Robin David Sachs was an English actor, active in the theatre, television and films. He was also known for his voice-over work in films and video games. Born to a theatrical family, Sachs studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and made a theatrical and screen career, working his way up from supporting parts in the 1970s to leading roles from the 1980s. He made his later career in America, and became known for his role of Ethan Rayne in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Life and career
Sachs was born in London, the elder of two sons of the South African-born actor Leonard Sachs and the English actress Eleanor Summerfield. His father was Jewish. After leaving school he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, after which he followed the traditional route of provincial repertory and touring before being cast in supporting roles in West End productions during the 1970s, including Pirandello's Henry IV, with Rex Harrison; Pericles, with Derek Jacobi, and Pinero's The Gay Lord Quex, with Judi Dench, directed by John Gielgud. He appeared in leading stage roles, in Leicester in 1979 in Sartre's The Assassin, Brighton in 1984 in Love Affair with Siân Phillips, and at the Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon in 1985 in On Approval with Polly James and Christopher Biggins, On British television he was cast in Brideshead Revisited, Upstairs, Downstairs, Rumpole of the Bailey, Quiller and Gentlemen and Players. In the 1983 series Chessgame he played the secret agent Hugh Roskill. Sachs's first film role was as Heinrich, a young vampire, in Hammer and's Vampire Circus. He played Thomas Culpepper, Catherine Howard's lover in Henry VIII and his Six Wives, and featured in The Disappearance alongside Donald Sutherland. In the early 1990s Sachs moved to Los Angeles after being cast as a guest star in the television series Jake and the Fatman and played Adam Carrington in the miniseries'. He remained based in the US, guest starring in television shows including The Return of Ironside with Raymond Burr. Among his later films were Steven Spielberg's ' and Steven Soderbergh's remake of Ocean's Eleven. He appeared in several science-fiction programmes on television, including Star Trek and Torchwood, and in 1999 played General Sarris in the satirical comedy Galaxy Quest, co-starring Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver. In 2002 he was cast as Peter Brazier, head of Nexexcon in Megalodon. In his last film appearance, Northfork, he played Cup of Tea, the leader of the vestigial community of a town about to be flooded. Sachs became known for his role as the sorcerer Ethan Rayne in the American television seriesBuffy the Vampire Slayer, and for voicing Zaeed Massani in the Mass Effectvideo game franchise, Admiral Saul Karath in , Sergeant Roderick in SpongeBob SquarePants and Xoloti in Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom. In recognition of his popularity as a voice artist, following his death, a Mass Effect 3 multiplayer challenge was enacted during the last weekend of February 2013, called "Operation Tribute". Sachs was twice married – from 1979 to 1991 to Siân Phillips, and from 2001 to 2006 to the American actress Casey DeFranco. Both marriages were dissolved. He died of a heart attack on 1 February 2013, four days before his 62nd birthday.
