Brian Blessed
Brian Blessed OBE (born 9 October 1936)is an English actor. He is known for his distinctive bushy beard, booming voice, and exuberant personality and performances. He portrayed PC "Fancy" Smith in Z-Cars; Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of I, Claudius; King Richard IV in the first series of Blackadder; Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon; Bustopher Jones and Old Deuteronomy in the 1981 original London production of Cats at the New London Theatre; Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, in Henry V; Boss Nass in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace; and the voice of Clayton and the Tarzan yell in Disney's Tarzan. In 2016, Blessed was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the arts and charity. Blessed was born on 9 October 1936 at Montagu Hospital in Mexborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of William Blessed, a socialist coal miner at Hickleton Main Colliery (and himself the son of a coal miner) and cricketer for the Yorkshire second team, and Hilda (née Wall). He had a brother Alan, seven years younger, and the pair "went everywhere together" when they were growing up. Alan Blessed died from leukaemia aged 52; their mother died aged 87, and their father died aged 99. Blessed's great-great-grandfather, Jabez Blessed, was the father of 13 children and worked as a china and glass dealer in Brigg, Lincolnshire; many of Blessed's relatives hail from Brigg. Blessed went to Bolton on Dearne Secondary Modern School, and completed his national service in the RAF, in Bicester, before enrolling at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 1956.
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
(Self)
Devil's Harvest
(Father Gabriel Norton)
Hamlet
(Ghost of Hamlet's Father)
Flash Gordon
(Prince Vultan)
Henry V
(Exeter)
Back in Business
(Trevor Pilkington)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
(Lord Locksley)
Much Ado About Nothing
(Antonio)
Into Infinity
(Dr. Tom Bowen)
A Christmas Carol
(Narrator (voice))
Old Rococo: The Life of Gioacchino Rossini
(Voice of Rossini)
The Last Valley
(Korski)
Till Death Us Do Part
(Sergeant)
Tarzan
(Clayton (voice))
Wine of India
(Will)
The Trojan Women
(Talthybius)
The Mumbo Jumbo
(Lucifer Bounder)
Cosmic Princess
(Mentor)
The Conclave
(Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomin)
Catherine the Great
(Bestuzhev)
MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis
(Atticus)
The Castle of Adventure
(Sam)
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
(Suffolk)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
(The Pirate King (voice))
The Dark Side of Everest
(Self)
The Queen: 70 Glorious Years
(Self)
Exam Conditions
(Mr. Carksdale)
Kidnapped
(Cluny MacPherson)
Freddie As F.R.O.7.
(El Supremo (voice))
Brotherly Love
(Jack Baird)
The Master of Ballantrae
(Captain Teach)
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
(Self)
Wojtek: The Bear That Went to War
(Narrator)
Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
(Old Deuteronomy)
Prisoner of Honor
(Gen. Gonse)
The Seventeenth Kind
(The Voice (voice))
Macbeth
(Edward the Confessor)
Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return
(Judge Jawbreaker (voice))
High Road to China
(Suleman Khan)
Galahad of Everest
(George Mallory/Self)
Man of La Mancha
(Pedro)
The Bruce
(Edward I)
Bug-Eyed Monsters Invade the Earth!
(Narrator)
Day of Wrath
(Lord Francisco del Ruiz)
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
(Boss Nass (voice))
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
(Boss Nass (voice))
Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots
(Grampy Rabbit (voice))
Genius: Pythagoras
(Self)
The Old Man Of The Mountain
(Narrator)
The Greatest Store in the World
(Mr. Scottley)
Tales of Television Centre
(Self)
The Double Agent
(Reg Sugden)
The Eagle Has Landed
(Arthur Seymour (voice) (uncredited))
King Arthur, the Young Warlord
(Mark of Cornwall)
The Christmas Tree
Brian Cox: Space, Time & Videotape
(Self)
Back in the USSR
(Chazov)
Blood and Dust
(Chatillon)
Alexander
(Wrestling Trainer)
King Lear
(King Lear)
Mr. Bojagi
(Mr. Bojagi)
Peppa's Cinema Party
(Grampy Rabbit (voice))
Chasing the Deer
(Maj. Elliot)
The Doctors: 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond
As You Like It
(Duke Senior/Duke Frederick)
So You Want To Be A Pirate!
