{{Short description|Australian-British actor (1933–2021)}} {{Other uses|Robert Inglis (disambiguation){{!}}Robert Inglis}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025|cs1-dates=ly}} thumb|right|Rob Inglis '''Robert Keith Inglis''' (9 March 1933{{snd}}23 May 2021) was an Australian-British actor, playwright, dramatist, journalist, critic and producer. He was the narrator of the first unabridged audiobook editions of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit''.
==Life and career== Inglis was born in Australia on 9 March 1933,<ref name="OUP"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Camden Central Community Umbrella |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04144035/filing-history |website=Companies House |access-date=2025-09-21 |location=New Director Appointed form filed 19 February 2002}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20250923212508/https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/J1Fcj8ej9VlVnR6u6TqQlnM3RzkZNkuGNALLS5zwxw4/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3KX5BBAE2%2F20250923%2Feu-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20250923T212433Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEMX%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCWV1LXdlc3QtMiJHMEUCIArhACjzB35wt0KkwU0aHACykQZ0ooAUZCtGqk%2BgHyk5AiEA19WB6owma2XOlDudUHBcBxkG8c2m4OogIzLRWOJmfNEqgQQIThAFGgw0NDkyMjkwMzI4MjIiDNAytNf3OnflVTgwwyreA9vRlBu0t5lGubHHukxJN3c8ls62UaF2HR3Gu%2FbqlB%2BMAtJzOPvAfsfxlVrhCfirmeUYlJm4T0sIQHeBzR%2FD97OYhUi5W4m8Y1%2B0zzMBB2tSHkq2fMs2UUy3AHhZiZ7F%2BbhC0IP9ZFDyPVT8eWNucpFQe%2F9zogKniUoHs9%2BcST%2BQ014xfkMRyB5qhiPNwG53NzcO%2BfJINt6VvDxJStnpLLKDmHYTQVfm0eSe%2BWk3FP4H8Oqj09kR5xvrXZMyp35hPhEjCoJ6kwBsqlIW05O6JIIw4M%2FFBs%2BpSY5JTSsmvt2jiOQFICsr7B0aF4u5deaRRUN7mFn5CeIf1oHMtFhnXfKkrt7ObHjasDROK3XlCcX%2BeUNp%2Fd3XdwLrIlsN%2Bh5ST9WoEDsfF3S4o70mXnxCGl6Bew0LLbnPfVVZg4JA%2F5F1BtynX3QwMOhgL9Hvd50J034bK21tVqJqU6fyOCiGkZ2%2FWRbCpaqjtv77JoaV8CNMD5AIlD9OMXp2xMm2EWpo35%2F44LdrmoPdwYgDtG8qqLCHMk3RdbcRAxJS1M%2BMQxq33%2FT6NMU3VOaOlBf2vYgu3D5Ox4KOcVJ4I%2Ba0l2grNiX0UxcXilreqH8VqKRXRmmzFiMDIUDgIrQBQvADBFkw9obMxgY6pQEdZ2G71R0pCoZ229h9DljmItIqGo9ntM3tfeXhELNNEaB4%2FpReu0vz0Mt4d7jaNiHK41o5pqudTzUXBePqHiPKZUU3Kcqgiw9Gvx9HRXbPFUFEDHNP3WUvvPik%2BOXJsilzOBoEAeb1VsV8C%2BMZTTGaVXOR1UewBko%2FyQC4dk3sh%2B7j1lhYgyAxBIYIOFlJ5OAOSto8df1Kxn3ZbH%2F8q2IOzjxNp2E%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=inline%3Bfilename%3D%22companies_house_document.pdf%22&X-Amz-Signature=6db5f8250a7c8f60e63adf5e2c665e3c4d531357d080c51ef71f983d696717e2 Alt URL]</ref> and moved to England in 1955.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Toebelmann |first1=Wiebke |title=Across the divide: Somali poet finds a voice in King's Cross |journal=Camden New Journal |date=30 October 2008 |url=https://www.thecnj.com/camden/2008/103008/education103008.html |access-date=2025-09-22}}</ref>
His plays included ''Voyage of the Endeavour'' (1965), based on the journal of Captain James Cook; ''Canterbury Tales'' (1968), dramatised readings from Chaucer; ''Erf'' (1971), a one-actor play about the twenty-first century; ''A Rum Do'' (1970), a musical based on the governorship of Lachlan Macquarie; and ''Men Who Shaped Australia, for Better or for Worse'' (1968), a one-actor play dealing with significant historical figures.<ref name="OUP">{{cite book |editor-last=Wilde |editor-first=William H. |year=1994 |chapter=Inglis, Rob (1933– ) |title=The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature (2 ed.) |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000wild/page/400/mode/2up?q=inglis 400] |publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref>
For the Australian Museum in Sydney, as the theatrical producer in 1979, Inglis worked with secondary school students to direct an ecological drama "What are you doing, strange creature?" The creation of this drama from initial idea to final performance - script, songs, staging, programmes - engaged some sixty "Discoverers" for months, translating ideas on conservation of the environment into visual forms.<ref>{{cite book |last=McDonald |first=Patricia |editor-last=Strahan |editor-first=Ronald |editor-link=Ronald Strahan |url=https://media.australian.museum/media/dd/Uploads/Documents/27103/Rare_and_Curious_Specimens_complete_lowres_web.847217d.pdf |chapter=Education |title=Rare and Curious Specimens: An Illustrated History of the Australian Museum, 1827-1979 |publisher=Australian Museum |year=1979 |page=159 }}</ref>
