Known for Acting
Roger Rees (May 5, 1944 – July 10, 2015) was a Welsh-American actor and director. Born in Aberystwyth, Wales, he grew up in south London where his father worked as a police officer. He attended Camberwell College of Arts and the Slade School of Fine Art, initially training as a painter before transitioning to theater work. He painted scenery at the Wimbledon Theater in south London before becoming an actor there in 1965. Rees became widely recognized for his stage work, particularly his starring role in the Royal Shakespeare Company's adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Nicholas Nickleby," which brought him both an Olivier Award and a Tony Award. He also received Obie Awards for his role in The End of the Day and as co-director of Peter and the Starcatcher. On television, he joined the hit TV comedy "Cheers" for the 1989-90 season as Kirstie Alley's suitor, the single-minded international financier and corporate raider Robin Colcord, and appeared in various other productions including the sci-fi series "M.A.N.T.I.S." He became an American citizen in 1989 and was married to theatre collaborator Rick Elice since 2011. Roger was subsequently diagnosed with cancer and while performing on Broadway in the musical "The Visit" starring Chita Rivera, he was forced to quit the show in late May 2015. The 71-year-old actor died on July 10, 2015, leaving behind a distinguished legacy.
Born
May 5, 1944
Died
July 10, 2015 (age 71)
Birthplace
Aberystwyth, Wales, UK
Filmography
55 films, 30 shows


On Broadway
2019 · 1h 24m · US
An all-star cast tells the inside story of the Broadway theater, and how it came back from the brink thanks to innovative work, a new attention to inclusion and a sometimes uneasy balance between art and commerce. Legends of the stage and screen—including Helen Mirren, Christine Baranski, August Wilson, James Corden, Alec Baldwin, John Lithgow, Viola Davis, Hugh Jackman and Ian McKellen—take us behind the scenes of Broadway's most groundbreaking and beloved shows, from A Chorus Line to Hamilton. Iconic performances by Lin Manuel Miranda, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, James Earl Jones and Mandy Patinkin lead the way on a hurly burly ride through Times Square, once again the main street of American show business in this documentary directed by Academy-Award nominee Oren Jacoby.


The Mayflower Pilgrims: Behind The Myth
2016 · 1h · UK
The voyage of the Mayflower in 1620 has come to define the founding moment of America, celebrated each year at Thanksgiving. A lavish new drama documentary by Ric Burns, based on governor William Bradford's extraordinary eye-witness account, the Mayflower Pilgrims reveals the grim truth behind their voyage across the Atlantic. The Pilgrims story has come to define the founding moment of America and all it stands for. Celebrated each year at Thanksgiving, it is remembered as a pious crusade aimed at founding a Puritan paradise. However their journey from a harsh, often violent part of England to a colony assured of survival less than ten years later is also one of wealth, cruelty, and entrepreneurial genius.


The Pilgrims
2015 · 2h · UK
Arguably one of the most fateful and resonant events of the last half millennium, the Pilgrims journey west across the Atlantic in the early 17th century is a seminal, if often misunderstood episode of American and world history. The Pilgrims explores the forces, circumstances, personalities and events that converged to exile the English group in Holland and eventually propel their crossing to the New World; a story universally familiar in broad outline, but almost entirely unfamiliar to a general audience in its rich and compelling historical actuality. Includes the real history of the "first thanksgiving".


Survivor
2015 · 1h 36m · UK
A Foreign Service Officer in London tries to prevent a terrorist attack set to hit New York, but is forced to go on the run when she is framed for crimes she did not commit.


Affluenza
2014 · 1h 25m · US
An aspiring young photographer finds himself caught up in a heady world of money, sex, and privilege when he moves to wealthy Long Island in the summer of 2008.


The Voysey Inheritance
2014 · 1h 41m · UK
Young Edward discovers that the family business he is due to inherit has been defrauding clients for decades.


Russian Broadway Shut Down
2014 · 12m · US
Citing homosexual propaganda law, Russian government outlaws theatrical performance. The Russian Broadway community responds.


Almost Perfect
2011 · 1h 46m · US
A 30-something career woman tries to find the balance between her demanding family and her perfect new boyfriend.


Happy Tears
2009 · 1h 36m · US
Two sisters return home to care for their aging father.


The Narrows
2008 · 1h 47m · US
A 19 year old Brooklyn boy who is torn between two worlds when his photography portfolio wins him a partial scholarship to NYU. He must figure out how to balance his Italian neighborhood roots with the expansive, sophisticated world on the other side of the East River. Based on Tim McLoughlin's novel "Heart of the Old Country".


