Person
Robert Eddison
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…
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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.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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1991
American Friends
Movie Rushden - The President
-
1990
A TV Dante
Movie Charon
-
1989
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Movie Grail Knight
-
1989
Campion
TV show Robert Skinn
-
1988
The Storyteller: The Luck Child
Movie Ferryman
-
1988
The Storyteller
TV show Ferryman
-
1987
Scoop
Movie Troutbeck
-
1987
The Lady's Not For Burning
Movie The Chaplin
-
1986
Theban Plays: Antigone
Movie Chorus
-
1986
Theban Plays: Oedipus the King
Movie Chorus
-
1979
Henry IV Part 2
Movie Justice Robert Shallow
-
1979
An Affinity with Dr. Still
Movie Dr. Still
-
1979
The Legend of King Arthur
TV show Merlin
-
1977
The Velvet Glove
TV show Father Andrew
-
1975
Sky
TV show Goodchild
-
1975
Knots
Movie
More credits
-
1974
Playhouse
TV show Dr. Still
-
1973
The Adventures Of Don Quixote
Movie Duke
-
1972
The Boy Who Turned Yellow
Movie Nick
-
1970
Edward II
Movie Lightborn/Archbishop of Canterbury
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1970
The Tragedy of King Richard II
Movie Duke of York
-
1968
Uncle Silas
Movie Silas Ruthyn
-
1966
I Was Happy Here
Movie
-
1966
Mystery and Imagination
TV show Karswell
-
1965
Andover and the Android
Movie Tzhilyantsi
-
1965
BBC Play of the Month
TV show Prince Andronikov
-
1965
Out of the Unknown
TV show Tzhilyantsi
-
1964
The Wednesday Play
TV show Arch-Vicar
-
1964
Theatre 625
TV show Skuratov
-
1964
Selkirk of Red River
Movie Lord Selkirk
-
1957
Ordeal by Fire
Movie King Charles VII
-
1956
Armchair Theatre
TV show
- 1954
-
1948
Vice Versa
Movie Mr. Blinkhorn
-
1938
Sixty Glorious Years
Movie Lanternist Professor
