
Robert Leadam Eddison, OBE (10 June 1908 – 14 December 1991) was an English actor, who is probably most widely remembered in the role of the Grail Knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He also played the tragic ferryman in The Storyteller episode "The Luck Child". Born in Japan to English parents, Edwin Eddison and Hilda Muriel Leadham, he had a twin brother Talbot Leadam Eddison. Through his paternal grandmother, Anna Paulina Tatham of Philadelphia, he was related to the Tatham Brothers Iron pipe manufacturers of Philadelphia. As his paternal great-grandfather Henry Billington Tatham's name suggests, he was a descendant of the Billington family who came to America from England on the Mayflower. Eddison was known for his resonant, baritone voice and long, lean figure. He performed William Shakespeare and other classics, was noted for his Hamlet at the Old Vic, and later playing the comic roles of Feste and Sir Andrew Aguecheek inTwelfth Night, and King Lear on the New York stage. He was also a familiar figure in plays by Ibsen, Chekhov, andSophocles, and played Canon Chasuble in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Eddison also made his mark in radio, in countless BBC dramas through the decades, with some of his last roles includingDeath in The Canterbury Tales and parts in an adaptation of Japanese Noh plays. His film career was limited, but included a supporting role in Peter Ustinov's 1948 comedy Vice Versa, the electrical 'Nick' in The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972), the college president in American Friends (1991), and a notable cameo in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusadeas the ancient Grail Knight, warning adventurers to choose wisely.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA. Credits and photos from TMDB.
The titles people know Robert from.
IMDb rating of each title on Cineora, by year.
as Rushden - The President

as Charon
as Grail Knight
as Robert Skinn · 1 episode

as Ferryman
as Ferryman · 1 episode

as Troutbeck

as The Chaplin

as Chorus

as Chorus

as Justice Robert Shallow

as Dr. Still

as Merlin · 2 episodes
as Father Andrew · 1 episode

as Goodchild · 7 episodes

as Dr. Still · 1 episode

as Duke

as Silas Ruthyn


as Karswell · 1 episode

as Tzhilyantsi

as Prince Andronikov · 1 episode

as Tzhilyantsi · 1 episode

as Arch-Vicar · 1 episode

as Skuratov · 1 episode

as King Charles VII

1 episode


as Mr. Blinkhorn

as Lanternist Professor