Robert Powell
Birth : 1944-06-01, Salford, Manchester, England, UK
History
Robert Powell was born on June 1, 1944 in Salford, Manchester, England.
In 1964, he started his acting career while attending Manchester
University. In 1967, he made his film debut, and later landed his first starring role in The Italian Job (1969). Some of his well known movies include Franco Ziefirelli's "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977), Ken Russell's Tommy (1975) and Mahler (1974), the remake of The Thirty Nine Steps (1978), and the popular TV series "Doomwatch"
(1970). Robert married on 29th August, 1975 to Barbara 'Babs' Lord.
They now have a son and a daughter. In 1982, Robert won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in Imperative (1982). He won the best actor award at the Paris Film Festival for Harlequin (1980). For his portrayal of Jesus in Jesus of Nazareth he received best actor awards
from TV Times and Italian TV Times, the international arts prize at the
Fiuggi Film Festival, grand prize at the Saint-Vincent Film Festival,
and a nomination as best actor from The Irish Academy of Film and
Television arts. In reference to his role as Jesus in Jesus of Nazareth,
Robert said, "I hope Jesus Christ will be the last in my line of
sensitive young men for quite a while."
Himself
Franco Zeffirelli passed away on 15th June 2019. Chris Hunt's biography explores how Zeffirelli's sense of drama was born out of his own experience and how his life inspired his productions. Chris Hunt interviewed him and other famous actors, friends and associates, had a camera at Zeffirelli's 94th birthday and during the opening of his foundation in Florence. This documentary, including clips from operas, films and plays aims to be the definitive portrait of a Renaissance man larger than life.
Various actors, presenters, directors and other staff who have worked at the iconic BBC Television Centre at Shepherd's Bush in London reminisce about their time there.
Robert
The true story of a man who posed as director Stanley Kubrick during the production of Kubrick's last film, Eyes Wide Shut, despite knowing very little about his work and looking nothing like him.
Narrator
It was to be Napoleon Bonaparte's greatest adventure; an invasion of Russia with an army of more than 650,000 men, the largest the world had yet seen. The Emperor's irresistible progress into the vast Russian interior saw many brutal conflicts including the Battle of Borodino, one of the bloodiest day's fighting in military history. Napoleon would not be defeated in battle but by Russian guile and the savages of winter snows. To this day the infamous retreat from Moscow epitomises the suffering of ordinary soldiers.
This documentary is a powerful record of one of history's greatest military disasters, and features period imagery, dramatised "eye-witness" accounts, expert analysis, and extensive footage from the Oscar-winning Russian film "War and Peace".
Narrator
Biography of Prince George, Duke of Kent, the controversial uncle of the Queen, who became the source of scandals during the 1930s involving The German Nazi Party, homosexual tendencies and conspiracy theories about his death.
Narrator
A World Cup of shocks and surprises, making history from start to finish. It was the first World Cup in Asia and the first to be co-hosted by two countries. The official film captures the unique spirit of this event in 120 minutes of football - on the pitch and behind the scenes. This is one of few official films able to offer a hint of the world behind the dressing room door - Senegal's victory celebrations, Mexico's prayer and team talk and the referees debriefing.
Dr. Livesey
Jim Hawkins races to beat Long John Silver to the riches awaiting on Treasure Island. An animated retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel, featured the main characters as animals.
David Webb
Safari tour guide David Webb (Robert Powell) takes a job as head of security on the luxury train Pride of Africa and discovers that the wealthy passengers can be just as dangerous as the wild animals he knows so well. As the train sets off across the lush countryside, Webb contends with a dangerous kidnapping plot, a heated lovers' quarrel and a possible murder in this made-for-TV mystery set in the 1930s.
Stunt Double
An undercover police officer named Rock Keats befriends a drug dealer and car thief named Archie Moses in a bid to catch the villainous drug lord Frank Coltan. But the only problem is that Keats is a cop, his real name is Jack Carter, and he is working undercover with the LAPD to bust Moses and Colton at a sting operation the LAPD has set up.
Narrator
Robert Powell narrates this engrossing exploration of one of France and Britain's most thrilling and decisive conflicts: the Battle of Trafalgar. The event unraveled on Oct. 21, 1805, when British admiral Lord Nelson and his 27 ships defeated an assault by French emperor Napoleon's 33 ships, cementing Nelson's legacy in naval victories. Dramatized accounts and 3D graphics, along with expert commentary, help recount the unlikely triumph.
An opium-addicted choirmaster develops an obsession for a beautiful young girl and will not stop short of murder in order to have her.
