Robert Lankesheer (1914–1993) was a British stage, radio and television actor, best known for playing the character Leamington Sparr in the radio soap The Dales between 1963[1] and 1966[2] and Chamberlain in the television series Doctor Who in 1965.[3]
He was born on 28 April 1914 in Southampton, England. Whilst working for the local government[4] in the land registry department he took evening classes and qualified in law.[5] He served in the army during World War II as an officer in the Royal Artillery.[6] After the war he decided to take up acting professionally.
On stage, in addition to his repertory theatre work,[7][8] Robert Lankesheer played Sir Henry Burke in Templeton at the Arts Theatre in 1958[9] and Mr Quelch between 1960 and 1963 in the Billy Bunter Christmas shows[10][11][12] at the Victoria Palace Theatre and Queen's Theatre, London. He had a long association with The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, performing roles in Carmen (1973[13]), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1974,[14] 1976,[15] 1984[16]) and Die Zauberflöte (1979,[17] 1980,[18] 1983,[19] 1985,[20] 1986,[21] 1987,[22] 1989,[23] 1991[24]).
In films, Robert Lankesheer appeared in David Copperfield (1970) and Young Winston (1972).
His television credits include:
Robert Lankesheer died on 29 December 1993 in London, England of emphysema.[28]