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Biography

Born in Oslo, Norway in 1952 and into a convoluted family tree which includes half-sister Suzanne Dance, a Scottish actor, and biological father Gordon R. Hancock, an amateur actor with 55-years of British theatre credits, Robert was moved to Montreal in 1960. His first television appearance followed two years later, when he was chastised on-air for eating too much cake on The Magic Tom birthday show.

A year later, he was a child reviewer on CBMT’s Bookworm TV program, followed by a stint as alternate host of CTV’s popular Tween Set.

After a long premature retirement, he returned to the public eye – or ear, at least – as the radio voice for Sir George Williams University (now Concordia) sports, and hockey play-by-play for CRSG. He also served as editor-in-chief of the college newspaper, and received the University Council on Student Life Award in 1973.

Following university and short-lived stints as a reporter, he took a stab at professional baseball umpiring before wasting a decade traveling the world as an airline employee before almost making a living as a free-lance writer, with emphasis on the 'free'.

A chance walk-on appearance in the romantic comedy Soup's On at The Mill in Sonning, England - where half-brother Phil Hancock was serving as technical director - brought him back to the stage in 1988. Now twice bitten, he thought he could likely starve more efficiently as an actor than a writer, and returned to stage work in Canada, initially  with Hemmingford's Shoestring Theatre, where he appeared in numerous productions before writing and directing  A Very Borderline Case.

Professionally, the humble new beginnings included a first paying gig playing a 1910 photographer who spent an entire shoot under his antique camera's hood, and as a television commercial extra standing at a men's room urinal. His distinctive voice provided better meal money and exposure as a narrator and audio storybook reader before Atlantic City's   Richard Ciupka cast him in the principal actor role as the  Dutch police chief in Global's Movie of  the Week Task Force Caviar.

"That's when I knew what I really wanted to do," he says. "Big-time, well-paying roles with quality productions.

 "Now, if only they were as enthused by me."

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