John Barth
Narrator
Journey back in time to a different age, when the sun never set on the British Empire and her armies were great in number. The Boer War: 1899-1902 was a turning point in British military history and would revolutionize tactics, battlefield strategy, equipment, and training. Well known participants in the Boar Wars include: Harry "Breaker" Morant, Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi.
Narrator
It was a time of bitterness and hatred, a war which pitched father against son, brother against brother in the bloody battle for the soul of the nation. It was winner takes all. After seven years of turmoil, even the dramatic execution of King Charles I could not bring peace, more bloodshed still lay ahead. The most tragic and dramatic chapter in English history is recorded in this spectacular and entertaining DVD. It features superb battle re-enactments and reconstructions, dramatised 'eye-witness' accounts and delightful period personalities and the battles of the war.
The programme also includes 3D computer graphics and expert analysis from leading historians to tell the story of the English Civil Wars.
Sgt. Maj. Frank Smith
The tragedy of Gallipoli is exposed
Edward Foster
Gleb Nershin
In the USSR, political prisoners who were scientists were not always sent to GULAG, but also to The First Circle (named after Dante's Inferno), a special incarceration unit near Moscow where they could work for the government.
The ancient Aztec world inadvertantly welcomes its doom in the form of the Conquistadors.
Ambrosius
A star-studded TV production of the classic tale by Mary Stewart which follows Merlin down through history to the days of King Arthur.
Romeo (voice)
The tale centers on an eccentric bag lady who rescues the stray cats of Venice and puts them on a boat to set sail for the new world. It has not been re-released for the home video market. This lack of availability, which has been described as making it "more rare than the dinosaur" has made it a sought-after item in some circles.
Gabriele D'Annunzio
A biographical feature on the Italian literary giant, Gabriele D'Annunzio. Set in late 19th century Italy and France when the artistic style, Decadentismo, was beginning to take shape, the film focuses on D'Annunzio's life when he was already an established poet and journalist in Rome. A staunch opponent of democracy and commoners, he searches for passion and pleasure among the wealthy and noble. One such noblewoman Elvira Fraternali Leoni, serves as the muse for his first novel - The Pleasure (Il Piacere).
Professor
Five partially-dramatized readings of classic M.R. James ghost stories by actor Robert Powell. Including "The Mezzotint", "The Ash-Tree", "The Rose Garden", "Wailing Well" and "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad".
Kruger
Victor Frankenstein
A scientist who is obsessed with creating life finally does it, with tragic results.
Rupert 'Wolf' Wolfsen
The US military is running a test for a special type of radio transmitter, to be used to communicate with submarines, in a deep system of underground caves in Central America. When the signal from one of the transmitters suddenly disappears, a team of soldiers led by Major Elbert Stevens and cave specialists led by Rupert 'Wolf' Wolfsen including scientist Leslie Peterson are sent in to find out what happened. Exploring deep underground, they stumble upon a tribe of albino cave-dwellers who have apparently been isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years. The cave-dwellers are hurt by radio frequencies and are able to see in infra-red frequencies, tracking the explorers by their body heat.
Jamie Fraser
Philip Kimberly, the former head of the British Secret Service who defected to Russia, is given plastic surgery and sent back to Britain by the KGB to retrieve some vital documents. With the documents in hand, he instead plays off MI6 and the KGB against each other.
Narrator
Documentary about Merchant Ivory Productions, including interviews with the principals of the film production company and actors which have appeared in their films.
Augustin
Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi once more explores the dilemma of intellectualism at the expense of humanity in 1982's Imperative. The story concerns math professor Robert Powell, who feels that there is something lacking in his ever-so-precise life. What is missing is truth, specifically philosophical truth. Thus he philosophizes at great length, allowing director Zanussi plenty of room for didactic but little room for warmth. Leading ladies Brigette Fossey and Leslie Caron occasionally melt through the cold logic of Imperative.
Phoebus
Quasimodo, the hunchback bellringer of Notre Dame's cathedral, meets a beautiful gypsy dancer, Esmeralda, and falls in love with her. So does Quasimodo's guardian, the archdeacon of the cathedral, and a poor street poet. But Esmeralda's in love with a handsome soldier. When a mob mistakes her for a witch, it's up to Quasimodo to rescue her and claim sanctuary for her in the cathedral.
Keller
When a 747 crashes shortly after take-off, the sole survivor is the pilot. Virtually unhurt, he and the investigators look for the answers to the disaster. Meanwhile mysterious deaths occur in the community and only a psychic, in touch with the supernatural, can help the pilot unravel the mystery surrounding the doomed plane.
Higgins
Adaptation of the play by Bernard Shaw.
Pierre
Two teachers vie for the right to stage a play written by Jane Austen when she was twelve years old.
