--- name: "Robert Newton" canonical: "https://film.one/person/robert-newton" roles: ["Actor"] born: "1 June 1905" died: "25 March 1956" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 72 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-20T02:56:01.809832+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Robert Newton Actor. Born 1 June 1905 in Shaftesbury, Dorset, England, UK. Died 25 March 1956. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 1 June 1905, Shaftesbury, Dorset, England, UK - **Died:** 25 March 1956 - **Active:** 1944–1956 - **Average Fi1m score:** 72, as actor, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 82 (1), 1950s 63 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Newton, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q974924, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628579/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29520 ## Streaming the US now - **HBO Max:** [*Henry V*](https://film.one/film/henry-v-1944.md) (82) - **Tubi:** [*Around the World in 80 Days*](https://film.one/film/around-the-world-in-80-days.md) (63) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Robert Newton > Robert Newton played every part a size too large and made a virtue of it. The rolling eye and the West Country growl gave the cinema its pirate voice, and when a director kept a hand on his shoulder he could frighten as well as amuse. The eyes go first. Whatever the film, Robert Newton's eyes roll up and sideways as though hunting for the exit, the vowels thicken into something from a Dorset harbour, and the volume climbs a notch above everyone else in the scene. He knew exactly what he was doing. "A character man can overact, ham it up, attract attention to himself without suffering too much criticism," he said, and he spent the rest of his career finding out how far that held. He came up through Birmingham Repertory from 1921 and then the West End and Broadway before the cameras found him in 1932; Alexander Korda put him under contract in 1937. The war took him into the Royal Navy, with leave to make *This Happy Breed* (1944) for David Lean and *Henry V* (1944) for Laurence Olivier. In the Olivier he plays Ancient Pistol as a man who has been drunk since about 1409, and we laughed every time he lurched into the Technicolor and felt slightly sorry for him too, because Newton lets you see the fright under the bluster. The peak came after the war: Lukey the painter in Carol Reed's *Odd Man Out* (1947), Bill Sykes in Lean's *Oliver Twist* (1948), and then Long John Silver in *Treasure Island* (1950), the part that fixed for good how every pirate in every playground would sound. What works is the conviction. The same tricks that read as ham in a costume romp turn to menace when the director puts a lid on him, and Lean got a Sykes out of him that critics still call chilling. What does not work is the absence of a lid. Left to himself, Newton played everything as Silver, and in the pirate parts the manner wore thin. He was cast again and again as the intense or dangerous one, in Hollywood and Australia as well as at home, and he rarely disappointed the casting. He also rarely surprised it. His last role, released after his death in 1956, is Mr. Fix in *Around the World in 80 Days*, and it is a better goodbye than most actors get. Among a parade of famous faces doing one scene each, he does a whole performance: a red-faced detective chasing Fogg across the world on a hunch he cannot prove, always one boat behind and never once in doubt. The eyes still roll. This time they are funny on purpose. Start with *Treasure Island* if you want the legend and *Oliver Twist* if you want the actor. Then find him in *Henry V*, at the edge of Olivier's frame, being drunker than the film strictly requires, and notice that nobody asked him to stop. ## Biography Robert Newton was an English actor. He was born on 1 June 1905 in Shaftesbury, Dorset, and died on 25 March 1956 in Beverly Hills, California. He began his career in repertory theatre and appeared in West End productions before serving in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. His film roles include Ancient Pistol in *Henry V* (1944), Frank Gibbons in *This Happy Breed* (1944), Lukey in *Odd Man Out* (1947), Bill Sykes in *Oliver Twist* (1948) and Long John Silver in *Treasure Island* (1950). He also played Inspector Fix in *Around the World in 80 Days* (1956). *Sources: imdb.com, screenonline.org.uk, en.wikipedia.org, wikiwand.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *Around the World in 80 Days* (1956), Fi1m 63, as Mr. Fix — [page](https://film.one/film/around-the-world-in-80-days.md) - *Henry V* (1944), Fi1m 82, as Ancient Pistol — [page](https://film.one/film/henry-v-1944.md) ## Complete filmography (49) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *The Epic That Never Was* (1969), as Cassius, Captain of Caligula's guard (archive footage) (uncredited) - *Jingle All the Way! Christmas Stories Vol. 2* (1957), series, Actor - *The Adventures of Long John Silver* (1957), series, as Long John Silver - *Around the World in 80 Days* (1956), as Mr. Fix — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/around-the-world-in-80-days.md) - *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* (1955), series, as Peter J. Goodfellow - *Long John Silver* (1954), as Long John Silver - *The Wonderful World of Disney* (1954), series, Actor - *Climax!* (1954), series, as Keith Dorrant - *The Beachcomber* (1954), as Ted Wilson - *The High and the Mighty* (1954), as Gustave Pardee - *The Desert Rats* (1953), as Tom Bartlett - *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, Actor - *Blackbeard, the Pirate* (1952), as Blackbeard - *Androcles and the Lion* (1952), as Ferrovius - *Les Miserables* (1952), as Etienne Javert - *Schlitz Playhouse of Stars* (1951), series, as John Lindsey, the Baker, Simon Mantle - *Tom Brown's Schooldays* (1951), as Thomas Arnold - *Soldiers Three* (1951), as Pvt. Bill Sykes - *Lux Video Theatre* (1950), series, as Mr. Fishkettle, Philip Marshall - *Waterfront* (1950), as Peter McCabe - *Treasure Island* (1950), as Long John Silver - *Obsession* (1949), as Dr. Clive Riordan - *Kiss the Blood Off My Hands* (1948), as Harry Carter - *Oliver Twist* (1948), as Bill Sykes - *Snowbound* (1948), as Derek Engles - *Temptation Harbour* (1947), as Bert Mallinson - *Odd Man Out* (1947), as Lukey - *Night Boat to Dublin* (1946), as Capt. David Grant - *Henry V* (1944), as Ancient Pistol — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/henry-v-1944.md) - *This Happy Breed* (1944), as Frank Gibbons - *They Flew Alone* (1942), as Jim Mollison - *Hatter's Castle* (1942), as James Brodie - *Major Barbara* (1941), as Bill Walker - *Gaslight* (1940), as Ullswater - *Busman's Honeymoon* (1940), as Frank Crutchley - *Channel Incident* (1940), as Tanner - *21 Days* (1940), as Tolly - *Hell's Cargo* (1939), as Cmdr. Tomasou - *Poison Pen* (1939), as Sam Hurrin - *Jamaica Inn* (1939), as James "Jem" Trehearne - *Dead Men Are Dangerous* (1939), as Aylmer Franklyn - *Yellow Sands* (1938), as Joe Varwell - *Vessel of Wrath* (1938), as The Controleur - *The Green Cockatoo* (1937), as Dave Connor - *The Squeaker* (1937), as Larry Graeme - *Dark Journey* (1937), as Officer of U-Boat - *Fire Over England* (1937), as Don Pedro - *Farewell Again* (1937), as Jim Carter - *I, Claudius* (1937), as Cassius ## Awards ### Other awards — 1 won - Disney Legends 2002: Disney Legends (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/robert-newton