Robert 'Bob' Keegan was born on the 3rd of December 1924 in Liverpool. His sister dragged him to a local amateur drama group to make friends which he says is the best thing anyone has done for him.
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| At home with wife Sally, Jamie and Pepi in 1963 |
Robert carved out quite a successful career for himself on the Hollywood big screen. He started off his career in film with roles in the adaptation, 'Julius Caesar' (1971) with Charlton Heston, 'All The Right Noises' (1971), 'Straw Dogs' (1971), 'Endless Night' (1972) with Hayley Mills, and the Alan Bates drama 'The Return of the Soldier' (1982). Later in his career, he acted in the films 'Turtle Diary (1985) and in 'Business As Usual' (1988) with Glenda Jackson.. He also did plenty of TV work in films such as 'Country Matters' (1974-75), 'The Children of the New Forest' (1977) and 'A Kind of Loving' (1982). Of them all, he is probably best remembered for playing the role of Harry Ware in 'Straw Dogs'.
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| With Colin Welland and Sue Jameson in 'Z Cars (1965) |
In all of his TV appearances, he will be fondly recalled for his role in 'Z-Cars' where he had a lengthy period as Sergeant Bob Blackitt, and then in the spin-off series 'Softly, Softly'. He appeared in 108 episodes of 'Z-Cars' between 1962 and 1965, which was set in the fictional Newtown, loosely based on the real-life modern suburb of Kirkby. In the spin-off series 'Softly, Softly', now retired and acting as a freelance helper, he appeared in 42 episodes between 1966 and 1967 as Mr. Bob Blackitt. Following this he appeared as Will Tarrant in 'The First Lady' (1968-69), a police constable in 'Sykes' (1972), Horace Harris in 'Beryl's Lot' (1973-76), Maurice Froggitt in 'Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt' (1976-77) and Sholakh in 'Doctor Who' (1988).
He lived with his family in Croydon, but spent a great deal of time in Blackpool where he had a cottage and he also had a donkey stud farm (Ringwood Ranch Donkey Stud, Ruff Orchard, Hawthorne Hill, Maidenhead), as he was just mad about animals, especially donkeys.
Robert passed away on the 16th of January, 1988 of lung cancer at the age of 63 in St Ann's Hospice, Little Hulton, Greater Manchester. In 2007 the Bolton News reported, 'Thomas Keegan, aged 12, will run 10 miles in a bid to collect as much as possible for the Christie Hospital in Manchester. The Bolton School pupil was just 10-years-old when his father, Jaime, died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, aged 42. His grandfather, Robert Keegan - star of the popular 1960s show Z Cars - died of lung cancer in 1988, before Thomas was born. But fundraising runs in the family, as Thomas's grandmother, Sal Keegan, and widow of Robert, raised £750,000 to build a day room at St Ann's Hospice in Little Hulton. The room, which was named after the actor, opened in 1991, a permanent memorial to Robert.'
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/08/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-sheila.html
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