Gregory Wolfe
In this modern-day version of the Rasputin story, David Hemmings plays an up-and-coming senator, Nick Rast, whose young son is terminally ill with leukaemia. A mysterious faith healer, Gregory Wolfe, appears and seems to cure the boy. Rast's wife Sandy falls in love with Wolfe, but the powerful interests behind Rast's career, represented by geriatric monster Doc Wheelan are less happy with events.
Narrator
Produced and directed this documentary for BBC in the 1980’s, about David Gulpilil, acclaimed Australian Aboriginal actor, dancer and musician. The film shows how Gulpilil is always working to bridge the gap between the tribal Aboriginal and Western worlds. He divides his time between a traditional tribal lifestyle and his artistic work, which has included major film roles, collaboration with contemporary dance and music groups and teaching Aboriginal dance and culture. Bill and David travel to Hollywood where David was the most popular Australian in the world at that time, with FOUR films playing in America – WALKABOUT, STORM BOY, THE LAST WAVE and MAD DOG MORGAN. After relating to both the black and native American cultures and filming a quick scene for a big Hollywood picture, he pines to head back through the Outback to his beloved Arnhem Land. Edited by Simon Dibbs and shot by Ray Henman.
Richard Hannay
The year is 1914 and Richard Hannay, Mining Engineer who is visiting Britain for a short time before returning to South Africa, is shocked when one of his neighbours, Colonel Scudder, bursts into his rooms one night and tells him a story that Prussian 'sleeper' agents are planning to pre-start World War I by murdering a visiting foreign minister. However, Scudder is murdered and Hannay is framed for the death by the 'sleepers'. Fleeing to Scotland Hannay attempts to clear his name and to stop the agents with the aid of Alex Mackenzie but not only is he is chased by Chief Supt Lomas for Scudder's death but by the agents who are headed by Appleton who has managed to hide himself in a high-placed position in the British Government...
Jack Durrance
The fifth filming of the adventure classic about a British soldier in the 1880s who fights to regain his honor after being given four white feathers, symbols of cowardice.
Paul Rée
The life and ideas of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. A love triangle unfolds as Nietzsche and his best friend decides to live with a Jewish woman. According to Nietzsche's philosophy, that is beyond all morality. Depicting Nietzsche's opium addiction and madness meritorious.
Captain Walker
A psychosomatically deaf, dumb and blind boy becomes a master pinball player and the object of a religious cult.
The cast of a British soap opera are attacked by a mad fan who confuses them with their TV roles.
Gustav Mahler
Famed composer Gustav Mahler reflects on the tragedies of his life and failing marriage while traveling by train.
Giles Cunningham
Hugo is a brilliant turn-of-the-century scientist, loved and respected by his family and friends, admired by his colleagues. But he is a man quickly becoming obsessed with a curious and frightening question... what is the mysterious apparition found in the photographs of his dying subjects?
Paul Tanner
A shy, lonely American girl marries a charming man she meets while on vacation in England, unaware that he has sinister plans for her.
Himself
An experimental, autobiographical documentary presented by Alan Garner
Dr. Martin
A young psychiatrist applies for a job at a mental asylum, and must pass a test by interviewing four patients. He must figure out which of the patients, is in fact, the doctor that he would be replacing if hired.
Frank Gardner
Performed in 1902, after being banned by the censor for eight years, Shaw's indictment of the hypocrisy surrounding prostitution still shocked its audiences. Mrs. Warren has graduated from prostitution to opening and operating a chain of brothels throughout Europe. When her educated daughter Vivie discovers the truth about her mother's profession her reactions affect everyone around her.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
TV Movie directed by Alan Bridges
Tom Betancourt
When an undergraduate commits suicide, his best friend is sent down from university because he did nothing to prevent the death, which he felt was a choice his friend had a right to make.
Allan Wood
A woman's unfulfilling marriage leads her into a passionate affair with a wealthy extramarital lover.
Earl of Warwick
The story of the Earl of Warwick and Perkin Warbeck, during the reign of King Henry VII.
Yellow
Charlie's got a 'job' to do. Having just left prison he finds one of his friends has attempted a high-risk job in Torino, Italy, right under the nose of the mafia. Charlie's friend doesn't get very far, so Charlie takes over the 'job'. Using three Mini Coopers, a couple of Jaguars, and a bus, he hopes to bring Torino to a standstill, steal a fortune in gold and escape in the chaos.
Deltic Train Guard (uncredited)
In this fictionalised account of the Great Train Robbery, career criminal Paul Clifton plans an audacious crime: the robbery of a mail train carrying millions in cash.
