Michael Robbins
Born in London, Robbins was a bank clerk who became an actor after appearing in amateur dramatic performances in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, where he and his family lived at the time. Robbins made his television debut as the cockney soldier in Roll-on Bloomin' Death. Primarily a comedy actor, he is best remembered for the role of Arthur Rudge, the persistently sarcastic husband of Olive (Anna Karen), in the popular sitcom On the Buses (1969–73). Robbins and Karen provided the secondary comic storyline to Reg Varney's comedy capers at the bus depot. Robbins also appeared in the series film spin-offs, On the Buses, Mutiny on the Buses, and Holiday on the Buses. His other comedy credits include non-recurring roles in Man About the House, Oh Brother!, The Good Life, One Foot in the Grave, The New Statesman, George and Mildred, Hi-de-Hi! and You Rang, M'Lord? He appeared as a rather humorously portrayed police sergeant in the TV adaptation of Brendon Chase. As well as these comic roles, he assumed various straight roles in some of the major British television shows of the 1960s and 1970s: including Minder, The Sweeney, Z-Cars, Return of the Saint, Murder Most English, The Avengers, Dixon of Dock Green, The Bill and the 1982 Doctor Who story The Visitation. Robbins's film credits included The Whisperers, Up The Junction, The Looking Glass War, Zeppelin and Blake Edwards' films The Pink Panther Strikes Again and Victor/Victoria'. He also had an extensive career as a radio actor, including a role in the soap opera Waggoner's Walk and the satirical 1970s show Life is What Yer Make It. Robbins was an indefatigable worker for charity. He was active in the Grand Order of Water Rats (being elected 'Rat of the Year' in 1978) and the Catholic Stage Guild, and received a Papal Award for his services in 1987. In one of his last television appearances, in A Little Bit of Heaven Robbins recalled his childhood visits to Norfolk and spoke of his faith and love of the Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham. Michael Robbins had a brother Jack who was a head teacher at Saint Gregory's Catholic middle school in Bedford in the 1970s and early 1980s. Michael made some guest appearances at this school throughout the years and sometimes entertained the pupils with various sketches with his brother Jack Robbins In the mid-1970s he also directed a film: How Are You?
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
as JarvisCharles Dreyfus, who has finally cracked over inspector Clouseau's antics, escapes from a mental...
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The Great Muppet Caper
as HendersonKermit and Fozzie are newspaper reporters sent to London to interview Lady Holiday, a wealthy...
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Holiday on the Buses
as Arthur RudgeDue to a female passenger falling out of her top whilst running for the bus Stan is distracted...
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Victor/Victoria
as Manager of Victoria's HotelA struggling female soprano finds work playing a male female impersonator, but it complicates...
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Children of the Damned
as uncreditedSix children are found spread through out the world that not only have enormous intelligence,...
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Mutiny on the Buses
as Arthur his brother in lawBus driver Stan Butler agrees to marry Suzy, much to the anguish of Mum, her son-in-law, Arthur,...
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The Looking Glass War
as Truck DriverWhen a Polish sailor jumps ship in Britain, a couple of local intelligence operatives keep him...
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Villain
as BarzunIn 1970s London, Scotland Yard orchestrates the downfall of mob boss Vic Dakin after he crosses...
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On the Buses
as Arthur Rudge - Stan's Brother-in-LawStan gets a little annoyed when his Mum and Sister keep buying expensive items on hire purchase,...
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The Whisperers
as Mr NoonanMargaret Ross is an impoverished old woman who lives alone in a seedy apartment and enjoys a...
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Crossplot
as Garage AttendantA successful London ad-exec hires a beautiful Hungarian girl to pose for some modeling shots,...
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Till Death Us Do Part
as FredThe film version of 'Till Death Do Us Part' tells the story of Alf Garnett, his wife Else, and...
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Man About the House
as DoormanAn unscrupulous property developer wants to flatten the street to make way for new buildings....
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No Sex Please: We're British
as Car DriverA porn-store owner orders some new stuff from his supplier, but the delivery address gets mixed...
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Zeppelin
as Cockney SergeantThe outbreak of World War I places Scots officer Geoffrey Richter-Douglas in an uncomfortable...
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A Prize of Arms
as OrfordA criminal gang sets out to pull off the heist of a large army payroll.
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The Bargee
as BargeeAfter a lock-keeper entrusts his daughter to a canal Casanova, he is shocked to learn that she...
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Up the Junction
as FigginsA young woman trades her upper-class existence for a new life in an economically depressed...
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Lunch Hour
as HarrisA young female designer is on the brink of an affair with a married male executive at the...
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Lost In London
as BillFacing his parent's impending divorce and emotional upheaval, a young boy runs away and joins a...
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Rattle of a Simple Man
as George (organiser)Percy Winthram is a naive young man who still lives at home with his mum. In London for the Cup...
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Murder Rap
as Det. Sgt. PraedWally, a caretaker in a block of flats, loses his job when the flats are used to rehouse...
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All the Way Up
as Taxi DriverFred Midway may be a bit short on brains, but he's got plenty of ambition. However, before he...
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The Count of Monte Cristo
as Gaspard CaderousseA TV adaptation of the classic Alexandre Dumas novel. Edmond Dantes is falsely accused by those...
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The Merry Wives of Windsor
as NymWhen Sir John Falstaff decides that he wants to have a little fun he writes two letters to a...
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Adam Bede
as Thias BedeRich and languorous, this adaptation of George Eliot's classic tale perfectly evokes rural...
