Robert Newton is best remembered for his portrayal of the feverish-eyed Long John Silver in the 1950 RKO-Disney British adaptation of Treasure Island, the film that became the standard for screen portrayals of historical pirates.
33 Facts About Robert Newton
2.
Robert Newton starred as Edward Teach in Blackbeard the Pirate in 1952 and Long John Silver again in the 1954 film of the same title, which spawned a miniseries in the mid-1950s.
3.
Robert Newton has become the "patron saint" of the annual International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
4.
Robert Newton was educated in Lamorna near Penzance, Cornwall, where he lived with his family from 1912 to 1918, then at Exeter School and St Bartholomew's School in Newbury, Berkshire.
5.
Robert Newton's acting career began at the age of 16 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1921.
6.
Robert Newton appeared in many repertory shows until he went to Canada where he worked on a cattle ranch for a year.
7.
Robert Newton returned to England and performed in many plays in the West End of London, including Bitter Sweet by Noel Coward, The Letter with Gladys Cooper, and Cardboard Lover with Tallulah Bankhead.
8.
Robert Newton appeared in Private Lives on Broadway, taking over the role from his friend Laurence Olivier.
9.
Robert Newton had a small role in the film Reunion.
10.
Robert Newton was put under contract to Alexander Korda who cast him in small roles in the cinema films Fire Over England, Dark Journey, Farewell Again and The Squeaker.
11.
Robert Newton had a part as Cassius in the abandoned version of I, Claudius and in 21 Days.
12.
Robert Newton was borrowed by 20th Century Fox for The Green Cockatoo.
13.
Robert Newton had a good role supporting Charles Laughton in Vessel of Wrath.
14.
Robert Newton had another strong part in Yellow Sands and had his first film lead in Dead Men are Dangerous.
15.
Robert Newton made another with Laughton, Jamaica Inn, playing the romantic male lead, directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
16.
Robert Newton kept busy as a film actor, appearing in Poison Pen and Hell's Cargo.
17.
Robert Newton continued primarily as a supporting actor in films, appearing in Gaslight, Busman's Honeymoon, Bulldog Sees It Through, Channel Incident and Major Barbara, directed by Gabriel Pascal from the play by George Bernard Shaw.
18.
Robert Newton got another chance as a star in Hatter's Castle, opposite Deborah Kerr and James Mason.
19.
Robert Newton consolidated his status by playing opposite Anna Neagle in the Amy Johnson biopic They Flew Alone, playing Jim Mollison.
20.
On resuming his film career, Robert Newton played the lead in This Happy Breed, a role played on stage by Noel Coward.
21.
Robert Newton had the star role in a thriller Night Boat to Dublin, then had a showy cameo role in Odd Man Out ; this performance later was immortalised in Harold Pinter's play Old Times.
22.
Robert Newton stayed in leads for Temptation Harbour and Snowbound.
23.
Robert Newton played Long John Silver in Walt Disney's version of Treasure Island, shot in the UK, with Bobby Driscoll and directed by Byron Haskin.
24.
Robert Newton was one of several British actors in Soldiers Three, an Imperial adventure tale.
25.
Robert Newton returned to Britain for Tom Brown's Schooldays to play Thomas Arnold, then was cast by 20th Century Fox as Javert in their version of Les Miserables.
26.
Robert Newton was one of several names in an airplane disaster movie The High and the Mighty.
27.
Back in Britain, Robert Newton was given the lead in The Beachcomber, a remake of Vessels of Wrath, this time in the part originally played by Charles Laughton.
28.
Robert Newton again played Long John Silver in an Australian-made film, Long John Silver.
29.
Robert Newton went on to make a 26-episode 1955 TV series, The Adventures of Long John Silver, in which Newton starred.
30.
Robert Newton was accused of kidnapping his son, Nicholas, when he took him to Hollywood in 1951, the year his third marriage ended.
31.
Robert Newton married his fourth wife, Vera Budnick, in June 1952.
32.
Robert Newton's body was cremated, and there is a plaque in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles in his memory.
33.
For several years, Robert Newton was voted by exhibitors as among the most popular British stars at the local box office:.