His more recent works include a play about Lisa Pontecorvo, the daughter of geneticist Guido Pontecorvo, it played in small theatres and community centres around England in 2010 and 2011.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gruner |first=Peter |title=Lisa the musical – a dramatic tribute to Ms Pontecorvo |work=CamdenNewJournal |date=5 February 2010 |url=http://www.camdennewjournal.com/news/2010/feb/lisa-musical-%E2%80%93-dramatic-tribute-ms-pontecorvo |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140110103553/http://www.camdennewjournal.com/news/2010/feb/lisa-musical-%E2%80%93-dramatic-tribute-ms-pontecorvo |archive-date=2014-01-10 |url-status=dead |access-date=2014-01-09 }}</ref> In 2012, he was awarded a £16,000 Arts Council grant to write ''Regent's Canal, a Folk Opera'', a musical that celebrates the 200th anniversary of the digging of the eight-mile Regent's Canal.<ref name="Gruner">{{cite web |last=Gruner |first=Peter |title=Musical writer Rob Inglis finishes off folk opera script from hospital bed |work=CamdenNewJournal |date=23 August 2012 |url=http://www.camdennewjournal.com/news/2012/aug/musical-writer-rob-inglis-finishes-folk-opera-script-hospital-bed |access-date=2014-01-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109175931/http://www.camdennewjournal.com/news/2012/aug/musical-writer-rob-inglis-finishes-folk-opera-script-hospital-bed |archive-date=2014-01-09 }}</ref>
Inglis adapted works to stage for one-man performances of ''A Christmas Carol'' (1983),<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Guernsey |editor-first=Otis L. |title=The Best Plays of 1983-1984: The Burns Mantle Yearbook |publisher=Dodd, Mead |year=1984 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bestplaysfo1983100guer/page/408/mode/2up?q=inglis 408] |isbn=9780396083474 }}</ref> and ''Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'', for which Inglis was called "one of the wonders of the Fringe."<ref>{{cite book |last=Edwards |first=Owen Dudley |title=City of a thousand worlds: Edinburgh in festival |publisher=Mainstream Publishing |year=1991 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cityofthousandwo0000edwa/page/189/mode/2up?q=inglis 189–190] |isbn=9781851583980 | author-link = Owen Dudley Edwards}}</ref> He has also adapted Chaucer, Shakespeare, Tolkien and Orwell to one act performances.<ref name="RB">{{cite web |title=Rob Inglis |publisher=Recorded Books |url=http://www.recordedbooks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=rb.show_narr&narr_id=2378 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140109025245/http://www.recordedbooks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=rb.show_narr&narr_id=2378 |archive-date=2014-01-09 |access-date=2014-01-08}}</ref> Inglis has appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court Theatre, playing characters such as the Ghost and Claudius in ''Hamlet'' and Mr. Bumble in ''Oliver!''.<ref name="RB"/>
Inglis' television appearances include as Ned Kelly in ''The Stringybark Massacre'' (short, 1968); as Chief sub in ''Play for Today'' (TV series, 1978/79); as Professor Doom in ''Wizbit'' (TV series, 1986); as Alan Clark in ''Casualty'' (TV series, 2002).
Inglis narrated audiobooks by Tolkien (described below), and the first three books by Ursula K. Le Guin in the Earthsea Cycle.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tierney |first=Mark Phillips |title=Audiovisual Review: Recordings |journal=School Library Journal |date=1 March 1995 |page=175 |volume=41 |number=3 |url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/book-reviews/9503147548/audiovisual-review-recordings |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109042418/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/book-reviews/9503147548/audiovisual-review-recordings |archive-date=2014-01-09 |access-date=2014-01-08}}</ref>
As of 2012, Inglis was living in Somers Town, a district in central London.<ref name="Gruner"/> He died 23 May 2021 of undisclosed causes, possibly in Australia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Deceased Estates |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4847668 |website=The Gazette |access-date=2025-09-23}}</ref> He was 88 years old.
