Robert Shaw | |
---|---|
Robert Shaw publicity headshot (circa 1971)
|
|
Born |
Robert Archibald Shaw 9 August 1927 Westhoughton, Lancashire, England |
Died | 28 August 1978 Tourmakeady, County Mayo, Ireland |
(aged 51)
Cause of death | Heart attack |
Alma mater | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
Occupation | Actor, novelist |
Years active | 1951–1978 |
Spouse(s) |
Jennifer Bourke (m. 1952–63) (4 children) Mary Ure (m. 1963; d. 1975) (4 children) Virginia Jansen (m. 1976) (2 children) |
Children | 10 (2 adopted); including Ian |
Robert Archibald Shaw (9 August 1927 – 28 August 1978) was an English actor, novelist, and playwright. With his menacing mutter and intimidating demeanour, he was often cast as a villain. He is best remembered for his performances in Jaws (1975), in which he portrayed a shark hunter named Quint, and The Sting (1973), where he played the conned mobster, Doyle Lonnegan. Shaw also appeared in From Russia with Love (1963), Battle of the Bulge (1965), A Man for All Seasons (1966) (for which he was nominated for the 1967 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), Battle of Britain (1969), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), Black Sunday (1977), The Deep (1977), and Force 10 from Navarone (1978).
Robert Shaw was born in Westhoughton, Lancashire, England, in 1927. His mother, Doreen (née Avery), was a former nurse born in Piggs Peak, Swaziland, and his father, Thomas Shaw, was a doctor. He had three sisters, Elisabeth, Joanna and Wendy, and one brother, Alexander. When he was 7, the family moved to Stromness, Orkney, Scotland. When he was 12, his father, an alcoholic, took his own life. The family then moved to Cornwall, where he went to the independent Truro School. For a brief period, he was a teacher in Saltburn-by-the-Sea in the North Riding of Yorkshire, then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He served in the Royal Air Force.