Robert Shaw

An amazing range of roles and talent.

What does the hitman assigned to kill James Bond in From Russia with Love have in common with the sea captain hunting the Great White shark in Jaws?

Before this morning I woulda said “nothing.”

But I watched From Russia with Love last night, all the way through, and saw an Aryan-looking character assigned to kill James Bond. I had no idea until today, when I looked it up, that character was Robert Shaw.

So the answer is – he’s the same person – Robert Shaw.

IMDB introduces Robert Shaw like so: “Robert Archibald Shaw was born on August 9, 1927, in Westhoughton, Lancashire, England, the eldest son of Doreen Nora (Avery), a nurse, and Thomas Archibald Shaw, a doctor. His paternal grandfather was Scottish, from Argyll. Shaw’s mother, who was born in Piggs Peak, Swaziland, met his father while she was a nurse at a hospital in Truro, Cornwall. His father was an alcoholic and a manic depressive; he committed suicide when Robert was only 12. He had three sisters – Elisabeth, Joanna and Wendy – and one brother, Alexander.”

Robert Shaw accumulated 64 acting credits. There woulda been a lot more but he died of a heart attack in 1978 at the age of 51. Yet In those 64 credits he showed an amazing range of talent.

I saw him in nine movies and thought he was good every time.

From Russia with Love (1963) – Battle of the Bulge (1965) – A Man for All Seasons (1966).