ROBERT SHAW BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Robert Shaw was born on August 9th, 1927 in Westhoughton, Lancashire, England in the United Kingdom with the birth name Robert Archiblad Shaw.  He was the oldest son and had three sisters and one brother.  He was born to parents, Dr. Thomas Archibald Shaw and Doreen Nora Avery.  His father was manic depressive and a alcohol addict who committed suicide when Shaw was only twelve years old.  
 
As a child he was very athletic and competed in such sports as rugby, squash and track and field.  He was offered a scholarship to study Medicine, but instead he chose to study acting at Cambridge.  Robert went on to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic and made his stage debut in  1949 and then chose to join Old Vic and tour Australia working on Shakespeare plays.
 
When he was in the play, "Much Ado About Nothing" in 1950, he was asked to travel to London to work on the play, "Hamlet" and from there he got cast in his first film role, "The Lavender Hill Mob" (1951).  He followed this role with a number of stage productions such as, "Tiger at the Gates" (1955) and two films, "Hell in Korea" (1956) and the TV series "The Buccaneers" (1956-1957).  
 
Along with having a decent stage and film career, he also took on the challenge of writing his first novel, "The Hiding Place" which sold over 12,000 copies in England as well as in France and the United States.  He then had this book done on television in England and, "Playhouse 90" showed a different version to United States Viewers.  He wrote another novel, "The Man in the Glass Booth" which later was made into a play and then also into a film and his final published novel was, "A Card from Morocco" which was also a huge success.    
 
He continued to work in the film industry on a number of other films such as, "The Valiant" (1962), "The Caretaker", "From Russia with Love" (1963), "Tomorrow at Ten" (1965), "A Man For All Seasons" (1966) which was one of his most amazing performances and, "The Hireling" (1973).  He is and will always be most remembered for his role in the Steven Spielberg film, "Jaws" (1975) portraying an Irish shark hunter.
 
His career was at an all time high, although he was dealing with a bout of depression after losing his wife to an accidental pill overdose.  He did still manage to work on a number of films such as, "Robin and Marion" (1976), "Black Sunday" (1977), "The Deep" (1977) and his final screen appearance was in, "Avalanche Express" (1979) which sadly he passed away before the completion of this film. 
 
Robert Shaw passed away on August 28th, 1978 at the age of fifty one from a heart attack in Tourmakaedy, County Mayo in Ireland.  Robert was married three times throughout his lifetime, first to Jennifer Bourke from 1952 through 1963 and had four children with her.  His second marriage was to Mary Ure from 1963 until April 3rd, 1975 when she passed away from a supposed accidental drug overdose.  He had an additional four children with his second wife.  His third and final time to marry was to Virginia Jansen from July 29th, 1976 through his death and again having another child to add to his already large family.   
 
 
Filmography

1979 Avalanche Express 
1978 Force 10 from Navarone 
1977 The Deep 
1977 Black Sunday 
1976 Swashbuckler 
1976 Robin and Marian 
1975 Diamonds 
1975 End of the Game 
1975 Jaws 
1974 The Taking of Pelham One Two Three 
1974 ITV Play of the Week 
1974 Wide World Mystery 
1973 The Sting
1973 The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
1973 The Hireling
1973 A Reflection of Fear 
1972 Young Winston 
1971 A Town Called Hell
1970 Figures in a Landscape 
1969 The Royal Hunt of the Sun 
1969 Battle of Britain
1968 The Birthday Party
1968 Luther  
1967 Custer of the West  
1966 A Man for All Seasons 
1965 Battle of the Bulge
1965 Tomorrow at Ten
1964 Carol for Another Christmas 
1964 The Luck of Ginger Coffey
1964 Hamlet at Elsinore  
1963 From Russia with Love
1963 The Cracksman 
1963 The Guest 
1962 The Winter's Tale 
1962 The Valiant
1961 Danger Man
1960 ITV Television Playhouse 
1960 The Four Just Men
1960 Armchair Theatre
1960 The Dark Man
1959 Libel
1959 William Tell
1959 Dial 999
1958 Sea Fury 
1958 White Hunter
1957 Rupert of Hentzau 
1957 Thunder Over Tangier 
1956-1957 The Buccaneers 
1956 Hell in Korea 
1956 Doublecross 
1956 The Scarlet Pimpernel  
1955 The Dam Busters
1951 The Lavender Hill Mob