Born in Broadstairs, Kent, England; educated at the Central School of Speech and Drama, London. Robinson was chosen to appear as Benvolio in Franco Zeffirelli's ROMEO AND JULIET during his third year of drama school and acted in several films -- notably Truffaut's L'HISTORIE D'ADÈLE H... (1975), as Lt. Albert Pinson -- before giving up performing in 1975 to concentrate on writing. Other screen acting credits include THE OTHER PEOPLE (1968), THE MUSIC LOVERS and TAM LIN (both 1970), PRIVATE ROAD (1971) and LOS VIAGES ESCOLARES / SCHOOL TRIP (1974). It took ten years and 20 screenplays before he secured the patronage of producer David Puttnam and his work reached the screen in the shape of the Oscar®-winning THE KILLING FIELDS (1984), directed by Roland Joffe. Robinson then parlayed the success of FIELDS into his first directing assignment, the critically acclaimed, semi-autobiographical WITHNAIL & I (1987). A laconic study of two "resting" actors set in the late 1960s, the film demonstrated Robinson's wry sense of humor, keen powers of social observation and ability to coax fine performances from his actors, Paul McGann and Richard E. Grant. Grant also starred in Robinson's HOW TO GET AHEAD IN ADVERTISING (1989), a blazing satire in which a boil on an ad exec's neck develops a life of its own and begins to spout apocalyptic right-wing ideology. Despite moments of brilliant high farce, the film failed to draw as wide an audience as WITHNAIL. Critical response to JENNIFER 8 (1992), a serial killer-thriller starring Andy Garcia and Uma Thurman, was generally poor, though some claimed the film's flaws were the result of excessive studio intervention during the making of the film. Other notable writing credits (alone or in collaboration) include FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY (1989), RETURN TO PARADISE (1998), IN DREAMS (1999) and THE RUM DIARY (scheduled for 2009, also director).  Nominated for Writing (Best Screenplay based on material from another medium) 1984: THE KILLING FIELDS 1 nomination