Overview (4)

Mini Bio (1)

Spouse (3)

Trade Mark (1)

Deep, gruff voice and demeanor



Trivia (28)

Parents were Thomas and Doreen Shaw. He had three sisters and one brother.





Many of Captain Quint's ramblings in Der weiße Hai (1975) were actually Shaw's improvisations, and he is considered one of many authors of the famous USS Indianapolis scene.

In the town of Westhoughton in England, there is a pub called The Robert Shaw.





Uncle of author, actor and filmmaker Scott Shaw

Was nominated for Broadway's 1969 Tony Award as author of best play nominee The Man in the Glass Booth.





His performance as Captain Quint in Der weiße Hai (1975) is ranked #28 on "Premiere" Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.



One of three actors to have been Oscar-nominated for playing King Henry VIII of England. The other two are Charles Laughton and Richard Burton , but Laughton is the only one of the three to have won (in 1933).

A keen sportsman, he played rugby for London Wasps. In 1957 his school quarter-mile record still stood. He was an expert swordsman and a squash enthusiast.





After his TV role in The Buccaneers (1956), he changed track and joined the London Old Vic Company ,playing in many Shakespearean dramas which then took him to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon, England.



Father of film editor, Penelope Shaw



In the novel "The Taking of Pelham 123", one of the characters liked to walk off nervous energy, and Shaw played the villain in Stoppt die Todesfahrt der U-Bahn 1-2-3 (1974); he tried to walk off chest pains and wound up dying of a heart attack.

Marvel Comics villain Sebastian Shaw was named and modeled after him.





Was considered for the role of Peter Janeway in Der Marathon-Mann (1976).

Although he had been paid $350,000 for his role in The Battle of the Bulge (1965)--in those days, roughly £125,000 and more than he had made in his entire career up to that point--he was prepared to reduce his fee to £12,000 for his next film, "A Man For All Seasons", which he regarded as a film of much higher quality.



True to his acting roots, Robert Shaw continued working in the theatre throughout his life.



His film career began to falter during the latter half of the 1960s before it regained momentum.



One regular means of relaxation, was to play music loudly on his stereo at home. Robert Shaw enjoyed listening to the likes of the Beatles and Joe Cocker.



Once Robert Shaw began experiencing initial stardom, he quickly dismissed it as something to not take seriously.



Was reportedly unhappy with the film adaptation of his play, "The Man in the Glass Booth." So much so, the actor refused to have his name included on the film's credits.



He was originally offered the part of Richard Conway. in the musical version of Lost Horizon'.





He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Der Clou (1973) and Der weiße Hai (1975).

Personal Quotes (9)

I drink too much. Will you tell me one great actor who doesn't drink?





[to Nick Nolte , when the two were discussing how badly their film, Die Tiefe (1977), was going] It's a treasure picture, Nick, it's a treasure picture.

What I try to achieve in acting--flamboyance--would be self-indulgence if I tried it as a writer.



Writing is where the real center of my integrity lies. I never write for money. I only act for money, but not invariably, of course. I would never write certain sentences that I say in films, or even that I write in films, because I often fix up my lines.



[in March 1978] Being 50 years old and having ten children . . . the youngest is 13 months . . . creates the economic necessity that forces me into all those big-budget movies in which I often don't have a single realistic line.



Acting is instant enjoyment and childlike. As an actor, Lord God, I can take an audience in a theatre and throw them in any direction. I can't do that as a writer. Writing is painful, it's lonely and you suffer and there's no immediate feedback.



I still don't think of myself as a star. Success lasts only three seconds. After that you're the same as you were before you had it. I'm not a true artist anyway because I refuse to shrug off my family. To support them I must work in commercial films. My taxes alone keep eight lawyers busy, and when I finally get my money, it's only one-third of what I earn. With the kids in school and my other responsibilities, I get no change back from the first million dollars. The money flows out like water.



[in 1977] I'm the happiest I've been in a long time. I have my new marriage. I have my new baby, my tenth child. I don't have to work in third-rate movies anymore, and I'm in great physical shape.





[on working underground in the subway tunnels for Stoppt die Todesfahrt der U-Bahn 1-2-3 (1974)] I found myself in "Dante's Inferno". It was the middle of winter and the freezing weather and dirty conditions took its toll on my mental and physical state.

Salary (4)