Robin Ramsay (actor)
Encyclopedia
Robin Ramsay is an Australian actor of television, film and stage.
Ramsay is the grandson of Kiwi shoe polish
founder William Ramsay
and father of Robina Ramsay, an internationally ranked dressage rider
, and Dr Tamasin Ramsay.
, graduating in 1957. He worked briefly for the BBC
then returned to Australia. He joined the fledgling Union Theatre Company, in Melbourne, whose members included Zoe Caldwell
and Barry Humphries
. He starred in the first Adelaide Festival in 1960, in 'Moon on a Rainbow Shawl'.
He went to the United States in 1961 and joined the Theatre Company of Boston. He then toured the country in The National Repertory Theatre, with Eva Le Galliene and Faye Emerson
.
In 1964 he took over the role of Fagin
in the hit musical "Oliver!
" on Broadway, a role he played for a further two years in New York, followed by a record-breaking national tour. He shared the bill with 'The Beatles' singing a song from the musical, in a subsequently memorable edition of the Ed Sullivan Show. In 1966 Ramsay recreated his role of Fagin
for a West End revival of "Oliver!
", with Marti Webb
as Nancy.
Returning to Australia, Ramsay's role as Charlie Cousens, the dodgy real estate agent, on Bellbird
, Australia's first successful television soap opera, garnered him considerable public notice. A regular character on the show from August 1967, Ramsay decided to leave in May 1968 to take the role of Fagin
in a Japanese stage production of Oliver!
.
When the show's producers decided to kill off his character, staging what has been described as "one of the most-watched and best-remembered moments in Australian TV history", fans wrote protesting his death and even sent flowers to his funeral.
Ramsay returned to the theatre playing the controversial priest Daniel Berrigan
in the Trial of the Catonsville Nine in Sydney. He went on to play Pontius Pilate
in 's
original production of Jesus Christ Superstar
. He was in the first production at the opening of the Sydney Opera House
in 1972: playing MacHeath in The Threepenny Opera
. Polly Peachum was played by Pamela Stephenson
. Ramsay spent the next few years as a leading actor with the Sydney Theatre Company
the Melbourne Theatre Company
, and working in film and television. He has twice won the Melbourne Critics Circle Award for Best Actor. He was in 'Medea' the opening production of the Melbourne Arts Centre, playing opposite Zoe Caldwell.
In 1977, with Rodney Fisher, he developed his first solo show , drawn from the writings of Henry Lawson
The Bastard From The Bush. This refocusing on Lawson as a sophisticated short story writer and diarist, rather than as a 'bush poet', radically altered Australia's view of their favourite icon. The play toured to Riverside Studios
in London, and played extended seasons at Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre and the Victorian Arts Centre. The production won the Australian Arts Award
In the early 1980s Ramsay was commissioned to create a new solo show celebrating the life and times of Rabindranath Tagore
, India's Nobel Prize
winning poet: titled Borderland. The invitation came from the Indian High Commission in Canberra
. The play was performed in Australia, then toured to more than 60 countries in support of the Brahma Kumaris sect, in tandem with 'The Bastard From The Bush'. The tour was sponsored by the Australian Government through its Cultural Relations Department, the British Council
and the Indian Government, as well as Australian High Commissions and Australian Embassies abroad
Ramsay then formed his own chamber theatre company Open Secret, and continued touring internationally, developing new productions, notably Vikram Seth
's Beastly Tales from Here and There and incorporating local musicians into the company's presentations. His new solo play The Accidental Mystic, high times on the Indian ashram
trail, written by his wife Barbara Bossert, opened at Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre in 1995, after seasons in Sydney and the Edinburgh Festival
. The play toured to London and throughout India. Ramsay was nominated for a Melbourne Critics Circle Best Actor Award for his performance
In 1994 he played Julie Christie
's husband, Wilf Barlow, in the miniseries 'Dada is Death', and toured to the Tokyo International Theatre Festival with the Playbox Theatre.
In 2008 he produced and directed the feature film 'Tao of the Traveller', a spiritual adventure film.'Tao of the Traveller' won a Best Film Award at the South African International Film Festival 2008,and has been selected for screening at the British Film Festival Los Angeles 2009, Egypt International Film Festival 2009, Thailand International Film Festival 2009, Swansea Bay International Film Festival 2009. In 2008 TOTT was invited to the Fallbrook Film Festival in California, and won awards in the Research and Experimental categories at the Accolade Film Festival.
