I have found that a smile and a stick will carry you through all right, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it is the smile that does the trick.

In 1992 he starred in the New Zealand World War I film Chunuk Bair as Sgt Maj Frank Smith. He also appeared in the 1975 series Looking for Clancy based on the Frederic Mullally novel Clancy. In 1978 Powell took the leading role of Richard Hannay in the third film version of The Thirty Nine Steps.

Robert Powell (born 1 June 1944) is an English television and film actor best known for the title role in Jesus of Nazareth (1977) and as the fictional secret agent Richard Hannay. His distinctive voice has become well known in advertisements and documentaries.