Oliver Tobias, a dashingly handsome actor, has enjoyed a five-decade-long career on stage, screen, and TV. Born Oliver Tobias Freitag on August 6, 1947, in Zurich, Switzerland, he was the son of Swiss actor Robert Freitag and German actress Maria Becker, who divorced when he was young.
Living in England from age 8, Oliver was sent to boarding school and later encouraged by his mother to study at the East 15 Acting School (1965-1968),which coincided with dance training at the Ecole de Dance in Zurich.
In 1968, he appeared in the original London production of "Hair" playing the role of Berger. He then starred, staged, and choreographed the rock opera in Amsterdam and Tel Aviv. Oliver continued his counterculture musical career with the role of Judas in a German touring company of "Jesus Christ Superstar."
Around this time, he started making an impression in films with international productions such as "Romance of a Horsethief" (1971),'Tis Pity She's a Whore" (1971),and "The God King" (1974). On TV, he enhanced classic stories from Sherlock Holmes to Robin Hood.
He earned TV stardom as King Arthur in the series "Arthur of the Britons" (1972) and then again played the youthful ruler of Camelot in "King Arthur, the Young Warlord" (1975) on film. From there, he graced a number of colorful costumes, including "Arabian Adventure" (1979) and on TV portrayed composer Johann Strauss in an equally colorful outing.
Despite this attention, Oliver did not give up his musical roots, showing his prowess in the title role of the rock opera "Peer Gynt" in Zurich and in the role of The Pirate King in "The Pirates of Penzance" at London's Drury Lane Theatre.
As a stretch, he also appeared as Bassa Selim in the Mozart opera "The Abduction from the Seraglio" in 1988 and 1989, then appeared in a non-musical, the powerful AIDS drama "The Normal Heart," shortly after.
Oliver's taste in movies has been eclectic to say the least, and not always tasteful. He appeared in Joan Collins' scurrilous, soft-core flick "The Stud" (1978) as an amorous waiter who sleeps his way to the top, and was part of the cast in the costumed romp "Mata Hari" (1985) which focused more on the disrobing of its star Sylvia Kristel than anything else.
For variety, he portrayed a Vietnam veteran in "Cobra Mission" (1986),a galactic dictator in "Nexus 2.431" (1994),and a U-boat captain in "The Brylcreem Boys" (1998). In 1999, he again returned to musical limelight, this time in London as King Roderick in "La Cava," based on the Dana Broccoli novel. He returned to the role a second time in 2001.
In 2003, he was Percival Brown in the 50th anniversary production of "The Boyfriend" and the very next year toured in the rock musical "Footloose."
Millennium films include prime appearances in the crime thriller "Don't Look Back!" (2003) and the romance thriller "Method" (2004),and featured roles in the war comedy "Dad's Army" (2016),the mystery drama "Open My Eyes" (2018),and two horror flicks, "When the Devil Rides Out" (2006) and "Conjuring: The Book of the Dead" (2020).
Divorced from Camilla Ravenshear, Oliver has two daughters, Angelika and Celeste. In 2001, he married Polish-born Arabella Zamoyska. The rugged charmer is in the process of writing a tell-all autobiography.
