Robert Eddison
Known For
Acting
Born
1908-06-10 in Yokohama, Japan
Died
1991-12-14
Biography
Robert Leadam Eddison, OBE (10 June 1908 – 14 December 1991) was an English actor, who is probably most widely remembered in the role of the Grail Knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He also played the tragic ferryman in The Storyteller episode "The Luck Child". Born in Japan to English parents, Edwin Eddison and Hilda Muriel Leadham, he had a twin brother Talbot Leadam Eddison. Through his paternal grandmother, Anna Paulina Tatham of Philadelphia, he was related to the Tatham Brothers Iron pipe manufacturers of Philadelphia. As his paternal great-grandfather Henry Billington Tatham's name suggests, he was a descendant of the Billington family who came to America from England on the Mayflower. Eddison was known for his resonant, baritone voice and long, lean figure. He performed William Shakespeare and other classics, was noted for his Hamlet at the Old Vic, and later playing the comic roles of Feste and Sir Andrew Aguecheek inTwelfth Night, and King Lear on the New York stage. He was also a familiar figure in plays by Ibsen, Chekhov, andSophocles, and played Canon Chasuble in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Eddison also made his mark in radio, in countless BBC dramas through the decades, with some of his last roles includingDeath in The Canterbury Tales and parts in an adaptation of Japanese Noh plays. His film career was limited, but included a supporting role in Peter Ustinov's 1948 comedy Vice Versa, the electrical 'Nick' in The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972), the college president in American Friends (1991), and a notable cameo in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusadeas the ancient Grail Knight, warning adventurers to choose wisely.
Most Known For
BBC Play of the Month
as Prince Andronikov
BBC Play of the Month
as Duke
Playhouse
as Dr. Still
Theatre 625
as Skuratov
Theatre 625
as Duchemin
Theatre 625
as Teacher
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
as Grail Knight
The Storyteller
as Ferryman
Out of the Unknown
as Tzhilyantsi
Mystery and Imagination
as Karswell
Mystery and Imagination
as Silas Ruthyn
Vice Versa
as Mr. Blinkhorn
Scoop
as Troutbeck
The Legend of King Arthur
as Merlin
Campion
as Robert Skinn
Theban Plays: Oedipus the King
as Chorus
Sky
as Goodchild
Edward II
as Lightborn/Archbishop of Canterbury
American Friends
as Rushden - The President
Sixty Glorious Years
as Lanternist Professor