catalogue)
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Department Store
Title: Department Store
Character: John Goodman Johnson
Released: October 6, 1935
Type: Movie
The heir to a London department store must learn the business, but he must start off by working his way through the various menial jobs incognito first. However, a crooked manager has arranged, for a cracksman, just out of prison, to join the staff. Each is mistaken for the other.
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The Way of Youth
Title: The Way of Youth
Character: Lieut. Alan Marmon
Released: May 7, 1935
Type: Movie
The manager of a gambling club tries to swindle the owner.
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Adventure Ltd.
Title: Adventure Ltd.
Character: Bruce Blandford
Released: March 31, 1935
Type: Movie
A British adventure film directed by George King
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Three Witnesses
Title: Three Witnesses
Character: Roger Truscott
Released: March 1, 1935
Type: Movie
At a firm of contractors, a partner is accused of murdering his brother following a takeover bid.
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The Lad
Title: The Lad
Character: Jimmy
Released: February 27, 1935
Type: Movie
An ex-con searching for a hidden jewel is assumed by a group of people to be investigating them.
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The Ace of Spades
Title: The Ace of Spades
Character: Trent
Released: February 9, 1935
Type: Movie
The wife of a candidate for Parliament is having an affair with the brother of her husband's rival. Her lover is running for election on a promise of building a railway that the community needs, but a wealthy landowner won't give permission for the railway to be built over his land. When the landowner is later found dead, suspicion falls on the adulterous candidate.
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Brewster's Millions
Title: Brewster's Millions
Character: Frank
Released: January 1, 1935
Type: Movie
Jack Brewster is a pennyless English lad who learns that he has inherited 6 million pounds sterling from a recently deceased relative. But soon learns that he must spend 500,000 pounds in 60 days to inherit the rest of the money, or forfeit the entire inheritance.
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Caste
Title: Caste
Character: Hon. George d'Alroy
Released: September 1, 1930
Type: Movie
The daughter of a Cockney drunkard marries a young aristocrat who is presumed killed in action in WWI. When she gets the news she goes to stay with her aristocratic in-laws.