Career Highlights: If Looks Could Kill, Star 80, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
First Major Screen Credit: The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1982)
Biography
With his dark eyes and small frame, the classically trained British actor Roger Rees was perfectly cast as Nicholas Nickleby in the theatrical production of Dickens' novel. He performed this lead role with the Royal Shakespeare Company, earning him a Tony award, Olivier award, and an Emmy nomination for the televised version in the early '80s. He had performed with the company since 1968, when he worked as a scenery painter. Perhaps he is most recognized for his role as Robin Colcord, Kirstie Alley's wealthy jet-set boyfriend on Cheers during the 1989 season. He also had in a brief but memorable role as Melvin, the Sheriff of Rotingham in Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993. Rees continued to work mainly in theater, but he also appeared in several TV movies and sitcoms. He put his crisp British pronunciation to work as a voice actor in several cartoons and books on tape. In 2002, he returned to films with a few featured roles, including Guillermo Kahlo in Julie Taymor's biography Frida. He also landed the starring role of Virginia farmer Nat Banks in the drama Crazy Like a Fox during the same year. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Rees became an 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.