Robert Helpmann
Sir Robert Murray Helpmann ( born April 9, 1909 in Mount Gambier, South Australia, † September 28, 1986 in Sydney) was an Australian stage and character actor in film, television and theater. He became internationally known mainly for his roles in movies such as 55 days in Beijing, The Quiller Memorandum - Threat of the Dark, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Alice in Wonderland or Patrick. Moreover, it was successful as a director of the Australian Ballet Company Robert Helpmann in England as a dancer and choreographer and his native Australia.
Life and career
Robert Murray Helpmann was born the son of James Murray Helpmann & Mary ( Gardiner ) in 1909 in Mount Gambier in South Australia. His education was Helpmann at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. In 1922, he danced in Adelaide also his first solo part at the Theatre Royal in the stage version of The Ugly Duckling. From 1933 to 1950 he made a career as a solo dancer in Sadlers Wells Ballet in England. In addition to stars like Katharine Hepburn, he also played leading roles in Shakespeare plays with the Old Vic Company.
In 1942 he was discovered by the English director duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger also for the cinema. In the war drama One of Our Aircraft Is Missing, he played his first supporting role on the big screen. This was followed in the 1940s appearances in films such as Henry V (1944 ), in Hazardous Travel (1946 ) next to Stewart Granger and Anne Crawford and Ivan Boleslawsky in the Oscar-winning classic The Red Shoes (1948 ) where he was also involved choreographic. In the 1950s we saw Helpmann then in other film roles, including in the musical film The Tales of Hoffmann, and the comedy The Iron Petticoat.
In the 1960s, Robert Helpmann played the role of Prince Tuan alongside actors such as Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner and David Niven in Nicholas Ray's prominently occupied History film 55 Days at Peking. 1966 director Michael Anderson cast him for his thriller The Quiller Memorandum - danger from the darkness. In 1968 he was engaged by the director Ken Hughes in one of his best-known film roles, that of the children catcher in Ian Fleming's classic musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the side of Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries and Gert Frobe. In 1972 he portrayed in the film adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic Alice in Wonderland, the role of the Mad Hatter. A year later, he starred in the title role of Don Quixote and his colleague Rudolf Nureyev led not only to be directing. In the late 1970s he was seen in Australia then in cinema productions such as The Forbidden Tree and Patrick. In 1984 he played in the New Zealand production Second Time Lucky, directed by Michael Anderson his last film role.
When Robert Helpmann died in Sydney on 28 September 1986 at the age of 77 years, he has appeared in almost 30 film and television productions.