Ashby was born in London 1940 as Rashid Suhrawardy to East Pakistani Bengali politician Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, who served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and a Russian mother of Polish descent, actress Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko Calder.
[3] Described by Pakistan Today as "the quintessential theatre actor",[2] on screen he was known for playing Jawaharlal Nehru in the film Jinnah (1998)[3] and a Doctor Who villain, the Borad, in the serial Timelash (1985).
Where Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy's daughter, Begum Akhtar Suleiman, went out on a limb to support the Yahya Khan regime during the war of 1971, Robert Ashby loudly upheld the Bangladesh cause in London.
He was invited to join politics in Bangladesh but declined, citing his language issues and saying that he was "not as great as his father".
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her "profound shock and sorrow" at the news of his death.