Ramsay became interested in Eastern spiritual matters in the 1960's and studied Taoism and Buddhism and many of the mystical poets such as Rumi, Tagore and Hafiz. 1980s he came across the teachings of Brother Lekhraj Kripalani, now formalised as the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
, while still performing with 'Open Secret' and elsewhere. From 2001–2006 he lived at a Brahma Kumaris retreat center near Wilton
New South Wales
.. Ramsay recreated his Tagore
show Borderland recently in London, as part of the Brahma Kumaris’ contribution to the Lord Mayor of London's “India Now” celebrations. http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:S3CJ3dNWaMAJ:www.indialink-online.com/index.php%3Fid%3D582%26PHPSESSID%3D97306c4f5a38faada47dc30cd7301b07+India+now+robin+ramsay+tagore&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&client=safari. His most recent film The Avinashi Social Club presents the recently discovered history of the Brahma Kumaris in Karachi 1937-1950. The film, drawn from articles and books discovered in the British Library, contradicts much of the story that has been presented officially by Brahma Kumaris administration. The film was banned from Australian Brahma Kumaris Centres by the Australian Board of Management: http://vimeo.com/avinashi/sanctuary-arts-magic-1
Ramsay is the grandson of Kiwi shoe polish
Kiwi (shoe polish)
Kiwi is the brand name of a shoe polish, first made in Australia in 1906 and sold in almost 180 countries. Previously owned by the Sara Lee Corporation since 1984, it was sold in 2011 to SC Johnson...
founder William Ramsay
William Ramsay (manufacturer)
William Ramsay was a Scottish-born Australian shoe polish manufacturer. In 1906, Ramsay developed "Kiwi" brand shoe polish, today one of the most famous shoe polish brands in the world....
and father of Robina Ramsay, an internationally ranked dressage rider
Dressage
Dressage is a competitive equestrian sport, defined by the International Equestrian Federation as "the highest expression of horse training." Competitions are held at all levels from amateur to the World Equestrian Games...
, and Dr Tamasin Ramsay.
Career
Ramsay studied at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic ArtRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
, graduating in 1957. He worked briefly for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
then returned to Australia. He joined the fledgling Union Theatre Company, in Melbourne, whose members included Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Caldwell, OBE is an Australian-born actress.-Early life:She was born as Ada Caldwell in Melbourne, Australia and was raised in the suburb of Balwyn in Yongala Street. Her father, Edgar, was a plumber and her mother, Zoe, was a taxi dancer. Caldwell's mother, Zoe, had a Peugeot of 1950 vintage...
and Barry Humphries
Barry Humphries
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the...
. He starred in the first Adelaide Festival in 1960, in 'Moon on a Rainbow Shawl'.
He went to the United States in 1961 and joined the Theatre Company of Boston. He then toured the country in The National Repertory Theatre, with Eva Le Galliene and Faye Emerson
Faye Emerson
Faye Margaret Emerson was an American film actress and television interviewer, known as "The First Lady of Television". She acted in many Warner Brothers films beginning in 1941...
.
In 1964 he took over the role of Fagin
Fagin
Fagin is a fictional character who appears as an antagonist of the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, referred to in the preface of the novel as a "receiver of stolen goods", but referred to more frequently within the actual story as the "merry old gentleman" or simply the "Jew".-Character:Born...
in the hit musical "Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
" on Broadway, a role he played for a further two years in New York, followed by a record-breaking national tour. He shared the bill with 'The Beatles' singing a song from the musical, in a subsequently memorable edition of the Ed Sullivan Show. In 1966 Ramsay recreated his role of Fagin
Fagin
Fagin is a fictional character who appears as an antagonist of the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, referred to in the preface of the novel as a "receiver of stolen goods", but referred to more frequently within the actual story as the "merry old gentleman" or simply the "Jew".-Character:Born...
for a West End revival of "Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
", with Marti Webb
Marti Webb
Marti Webb is a musical actress from England, who appeared on stage in Evita, before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one woman show Tell Me on a Sunday in 1980...
as Nancy.
Returning to Australia, Ramsay's role as Charlie Cousens, the dodgy real estate agent, on Bellbird
Bellbird (TV series)
Bellbird was an Australian soap opera set in a small Victorian rural township. The series was produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation at its Ripponlea TV studios in Elsternwick, Melbourne, Victoria. The series was produced between 28 August 1967 and December 1977...
