Vale: Robin Stewart
UK actor best known for the sitcom Bless This House and several Aussie links, died earlier this week.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
UK actor Robin Stewart, best known for the sitcom Bless This House, died earlier this week, aged 69.
On his official website a statement read, “It is with great sadness that we have heard that Robin passed away in the early hours of Sunday 22nd November. Our deepest condolences to his wife Bertie, his family, friends and everyone who knew him.”
Stewart played Mike Abbott, Sid James and Diana Copeland’s son, in Bless This House from 1971-1976.
“I had a wonderful six years on the series, which also allowed me to do other work, including working with Sir Alec Guinness, when he played Charles l and I played his son, Charles ll in Cromwell,” he once wrote.
“Tragically, Sid died of a heart attack on stage during one the Bless This House season breaks.”
His website also details many Australian links.
“With the TV series no longer in existence, I was suddenly offered an opportunity to go to New Zealand to compere their first telethon, which was for muscular dystrophy. After a bit of negotiation I moved to New Zealand to host the NZ version of Opportunity Knocks. Little did I know it would be only a few years before Australia would beckon in the unlikely form of an invitation from Derek Nimmo to go to the Melbourne Cup.
“I headed off for Melbourne, and was immediately asked to be on various talk shows, including The Peter Couchman Show and The Mike Walsh Show. That all led to a role on Young Doctors, and soon I was living permanently in Australia.
“I had the good fortune to be offered the part of Macarthur in the ABC mini-series, The Timeless Land.
“But it wasn’t long before I had itchy feet again, and while I was on holiday on Magnetic Island in Far North Queensland, I was asked to join the Townsville radio station, 4RR, where I started my own production company, which in turn led to a stint in Cairns as a producer for FNQ. I also toured Australia as the lead in Up and Under, a show that had just won the Sir Laurence Olivier Award for best comedy in England.”
2 Responses
R.I.P Robin Great Actor
I’d never made the connection between his role in Bless This House and later on Sons & Daughters until now.