Robin in the Media
At Kirklees Priory in West Yorkshire stands an alleged grave with a spurious inscription, which relates to Robin Hood. The ballads relate that before he died, Robin told Little John where to bury him. He shot an arrow from the priory window, and where the arrow landed was to be the site of his grave. Gest states that the prioress was a relative of Robin's. Robin was ill and staying at the priory where the prioress was supposedly caring for him. However, she betrayed him, his health worsened, and he eventually died there. The inscription on the grave reads,

Hear underneath dis laitl stean
Laz robert earl of Huntingtun
Ne'er arcir ver as hie sa geud
An pipl kauld im robin heud
Sick [such] utlawz as he an iz men
Vil england nivr si agen
Obiit 24 kal: Dekembris, 1247

The Robin Hood legend has endured for nearly a millennia, and been retold in recent years through visual media.



The following is a partial list of films and television shows that have kept the legend alive:

Feature Films

1908: Robin Hood and His Merry Men, a silent film directed by Percy Stow, and the first appearance of Robin Hood on the screen.
1912: Robin Hood, a silent film starring Robert Frazer as Robin Hood.
1912: Robin Hood Outlawed, a British silent film starring A. Brian Plant as Robin Hood.
1913: Robin Hood, a silent film starring William Russell as Robin Hood.
1913: In the Days of Robin Hood, a British short film starring Harry Agar Lyons as Robin Hood.
Theatrical features
1922: Robin Hood, a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks.
1938: The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn as Robin Hood, his most acclaimed role, with Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian, Eugene Pallette as Friar Tuck, Alan Hale, Sr. as Little John, Basil Rathbone as Guy of Gisborne, Claude Rains as Prince John, Patric Knowles as Will Scarlet, Melville Cooper as the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Ian Hunter as Richard I of England. Considered by many to be the best Robin Hood movie.
1946: The Bandit of Sherwood Forest, a film starring Cornel Wilde as Robert of Nottingham, Robin Hood's son; Robin Hood is played by Russell Hicks.
1948: The Prince of Thieves, a film starring Jon Hall as Robin Hood.
1950: Rogues of Sherwood Forest, a film starring John Derek as Robin Hood's son, Robin of Huntington.
1951: Tales of Robin Hood, a Robert Lippert film with Robert Clarke as Robin Hood
1952: The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men, a feature from Walt Disney, starring Richard Todd as Robin, Joan Rice as Marian, Peter Finch as the Sheriff of Nottingham, James Hayter as Friar Tuck, James Robertson Justice as Little John, Hubert Gregg as Prince John, Elton Hayes as Alan-a-Dale, Anthony Forwood as Will Scarlet, and Patrick Barr as King Richard.
1954: The Men of Sherwood Forest, a Hammer Films feature starring Don Taylor as Robin.
1958: The Son of Robin Hood, in which the 'son' of Robin Hood, actually his daughter, is played by June Laverick.
1960: Sword of Sherwood Forest, a Hammer version, with Richard Greene reprising his television role.
1967: A Challenge for Robin Hood, a Hammer version, with Barrie Ingham as Robin Hood.
1969: Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood, a Hammer version.
1973: Robin Hood, an animated musical version starring animals produced by Walt Disney Productions.
1976: Robin and Marian, starring Sean Connery as Robin, Audrey Hepburn as Maid Marian, Nichol Williamson as Little John and Ronnie Barker as Friar Tuck.
1991: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner as Robin, Morgan Freeman as Azeem, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Marian, Christian Slater as Will Scarlet, Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Mike McShane as Friar Tuck, Nick Brimble as Little John, and Michael Wincott as Guy of Gisbourne, with Sean Connery appearing as King Richard in the finale.
1991: Robin Hood, starring Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman, a reinvention of the story pitting Robin Hood against different antagonists.[5] The film was released theatrically in Europe, Australia and Japan, and on television on the Fox network in the United States and in South America.
1993: Robin Hood: Men in Tights, a film by Mel Brooks that spoofs both the 1938 and the 1991 films and recycles bits from his short-lived late-1975 Robin Hood TV sitcom When Things Were Rotten. Cary Elwes plays Robin in the movie. Richard Lewis plays Prince John while Roger Rees plays the Sheriff of Nottingham. Amy Yasbeck plays Marian, Eric Alan Kramer is Little John, and Matthew Porretta is Will Scarlet. Patrick Stewart appears in the ending, spoofing Sean Connery's take on King Richard.
2010: Robin Hood, a film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe as Robin, Cate Blanchett as Marian, Oscar Isaac as Prince John, Danny Huston as King Richard, Mark Addy as Friar Tuck, Matthew Macfadyen as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Kevin Durand as Little John, Scott Grimes as Will Scarlet, and Alan Doyle as Alan-a-Dale.
2018: Robin Hood, a film directed by Otto Bathurst previously titled Robin Hood: Origins, starring Taron Egerton as Robin, Jamie Foxx as Little John, Ben Mendelsohn as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Eve Hewson as Marian, Tim Minchin as Friar Tuck, Jamie Dornan as Will Scarlet, and Paul Anderson as Guy of Gisborne.
TBA: The Death of Robin Hood, directed by Michael Sarnoski, it will tell the story of Robin Hood (Hugh Jackman) after a life of crime and murder.

