John Franklyn-Robbins

John Franklyn-Robbins (14 December 1924 – 21 March 2009) was an English character actor and voice actor born in Wiltshire, England. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before beginning his professional career at the Manchester Library Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic. He died on 21 March 2009 at the age of 84.

Franklyn-Robbins built an extensive stage career across both the West End and Broadway, with a particular focus on classical and Shakespearean work. His range in Shakespeare encompassed roles as varied as Ariel in The Tempest and Macduff in Macbeth. His Broadway appearances spanned the decade from 1983 to 1993 and included productions of Timon of Athens, Three Men on a Horse, Saint Joan, The Seagull, and All's Well That Ends Well.

His television career began during the early years of both the BBC and ITV, and he accumulated credits across numerous prominent British series, among them The Avengers, The Baron, Z-Cars, Special Branch, Callan, I, Claudius, and Doctor Who, in which he appeared as a Time Lord in the 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks. He later appeared in the American series Star Trek: The Next Generation, playing Macias in the 1994 episode Preemptive Strike. Franklyn-Robbins was one of only ten actors to have appeared in both Doctor Who and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Additional television credits include the role of Antonio in a 1980 production of The Merchant of Venice, Phillotson in Jude the Obscure (1971), Atticus in I, Claudius (1976), and the Reverend Greet in The Woman in Black (1989). He also portrayed Giuseppe Garibaldi in The Onedin Line and provided the voice of the Dream Maker in the children's animated series The Dreamstone.

His film work spanned more than four decades. Early credits include Asylum (1972) and Overlord (1975), while later appearances included Mrs. Dalloway (1997), in which he played Lionel, Clarissa's father, and The Golden Compass (2007), in which he portrayed a librarian in what became his final film role. Additional film credits include The Pumpkin Eater (1964), The Plague Dogs (1982) as a voice performer, Vanity Fair (2004) as Mr. Sedley, and Terry Pratchett's Hogfather (2006) as the Dean.