Sir Anthony Robinson was born on 15 August 1946 and is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist.
47 Facts About Tony Robinson
2.
Tony Robinson played Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder and has presented several historical documentaries, including the Channel 4 series Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History.
3.
Tony Robinson was born on 15 August 1946 in Homerton, London, to Phyllis and Leslie Tony Robinson.
4.
Tony Robinson passed four O-levels and went on to study for A-levels, but did not complete them and decided to study at a drama school instead.
5.
Too young to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Tony Robinson enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama in 1963, graduating in 1966.
6.
Tony Robinson won an Arts Council bursary to work as a director at the Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, and founded the Avon Touring Company, a Bristol-based community theatre company, with writer David Illingworth.
7.
In 1972, Tony Robinson starred in the children's educational programme Sam on Boffs' Island and was later a presenter on Play Away.
8.
Tony Robinson appeared in the award-winning Horizon documentary Joey, and in the title role in the BBC production of The Miracle of Brother Humphrey.
9.
Tony Robinson appeared in the film Brannigan starring John Wayne.
10.
Tony Robinson came to prominence in 1983 for his role in the British historical sitcom Blackadder, as Edmund Blackadder's dogsbody Baldrick.
11.
Tony Robinson provided voice-over for the cartoon short Free-Ranger, an English child-scripted arts-funded production in 1989.
12.
Tony Robinson presented the early-Saturday evening series Stay Tooned for BBC 1, which featured a selection of classic Warner Bros.
13.
Also in 1994, Tony Robinson played a minor part in an episode of the television series Minder, called "One Flew Over the Parents' Nest" and in which he played a character called "Willie the Weed".
14.
In 1999, Tony Robinson returned to star as Baldrick in a one-off short film in the Blackadder series, made to celebrate the new millennium.
15.
Tony Robinson contributed the voiceover for the television series Airline screened from 1999 and focusing on the daily routine of EasyJet staff at a selection of airports.
16.
Tony Robinson worked as the narrator for six of the remaining nine series until 2006 when it ended.
17.
Tony Robinson provided the voicing for several characters in the videogame Discworld.
18.
Tony Robinson followed on this Discworld work by playing a role in the live action television dramatisation of Hogfather, broadcast on Sky over the Christmas season in 2006.
19.
Tony Robinson presented Classic FM's Friendly Guide to Classical Music which aired on a Sunday at 4pm.
20.
In 2007, Tony Robinson narrated television advertisements for Honda, in the humorous style of Tales From Fat Tulip's Garden.
21.
Tony Robinson did voiceovers for cleaning products Domestos and Vanish from 2007 until 2009.
22.
Also in 2007, Tony Robinson visited 30 towns in Britain and Ireland with A Cunning Night Out.
23.
In September 2013, Sir Jonathan Miller directed the Gala Performance of William Shakespeare's King Lear at the Old Vic in London, in which Tony Robinson played the Fool.
24.
In 1994, Tony Robinson began presenting Time Team, a TV programme devoted to archaeological investigations limited to three days.
25.
From 2001, Tony Robinson branched out into other history documentary series, including the series Fact or Fiction, followed by Romans in 2003 and the highly successful The Worst Jobs in History in 2006, researching and re-enacting some of the more horrible jobs of the past millennium.
26.
Tony Robinson took this show on tour around the country along with an autobiographical question and answer session.
27.
Unexplained with Tony Robinson was first broadcast on Channel 4 in December 2008.
28.
From 1 September 2010, Tony Robinson hosted a series on the National Geographic Channel called Birth of Britain which was repeated on Channel 4 beginning in January 2011.
29.
Tony Robinson Explores Australia was first broadcast in the first half of 2012.
30.
In 2015, Tony Robinson continued his history presenting in Australia with "Tour of Duty", again on History Channel.
31.
Between 2012 and 2014, Tony Robinson presented a series of programmes for Channel 4 called Walking Through History.
32.
Tony Robinson presented The Real Mill, revealing the true history to the Channel 4 series, The Mill.
33.
In 2018 Tony Robinson continued his work with Channel Five presenting Britain's Great Cathedrals where he uncovers the history behind six of Britain's best cathedrals.
34.
Tony Robinson presented a two-part series on Ancient Egypt called Egyptian Tomb Hunting.
35.
In 2023, Tony Robinson started broadcasting a weekly podcast called "Cunning Cast".
36.
Tony Robinson was active in the "Make Poverty History" campaign in 2005, and is the patron for UK-based charity Street Child Africa.
37.
In March 2011, Tony Robinson participated in the "March for the Alternative" protests in Central London, which opposed the Conservative led Coalition UK Government's spending cuts programme.
38.
Tony Robinson is honorary president of the Young Archaeologists' Club of the Council for British Archaeology.
39.
Tony Robinson is a patron of older people's charity Alive, saying that the organisation is "at the forefront of promoting stimulating activities which help improve the quality of life of people in care".
40.
Tony Robinson is a patron of the RSPCA Abbey street rehoming centre in Derby, after adopting a dog from the centre.
41.
Tony Robinson was knighted in the 2013 Birthday Honours for public and political service.
42.
On 23 June 2018, Tony Robinson appeared at the People's Vote march in London to mark the second anniversary of the referendum to leave the European Union.
43.
On 3 May 2019, Tony Robinson announced that he had left the Labour Party after more than 40 years of membership, citing his dissatisfaction with the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and the party's handling of Brexit and antisemitism.
44.
Tony Robinson subsequently rejoined on 4 April 2020 after Corbyn's resignation and Keir Starmer's election as Labour leader.
45.
Tony Robinson was first married in 1969 to Barbara Henshall, and divorced four years later.
46.
Tony Robinson was married from the late 1970s until 1992 to Mary Shepherd, with whom he had two children.
47.
Tony Robinson then went on to give the prizes to Craegmoor's Shining Star and Leading Light.