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What a Crazy World
as PercyUnemployed East End lad Alf Hitchens has an on-off relationship with his girlfriend Marilyn and...
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Doctor Who: The Visitation
as Richard MaceIn 17th century England, the Doctor and itinerant thespian Richard Mace uncover a plot by a crew...
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Dead Man's Chest
as Sergeant HarrisTwo young journalists simulate a murder, but the scheme backfires when the mock victim disappears.
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The Hunting of Lionel Crane
as Sergeant BillingsAn army deserter hides out on a country estate but falls foul of the gamekeeper.
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Just Ask for Diamond
as The Fat ManThirteen-year-old Nick and his slightly dense older brother Herbert run the Diamond Private...
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That's Your Funeral
as 2nd Funeral DirectorTwo funeral parlours fight one another for business, one of whom is more shady than the other.
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The Bone Yard
as Sergeant StricklandExtraordinary things happen at an ordinary police station.
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You in Your Small Corner
as GeorgieBarry Reckord adapted his stage play for TV and his brother Lloyd plays the central character –...
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The Saint and the Brave Goose
as BeekyA two-part episode of the 1978 TV series "The Return of the Saint," edited together and released...
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Doctor Who
as Richard MaceThe adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores...
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Minder
as McQueenThis comedy drama series featured Terry McCann, a former boxer with a conviction for G.B.H., and...
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The Avengers
as Henry FarrowThe Avengers is a British television series created in the 1960s. It initially focused on Dr....
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The Avengers
as CavellThe Avengers is a British television series created in the 1960s. It initially focused on Dr....
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The Saint
as HarrySimon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who...
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The Saint
as SmithSimon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who...
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Rumpole of the Bailey
as uncreditedRumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer...
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The Sweeney
as Kevin LeeJack Regan, an unethical officer of the Flying Squad, uses unorthodox methods to pursue...
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Dempsey and Makepeace
as SimmonsDempsey and Makepeace is a British television crime drama made by London Weekend Television for...
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BBC Television Shakespeare
as uncreditedThe BBC Television Shakespeare is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of...
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No Hiding Place
as uncreditedNo Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by...
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One Foot In the Grave
as uncreditedOne Foot in the Grave is a BBC television sitcom series The series features the exploits of...
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The Bill
as uncreditedThe daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the...
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Z-Cars
as uncreditedZ-Cars or Z Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed...
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The Main Chance
as Gerry BaxterThe Main Chance was a British television series which first aired on ITV between 1969,1970,1972...
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Justice
as EddieJustice is a British drama television series which originally aired on ITV in 39 hour-long...
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The New Statesman
as Mad EddieThe New Statesman is a British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the...
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Return of the Saint
as BeekyFollow the swashbuckling exploits of Simon Templar, a modern-day Robin Hood of sorts.
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Department S
as BurtonDepartment S is a United Kingdom spy-fi adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. The...
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On the Buses
as uncreditedOn the Buses is a British comedy series created by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney, broadcast in...
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The Good Life
as Mr. BulstrodeTom and Barbara Good escape the rat race and pursue a self-sufficient lifestyle in Surbiton,...
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Gideon's Way
as SmithGideon's Way is a British television crime series made by ITC Entertainment in 1964/65, based on...
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Fresh Fields
as Mr. PringleFresh Fields is a British situation comedy written by John T. Chapman and produced by Thames...
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Sherlock Holmes
as uncreditedSherlock Holmes is a series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations produced by British television...
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Callan
as uncreditedCallan is the title of a British television series set in the murky world of espionage....
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George and Mildred
as uncreditedA middle-aged housewife feels frustrated with her mean and miserable husband, the married couple...
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You Rang, M'Lord?
as Twelvetrees SeniorYou Rang, M'Lord? is a British comedy series written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the...
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The Man In Room 17
as C.P.O. BradshawThe Man in Room 17 is a British television series which ran for two seasons in the mid-1960s,...
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The Chinese Detective
as uncreditedChinese British Detective Sergeant John Ho solves cases in the East End of London. Ho fits the...
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Adam Adamant Lives!
as uncreditedAdam Adamant Lives! is a British television series which ran from 1966 to 1967 on the BBC,...
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Murder Most English
as Pumphrey1970s detective series based on the Flaxborough novels by Colin Watson. Starring Anton Rodgers...
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Dick Turpin
as uncreditedRichard O'Sullivan stars as Dick Turpin in this action-filled adventure series chronicling the...
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The Bounder
as BertThe Bounder is a British sitcom which ran from 16 April 1982 to 28 October 1983, made by...
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The Cannon & Ball Show
as Police SeargentA comedy variety show featuring the double act of Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball.
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Redcap
as uncreditedRedcap is a British television series produced by ABC Weekend Television and broadcast on the...
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Brendon Chase
as Sergeant BuntingThe three brothers Robin, John and Harold spend their vacations in 1925 on the country estate of...
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You Can't Win
as uncreditedYou Can't Win was a 1966 British television series made by ITV as an adaptation of the novels...
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Mixed Blessings
as uncreditedMixed Blessings is a British sitcom produced by LWT for broadcast on the ITV network between...
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Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width
as uncreditedNever Mind the Quality, Feel the Width is a British television sitcom first broadcast in 1967 as...
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Thick As Thieves
as uncreditedBritish ITV sitcom starring John Thaw and Bob Hoskins as two friends in a love triangle.
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