The Invasion
2007 · 1h 39m · US
Washington, D.C. psychologist Carol Bennell and her colleague Dr. Ben Driscoll are the only two people on Earth who are aware of an epidemic running rampant through the city. They discover an alien virus aboard a crashed space shuttle that transforms anyone who comes into contact with it into unfeeling drones while they sleep. Carol realizes her son holds the key to stopping the spread of the plague and she races to find him before it is too late.


The Prestige
2006 · 2h 11m · UK
A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.


Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties
2006 · 1h 26m · UK
Jon and Garfield visit the United Kingdom, where a case of mistaken cat identity finds Garfield ruling over a castle. His reign is soon jeopardized by the nefarious Lord Dargis, who has designs on the estate.


Falling for Grace
2006 · 1h 45m · US
Grace is a Chinese American who longs to be a part of New York's high society. At a socialite event, she is mistaken for a Hong Kong heiress and meets her Prince Charming. Nothing is as it seems absorbing drama. What will happen to this Cinderella when the clock strikes midnight?


Game 6
2006 · 1h 27m · US
Combining real and fictional events, this movie centers around the historic 1986 World Series, and a day in the life of a playwright who skips opening night to watch the momentous game.


The Pink Panther
2006 · 1h 33m · US
When the coach of the France football team is killed by a poisoned dart in the stadium at the end of a game, and his huge, expensive ring with the Pink Panther diamond disappears, the ambitious Chief Inspector Dreyfus assigns the worst police inspector – Jacques Clouseau – to the case.


A Life in Suitcases: A History of Tulse Luper
2005 · 2h · IT
A comic study of 20th-century history, reconstructing the life of writer, creator and professional prisoner Tulse Luper. Born in 1911 Newport and last heard of in 1989, Luper’s life is pieced together from the evidence found in 92 suitcases scattered across the globe. A Life in Suitcases condenses the six-hour trilogy into a single two-hour feature, and in doing so, accentuates the project as a filmic essay in multiple narratives, listings, sidebars, footnotes, commentaries and anecdotes; a project for an Information Age ready to understand that there never is a phenomenon called History, there can only be Historians, gatekeepers to vested interests.


The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish
2005 · 2h 4m · UK
A comic study of 20th-century history, reconstructing the life of writer, creator and professional prisoner Tulse Luper. Born in 1911 Newport and last heard of in 1989, Luper’s life is pieced together from the evidence found in 92 suitcases scattered across the globe. In the final installment, Luper continues his adventures as a professional prisoner during the later years of the Second World War and the Cold War.


Crazy Like a Fox
2004 · 1h 38m · US
This is the story of Nat Banks, an 8th generation Virginian gentleman farmer living in the past, who loses his family farm, Greenwood, to a pair of land speculators from Washington, D.C. When the predatory couple manipulates a "legal" real estate transaction that turns into a hostile possession of the manor house, he temporarily loses his mind, leaving his family but not the farm. Instead he hides out in a cave on Goose Creek, waging guerilla warfare against expansionism and the destruction of historic property with the help of his family, friends, and neighbors...


Going Under
2004 · 1h 38m · US
Peter, a married psychotherapist, and Suzanne, a professional dominatrix, have been engaged in an affair of sensual dominance and submission in an S&M dungeon where they must abide by the rules. Now, those rules are about to be broken when they agree to see each other on the outside. As Peter becomes increasingly obsessed with the troubled Suzanne, they embark on a sordid psychosexual journey into their tortured pasts through their most carnal desires.


The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea
2004 · 2h · UK
A comic study of 20th-century history, reconstructing the life of writer, creator and professional prisoner Tulse Luper. Born in 1911 Newport and last heard of in 1989, Luper’s life is pieced together from the evidence found in 92 suitcases scattered across the globe. In the second of three parts, we follow Luper as he works in a cinema, giving him ample opportunity to cross paths with virtually every artistic device and dramatic character known to man.


News to Me
2004 · 22m · US
Colin Hanks stars as a naive young reporter matching wits with an eccentric editor (Roger Rees), joined by a powerhouse newsroom ensemble featuring Sheryl Lee Ralph and Andrea Anders, with Sharon Lawrence and David Hasselhoff.


Frida
2002 · 2h 3m · US
A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.


The Scorpion King
2002 · 1h 32m · US
In ancient Egypt, peasant Mathayus is hired to exact revenge on the powerful Memnon and the sorceress Cassandra, who are ready to overtake Balthazar's village. Amid betrayals, thieves, abductions and more, Mathayus strives to bring justice to his complicated world.


