Name Robin Phillips | Role Actor | |
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Residence Stratford, Ontario, Canada Years active 1962–1972 (as an actor) Partner(s) Joe Mandel (1971–2015; his death) Died July 25, 2015, Ontario, Canada Parents James William Phillips, Ellen Anne Barfoot Nominations Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical Movies Tales from the Crypt, David Copperfield, Decline and Fall of a Birdw, The Wars Similar People Martha Henry, Jackie Burroughs, Robert Cuccioli, Brent Carver, Freddie Francis | ||
Robin Phillips: Move Your Mind
Robin Phillips O.C. (28 February 1940 – 25 July 2015) was an English actor and film director.
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He was born in Haslemere, Surrey in 1940 to Ellen Anne (née Barfoot) and James William Phillips. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic, where a contemporary was Patrick Stewart, and worked as an actor and director for many years in the United Kingdom, finishing as artistic director at the Greenwich Theatre from 1973–75.
He was hired as artistic director at the Stratford Festival in Canada in 1975, where he spent six seasons directing many productions and cultivating new talent. Such actors as Maggie Smith, Richard Monette, Martha Henry, and Brian Bedford, among others, were prominently featured during his tenure, and many of his Shakespearean, classical, and contemporary productions won widespread acclaim. When he resigned from Stratford during the 1980 season, exhaustion was cited as the primary reason for his departure. He would later become artistic director at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario and return to Stratford to direct the Young Company in 1987–88. He was also director general at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton from 1990–95.
He directed a musical version of Jekyll & Hyde (1997) on Broadway (winning the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design for his contribution to the scenic design); Long Day's Journey into Night in London's West End in 2000; and a stage version of Larry's Party at Canadian Stage and the National Arts Centre in 2001.
Phillips was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2005. The citation read, in part, "Robin Phillips is revered amongst members of Canada's acting community. ... A tremendous asset to the cultural life of Canada, he is also credited with bringing new life to the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton and to theatres across the country." In 2010, Phillips received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts.
Phillips died in his sleep on 25 July 2015 after a prolonged illness. He was survived by a younger sister, Hilary, and by his partner, Joe Mandel, who he first met in 1962 but who became his partner in 1971.