About Robert Powell
Robert Thomas Powell is an English actor who is known for the title roles in Mahler (1974) and Jesus of Nazareth (1977), and for his portrayal of secret agent Richard Hannay in The Thirty Nine Steps (1978) and its subsequent spinoff television series. Other major screen roles have included Tobias "Toby" Wren in the BBC science-fiction programme Doomwatch (1970), David Briggs in the sitcom The Detectives (1993–1997) with Jasper Carrott, and Mark Williams in the medical drama Holby City (2005–2011). Powell was nominated for a Best Actor BAFTA TV Award for Jesus of Nazareth in 1978 and won a Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in the film Imperative in 1982. His first film part was in Robbery (1967), which starred Stanley Baker and was about the Great Train Robbery, in which he played the second man or locomotive driver's assistant. He starred in 1973 in the first episode of the British series Thriller. For this performance he won the Best Actor Award at the Paris Film Festival.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.