# Oliver Tobias

Oliver Tobias Freitag (born 6 August 1947), known professionally as Oliver Tobias, is a Swiss-born, UK-based film, stage and television actor and director.

## Biography

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. In 1968, he 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.

## Film career

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 was ultimately recast.
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

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 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 | |
| 1979 | A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square | "Foxy" | |
| 1983 | The Wicked Lady | Kit Locksby | |
| 1985 | Mata Hari | Captain Georges Ladoux | |
| 1986 | Operation Nam (Cobra Mission) | Richard Wagner | |
| 1987 | Johann Strauss: The King Without a Crown [de] | Johann Strauss | |
| 1988 | The Choice | Unknown | |
| 1991 | L'ultima meta | Cliff Gaylor | |
| 1991 | Firestar: First Contact | Captain Bremner | |
| 1993 | Nexus | Tarn | |
| 1995 | Vendetta | Colonel de Piemonte | |
| 1995 | Savage Hearts | Country Gent | |
| 1996 | Past Into Present | Himself | |
| 1997 | Breeders | Police Lieutenant Moore | |
| 1997 | Diana & Me | Himself | |
| 1998 | The Brylcreem Boys | Hans Jorg Wolff | |
| 1998 | Candy | The Man | |
| 1998 | Mozart in Turkey | Bassa Selim | |
| 1999 | Grizzly Falls | Genet | |
| 1999 | Darkness Falls | The Money Dealer | |
| 1999 | Alec to the Rescue! | Professor James Richards | |
| 2001 | Journey of a Lifetime, Europe and the Middle East | | Narrator |
| 2003 | Half-Empty | Lead | |
| 2003 | Don't Look Back! | Tom Johnson | |
| 2004 | Method | Teddy | |
| 2005 | An Airfield in England | | Writer / Director |
| 2015 | Dad's Army | Wilhelm Canaris | |
| 2015 | 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

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1972–1973 | Arthur of the Britons | King Arthur | 24 episodes |
| 1974 | Luke's Kingdom | Luke Firbeck | 13 episodes |
| 1975 | Thriller | Alan Smerdon | Episode: "Won't Write Home Mom - I'm Dead" |
| 1977 | Jesus of Nazareth | Joel | TV Mini-Series |
| 1980 | Smuggler | Jack Vincent | 13 episodes |
| 1985 | Robin of Sherwood | Bertrand de Nivelle | Episode: "Lord of the Trees" |
| 1985 | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Captain Jack Crocker | Episode: "The Abbey Grange" |
| 1986 | Mountain Men: A Dangerous Kind of Love | Melchior Anderegg | TV movie |
| 1986 | Adventurer | Jack Vincent | 12 episodes |
| 1988 | Boon | Jonathan Hillary | 2 episodes |
| 1989 | Der Schattenspieler | Unknown | |
| 1990 | Cluedo | Count Henri de Beauchamp | Episode: "Countdown" |
| 1990 | The Paper Man | Ian Harris | 3 episodes |
| 1992–1993 | Flash - Der Fotoreporter | "Flash" | 6 episodes |
| 1992 | Glückliche Reise | Leibwächter Mathias | Episode: "Sri Lanka" |
| 1993 | Donauprinzessin | Rick Reimers | 12 episodes |
| 1993 | Das Traumschiff | Stefan Reinking | Episode: "Hongkong" |
| 1994 | Broken Lullaby | Count Borodin | TV movie |
| 1994 | Eurocops | Crook | Episode: "Drei Mädchen" |
| 1995 | The Knock II | Alan Montfort | 6 episodes |
| 1997 | Sharpe's Waterloo | Colonel Rebecque | TV movie |
| 1997 | Real Women | Callun | |
| 2000 | Klinik unter Palmen | Dr. Rudolfo Garcia | 3 episodes |
| 2001 | Der Bestseller | Miguel Gonzales | TV movie |
| 2002 | Holby City | Jim Frost | Episode: "Every Cloud..." |
| 2005 | Unter weißen Segeln | Yussuf Arazi | Episode: "Abschiedsvorstellung" |
| 2006 | Mord in bester Gesellschaft | Comissario Santa Cruz | Episode: "Mord in bester Gesellschaft" |
| 2006 | Abschiedsmorgen | Father | |
| 2008 | Hunkeler macht Sachen | Thomas Garzoni | TV movie |