, Australia's first successful television soap opera, garnered him considerable public notice. A regular character on the show from August 1967, Ramsay decided to leave in May 1968 to take the role of Fagin
Fagin
Fagin is a fictional character who appears as an antagonist of the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, referred to in the preface of the novel as a "receiver of stolen goods", but referred to more frequently within the actual story as the "merry old gentleman" or simply the "Jew".-Character:Born...
in a Japanese stage production of Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
.
When the show's producers decided to kill off his character, staging what has been described as "one of the most-watched and best-remembered moments in Australian TV history", fans wrote protesting his death and even sent flowers to his funeral.
Ramsay returned to the theatre playing the controversial priest Daniel Berrigan
Daniel Berrigan
Daniel Berrigan, SJ is an American Catholic priest, peace activist, and poet. Daniel and his brother Philip were for a time on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for their involvement in antiwar protests during the Vietnam war....
in the Trial of the Catonsville Nine in Sydney. He went on to play Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
in 's
Jim Sharman
James "Jim" Sharman , the son of boxing tent entrepreneur Jimmy Sharman, is a director and writer for film and stage with over 70 productions to his credit...
original production of Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
. He was in the first production at the opening of the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
in 1972: playing MacHeath in The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
. Polly Peachum was played by Pamela Stephenson
Pamela Stephenson
Pamela Helen Stephenson Connolly is a New Zealand-born Australian clinical psychologist and writer now resident in the United Kingdom. She is best known for her work as an actress and comedian during the 1980s...
. Ramsay spent the next few years as a leading actor with the Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company
The Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia's best-known theatre companies operating from The Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre....
the Melbourne Theatre Company
Melbourne Theatre Company
The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne. Founded in 1953, it is the oldest professional theatre company in Australia, and has its own theatre, The MTC Theatre – which houses the 500-seat Sumner Theatre and the 150-seat Lawler Studio – located in Melbourne's Arts...
, and working in film and television. He has twice won the Melbourne Critics Circle Award for Best Actor. He was in 'Medea' the opening production of the Melbourne Arts Centre, playing opposite Zoe Caldwell.
In 1977, with Rodney Fisher, he developed his first solo show , drawn from the writings of Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson was an Australian writer and poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period and is often called Australia's "greatest writer"...
The Bastard From The Bush. This refocusing on Lawson as a sophisticated short story writer and diarist, rather than as a 'bush poet', radically altered Australia's view of their favourite icon. The play toured to Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios is a production studio, theatre and independent cinema on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. It plays host to contemporary and international dramatic and dance performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.-History:In 1933, the...
in London, and played extended seasons at Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre and the Victorian Arts Centre. The production won the Australian Arts Award
In the early 1980s Ramsay was commissioned to create a new solo show celebrating the life and times of Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
, India's Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winning poet: titled Borderland. The invitation came from the Indian High Commission in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
. The play was performed in Australia, then toured to more than 60 countries in support of the Brahma Kumaris sect, in tandem with 'The Bastard From The Bush'. The tour was sponsored by the Australian Government through its Cultural Relations Department, the British Council
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
and the Indian Government, as well as Australian High Commissions and Australian Embassies abroad
Ramsay then formed his own chamber theatre company Open Secret, and continued touring internationally, developing new productions, notably Vikram Seth
Vikram Seth
Vikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist.-Early life:Vikram Seth was born on 20 June 1952 to Leila and Prem Seth in Calcutta...
's Beastly Tales from Here and There and incorporating local musicians into the company's presentations. His new solo play The Accidental Mystic, high times on the Indian ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
trail, written by his wife Barbara Bossert, opened at Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre in 1995, after seasons in Sydney and the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
. The play toured to London and throughout India. Ramsay was nominated for a Melbourne Critics Circle Best Actor Award for his performance
In 1994 he played Julie Christie
Julie Christie
Julie Frances Christie is a British actress. Born in British India to English parents, at the age of six Christie moved to England, where she attended boarding school....
's husband, Wilf Barlow, in the miniseries 'Dada is Death', and toured to the Tokyo International Theatre Festival with the Playbox Theatre.
