Helpmann, Sir Robert Murray (1909–86), Australian-born ballet dancer, choreographer, actor, and director who successfully made the transition from dancing to acting, bringing to both the same meticulous attention to detail and artistic integrity. He first appeared, as dancer and actor, in Sydney, and in 1933 joined the Vic-Wells Ballet, being principal dancer of the Sadler's Wells Ballet from its inception until 1950. He first came into prominence as an actor in London when he played Oberon in
A Midsummer Night's Dream at the
Old Vic at Christmas 1937, repeating the part the following Christmas. In 1944 he appeared with the Old Vic company at the New Theatre (now the
Albery) as Hamlet, and in 1947, in partnership with Michael Benthall, took over the
Duchess Theatre, where he was seen as Flamineo in Webster's
The White Devil and Prince in
Andreyev's He Who Gets Slapped. He then went to the
Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, where in 1948 he again played Hamlet, as well as Shylock in
The Merchant of Venice and King John. He returned to the London stage in 1951 (NY, 1951) to play Apollodorus in Shaw's
Caesar and Cleopatra and Octavius Caesar in
Antony and Cleopatra, with Laurence
Olivier and Vivien
Leigh. He was seen as the Doctor in Shaw's
The Millionairess (London and NY, 1952) on its first West End appearance, playing opposite Katharine
Hepburn. With the Old Vic company, which he directed in a number of plays including
Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral (1953), he appeared in a wide variety of Shakespearian parts, his versatility encompassing in 1955 Petruchio in
The Taming of the Shrew and Angelo in
Measure for Measure, and in 1956–7 Launce in
The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Pinch in
The Comedy of Errors as well as the title-role in
Richard III. Among his non-Shakespearian parts were Georges de Valera in
Sartre's Nekrassov (1957) and Sebastien in
Coward's Nude with Violin which he took over from
Gielgud in the same year. He also directed
Giraudoux's Duel of Angels (1960) and the musical
Camelot (1964). From 1965 to 1976 he was Director of the Australian Ballet, and in 1970 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Adelaide Festival, returning briefly to London in 1971 to direct a new production, several times revived, of
Barrie's Peter Pan.
