Early Life and Career
Lindsay was born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, to Norman and Joyce Stevenson. Lindsay was one of three children and his father was a World War Two veteran, having been a minesweeper on one of the first boats to land in D-Day. After leaving Gladstone Boys' School, Lindsay enrolled in the drama department of Clarendon College in Nottingham, intending to become a drama teacher. However, friends at Nottingham Playhouse encouraged him to apply to Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and in 1968 he was accepted there with the aid of a government grant. After graduation he worked as dialect coach for a repertory company in Essex, and then joined a regional theatre group.
Lindsay first came to prominence as the cockney layabout Jakey Smith in the ITV comedy series Get Some In!. He was given the starring role as delusional revolutionary Wolfie Smith in the BBC sitcom Citizen Smith (1977–80) which gave him a high profile at the time.
Read more about this topic: Robert Lindsay (actor)
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