Robert Shaw | Biography, Movies, & Facts | Britannica (2025)

Robert Shaw (born August 9, 1927, Westhoughton, Lancashire, England—died August 28, 1978, Tourmakeady, Ireland) was an English actor, novelist, and playwright who first garnered attention for his performances in Shakespearean plays before launching a successful film career.

Shaw began his career with the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, where he performed in Macbeth, Cymbeline, Henry VIII, and other Shakespeare plays, touring Australia with the company in 1949–50. With the Old Vic company (1951–52), he continued primarily in Shakespearean roles. In 1955 Shaw began playing contemporary characters, including one in his own play Off the Mainland (1956) and the role of Sergeant Mitchem in The Long and the Short and the Tall (1959). He first performed in the United States in 1961 in Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker. During this period Shaw also was cast in the leading role in the British TV series The Buccaneers (1956–57).

Shaw’s first notable film appearance was as a villain in the James Bond film From Russia with Love (1963). His reputation in motion pictures was enhanced by his appearance in The Caretaker (1963; U.S. title The Guest), the screen adaptation of Pinter’s play, and by his portrayal of an Irish immigrant to Canada who has trouble holding a job in The Luck of Ginger Coffey (1964), based on a novel by Brian Moore. He was later cast as a German officer in Battle of the Bulge (1965). Shaw’s performance as King Henry VIII in Fred Zinnemann’s A Man for All Seasons (1966) earned him an Academy Award nomination. He later appeared in The Birthday Party (1968), another Pinter adaptation.

Shaw played Winston Churchill’s father in Young Winston (1972). His portrayal of Doyle Lonnegan, the mark in the popular movie The Sting (1973), brought him to the attention of American filmgoers. He followed up by playing the ringleader of a gang of hijackers in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) and a crusty old sailor in the blockbuster Jaws (1975). After his role as an aging Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin and Marian (1976), he appeared in thrillers that included Black Sunday and The Deep (both 1977). Shaw’s final movie, Avalanche Express (1979), was released more than a year after his sudden death from a heart attack.

Shaw’s written works included the novels The Hiding Place (1959) and The Man in the Glass Booth (1966). He adapted the latter into a successful Broadway play (1968–69), and in 1975 it was made into a movie directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Maximilian Schell.