Return to Never Land
2002 · 1h 12m · AU
In 1940, the world is besieged by World War II. Wendy, all grown up, has two children; including Jane, who does not believe Wendy's stories about Peter Pan.


3 A.M.
2001 · 1h 32m · US
The feature film directing debut of Spike Lee protege Lee Davis takes the viewer into the world of taxi drivers. Developed in the Sundance Laboratory, this film offers dove-tailing stories centering on the lives of individual taxi drivers as they reflect on and experience romance, politics, sociology, and spirituality.


Blackmale
2000 · 1h 30m · US
Two desperate con men attempt to blackmail a psychotic doctor who may just be a serial killer.


The Crossing
2000 · 1h 29m · US
A made-for-TV dramatization of George Washington's perilous gamble of crossing the Delaware River and attacking the British forces at Trenton.


The Bumblebee Flies Anyway
2000 · 1h 35m · US
An amnesiac youth tries to piece together his past, but what he discovers may jeopardize his future.


A Midsummer Night's Dream
1999 · 1h 56m · IT
Mistaken identity, unrequited love, and the supernatural are combined in Shakespeare's classic set in the woods of Greece on a moonlit night.


Double Platinum
1999 · 1h 34m · US
The story of a mother driven to reach the heights of superstardom at the cost of abandoning her only child.


Next Stop Wonderland
1998 · 1h 36m · US
Dumped by her loser boyfriend, Erin's love life hits rock bottom when her overbearing mother places an embarrassing ad in the "personals" section of a local newspaper on her behalf. Erin's disgust turns to curiosity as she searches for the right guy in a hilarious series of disastrous dates. Meanwhile, a lonely ex-plumber named Alan clumsily searches for his dream job while narrowly missing one chance meeting with Erin after another.


Trouble on the Corner
1997 · 1h 49m · US
Jeff, a troubled therapist, suffers a breakdown when he spies on his sexy neighbor Ericca, a beautiful model that rollerblades around her apartment in red gloves and a kimono. When he confuses his erotically bizarre patients' most perverse neuroses with his own, the fine line between reality and fantasy erodes with lethal consequences. Darkly comedic, Trouble on the Corner takes you into the depths of one man's decent into madness and races toward the murderous conclusion of this tale of a modern urban nightmare.


Sudden Manhattan
1996 · 1h 20m · US
Twenty-something Donna is jobless, single and broke. On a fateful day, reality turns itself upside down, and she is suddenly faced with one absurdity after another.


The Substance of Fire
1996 · 1h 42m · US
Isaac Geldhart is a Holocaust survivor who, overcome by grief at the recent death of his wife, seems determined to run his publishing firm into the ground by printing books that have no hope of financial success. His son Aaron, who also works at the company, grows frustrated with Isaac's emotional decline and attempts to take over the firm. The resulting crisis involves Isaac's other two children, his daughter Sarah and his dying son Martin.


The Possession of Michael D.
1995 · 1h 45m · CA
When a dark force begins to destroy a couple's happiness, they decide to turn to a parapsychologist who discovers that the husband is possessed by a demon.


The Tower
1993 · 1h 23m · US
A mix-up with a security card causes a malevolent building to try and kill an employee on his first day at work.


Robin Hood: Men in Tights
1993 · 1h 44m · US
Robin Hood comes home after fighting in the Crusades to learn that the noble King Richard is in exile and that the despotic King John now rules England, with the help of the Sheriff of Rottingham. Robin Hood assembles a band of fellow patriots to do battle with King John and the Sheriff.


'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' – The Legend Had It Coming
1993 · 26m · US
Hosted by Cary Elwes. It's a promotional piece that was intended to get the word out about the film while it was in production, but some of the behind the scenes material that appears here is amusing


Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot
1992 · 1h 27m · US
A tough police sergeant's mother comes to visit him, and promptly starts trying to fix up his life, much to his embarrassment. For his birthday she buys him a machine gun out of the back of a van, and begins to further interfere with his job and love life, eventually helping him with a case he's on.


Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After
1992
First telecast in 1982, this drama picks up the story of Prince Charles and Lady Diana as their marriage begins to fall apart and follows it through to the royal couple's very public divorce. Charles and Diana must struggle with the pressure of public life, the relentless paparazzi and brutal tabloid articles, not to mention Queen Elizabeth's disapproval as they deal with their failing union.


