Roger Rees (5 May 1944 – 10 July 2015) was a Welsh actor and director, widely known for his stage work. He won an Olivier Award and a Tony Award for his performance as the lead in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. He also received Obie Awards for his role in The End of the Day and as co-director of Peter and the Starcatcher. He was widely known to American television audiences for playing the characters Robin Colcord in Cheers and Lord John Marbury in The West Wing.

Rees was born in Aberystwyth, Wales, the son of Doris Louise (née Smith), a shop clerk, and William John Rees, a police officer. He studied art at the Camberwell College of Arts and the Slade School of Fine Art, turning to acting when he was painting backdrops at the Wimbledon Theatre and was asked to fill a part in a play.

Career

Rees started his career with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He played Malcolm in the acclaimed Trevor Nunn 1976 stage and 1978 television production of Macbeth. Rees created the title role in the original production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, David Edgar's stage adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel, winning a Laurence Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a New Play in 1980 and a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1982. A recorded version of the play also earned him an Emmy nomination in 1983. He also starred in the original production of The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard at the Strand Theatre in London in 1982.

Rees began to work in television during the 1970s, appearing opposite Laurence Olivier in The Ebony Tower (1984). From 1988 to 1991 he starred in the late 80s/early 90s British sitcom Singles, with co-star Judy Loe. From 1989 to 1991 and in 1993, he also appeared intermittently on the long-running American TV series Cheers as the English tycoon Robin Colcord. His later television appearances include My So-Called Life as substitute teacher Mr Racine, British Ambassador Lord John Marbury on The West Wing and James MacPherson on Warehouse 13. His film career began in the 1980s. Rees played the Sheriff of Rottingham in the Mel Brooks' movie, Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). Rees' later film appearances include Frida (2002), The Prestige (2006), and The Pink Panther (2006).

Continuing his work in the theatre through the 1990s, both as an actor and a director, Rees was awarded an Obie Award for his 1992 performance in the Off-Broadway play The End of the Day. In 1995 he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in Indiscretions. That same year, he also participated as narrator for the audiobook edition of Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice. As for audiobooks, Rees performed in a wide variety of programs.

From November 2004 to October 2007, Rees was artistic director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival, only the fourth person to hold the post in its half century history. He replaced Nathan Lane in the role of Gomez Adams in the Broadway musical adaptation of The Addams Family, on 22 March 2010 and remained until the end of the run on 31 December 2010.

His last role was as Anton Schell in the musical version of The Visit, opposite Chita Rivera, which opened on Broadway on 23 April 2015 and closed on 14 June 2015. Rees had to leave the run of the play in May due to illness.

Personal life

Rees had lived in the United States for more than 25 years; he became a naturalised U.S. citizen in 1989. He converted to Judaism in the 1980s. Rees married writer/producer Rick Elice in 2011. Rees and Elice also collaborated professionally, including as co-playwrights of the comedic thriller Double Double. Elice co-authored (with Marshall Brickman) the libretto for The Addams Family musical, the cast of which Rees had joined on 22 March 2011. In 2012, Elice and Rees and a Tony Award nominations for Elice's stage adaptation and Rees' co-direction (with Alex Timbers), respectively, of Peter and the Starcatcher.

Death

Rees died of cancer at his home in New York on 10 July 2015. He was 71. It is expected to be announced that Broadway marquee lights will be dimmed in his honor in the week following his death.

