Robert Newton

Infobox actor
bgcolour =
name = Robert Newton


imagesize = 150px
caption = Robert Newton in "Treasure Island"
birthdate = birth date|1905|6|1|df=y
location = flagicon|England Shaftesbury, Dorset, England
deathdate = death date and age|1956|3|25|1905|6|1|df=y
deathplace = Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
height = 6' (1.83 m)
yearsactive =
spouse = Petronella Walton (m. 1929), Annie McLean (m. 1936), Natalie Newhouse (m. 1947), Vera Budnick (m. 1952)
notable role = Bill Sykes in Oliver Twist
Long John Silver in Treasure Island
Inspector Fix in Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film)
Gustave Pardee in The High and the Mighty

Robert Newton (June 1 1905 – March 25 1956) was a noted English stage and film actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the most popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially British boys. He was cited as a role model by actor Tony Hancock and drummer Keith Moon.

Career

Newton was born in Shaftesbury, Dorset, England, a son of the landscape painter, Algernon Newton, R.A. His acting career began at the age of 16 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1921 and was soon followed by performing in many plays in the West End of London. Amongst these were "Bitter Sweet" by Noel Coward, Horatio to Laurence Olivier's "Hamlet" at the Old Vic theatre, and "Private Lives" on Broadway. From 1932 -1934 he was the actor manager of the Shilling Theatre in Fulham, London.

Newton's film career included notable ruffians and villains, among them Bill Walker in George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara" (1941), Bill Sykes in David Lean's 1948 film version of "Oliver Twist" and Long John Silver in Walt Disney's "Treasure Island" (1950). He also portrayed disciplinarians such as Inspector Javert in the 1952 "Les Misérables", Dr. Arnold in the 1951 film version of "Tom Brown's Schooldays" and Inspector Fix in his last film, the 1956 "Around the World in Eighty Days", which won the Academy Award for Best Picture of that year.

Newton appeared in major roles in two films based on the novella "The Vessel of Wrath", by W. Somerset Maugham. He played the Dutch contrôleur in the 1938 version (released in the U.S. as "The Beachcomber"), and the lead role of Edward "Ginger Ted" Wilson in "The Beachcomber" (1954). He starred as the Scottish hatter, James Brodie, in "Hatter's Castle", a 1941 film based on the novel by A. J. Cronin. He also played Ancient Pistol in Laurence Olivier's 1944 film of "Henry V" and Lukey in Carol Reed's "Odd Man Out", later immortalised in Harold Pinter's play "Old Times".

He is best remembered for portraying the feverish-eyed Long John Silver in the Walt Disney version of "Treasure Island". His Disney portrayal became the standard for screen portrayals of pirates and he often credited with inventing the stereotypical 'pirate voice'. Newton has become the "patron saint" of the annual International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19.

He again played Long John Silver in an unrelated 1954 film, "Long John Silver." The company made a 26-episode 1955 TV series, "The Adventures of Long John Silver", shot at Pagewood Studios, Sydney, Australia.

Newton portrayed Bristol, England's other famous pirate "Blackbeard the Pirate", but was never able to shake off the legacy of Long John Silver.

Death

His film career was cut short by chronic alcoholism, which led to his death from a heart attack in Beverly Hills, California in 1956 at age 50 in his wife's arms. Newton had been married four times and had three children: Sally (b. 1930), Nicholas (b. 1950) and Kim (b. 1953). After some court battles, Newton's youngest son was placed in the custody by his aunt and uncle.

Newton was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. Years later his son Nicholas scattered his father's ashes in the sea in Mounts Bay, Cornwall, England near Lamorna where he had spent his childhood.

elected filmography

*"Fire Over England" (1937)
*"Jamaica Inn" (1939)
*"21 Days" (1940)
*"Major Barbara" (1941)
*"Hatter's Castle" (1942)
*"This Happy Breed" (1943)
*"Henry V" (1944)
*"Odd Man Out" (1947)
*"Temptation Harbour" (1947) [ [http://www.timeout.com/film/cast/79038/temptation-harbour.html timeout] ]
*"Oliver Twist" (1948)
*"Obsession" (1949)
*"Treasure Island" (1950)
*"Tom Brown's Schooldays" (1951)
*"Soldiers Three" (1951)
*"Les Misérables" (1952)
*"Blackbeard the Pirate" (1952)
*"Androcles and the Lion" (1952)
*"The Desert Rats" (1953)
*"The Beachcomber" (1954)
*"The High and the Mighty" (1954)
*"Long John Silver" (1954)
*"Around the World in Eighty Days" (1956)

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0628579|name=Robert Newton
*amg name|id=2:52488|name=Robert Newton
* [http://www.robertnewton.net A Tribute to Robert Newton] , includes biography.
* [http://www.britmovie.co.uk/actors/n/003.html Robert Newton] Britmovie article
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9908 Robert Newton's Gravesite] ^ [http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=10642 Short biography of Newton's artist father]