Robert Eddison

Robert Eddison

Born: June 10, 1908
Died: December 14, 1991
in Yokohama, Japan
Robert Leadam Eddison, OBE (10 June 1908 – 14 December 1991) was an English actor, who is probably most widely remembered in the role of the Grail Knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He also played the tragic ferryman in The Storyteller episode "The Luck Child". Born in Japan to English parents, Edwin Eddison and Hilda Muriel Leadham, he had a twin brother Talbot Leadam Eddison. Through his paternal grandmother, Anna Paulina Tatham of Philadelphia, he was related to the Tatham Brothers Iron pipe manufacturers of Philadelphia. As his paternal great-grandfather Henry Billington Tatham's name suggests, he was a descendant of the Billington family who came to America from England on the Mayflower. Eddison was known for his resonant, baritone voice and long, lean figure. He performed William Shakespeare and other classics, was noted for his Hamlet at the Old Vic, and later playing the comic roles of Feste and Sir Andrew Aguecheek inTwelfth Night, and King Lear on the New York stage. He was also a familiar figure in plays by Ibsen, Chekhov, andSophocles, and played Canon Chasuble in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Eddison also made his mark in radio, in countless BBC dramas through the decades, with some of his last roles includingDeath in The Canterbury Tales and parts in an adaptation of Japanese Noh plays. His film career was limited, but included a supporting role in Peter Ustinov's 1948 comedy Vice Versa, the electrical 'Nick' in The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972), the college president in American Friends (1991), and a notable cameo in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusadeas the ancient Grail Knight, warning adventurers to choose wisely.

Movies for Robert Eddison...

