Bruce Robinson
| Bruce Robinson | |
|---|---|
Bruce Robinson at the 2016 Hay Festival.
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| Born |
2 May 1946 London, England |
| Occupation | Actor, screenwriter, director |
| Years active | 1968–present |
| Spouse(s) | Sophie Windham (1984–present) |
| Children | Lily India Robinson and Willow Robinson |
| Awards |
BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 1984 The Killing Fields |
Bruce Robinson (born 2 May 1946) is an English director, screenwriter, novelist and actor. He is arguably most famous for writing and directing the cult classic Withnail and I (1987), a film with comic and tragic elements set in London in the 1960s, which drew on his experiences as "a chronic alcoholic and resting actor, living in squalor" in Camden Town.
As an actor, he has worked with Franco Zeffirelli (on whom he based the character of Uncle Monty in Withnail and I), Ken Russell and François Truffaut.
Bruce Robinson was born in London. He grew up in Broadstairs Kent, where he attended The Charles Dickens Secondary Modern School. His parents were Mabel Robinson and American lawyer Carl Casriel, who had a short-term relationship during World War II. His father was a Lithuanian Jew. As a child, Robinson was constantly brutally abused by his stepfather Rob (an ex RAF Navigator and a wholesale newsagent), who knew the boy wasn't his son. He had an elder sister Elly, whom he asked to teach him some French.
In his youth, Robinson aspired to be an actor and was admitted to the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. His first film role was as Benvolio in Franco Zeffirelli's film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (1968). He then appeared in Ken Russell's The Music Lovers (1970), Barney Platts-Mills's Private Road (1971), and François Truffaut's The Story of Adele H. (1975). After spending several years out of work, and living on social security payments, he became disenchanted and began writing screenplays. He was soon commissioned by David Puttnam to write the screenplay for Roland Joffé's The Killing Fields (1984). Robinson was nominated for an Academy Award and won a BAFTA for his work. In 1989, Robinson wrote again for Joffé on Fat Man and Little Boy. He returned to acting briefly in 1998, taking a role in the film Still Crazy.
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