Robert Lankesheer
Biography
Robert Lankesheer (1914–1993) was a British stage, radio and television actor, best known for playing the character Leamington Sparr in the radio soap The Dales between 1963 and 1966 and Chamberlain in the television series Doctor Who in 1965. He was born on 28 April 1914 in Southampton, England. Whilst working for the local government in the land registry department he took evening classes and qualified in law. He served in the army during World War II as an officer in the Royal Artillery. After the war he decided to take up acting professionally. On stage, in addition to his repertory theatre work, Robert Lankesheer played Sir Henry Burke in Templeton at the Arts Theatre in 1958 and Mr Quelch between 1960 and 1963 in the Billy Bunter Christmas shows at the Victoria Palace Theatre and Queen's Theatre, London. He had a long association with The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, performing roles in Carmen (1973), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1974, 1976, 1984) and Die Zauberflöte (1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986,1987,1989, 1991). In films, Robert Lankesheer appeared in David Copperfield (1970) and Young Winston (1972). Robert Lankesheer died on 29 December 1993 in London, England of emphysema
Known For & Full Filmography14 Titles
Drama Series - 1963, 16 episodes • as Chamberlain
The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, The Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right many wrongs.
Drama Series - 1961, 16 episodes • as Holiday Camp Official
A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).
Drama Series - 1977, 16 episodes • as Vicar
The lives of Bodie and Doyle, top agents for Britain's CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5), and their controller, George Cowley. The mandate of CI5 was to fight terrorism and similar high-profile crimes. Cowley, a hard ex-MI5 operative, hand-picked each of his men. Bodie is a cynical ex-SAS paratrooper and mercenary whose nature ran to controlled violence, while his partner, Doyle, comes to CI5 from the regular police force, and is more of an open minded liberal. Their relationship is often contentious, but they are the top men in their field, and the ones to whom Cowley always assigned to the toughest cases.
Drama Series - 1968, 16 episodes • as Medical Officer
Introducing the Walmington-On-Sea home guard. During WW2, in a fictional British seaside town, a ragtag group of Home Guard local defense volunteers prepare for an imminent German invasion.
Drama Series - 1975, 16 episodes • as Mr. Thurston
Owner Basil Fawlty, his wife Sybil, a chambermaid Polly, and Spanish waiter Manuel attempt to run their hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding guests.
Drama Series - 1971, 16 episodes • as Mr. Jack
Justice is a British drama television series which originally aired on ITV in 39 hour-long episodes between 8 August 1971 and 16 October 1974. Margaret Lockwood stars as Harriet Peterson a female barrister in the North of England. It was made by Yorkshire Television and was based loosely on Justice Is a Woman, an episode of ITV Playhouse broadcast in 1969 in which Lockwood had previously also played a barrister. The theme music was Crown Imperial by William Walton.
Drama Series - 1983, 16 episodes • as Attendant
Reilly, Ace of Spies is a 1983 television miniseries dramatising the life of Sidney Reilly, a Russian Jew who became one of the greatest spies ever to work for the British. Among his exploits, in the early 20th-century, were the infiltration of the German General Staff in 1917 and a near-overthrow of the Bolsheviks in 1918. His reputation with women was as legendary as his genius for espionage.
Drama Series - 1962, 16 episodes • as Judge
The Scales of Justice is a series of thirteen British cinema featurettes produced from 1962 to 1967 for Anglo-Amalgamated at Merton Park Studios in London. The first nine were made in black and white, and the last four in colour. The finale, Payment in Kind, was Merton Park's final production. Episodes were based on criminal cases, and each film was introduced by criminologist Edgar Lustgarten. The series derives its title from the symbolic scales held by the statue of Justice, situated above the dome of London's Central Criminal Court, The Old Bailey. The opening narration describes her as having "in her right hand, the Sword of Power and Retribution, and in her left – The Scales of Justice".
Drama Series - 1962, 16 episodes • as Mr Daventry
Out of This World is a British science fiction anthology television series made by ABC Television and broadcast in 1962. A spin-off from the popular anthology series Armchair Theatre, each episode is introduced by actor Boris Karloff. Many episodes are adaptations of stories by sci-fi writers including Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick and Clifford D. Simak. The series is generally seen as a precursor to the BBC science fiction anthology Out of the Unknown.
Drama Series - 1955, 16 episodes • as Snodgrass
A half-hour anthology series.
Movie - 1972, 2h 15m • as Sympathetic MP (uncredited)
This historical drama is an account of the early life of British politician Winston Churchill, including his childhood years, his time as a war correspondent in Africa, and culminating with his first election to Parliament.
Movie - 1960, 2h 15m • as Chamberlain
An outstanding performance featuring brilliant storytelling, high stakes drama, and unforgettable character arcs.
Movie - 1965, 2h 15m • as Chamberlain
In 12th century Palestine, the Doctor and his friends are drawn into the holy war between the forces of King Richard the Lionheart and the Saracen ruler Saladin.
Movie - 1975, 2h 15m • as Foster
An American jazz pianist, blinded in a London bank robbery ten years before, makes his first return appearance in England at an engangement party where he believes he hears the voice of the gunman who cost him his sight.