Robert Shaw

Biography: After the suicide of his physician father, 12-year-old Robert Shaw was uprooted from his Lancashire home and moved to Scotland, thence to Cornwall. An outspoken rebel even at an early age, Shaw was slated for a traditional education at Cambridge, only to opt at the last minute for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his stage debut in 1949, and began making TV appearances in the early '50s, most frequently on the weekly series The Scarlet Pimpernel (he later starred in his own series, The Buccaneers, which enjoyed a brief American network run). His first important film role was in the box-office bonanza The Dam Busters (1954), but he didn't gain international renown until he was cast as KGB assassin Red Grant in the 1963 James Bond opus From Russia With Love. He went on to play the title character in the Canadian-produced critical success The Luck of Ginger Coffey and was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as King Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons (1966). HisAfter the suicide of his physician father, 12-year-old Robert Shaw was uprooted from his Lancashire home and moved to Scotland, thence to Cornwall. An outspoken rebel even at an early age, Shaw was slated for a traditional education at Cambridge, only to opt at the last minute for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his stage debut in 1949, and began making TV appearances in the early '50s, most frequently on the weekly series The Scarlet Pimpernel (he later starred in his own series, The Buccaneers, which enjoyed a brief American network run). His first important film role was in the box-office bonanza The Dam Busters (1954), but he didn't gain international renown until he was cast as KGB assassin Red Grant in the 1963 James Bond opus From Russia With Love. He went on to play the title character in the Canadian-produced critical success The Luck of Ginger Coffey and was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as King Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons (1966). His best-remembered screen roles of the 1970s included crooked gambler Doyle Lannigan in The Sting (1973), shark-hunting old salt Quint in Jaws (1975), and a rather melancholy Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin and Marian (1977). A prolific writer, Shaw's literary output included the prize-winning novel The Sun Doctor and the critically acclaimed stage play The Man in the Glass Booth (1967). At the time of his death, he was preparing to film the life story of turncoat espionage agent Kim Philby. Married three times, Robert Shaw's second wife was actress Mary Ure, who died in 1975.… Expand