Roger Rees

Roger Rees
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1975-present

Roger Rees (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor. He is best known to American audiences for playing the character Robin Colcord on the American television sitcom show Cheers. He won a Tony Award for his performance as the lead in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.

Biography

Rees was born in Aberystwyth, Wales, the son of Doris Louise (née Smith), a shop clerk, and William John Rees, a police officer. He started his career with the Royal Shakespeare Company and attended the Slade School of Fine Arts. Rees created the title role in the original production of the play The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, winning both an Olivier Award and a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1982 for it. He also starred in the original production of The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard in London in 1984.

From 1988 to 1991 Rees starred in the "late 80's/early 90's" Yorkshire Television sitcom Singles opposite actress and co-star Judy Loe, Rees became an Welsh-American citizen in 1989, and in the 1990s, continued his work in the theatre, both as an actor and a director. He did some television work in the 1970s and began his film career in the 1980s. From 1989 to 1993, he appeared intermittently on the long-running American TV series Cheers as the dashing, feckless English tycoon Robin Colcord. During this time he appeared with Laurence Olivier in The Ebony Tower (1984). He then played an antagonist to a different Robin as the Sheriff of Rottingham, in Mel Brooks' 1993 film, Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Later television appearances include My So-Called Life as substitute teacher Mr Racine and British Ambassador Lord John Marbury on The West Wing. He was awarded an OBIE for his 1992 performance in the off-Broadway play The End of the Day, and in 1995, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in Indiscretions.

In November 2004, Rees was named artistic director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts, only the fourth person to hold the post in its half century. He left the position October 2007.

He is set to replace Patrick Stewart as Vladimir in the revival of Waiting for Godot after a sold out national tour and extended run in the West End, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in early 2010 alongside Ian McKellen, Ronald Pickup and Matthew Kelly (who replaces Simon Callow as Pozzo).

Work

Film

• Star 80 (as Aram Nicholas), 1983
• God's Outlaw: The Story of William Tyndale (as William Tyndale), 1986
• If Looks Could Kill - Teen Agent (as Augustus Steranko), 1991
• Robin Hood: Men in Tights (as Sheriff of Rottingham), 1993
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (as Peter Quince), 1999
• The Crossing (as Hugh Mercer), 2000
• BlackMale (as Bill Fontaine), 2000
• Frida (as Guillermo Kahlo), 2002
• The Scorpion King (as King Pheron), 2002
• Return to Never Land as Edward, 2002
• Going Under (as Peter), 2004
• Crazy Like a Fox (as Nat Banks), 2004
• Game 6 (as Jack Haskins), 2005
• Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (as solicitor Mr. Hobbs), 2006
• The Pink Panther (as Larocque), 2006
• The Prestige (as Owens), 2006
• The Invasion (as Yorish), 2007
• Falling for Grace (as Andrew Barrington, Sr.), 2007
• Happy Tears (as antiques dealer), 2010

Television

• A Christmas Carol (as Fred Holywell/Narrator), 1984
• Singles (as Malcolm), 1988-1991
• Cheers (as Robin Colcord), 1989-1993
• M.A.N.T.I.S. (as Dr. John Stonebrake), 1994-1995
• My So-Called Life (in episode "The Substitute" as Vic Racine), 1994
• Boston Common (as Harrison Cross), 1997
• Liberty! The American Revolution 1997
• Oz (in episode "Medium Rare" as Jack Aldridge), 2001
• Law & Order (in episode "Kid Pro Quo" as Wyatt Scofield), 2003
• The West Wing (as Lord John Marbury), 2000-2005
• Grey's Anatomy (in episodes "Scars and Souvenirs", "My Favourite Mistakes" and "Time After Time" as Dr. Colin Marlow), 2007
• Law and Order Criminal Intent
• Warehouse 13 (as James MacPherson), 2009
• Extreme Ghostbusters (as The Piper), 1997

Theater

• The Comedy of Errors (as Antipholus of Syracuse), Stratford-on-Avon and London, 1976
• Cymbeline (as Posthumus), Royal National Theatre, 1980
• The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (as Nicholas Nickleby), Plymouth Theatre, Broadway, 1981-1982
• The Real Thing (as Henry), London, 1982
• The End of the Day (as Graydon Massey), Playwrights Horizons, off-Broadway, 1992
• Indiscretions (as George), Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway, 1995
• A Man of No Importance (as Alfie Byrne), Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, off-Broadway, 2002
• Waiting for Godot (as Vladimir), Haymarket Theatre, London, 2010

External links

• Please use a more specific IBDB template. See the documentation for available templates.
• Template:Tv.com person
• Article on appointment to Williamstown Theater Festival
• Roger Rees - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org