The Night Caller star Robert Glenister has a very famous family – with a father, brother, wife and son all in showbiz.
In fact, Robert has performed alongside his brother and son on separate occasions, both times being directed by his wife!
Here’s everything you need to know about The Night Caller star Robert Glenister, his impressive career, and his just as impressive familial connections.
How old is Robert Glenister?
Robert was born in Watford on March 11, 1960. At the time of writing, he is 64 years old.
Despite suffering a speech impediment in his youth, Robert found a love of the theatre arts and decided to pursue acting after graduating from Harrow Weald Grammar School.
He is the son of the retired TV director John Glenister. In a career spanning more than three decades, John directed the ITV adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma (1972) as well as Casanova (1971) and A Touch of Frost (1994).
Are Robert Glenister and Philip Glenister related?
Robert and Philip Glenister are indeed brothers! Philip is Robert’s younger brother by three years.
As TV fans will know, Philip is also an actor. His most recognised role is that of DCI Gene Hunt in Life on Mars and its sequel Ashes to Ashes. The series was an award-winner for BBC One, bagging a BAFTA and two International Emmys.
Prior to Life on Mars, Philip appeared in recurring roles on Roger Roger and Clocking Off. He also portrayed photographer Lawrence in the Helen Mirren and Julie Walters-fronted comedy Calendar Girls.
More recently, Philip has starred in Julian Fellowes drama Belgravia and Wales-set thriller Steeltown Murders. He also played the dodgy property developer Jack Radcliffe in this year’s ITV hit After the Flood.
Despite their familiar connection and long careers as actors, Robert and Philip have only acted together once – and it was for radio! In 2016, they starred in a Radio 4 adaptation of Sam Shepard’s play True West, directed by Robert’s wife Celia de Wolff.
Robert told the Irish Times in 2019: “People have suggested that we do something together on the telly, playing brothers or something. We’re still busy doing individual things – but maybe, one day.”
What has The Night Caller star Robert Glenister been in?
Robert is a prominent name on British television, having played the role of ‘fixer’ Ash Morgan in eight series of the hit BBC One con artist drama Hustle. The critically acclaimed drama followed a group of fraudsters who specialised in highly elaborate cons. He also portrayed Home Secretary Nicholas Blake in British spy drama Spooks from series 5 to 9.
Robert’s break out role came in 1980 when he starred in the sitcom Sink or Swim. The BBC comedy explored the lives of two warring brothers living together on a houseboat. He went on to score recurring roles in Doctor Who, Chancer and Soldier Soldier.
In 2016, Robert starred alongside Indira Varma in detective drama Paranoid, as well as Cold War drama Close to the Enemy. The following year, he played the recurring role of George Kirkbright in Cold Feet.
More recently, Robert appeared in series 3 of BBC drama Strike in 2020. In 2022, he starred alongside David Morrissey in crime drama Sherwood, as well as in AppleTV+’s Suspicion.
And of course, this year he’ll play Tony, a lonely taxi driver with a frightening obsession, in Channel 5’s The Night Caller.
And if his voice seems weirdly familiar, it’s because Robert also narrated the opening sequence of every episode of Law & Order: UK (2009-2014)!
Who is Robert Glenister married to?
Robert married actress Amanda Redman in 1984, but the couple divorced just eight years later in 1992. They share a daughter together.
Also a well known performer, Amanda’s glittering acting CV includes ten years in BBC One drama New Tricks as well as five more in The Good Karma Hospital.
Robert later married current wife Celia de Wolff, who is a BBC radio director. The pair have worked together multiple times on radio projects, including the aforementioned True West in 2016.
Celia is hugely successful in her own right, having helmed BBC Radio 4’s War and Peace – starring John Hurt – and the Harry Potter audiobooks starring Stephen Fry.
The couple share a son, Tom, who has also made an acting debut alongside his prolific parents!
Robert and Tom starred together in ITV lockdown anthology series Isolation Stories. The series, which premiered in 2020, told the stories of individuals stuck in Covid lockdown – as the series filmed under strict government guidelines.
The father and son duo appeared in the second episode of the drama, as a father with early stage dementia and his ex-convict son. Behind the camera was wife and mother Celia.
Speaking about working with her family, Celia said: “I was more concentrating on the fact I was holding the camera straight. I felt slightly, not disassociated as such, but I just had my job to do. But when I watched it as a member of the audience I found it incredibly powerful.”
The Night Caller on Channel 5
Robert Glenister stars as Tony, a taxi driver and former teacher, in new thriller The Night Caller.
When the lonely and isolated Tony calls into a late night radio talk show, he finds a place he feels heard.
Radio host Lawrence (Sean Pertwee) becomes a confidante and source of inspiration for Tony, who spirals into a dangerous obsession.
The Night Caller premieres on Channel 5 on Sunday (July 7) at 9pm.
Read more: After the Flood star Philip Glenister: Brother Robert isn’t the only other actor in the family
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