David Robb (born 23 August 1947) is a Scottish actor.^[1]

Robb was born in Wandsworth,London, the son of David Robb and Elsie Tilley.^[2] He grew up inEdinburgh and was educated there at theRoyal High School, where he playedHenry II in a school production ofJean Anouilh'sBecket.^[3]

Robb has starred in various British films and television shows, including films such asSwing Kids andHellbound. He is well known for playingGermanicus in the famous 1976BBC production ofI, Claudius,^[4] and as Robin Grant, one of the principal characters in Thames Television's 1981 seriesThe Flame Trees of Thika.

Robb had his big break playing Andrew Fraser MP in the TV miniseriesFirst Among Equals a 1986 adaptation of the book of the same name byJeffrey Archer. The miniseries was a great success on prime time TV in the UK and abroad and also propelled careers of co-starsTom Wilkinson,Jeremy Child andJames Faulkner.

He also played consultant Henry Reeve-Jones in 9 episodes of the BBC medical dramaCasualty, from 1995 until 2003.

He playedDr Clarkson in the television drama seriesDownton Abbey. Robb is also the narrator of History Channel's documentary seriesBattle Stations.

He had a recurring role in thefantasy television seriesHighlander: The Series.

He has worked extensively on BBC radio drama, including as Charles in the original radio series ofUp the Garden Path oppositeImelda Staunton; asCaptain Jack Aubrey in theBBC Radio 4 adaptations of thePatrick O'Brian "Aubrey" novels, and asRichard Hannay in several adaptations of theJohn Buchan novels, includingThe Thirty-Nine Steps in 2001 andMr Standfast in 2007. In 2020, BBC Radio 4 Extra rebroadcast his performance from 1985 in E Phillips Oppenheim's mystery thrillerThe Great Impersonation.

He has also performed as a voice actor for severalStar Wars video games.

Robb performed in two ofRichard Norton-Taylor's Tricycle Tribunal Plays:The Colour of Justice (the dramatised version of the Sir William Macpherson inquiry into the murder ofStephen Lawrence, his family's search for justice, and endemic racism in British police forces), andHalf the Picture (a distillation of the Scott Inquiry intoArms-to-Iraq. It was the first play to be performed in the Palace of Westminster); both were directed by Nicolas Kent and performed at theTricycle Theatre. The productions were broadcast by the BBC.

Robb received two "Actors" (Screen Actors Guild Awards) for his role as part of the main cast ofDownton Abbey, season 2 and season 4.

Robb married the actressBriony McRoberts in 1978.^{[citation needed]} His best man wasMichael Jones. Beginning in 2004, he and his wife ran every year in theEdinburgh Marathon to raise money forleukaemia research. McRoberts took her own life on 17 July 2013, aged 56, after a long battle withanorexia and severe depression.^[5][6]

• David Robb atIMDb

• 1947 births
• English male film actors
• English male television actors
• Living people
• Male actors from Edinburgh
• People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh
• Scottish male film actors
• Scottish male television actors
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• English people of Scottish descent
• English male radio actors
• Scottish male radio actors
• English male video game actors
• Scottish male voice actors
• English male voice actors
• 20th-century English male actors
• 21st-century English male actors
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• 21st-century Scottish male actors

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