Work

Film

• Star 80 (as Aram Nicholas), 1983
• A Christmas Carol (as Fred Hollywell), 1984
• God's Outlaw: The Story of William Tyndale (as William Tyndale), 1987
• If Looks Could Kill – Teen Agent (as Augustus Steranko), 1991
• Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot as J. Parnell, 1992
• Robin Hood: Men in Tights (as Sheriff of Rottingham), 1993
• Sudden Manhattan, 1996
• Trouble on the Corner (as McMurtry), 1997
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (as Peter Quince), 1999
• The Bumblebee Flies Anyway (as Dr Croft), 1999
• The Crossing (as Hugh Mercer), 2000
• BlackMale (as Bill Fontaine), 2000
• Frida (as Guillermo Kahlo), 2002
• The Scorpion King (as King Pheron), 2002
• Return to Never Land as Edward, 2002
• Going Under (as Peter), 2004
• Crazy Like a Fox (as Nat Banks), 2004
• Game 6 (as Jack Haskins), 2005
• The New World (as Virginia Company Representative, uncredited), 2005
• The Pink Panther (as Larocque), 2006
• Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (as solicitor Mr. Hobbs), 2006
• The Prestige (as Owens), 2006
• The Invasion (as Yorish), 2007
• Falling for Grace (as Andrew Barrington, Sr.), 2007
• Happy Tears (as antiques dealer), 2010
• Affluenza as Mr. Carson, 2014
• Survivor as Dr. Emil Balan, 2015

Television

• Tales of the Unexpected (in episode 96 as James Howgill), 1984
• A Christmas Carol (as Fred Holywell/Narrator), 1984
• Singles (as Malcolm), 1988–1991
• Cheers (as Robin Colcord), 1989–1993
• The Young Riders (in episode "Lady for a Night" as Tyler Dewitt), 1990
• M.A.N.T.I.S. (as Dr. John Stonebrake), 1994–1995
• My So-Called Life (in episode "The Substitute" as Vic Racine), 1994
• Titanic (as J. Bruce Ismay), 1996
• Boston Common (as Harrison Cross), 1997
• Liberty! The American Revolution 1997
• Extreme Ghostbusters (as The Piper), 1997
• Double Platinum (as Marc Reckler) 1999
• Oz (in episode "Medium Rare" as Jack Aldridge), 2001
• Law & Order (in episode "Kid Pro Quo" as Wyatt Scofield), 2003
• The West Wing (as Lord John Marbury), 2000–2005
• Grey's Anatomy (in episodes "Scars and Souvenirs", "My Favourite Mistakes" and "Time After Time" as Dr. Colin Marlow), 2007 (season three)
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent (in episode "Alpha Dog" as Duke DeGuerin), 2009
• Warehouse 13 (in episodes "Implosion", "Breakdown", "Nevermore" and "MacPherson" (as James MacPherson), 2009
• The Good Wife (in episode "Nine Hours" as Dr. Todd Grossman), 2010
• Elementary (in episodes "Flight Risk" and "No Lack of Void" as Alistair Moore), 2012 & 2014
• The Middle (in episode "The Smile"), 2013
• Forever (in episode "Diamonds are Forever" as Priest), 2014

Theatre

• The Comedy of Errors (as Antipholus of Syracuse), Stratford-on-Avon and London, 1976
• Three Sisters (as Tusenbach) Stratford-upon-Avon London and tour, 1979
• Cymbeline (as Posthumus), Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon 1979
• Cymbeline (as Posthumus), Royal National Theatre, 1980
• The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (as Nicholas Nickleby), Royal Shakespeare Company

• Aldwych Theatre, London, June 1980–June 1981
• Plymouth Theatre, Broadway, September 1981 – March 1982

• The Real Thing (as Henry), London, 1982
• Hamlet as Hamlet, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford upon Avon, 1984
• The End of the Day (as Graydon Massey), Playwrights Horizons, off-Broadway, 1992
• Indiscretions (as George), Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway, 1995
• A Man of No Importance (as Alfie Byrne), Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, off-Broadway, 2002
• Waiting for Godot (as Vladimir, replacing Patrick Stewart), Haymarket Theatre, London, 2010
• Waiting for Godot (as Vladimir), His Majesty's Theatre, Perth, 2010
• Waiting for Godot (as Vladimir), Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide, 2010
• Waiting for Godot (as Vladimir), Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, 2010
• The Addams Family (as Gomez [Replaced Nathan Lane]), Broadway, 2011
• Peter and the Starcatcher (co-director with Alex Timbers), Broadway, 2012 (and then it moved to an Off-Broadway theatre in 2013)
• The Primrose Path (Director), Guthrie Theater, 2013
• The Visit (musical version; as Anton Schell), Broadway, 2015