In 2008 he produced and directed the feature film 'Tao of the Traveller', a spiritual adventure film.'Tao of the Traveller' won a Best Film Award at the South African International Film Festival 2008,and has been selected for screening at the British Film Festival Los Angeles 2009, Egypt International Film Festival 2009, Thailand International Film Festival 2009, Swansea Bay International Film Festival 2009. In 2008 TOTT was invited to the Fallbrook Film Festival in California, and won awards in the Research and Experimental categories at the Accolade Film Festival.
Ramsay became interested in Eastern spiritual matters in the 1960's and studied Taoism and Buddhism and many of the mystical poets such as Rumi, Tagore and Hafiz. 1980s he came across the teachings of Brother Lekhraj Kripalani, now formalised as the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University or Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya is a monastic, renunciate Millenarian new religious movement of Indian origin...
, while still performing with 'Open Secret' and elsewhere. From 2001–2006 he lived at a Brahma Kumaris retreat center near Wilton
Wilton, New South Wales
Wilton is a small town of the Macarthur Region, New South Wales, Australia in the Wollondilly Shire. It is home to a population of 1279 and includes the modern suburb development of Bingara Gorge. It is located within close proximity Cataract Dam...
New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
.. Ramsay recreated his Tagore
Tagore family
The Tagore family, with over three hundred years of history, has been one of the leading families of Kolkata, and is regarded as a key influence during the Bengal Renaissance...
show Borderland recently in London, as part of the Brahma Kumaris’ contribution to the Lord Mayor of London's “India Now” celebrations. http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:S3CJ3dNWaMAJ:www.indialink-online.com/index.php%3Fid%3D582%26PHPSESSID%3D97306c4f5a38faada47dc30cd7301b07+India+now+robin+ramsay+tagore&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&client=safari. His most recent film The Avinashi Social Club presents the recently discovered history of the Brahma Kumaris in Karachi 1937-1950. The film, drawn from articles and books discovered in the British Library, contradicts much of the story that has been presented officially by Brahma Kumaris administration. The film was banned from Australian Brahma Kumaris Centres by the Australian Board of Management: http://vimeo.com/avinashi/sanctuary-arts-magic-1
Select filmography
- Mercury TV series. (1996)
- The Damnation of Harvey McHughThe Damnation of Harvey McHughThe Damnation of Harvey McHugh is a television miniseries made by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The series consists of 12 episodes and was first broadcast on the ABC in 1994.-Cast and crew:...
TV series. (1994) - EmbassyEmbassy (TV series)Embassy was an Australian television series originally broadcast by the ABC from 1990 to 1992. There were three series produced with a total of 39 episodes. The series was set in the Australian embassy of a fictional south-east Asian country called Ragaan, located somewhere between Thailand and...
TV series. (1990) - Dear Cardholder (1987)
- Return to EdenReturn to EdenReturn to Eden is an Australian television drama series starring Rebecca Gilling, James Reyne, Wendy Hughes and James Smillie. It began as a three-part mini-series, shown on Network Ten in 1983. Gilling and Smillie would reprise their roles for a 22-part weekly series screened in 1986.-Mini-series...
TV series. (1986) - A Street to Die (1985)
- Conferenceville (1984)
- Bedfellows (1980)
- OzOz (1976 film)Oz is a 1976 Australian film written, directed and co-produced by Chris Löfvén. It stars Joy Dunstan, Graham Matters, Bruce Spence, Gary Waddell, and Robin Ramsay; and received four nominations at the 1977 AFI Awards...
(1976) - Mad Dog MorganMad Dog MorganMad Dog Morgan is a 1976 Australian bushranger film directed by Philippe Mora and starring Dennis Hopper, Jack Thompson and David Gulpilil. It is based upon the life of Dan Morgan...
(1976) - Shannon's Mob TV series. (1975)
- The BoxThe Box (TV series)The Box was an Australian soap opera than ran on Network Ten from February 1974 until 1977.The Box was produced by Crawford Productions who at the time was having great success producing police procedural television series in Australia...
(1975) - Jesus Christ SuperstarJesus Christ SuperstarJesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
TV. (1972) - BellbirdBellbirdBellbird is a name given to several kinds of bird, noted for their far-carrying bell-like call:* Neotropical bellbirds * Crested Bellbird * New Zealand Bellbird...
TV series. (1967–1968) - Love and War TV miniseries. (1967)
External links
- Bellbird (1967–1977) Aussie Soap Archive. Accessed 27 July 2007
- http:///www.taotraveller.com