==Tolkien works== In the 1970s and 80s, Inglis wrote, produced and acted in one-man stage dramatisations of ''The Hobbit'' and '' The Lord of the Rings''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Scull |first1=Christina |last2=Hammond |first2=Wayne G. |title=JRR Tolkien Companion & Guide: Reader's Guide |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=2006 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780618391011/page/8/mode/2up?q=inglis 9], [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780618391011/page/22/mode/2up?q=inglis 23] |isbn=9780618391011 | author-link = Christina Scull | author-link2 = Wayne G. Hammond }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elanorahts-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/zipweb/library4.html |title=Book Week 1997: Rob Inglis performed during Book Week as a one-man show (photos) |date=16 August 1997 |work=Elanora Heights Primary School Library |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615031150/http://www.elanorahts-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/zipweb/library4.html |archive-date=2008-06-15 |location=NSW Australia}}</ref> The performance of ''The Hobbit'' won the ''Festival Times'' 'Best Solo' award in 1981.<ref>{{cite journal |title=One-man Chaucer's Tales |journal=Hemel Hempstead Gazette |date=9 October 1981 |page=9}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Virtuoso recreates Tolkien Classic |journal=The Dumfries and Galloway Standard and Advertiser |date=23 April 1993 |page=31}}</ref>
It was through his one-man stage adaptations that he was noticed by Recorded Books and asked to narrate an unabridged edition of ''Lord of the Rings'' (1990) and soon after ''The Hobbit'' (1991).<ref>{{cite book |last=Wolf |first=Mark J. P. |title=Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Subcreation |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |page=247 |isbn=978-1136220807 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rc6HgH34s0wC&q=%22Rob+Inglis%22}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Carr |first=Jo |title=Producing audiobooks: How do they do it? |journal=Horn Book Magazine |date=March 1994 |volume=70 |issue=2 |page=181 |url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9403147607/producing-audiobooks-how-do-they-do-it |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109042301/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9403147607/producing-audiobooks-how-do-they-do-it |archive-date=2014-01-09 }}</ref> It was one of Recorded Books best-selling titles<ref>{{cite book |last=Pederson |first=Jay P. |title=International Directory of Company Histories |volume=84 |publisher=Gale |year=2007 |page=[https://archive.org/details/internationaldir0000unse_t9l0/page/180/mode/2up?q=inglis 181] |isbn=9781558625884 }}</ref> however prior to 2012 it was only available on physical media (CD-ROM or tape) at which point it was released in digital format.<ref name="Miller">{{cite web |last=Miller |first=Laura |title="The Hobbit" uncut, at last |work=Salon.com |date=18 October 2013 |url=http://www.salon.com/2012/10/18/the_hobbit_uncut_at_last/ |access-date=2014-01-08 | author-link = Laura Miller (writer)}}</ref> Laura Miller of ''Salon.com'' said
:"Inglis strikes precisely the right note in his narration. It is an old-fashioned audiobook narration, one that feels more read than performed, although the voices of the many characters are all well-developed. It's ever so slightly prosy, and the sensation conveyed is exactly like listening to a favourite relative read to a beloved child the same book he (beautifully) read to you when you were a child."<ref name="Miller"/>
Until Andy Serkis' 2020 recording,<ref>{{cite web |last=Beck |first=Kellen |title='The Hobbit' is getting a new audiobook edition read by Andy Serkis |work=Mashable |date=5 July 2020 |url=https://mashable.com/article/andy-serkis-the-hobbit-audio-book/ |access-date=2023-12-28}}</ref> Inglis' reading of ''The Hobbit'' was the only commercially available unabridged edition of the book.<ref>The Library of Congress, which produces recorded books exclusively for use by the blind or physically handicapped, has produced three recordings of ''The Hobbit'', two of which predate the Inglis recording. See Adaptations of The Hobbit.</ref><ref name="Drout"/> The ''J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia'' (2006) called it a "remarkable performance in which he provides distinctive voices for the various characters and sings the songs in the story".<ref name="Drout">{{cite book |last=Drout |first=Michael D.C. |title=J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |page=131 |isbn=1135880344 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=by0dzzQ6m8sC&dq=%22Rob+Inglis%22&pg=PA131 | author-link = Michael D. C. Drout }}</ref> It further says of ''The Lord of the Rings'' narration, "his voices for the characters are less dramatic and there are no sound effects".<ref name="Drout"/>
In a 2001 ''AudioFile'' interview, Inglis says they recorded ''Lord of the Rings'' in an "intense" six-week period in 1990 at the New York studio of Recorded Books.<ref name="Menta">{{cite web |last=Menta |first=Joseph P. |title=Talking With Rob Inglis |work=AudioFile |date=December 2001 – January 2002 |url=http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/RobInglis.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108001633/http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/RobInglis.html |archive-date=2014-01-08 |url-status=dead |access-date=2014-01-08 }}</ref> They then recorded ''The Hobbit'' about a year later. Inglis prepared with guidance from acting colleges in dramatic societies to perfect the many character voices.<ref name="Menta"/> Inglis says, "There is much in the original writing that suggests how a character should be brought to life. It's quite strange. At times it felt like Tolkien himself was talking to me through his prose, telling me how things should be."<ref name="Menta"/> Inglis says he composed some of the music for the songs himself, some music was composed by Tolkien, and Claudia Howard of Recorded Books composed the rest.<ref name="Menta"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Inglis, Rob}} Category:1933 births Category:2021 deaths Category:Australian emigrants to England Category:Australian male actors Category:20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights Category:Tolkien artists Category:Audiobook narrators Category:Australian expatriates in England