BRIAN BLESSED

British actor

Biography

British actor Brian Blessed is known for his heartfelt, regal performances in film and television. A giant accompanied by an eloquent wit and a booming, operatic voice, Brian was born in 1936 and grew up in the mining village of Goldthorpe in South Yorkshire. His father was a miner who wanted a better life for his son; Brian lost three uncles in the mines. At a young age, he showed a keen talent for acting in school plays, but also had a flair for boxing, a direction that would be short-lived.

Working in a variety of jobs, from undertaker’s assistant to plasterer, Brian managed to attend the Bristol Old Vic and get started. He has lent his musical talents to various productions – from playing “Old Deuteronomy” in “Cats to The Baron” in the more recent “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. In the 1970s, he began to appear more and more on camera with classical and contemporary performances. In costumed television films, he has played “Porthos” in “Three Musketeers” (1966) and “The Further Adventures of the Musketeers” (1967), “August” in “I, Claudius’ (1976) and ‘Long John Silver’ in ‘Return to Treasure Island’ (1986), and has been involved in several plays, including ‘Catherine the Great’ (1995), ‘Lady Chatterley’ (1993), ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ (1983) and ‘Abduction’ (1995).

In film, he has appeared as a strong supporter in various adaptations of William Shakespeare, including “Henry V” (1989), “Much Ado About Nothing” (1993), Hamlet (1996), ‘Macbeth’ (1997) and the lead role in ‘King Lear’ (1999), which was also also directed.

More recently, he appeared in Oliver Stone’s epic film Alexander (2004) and in Kenneth Branagh’s film version of William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” (2006).

In recent years, the 80-year-old now Brian has been heard more than seen with voice work in video games, documentaries and animated television programs such as Kika & Bob (2007) (as Bob), The Amazing World of Gumball (2011) (as Santa Claus), Wizards vs. Aliens (2012) (as Necross King), Henry Hugglemonster (2013) (as Eduardo Enormomonster) and Peppa Pig (2004) as Grampy Rabbit.

He is married to British actress Hildegard Neil, who made an appearance with him in Macbeth (1997).