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Robert Gillespie
Robert James Gillespie (born 9 November 1933) is a British actor, director and writer. Notable acting credits include Keep It in the Family (1980), At the Earth's Core (1976) and Force 10 from Navarone (1978). Later, he appeared in Jimmy McGovern's Broken and Mike Leigh's film Peterloo about the Peterloo Massacre. The first volume of his autobiography, Are You Going To Do That Little Jump?, was published in 2017. A second volume, Are You Going To Do That Little Jump? The Adventure Continues followed in October 2021. At the same time, Gillespie launched a new publicly-available and growing online archive of his extensive career, entitled Little Jump.
Gillespie is the eldest child of Magdalena Katalin Singer, from Budapest, Hungary; and James William Gillespie, who was of Scottish descent, from Toronto, Canada. He was born in Lille, but the family left France in 1940 after Hitler's invasion of the country.
Gillespie was educated at Sale Grammar School, and trained as an actor at RADA between 1951 and 1953.
Robert Gillespie entered the theatrical profession at a time when every playscript had to be approved by the Lord Chamberlain's Office, or risk prosecution. The only platform for plays addressing controversial subjects like homosexuality, or contentious political topics, existed at club theatres like the New Lindsey, in Notting Hill, with a private membership. Gillespie witnessed the day Brendan Behan used the F-word on BBC Television (1956) which rocked the corporation. [dubious – discuss] But times changed. 70 years later Gillespie relished playing a repellent, paedophile priest opposite Sean Bean in an episode of Broken by Jimmy McGovern – at which no-one turned a hair. Robert Gillespie is especially interested in this period of enormous transition and has written about it.
From drama school, Gillespie joined the Old Vic Company in 1953 and found an unexpected mix of acting styles used on the stage in each production. Richard Burton and Claire Bloom headed the company, and Gillespie expected them firmly to deploy a modern style of acting. Strangely, Burton's sonorous baritone delivery echoed the last chimes of a declamatory style, while Bloom wavered between a naturalistic delivery (borrowed from her recent film with Charlie Chaplin) and a 'singing' tone. It was Michael Hordern (playing Polonius, Malvolio and Parolles) who chatted in a delightful, modern manner. Inevitably, during his two-year stay with the company (1953–55), the quality of production was uneven. The second year was headed by Paul Rogers, Ann Todd, Virginia McKenna and John Neville. Gillespie's most substantial part was Adam in As You Like It. The highlight of both years was Douglas Seale's production of Henry IV Parts 1 and 2.
It is with gratitude that Gillespie views his hiring by George Devine at the very start of Devine's creation of The English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre (1956–58). It is George Devine, in Gillespie's view, who should be credited with launching modern theatre in the UK. Devine dared to present the transforming play Look Back in Anger by John Osborne and brought Berthold Brecht into mainstream drama.
In sharp contrast, Gillespie found Joan Littlewood's claim to ground-breaking innovation to be dubious and unfounded. He joined her Theatre Workshop company, based at the Theatre Royal, Stratford, for three productions in 1956 and left by mutual agreement while rehearsing a fourth. Littlewood's chief claim was that she could imbue the great classics with a fresh, accessible approach. The results were uniformly disappointing, a view supported by an almost uniformly bad press. (History suggests that her break-through to personal success rode on the new "kitchen-sink" style of play, viz. A Taste of Honey, and its musical equivalent.) Gillespie has written about his time at Theatre Workshop.
In 1970, he appeared in Keep Out, Love in Progress by Walter Hall, at the Basement Theatre, Soho, taking the lead opposite Alex Marshall. He performed in David Lan's Paradise at the Royal Court Theatre, John Arden's The Hero Rises Up at the Roundhouse, Peter Hall's Playhouse Theatre production of Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo (starring Julie Walters).
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Robert Gillespie
Robert James Gillespie (born 9 November 1933) is a British actor, director and writer. Notable acting credits include Keep It in the Family (1980), At the Earth's Core (1976) and Force 10 from Navarone (1978). Later, he appeared in Jimmy McGovern's Broken and Mike Leigh's film Peterloo about the Peterloo Massacre. The first volume of his autobiography, Are You Going To Do That Little Jump?, was published in 2017. A second volume, Are You Going To Do That Little Jump? The Adventure Continues followed in October 2021. At the same time, Gillespie launched a new publicly-available and growing online archive of his extensive career, entitled Little Jump.
Gillespie is the eldest child of Magdalena Katalin Singer, from Budapest, Hungary; and James William Gillespie, who was of Scottish descent, from Toronto, Canada. He was born in Lille, but the family left France in 1940 after Hitler's invasion of the country.
Gillespie was educated at Sale Grammar School, and trained as an actor at RADA between 1951 and 1953.
Robert Gillespie entered the theatrical profession at a time when every playscript had to be approved by the Lord Chamberlain's Office, or risk prosecution. The only platform for plays addressing controversial subjects like homosexuality, or contentious political topics, existed at club theatres like the New Lindsey, in Notting Hill, with a private membership. Gillespie witnessed the day Brendan Behan used the F-word on BBC Television (1956) which rocked the corporation. [dubious – discuss] But times changed. 70 years later Gillespie relished playing a repellent, paedophile priest opposite Sean Bean in an episode of Broken by Jimmy McGovern – at which no-one turned a hair. Robert Gillespie is especially interested in this period of enormous transition and has written about it.
From drama school, Gillespie joined the Old Vic Company in 1953 and found an unexpected mix of acting styles used on the stage in each production. Richard Burton and Claire Bloom headed the company, and Gillespie expected them firmly to deploy a modern style of acting. Strangely, Burton's sonorous baritone delivery echoed the last chimes of a declamatory style, while Bloom wavered between a naturalistic delivery (borrowed from her recent film with Charlie Chaplin) and a 'singing' tone. It was Michael Hordern (playing Polonius, Malvolio and Parolles) who chatted in a delightful, modern manner. Inevitably, during his two-year stay with the company (1953–55), the quality of production was uneven. The second year was headed by Paul Rogers, Ann Todd, Virginia McKenna and John Neville. Gillespie's most substantial part was Adam in As You Like It. The highlight of both years was Douglas Seale's production of Henry IV Parts 1 and 2.
It is with gratitude that Gillespie views his hiring by George Devine at the very start of Devine's creation of The English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre (1956–58). It is George Devine, in Gillespie's view, who should be credited with launching modern theatre in the UK. Devine dared to present the transforming play Look Back in Anger by John Osborne and brought Berthold Brecht into mainstream drama.
In sharp contrast, Gillespie found Joan Littlewood's claim to ground-breaking innovation to be dubious and unfounded. He joined her Theatre Workshop company, based at the Theatre Royal, Stratford, for three productions in 1956 and left by mutual agreement while rehearsing a fourth. Littlewood's chief claim was that she could imbue the great classics with a fresh, accessible approach. The results were uniformly disappointing, a view supported by an almost uniformly bad press. (History suggests that her break-through to personal success rode on the new "kitchen-sink" style of play, viz. A Taste of Honey, and its musical equivalent.) Gillespie has written about his time at Theatre Workshop.
In 1970, he appeared in Keep Out, Love in Progress by Walter Hall, at the Basement Theatre, Soho, taking the lead opposite Alex Marshall. He performed in David Lan's Paradise at the Royal Court Theatre, John Arden's The Hero Rises Up at the Roundhouse, Peter Hall's Playhouse Theatre production of Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo (starring Julie Walters).