P.J. Sparkles
1992 · 30m · US
PJ is an orphan with no last name and she has a special wish, she wants someone to love. One night while out riding her grey horse Blaze, PJ gets her wish. The "Wishing Star" shines its magic light on her and her horse and PJ is transported to the gray world of Twinkle Town. There she meets three new friends, Glimmer, Glowee, and Sparks, three lonely children who live there and have been wishing for someone to love them. The Wishing Star has turned Blaze into a beautiful white talking horse and given PJ a crown that talks! Her clothing has changed into a brilliant, sparkling dress, which gives her a last name, she is now PJ Sparkles! She's been given a magic power, the magic of LOVE!


If Looks Could Kill
1991 · 1h 28m · US
Michael Corben, along with the rest of his high-school French class, sets out for a trip to France when he is mistaken for an agent of the same name. He is beseiged by both the good guys and the bad guys. British Intelligence outfits him with a series of James-Bond-like gizmos, and Steranko sends more would-be assassins after him. Can Michael stop the evil Steranko's plans for European domination?


Next
1990 · 5m · UK
William Shakespeare, without saying a word, gives a quick run through of all his plays in a very special audition.


Mountains of the Moon
1990 · 2h 16m · US
The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire.


The Return of Sam McCloud
1989 · 1h 34m · US
Ex-Marshal McCloud now is senator of New Mexico, fighting for a new environment law. His enemy is Maitland, unscrupulous owner of Chemtel, the world's most important chemical manufacturer. Shortly after McCloud gives an inspiring speech, he barely escapes an bomb in his car and a shooting in a restaurant. When he learns that his niece, medical researcher for Chemtel, was killed, he begins to suspect that the attempts on his life were not made by Arabian terrorists, but by Maitland. He pays him a visit in Britain and starts to research on his own.


God's Outlaw
1986 · 1h 33m · UK
A dramatized biography of William Tyndale, the 16th Century reformer determined to translate the Bible into English, which illegal act set him at odds with the Catholic Church, Sir Thomas More and King Henry VIII.


A Christmas Carol
1984 · 1h 41m · UK
Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.


The Ebony Tower
1984 · 1h 20m · UK
A brash young artist invades the secluded retirement of an elderly painter and finds that the great man lives with two young women in a tantalizingly ambiguous relationship.


Saigon: Year of the Cat
1983 · 1h 45m · UK
The year is 1974, and Barbara Dean (Judi Dench), a British assistant manager in a foreign bank in Saigon, begins a relationship with American Bob Chesneau (Frederic Forrest). She quickly realises that he works for the CIA and he knows that the fall of South Vietnam is very near.


Star 80
1983 · 1h 43m · US
Paul Snider is a narcissistic, small time hustler who fancies himself a ladies man. His life changes when he meets Dorothy Stratten working behind the counter of a Dairy Queen. Under his guidance Dorothy grows to fame as a Playboy Playmate. But when Dorothy begins pursuing an acting career, the jealous Paul finds himself elbowed out of the picture by more famous men.


Imaginary Friends
1982 · 1h 22m · DE
Ellen Pitblado is a widow who lives in recluse in 1930s Gloucestershire. When her scummy journalist nephew, Douglas, tries to force her to give him her money, she calls her mysterious lookalike gentlemen friends to her aid.
The Three Sisters
The Three Sisters
1981 · 3h 11m · UK
Olga, Masha, and Irina Prozoroff lead lonely and purposeless lives following the death of their father who has commanded the local army post. Olga attempts to find satisfaction in teaching but secretly longs for a home and family. Masha, unhappy with her marriage to a timid schoolmaster, falls hopelessly in love with a married colonel. Irina works in the local telegraph office but longs for gaiety. Their sense of futility is increased by their brother's marriage to Natasha, a coarse peasant girl. She gradually encroaches on the family home until even the private refuge of the sisters is destroyed. They dream of starting a new life in Moscow but are saddled with the practicalities of their quiet existence. Despite their past failures, they resolve to seek some purpose and hope when the army post is withdrawn from the town.


Macbeth
1979 · 2h 25m · UK
Macbeth is a 1978 videotaped version of Trevor Nunn's Royal Shakespeare Company production of the play by William Shakespeare. Produced by Thames Television, it features Ian McKellen as Macbeth and Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth. The TV version was directed by Philip Casson. The original stage production was performed at The Other Place, the RSC's small studio theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. It had been performed in the round before small audiences, with a bare stage and simple costuming. The recording preserves this style: the actors perform on a circular set and with a mostly black background changes of setting are indicated only by lighting changes.


The Comedy of Errors
1978 · 2h 10m · UK
The Royal Shakespeare Company act (and sing and dance!) Shakespeare's play about two sets of identical twins, separated at birth and brought together by circumstance.