Direct-to-video features

1968: The Legend of Robin Hood, a 90-minute American television musical, featuring the songs of Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen. Starring David Watson as Robin Hood, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as King Richard.
1975: Robin Hood Junior, starring Keith Chegwin as a young Robin. This was spun off in 1976 into a short series, The Unbroken Arrow, with different actors.
1984: The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood, a made-for-TV spoof starring George Segal (Robin), Morgan Fairchild (Marian) and Roddy McDowall (Prince John).
1994: Robin Hood: Prince of Sherwood, starring Jason Braly as Robin Hood
2001: Princess of Thieves, a Disney-produced American made-for-TV movie, starred Keira Knightley as Robin Hood's (Stuart Wilson) heroic adolescent daughter, Gwyn, who takes over her father's role and comes to his rescue.
2007: Splitting the Arrow. Sometime in the 12th Century, a documentary crew entered Sherwood Forest in search of a legend. This is what followed. Calvert Tooley plays Robin Hood.
2009: Beyond Sherwood Forest, a TV movie starring Robin Dunne as Robin Hood and Erica Durance as Maid Marian
2018: Robin Hood: The Rebellion, a film directed by Nicholas Winter.
Television films
2022: The Adventures of Maid Marian. A TV movie focusing on Maid Marian (Sophie Craig), with Dominic Andersen playing Robin Hood.

Television series

1953: Robin Hood a television series on BBC Television, featured Patrick Troughton, in the first representation of Robin Hood on television.
1955–1959: The Adventures of Robin Hood, a long-running British series starring Richard Greene that is also remembered for its catchy theme tune.
1955: Robin Hood, the Movie (compilation from the Richard Greene TV series) (1991 release, according to some sources)
1956: Robin Hood's Greatest Adventures (also starring Donald Pleasence as Prince John) (compilation from the Richard Greene TV series) (1991 release, according to some sources)
1958: Robin Hood: The Quest for the Crown (compilation from the Richard Greene TV series) (1991 or 1995 release, according to some sources)
1975: The Legend of Robin Hood, a six-episode BBC serial starring Martin Potter in the title role, Paul Darrow as the Sheriff of Nottingham and Diane Keen as Lady Marion. The adaptation was aired on public television in the USA later in the 1970s.
1975: When Things Were Rotten, a comedy TV series produced by Mel Brooks and starring Richard Gautier (as an imbecilic Robin Hood), Bernie Kopell and Misty Rowe.
1984–1986: Robin of Sherwood, a fantasy-style British television series starring Michael Praed and later Jason Connery as Robin. The series set the template for many of the adaptations that followed, most notably the introduction of a Saracen (Muslim) outlaw and the move to a grittier tone.
1989–1994: Maid Marian and her Merry Men, a British children's TV show, featured Maid Marian as the dynamic leader of the resistance against Prince John, Robin was shown as her cowardly and buffoonish figurehead, with Nottingham as John's put-upon, sarcastic enforcer.
1997–1998: The New Adventures of Robin Hood, a French–U.S. TV series, starred Matthew Porretta as a black-leather-clad Robin in the first two seasons and John Bradley taking over the lead role in the final two seasons. The tone of the series resembled its contemporaries Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. Porretta had appeared as Will Scarlet O'Hara in Men in Tights.
2006–2009: Robin Hood, a BBC One television series was produced by Tiger Aspect. It was first broadcast as thirteen-episode series in the UK from October to December 2006, with a second series following in 2007, and a third in 2009. Jonas Armstrong stars in the title role.
2023: Robyn Hood, a Canadian series created by Director X which reimagines Robin Hood as "Robyn" (a female rapper) and "The Hood" (a masked hip-hop band) living in a working class area in the fictional city of New Nottingham and sparring with antagonists including The Sheriff and a property tycoon named John Prince.