Oliver Tobias

Oliver Tobias Freitag (born 6 August 1947) is a Swiss-British actor and stage director. He is known for portraying George Berger in the West End production of the musical Hair, and to television audience for playing the title character in the 1970s ITV series Arthur of the Britons,

Early life

Born in Zürich, Switzerland, he is the son of the Austrian-Swiss actor Robert Freitag and the German actress Maria Becker. He came to the United Kingdom at the age of eight and trained at East 15 Acting School, London.

Career In 1968, Tobias appeared in the original London production of Hair, playing the prime rebel role of Berger. The following year, he starred in, directed, and choreographed the rock opera in Amsterdam and, in 1970, directed a production in Tel Aviv.

Tobias's first role was in the feature film Romance of a Horsethief, co-starring with Yul Brynner, Serge Gainsbourg and Eli Wallach. He then co-starred with Charlotte Rampling in the Jacobean tragedy 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, a film directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi. He became popular as Arthur in the TV series Arthur of the Britons (1972). Peter Weir then directed him in the TV series Luke's Kingdom.

Many other successful films followed, including The Stud in 1978 in which he co-starred with Joan Collins. In 1981, he starred in the British television series Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure, where he played the character Noll Bridger, a Colonial North American. Tobias also starred in Smuggler (1981) a children's drama series, set in Cornwall in 1801. Tobias also appeared as the Devil in the promotional video for Ultravox's 1982 hit "Hymn". Tobias became a frontrunner for the role of James Bond in Octopussy (1983) when Roger Moore intended to retire from the role, but Moore ultimately returned to the role.

In 1991, Tobias starred alongside Charles Gray in the sci-fi movie "Firestar – First Contact" for Ice International Films. In 1996, Tobias played Rebecque, an aide to the Prince of Orange (Paul Bettany), in Sharpe's Waterloo. In 1998, he played Bassa Selim in Mozart in Turkey. In 2000, he starred in the West End musical La Cava. Three years later, he portrayed Percival Brown in the 50th-anniversary production of The Boy Friend and the next year toured in the rock musical Footloose. In 2005, he finished shooting the film An Airfield in England. He has been acting in a variety of roles for German and Swiss TV and has recently reprised the role of Bassa Selim in Mozart's Seraglio at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, Italy. Tobias is famous for his voiceover work and was the narrator on the opening track of DJ Shadow's 2006 album The Outsider.

Personal life

In 2001, he married Arabella Zamoyska, with whom he has two sons.

Filmography Film 1968 Hair Role The Musical 1969 Arthur? Arthur! Peter "Bobo" Jackson 1970 Romance of a Horsethief Zanvill Kradnik 1971 'Tis Pity She's a Whore Giovanni 1974 The God King General Miara 1975 Arthur of the Britons King Arthur 1978 The Stud Tony Blake 1979 Arabian Adventure Prince Hasan A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square "Foxy" 1983 The Wicked Lady Kit Locksby 1985 Mata Hari Captain Georges Ladoux 1986 Operation Nam Richard Wagner 1987 Johann Strauss 1988 The Choice Unknown 1991 L'ultima meta Cliff Gaylor Firestar: First Contact Captain Bremner 1993 Nexus Tarn 1995 Vendetta Colonel de Piemonte Savage Hearts Country Gent 1996 Past Into Present Himself 1997 Breeders Police Lieutenant Moore Diana & Me Himself 1998 The Brylcreem Boys Hans Jorg Wolff Candy The Man Mozart in Turkey Bassa Selim 1999 Grizzly Falls Genet Darkness Falls The Money Dealer Alec to the Rescue! Professor James Richards 2001 Journey of a Lifetime, Europe and the Middle East Narrator 2003 Half-Empty Lead Don't Look Back! Tom Johnson 2004 Method Teddy 2005 An Airfield in England Writer / Director 2015 Dad's Army Wilhelm Canaris The Honourable Rebel Himself 2016 Open My Eyes Gunter Meinertzhagen 2017 When the Devil Rides Out "Doc" Antler 2020 Conjuring: The Book of the Dead Dr. Klien

Television