Robin Ellis

For the Archdeacon of Plymouth, see Robin Ellis (priest).

Robin Ellis
Born
Anthony Robin Ellis

(1942-01-08) 8 January 1942 (age 82)
Ipswich, Suffolk, England
OccupationActor
Spouse
Meredith Wheeler
​
(m. 1990)​
FamilyJack Ellis (brother)
Peter Ellis (brother)

Anthony Robin Ellis (born 8 January 1942) is a British actor and cookery book writer best known for his role as Captain Ross Poldark in the 29 episodes of the 1975 BBC classic series Poldark, adapted from a series of books by the 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). In 2015–17 and 2019 he appeared in the Poldark series remake as Reverend Halse.

Life and career

Ellis was born in Ipswich, Suffolk. He was educated at the independent Highgate School in Highgate in north London,[1] and at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge where he read history and appeared in over 20 plays. His first West End performance was in Sheridan's The Rivals at the Haymarket Theatre, as Captain Jack Absolute. He went on to play in The Real Inspector Hound at the Criterion Theatre and Widowers' Houses at the Royal Court. He was part of the innovative Actors' Company, founded in 1972 by Ian McKellen and Edward Petherbridge, organised 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).

Ellis's big break came in 1975 with his first major role in a popular television series. He played the heart throb Ross Poldark in the BBC 1 series, Poldark.[2]

In 1969, he played Ames in the film Arthur? Arthur!. Ellis co-starred with Lee Remick in the Merchant Ivory film The Europeans (1979), based on the novel by Henry James, playing the role of John Acton.[3] Ellis 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 ITV drama Heartbeat and in a BBC adaptation of A Dark-Adapted Eye (1994) a psychological thriller written by Ruth Rendell.[4][5]

Ellis also had a long career in the theatre, 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 Edmund; Troilus and Cressida playing Achilles; and in Much Ado About Nothing playing Don Pedro. His last West End theatre performance was with Zoë Wanamaker in Sylvia by A.R. Gurney at the Apollo Theatre in 1996.

He is a well-known voiceover artist, and co-owned a voiceover agency called Voices in London for many years.[citation needed] He has narrated documentaries, including Fall of the Wall, The Second Russian Revolution, The Death of Yugoslavia and End of Empire.

He is the author of a memoir entitled Making Poldark about the series (originally published by Bossiney Books, ISBN 0-906456-00-2). Making Poldark was expanded and revised in 2012, and republished by Palo Alto Publishing (ISBN 9780983939818). An audio version of his memoir was released on Audible in June 2015.

He had a recurring role in the 2015-2019 BBC adaptation of Poldark as Reverend Halse.[2]

In 2021, he played the Ghost in an online production of Hamlet, produced by the Gorilla Repertory Theater in New York, which was scheduled for completion in autumn 2021.

Cookery book writer

His first cookery book, Delicious Dishes for Diabetics: A Mediterranean Way of Eating, was published in 2011.[6] The US edition was titled Delicious Dishes for Diabetics: Eating Well with Type 2 Diabetes.

His second cookery book, Healthy Eating for Life, came out in 2014. His third cookery book, Mediterranean Cooking for Diabetics: Delicious Dishes to Control or Avoid Diabetes was published in 2016 by Little, Brown UK. His fourth cookery book, Robin Ellis's Mediterranean Vegetarian Cooking was published in June 2020 by Little, Brown UK.

Personal life

Ellis lives with his wife Meredith in southwest France. His younger brothers are the actor Jack Ellis and the director Peter Ellis, who died in 2006.[7]

References

  1. ^ Hughes, Patrick; Davies, Ian F. (eds.). Highgate School Register 1833–1988 (7th ed.).
  2. ^ a b Emma Marriott (2015), The World of Poldark, Macmillan, p. 87, ISBN 978-1-5098-1362-9
  3. ^ "The Europeans (1979) - James Ivory | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.
  4. ^ "Robin Ellis". BFI. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016.
  5. ^ "Heartbeat - S15 - Episode 16: Judgement Day". Radio Times.
  6. ^ "Delicious Dishes for Diabetics | Cookery & Gardening". Constablerobinson.com. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  7. ^ Swann, Yvonne (22 September 2005). "My CV: Jack Ellis". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 14 May 2009.