American Friends
Title: American Friends
Character: Rushden - The President
Released: March 22, 1991
Type: Movie
Francis Ashby, a senior Oxford don on holiday alone in the Alps, meets holidaying American Caroline and her companion Elinor, the blossoming Irish-American girl she adopted many years before. Ashby finds he enjoys their company, particularly that of Elinor, and both the women are drawn to him. Back at Oxford he is nevertheless taken aback when they arrive unannounced. Women are not allowed in the College grounds, let alone the rooms. Indeed any liaison, however innocent, is frowned on by the upstanding Fellows.
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A TV Dante
Title: A TV Dante
Character: Charon
Released: June 13, 1990
Type: Movie
A TV Dante is an experimental mini-series directed by Tom Phillips and legendary filmmaker Peter Greenaway. It covers eight of the thirty-four cantos in Dante Alighieri's Inferno, part of his 14th century epic poem The Divine Comedy. The eight cantos of the film are not conventionally dramatised, rather they are illuminated with layered and juxtaposed imagery while the text is read entirely in "talking head" fashion, and punctuated with a kaleidoscopic blend of both newly shot and archival footage.
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Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Title: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Character: Grail Knight
Released: May 24, 1989
Type: Movie
In 1938, an art collector appeals to eminent archaeologist Dr. Indiana Jones to embark on a search for the Holy Grail. Indy learns that a medieval historian has vanished while searching for it, and the missing man is his own father, Dr. Henry Jones Sr.. He sets out to rescue his father by following clues in the old man's notebook, which his father had mailed to him before he went missing. Indy arrives in Venice, where he enlists the help of a beautiful academic, Dr. Elsa Schneider, along with Marcus Brody and Sallah. Together they must stop the Nazis from recovering the power of eternal life and taking over the world!
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Title: Campion
Character: Robert Skinn
Released: January 22, 1989
Type: TV
Campion is a television show made by the BBC, adapting the Albert Campion mystery novels written by Margery Allingham. Two series were made, in 1989 and 1990, starring Peter Davison as Campion, Brian Glover as his manservant Magersfontein Lugg and Andrew Burt as his policeman friend Stanislaus Oates. A total of eight novels were adapted, four in each series, each of which was originally broadcast as two separate hour-long episodes. Peter Davison sang the title music for the first series himself; in the second series, it was replaced with an instrumental version.
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Title: The Storyteller
Character: Ferryman
Released: May 15, 1988
Type: TV
The Storyteller aided by his cynical dog, narrates classic folk tales, fables, and legends.
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Scoop
Title: Scoop
Character: Troutbeck
Released: April 26, 1987
Type: Movie
Scoop is a 1987 TV film directed by Gavin Millar, adapted by William Boyd from the 1938 satirical novel Scoop by Evelyn Waugh. It was produced by Sue Birtwistle with executive producers Nick Elliott and Patrick Garland. Original music was made by Stanley Myers. The story is about a reporter sent to Ishmaelia (a fictional African state) by accident.
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Theban Plays: Antigone
Title: Theban Plays: Antigone
Character: Chorus
Released: September 19, 1986
Type: Movie
In a final battle for the control of Thebes, Oedipus's two sons kill each other. Creon issues an order that no one is to bury Polynices upon pain of death. But Antigone is determined that her brother's body will have the proper rites of burial.
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Theban Plays: Oedipus the King
Title: Theban Plays: Oedipus the King
Character: Chorus
Released: September 16, 1986
Type: Movie
Plagues are ravaging Thebes, and the blind fortune-teller Tieresias tells Oedipus, the King, that the gods are unhappy. The murder of the former king has gone unavenged, and Oedipus sets out to find the killer.
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Henry IV Part 2
Title: Henry IV Part 2
Character: Justice Robert Shallow
Released: December 16, 1979
Type: Movie
The death of King Henry the Fourth and the coronation of King Henry the Fifth.
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Title: The Legend of King Arthur
Character: Merlin
Released: October 7, 1979
Type: TV
This 8-part drama brings high romance, low treachery and magical adventure via a host of legendary characters: wise old Merlin, brave Sir Lancelot, King Arthur, ruler of all Britain and master of the Knights of the Round Table, the beguiling Queen Guinevere and her nemesis Morgan la Fay. Dark Ages wizard Merlin (Robert Eddison), weary of the barbarism around him, creates a new order of enlightenment and justice with a youthful Arthur (Andrew Burt) at its head. Merlin gifts Arthur with the magic legendary sword Excalibur to help him defeat the nobles who oppose his rule. But Arthur must also beware his half-sister Morgan (Maureen O'Brien), a sorceress who has sworn to kill him to avenge her father's death. As Morgan intensifies her plans to get revenge, she uses magic to draw Lancelot (David Robb) and Guinevere (Felicity Dean) into a passionate affair. But it is the still more traitorous Mordred (Steve Hodson) who will fatally halt Arthur's rule.
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Title: BBC Television Shakespeare
Released: December 3, 1978
Type: TV
The BBC Television Shakespeare is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and produced by BBC Television. It was transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to 27 April 1985 and spanned seven series. Development of the series began in 1975 when Messina saw that Glamis Castle would make a perfect location for an adaptation of Shakespeare's play As You Like It. On returning to London, he envisioned an entire series devoted exclusively to the dramatic works of Shakespeare. After encountering numerous problems trying to produce the series, Messina eventually pitched the idea to the BBC’s departmental heads and the series was greenlighted. The series as a whole received generally negative reviews from critics.
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Title: Sky
Character: Goodchild
Released: April 7, 1975
Type: TV
Sky is a mystically-oriented children's science fantasy television serial made for ITV by HTV and broadcast in seven parts from April 7 to May 14, 1975. A mysterious alien boy with strange solid blue eyes, the eponymous Sky, finds himself on Earth. He uses his psychic powers for achieve his goal of ensuring a way back home. Sky finds the very world soul of Earth in the form of nature, only to reject him the way an immune system might an infection. In his quest to return home, he joins his destiny with that of three human children. The serial was written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, also known for their scripts for Doctor Who and a fantasy television series for children, Into the Labyrinth. Although the series was kept on 2" videotape into the 1990s, during a transfer to film stock episodes 3 and 7 were damaged beyond repair. The series was finally released by Network DVD in May 2009, with the damaged segments replaced by inferior, but watchable, VHS copies of the episodes.
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Knots
Title: Knots
Released: January 1, 1975
Type: Movie
A touring company of actors arriving at a theatre, rehearsing and preparing a performance of a revue based on the book 'Knots' by R.D. Laing, devised by Edward Petherbridge
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The Boy Who Turned Yellow
Title: The Boy Who Turned Yellow
Character: Nick
Released: September 16, 1972
Type: Movie
John and his class go on a school trip to the Tower of London. While he is there he loses his pet mouse and vows to return and find her later. Back in school, he is not very attentive and falls asleep during a lesson about electricity so his teacher sends him home. On the 'tube' there is a sudden flash, and John, the train and all of the passengers turn yellow. With the help of Nick (short for 'Electronic') John learns about electricity, invades the Tower of London and saves his pet mouse ... or was it a dream. This is the Powell & Pressburger touch applied to children's films.
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Edward II
Title: Edward II
Character: Lightborn/Archbishop of Canterbury
Released: August 6, 1970
Type: Movie
The reign of Edward II, King of England, is troubled from the start when he brings his male lover, hated by the nobles, out of exile.
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The Tragedy of King Richard II
Title: The Tragedy of King Richard II
Character: Duke of York
Released: July 30, 1970
Type: Movie
The Tragedy of King Richard II, by William Shakespeare. The actions and repercussions of a proud King, whose vanity and selfishness lead to his downfall.
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I Was Happy Here
Title: I Was Happy Here
Released: April 1, 1966
Type: Movie
Cass followed the bright lights to London and was quickly disillusioned. She met and married Doctor Langdon, but soon realised she wanted to return to her home by the sea, and to her first love, Colin.
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Title: Mystery and Imagination
Released: January 29, 1966
Type: TV
Mystery and Imagination is a British television anthology series of classic horror and supernatural dramas. Five series were broadcast from 1966 to 1970 by the ITV network and produced by ABC and Thames Television.
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Title: BBC Play of the Month
Character: Prince Andronikov
Released: October 19, 1965
Type: TV
Play of the Month is a BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983; the producer most associated with the Play of the Month was Cedric Messina. Some of the 121 episodes are missing from the archives, having been junked in the 1960s and 1970s. Unless stated otherwise, the indication that the play is "lost" is taken from the lostshows.com website page as of 25 May 2013.
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Selkirk of Red River
Title: Selkirk of Red River
Character: Lord Selkirk
Released: January 1, 1964
Type: Movie
This film tells the story of the Red River settlement, now the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The pioneer venture of Thomas Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, to establish a colony brought opposition from the North West Company, the Hudson's Bay Company’s powerful rival. A fine cast of actors portrays the ensuing dispute.
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The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp
Title: The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp
Released: September 9, 1954
Type: Movie
An angel finds that she needs money to fulfill her mission on Earth. Her only solution to this problem is to pawn her harp.
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Vice Versa
Title: Vice Versa
Character: Mr. Blinkhorn
Released: January 28, 1948
Type: Movie
Businessman Paul Bultitude is sending his son Dick to a boarding school. While holding a magic stone from India, he wishes that he could be young again. His wish is immediately fulfilled and the two change bodies with each other. Mr Bultitude becomes a school boy who smokes cigars and has a very conservative view on child upbringing, while his son Dick becomes a gentleman who spends his time drinking lemonade and arranging children's parties.
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Sixty Glorious Years
Title: Sixty Glorious Years
Character: Lanternist Professor
Released: November 18, 1938
Type: Movie
Continuing the story of 'Victoria the Great'.