| David Robb | |
| Birth Date: | 1947 8, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | London, England |
| Years Active: | 1970–present |
David Robb (born 23 August 1947) is a Scottish actor.[1]
Robb was born in Wandsworth, London, the son of David Robb and Elsie Tilley.[2] He grew up in Edinburgh and was educated there at the Royal High School, where he played Henry II in a school production of Jean Anouilh's Becket.[3]
Robb has starred in various British films and television shows, including films such as Swing Kids and Hellbound. He is well known for playing Germanicus in the famous 1976 BBC production of I, Claudius,[4] and as Robin Grant, one of the principal characters in Thames Television's 1981 series The Flame Trees of Thika.
Robb had his big break playing Andrew Fraser MP in the TV miniseries First Among Equals a 1986 adaptation of the book of the same name by Jeffrey Archer. The miniseries was a great success on prime time TV in the UK and abroad and also propelled careers of co-stars Tom Wilkinson, Jeremy Child and James Faulkner.
He played Dr Clarkson in the television drama series Downton Abbey. Robb is also the narrator of History Channel's documentary series "Battle Stations".
He had a recurring role in the fantasy television series .
He has worked extensively on BBC radio drama, including as Charles in the original radio series of Up the Garden Path opposite Imelda Staunton; as Captain Jack Aubrey in the BBC Radio 4 adaptations of the Patrick O'Brian "Aubrey" novels, and as Richard Hannay in several adaptations of the John Buchan novels, including The Thirty-Nine Steps in 2001 and Mr Standfast in 2007. In 2020, BBC Radio 4 Extra rebroadcast his performance from 1985 in E Phillips Oppenheim's mystery thriller The Great Impersonation.
He has also performed as a voice actor for several Star Wars video games.
Robb performed in two of Richard Norton-Taylor's Tricycle Tribunal Plays: The Colour of Justice (the dramatised version of the Sir William Macpherson inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, his family's search for justice, and endemic racism in British police forces), and Half the Picture (a distillation of the Scott Inquiry into Arms-to-Iraq. It was the first play to be performed in the Palace of Westminster); both were directed by Nicolas Kent and performed at the Tricycle Theatre. The productions were broadcast by the BBC.
Robb received two "Actors" (Screen Actors Guild Awards) for his role as part of the main cast of Downton Abbey, season 2 and season 4.
Robb married the actress Briony McRoberts in 1978. His best man was Lord Michael Jones. Beginning in 2004, he and his wife ran every year in the Edinburgh Marathon to raise money for leukaemia research. McRoberts took her own life on 17 July 2013, aged 56, after a long battle with anorexia and severe depression.[5] [6]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | The Swordsman | Alex Zendor | ||
| 1975 | Conduct Unbecoming | 2nd Lt. Winters | ||
| 1976 | I, Claudius | Germanicus[7] | 2 episodes | |
| 1976 | Whodunnit? | Nobby Fry | (episode Dead Grass) | |
| 1977 | The Standard | English Officer | ||
| 1977 | The Winslow Boy | John Watherstone | ||
| 1978 | The Four Feathers | Thomas Willoughby | TV film | |
| 1979 | The Legend of King Arthur | 7 episodes | ||
| 1980 | Hamlet | BBC | ||
| 1988 | The Sandbaggers | Paul Dalgetty | Yorkshire TV, 2 episodes | |
| 1982 | Ivanhoe | TV film | ||
| 1982 | TV film | |||
| 1983 | The Wars | Maj. Terry | ||
| 1984 | The Last Days of Pompeii | Sallust | 3 episodes | |
| 1986 | First Among Equals | Andrew Fraser MP | 10 episodes | |
| 1987 | Dreams Lost Dreams Found | Ross Fleming | TV film | |
| 1988 | The Deceivers | George Anglesmith | ||
| 1991 | Up the Garden Path | Charles | 6 episodes | |
| 1991 | Parnell and the Englishwoman | Capt. Willie O'Shea | 4 episodes | |
| 1992–1993 | Strathblair | Major Andrew Menzies | 10 episodes | |
| 1993 | Swing Kids | Dr. Dietrich Berger | ||
| 1994 | Hellbound | |||
| 1995 | Kalas | 5 episodes | ||
| 1996 | The Crow Road | Fergus Urvill | 4 episodes | |
| 1997 | Regeneration | Dr. McIntyre | ||
| 1997 | The House of Angelo | Lord Vanbrugh | ||
| 1999 | Treasure Island | Dr. Livesey | ||
| 2000 | Midsomer Murders | Charles MacKillop | 1 episode | |
| 2002 | Heartbeat (British TV series) | Guy Foxton | 1 episode | |
| 2004 | The Life and Death of Peter Sellers | Dr. Lyle Wexler | ||
| 2007 | ||||
| 2008 | Sharpe's Peril | Major Tredinnick | TV film | |
| 2009 | The Young Victoria | Whig Member | ||
| 2009 | From Time to Time | Lord Farrar | ||
| 2010–2015 | Downton Abbey | Dr. Clarkson | 34 episodes | |
| 2015 | Wolf Hall | 5 episodes | ||
| 2016 | Sacrifice | Richard Guthrie | ||
| 2018 | Clique | The Dean | 2 episodes | |
| 2021 | All Those Small Things | David | ||
| 2022 | Dr. Clarkson |