(The Pirate King)
The Hound of the Baskervilles
(Geoffrey Lyons)
Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
(Sir Gregory)
Shed of the Dead
(Narrator (voice))
Life After Flash
(Self)
448 BC: Olympiad of Ancient Hellas
(Narrator)
Robin Hood: The Rebellion
(Friar Tuck)
David Macaulay: Roman City
(Gaius Valerius (voice))
David Macaulay: Pyramid
(Ankhaf (voice))
David Macaulay: Castle
(Voice)
David Macaulay: Cathedral
(Master Guillaume (voice))
The Legend of the Tamworth Two
(Wild Boar (voice))
The Making of The Trial of a Time Lord
Eugenius!
(Space Lord)
I, Claudius: A Television Epic
(Self)
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans
(Charlemagne (voice))
Doctor Who: Mindwarp
(King Yrcanos)
Dear Mr. Burton
(Narrator)
A Midsummer Nightmare
(Det Sgt George Briggs)
Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments
(Self)
Son of Man
(Peter)
Agent Crush
(Boris Goudphater (voice))
Peppa Pig: Wedding Party!
(Grampy Rabbit (voice))
The Bristol Entertainment
(Cabot / Wolstan / Pocock / Colston / Pope Gregory / Dr. Beddoes)
Time Travel Is Dangerous!
(Gavin the Octopus (voice))
Tales of the Unexpected: Lamb to the Slaughter
(Detective Jack Noonan)
The Making of The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Two, Mindwarp
(Self)
Blessed on Doctor Who
(Self)
Thriller
(Det Sgt George Briggs)
The Sweeney
(Frank Kemble)
Soccer AM
(Self)
Family Guy
(Prince Vultan (voice))
Blake's 7
(Vargas)
Doctor Who
(King Yrcanos)
Tales of the Unexpected
(Detective Sergeant Jack Nolan)
The Avengers
(Sergeant Hearn)
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
(Self)
The Paul O'Grady Show
The Underdog Show
Minder
(Freddie Dyer)
Survivors
(Brod)
I, Claudius
(Augustus)
Lovejoy
(Harry Catapodis)
The Aphrodite Inheritance
(Basileos)
Hallmark Hall of Fame
(Captain Teach)
Blackadder
(King Richard IV)
Peppa Pig
(Grampy Rabbit (voice))
Shirley's World
The Expert
(Hubert Innes)
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers
(Porthos)
Notorious Woman
Boy Dominic
(William Woodcock)
Pebble Mill
(Self)
The Heaven and Earth Show
A Question Of Entertainment
BBC Play of the Month
(Sgt. Kite)
Fun at the Funeral Parlour
Natural World
GMTV
(Self)
The Three Musketeers
(Porthos)
All Star Mr & Mrs
Fee Fi Fo Yum
(GTV Announcer)
Fantasy World Cup
(Self)
Britain's Got More Talent
(Self - Narrator)
The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling
(Squire Western)
Z-Cars
(PC Smith)
Z-Cars
(PC Fancy Smith)
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
(Long John Silver)
The Kenny Everett Television Show
(Self)
The Kumars
(Self)
Who Do You Think You Are?
(Self)
The Day After Tomorrow
(Dr. Tom Bowen)
Danger Mouse
(Santa Claus (voice))
Justice
(Tiger Lawson)
Would I Lie to You?
(Self)
The Last Days of Pompeii
(Olinthus)
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher
(Captain (voice))
Wizards vs Aliens
(The Nekross King (voice))
Sooty & Co.
(Santa Claus)
Sooty
(Father Christmas)
The Royal
(Sir Edward Fawcett)
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
(Self – Actor)
The Amazing World of Gumball
(Santa Claus (voice))
Close Enough
(Sir Jack Kleghorn (voice))
QI
(Self)
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
(Jim Lawsey)
Johnny and the Dead
(William Stickers)
Cold Comfort Farm
(Reuben Starkadder)
Blankety Blank
(Self - Panellist)
The Little World of Don Camillo
(Peppone)
The Russell Howard Hour
(Self)
Z-Cars
(PC William "Fancy" Smith)
Have I Got a Bit More News for You
(Self - Presenter)
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip
(Self - Participant)
My Family and Other Animals
(Spiro)
Public Eye
(Rev. William Pratt)
Arthur of the Britons
(Mark of Cornwall)
The Troubleshooters
(Eddie Barnaby)
Space: 1999
(Mentor)
Space: 1999
(Cabot Rowland)
Take Me Out
(Announcer (voice))
Saving Planet Earth UK
(Himself - Presenter)
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything
The Avengers
(Mark Dayton)
Best & Bester
(Shouty Shirt (Voice))
Have I Got News for You
(Self - Host)
The Wednesday Play
(Peter)
Lady Chatterley
(Petty Officer)
Churchill's People
(Guthrum)
European Heritage
(Narrator (voice))