Michael Bryant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Michael Dennis Bryant (5 April 1928 – 25 April 2002) was a British stage and television actor. Bryant attended Battersea Grammar School and after service in the Merchant Navy and Army, he attended drama school and appeared in many productions on the London stage. He made his film debut in 1955. His greatest role was Mathieu in BBC2's 1970 adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's Roads to Freedom trilogy. His guest star appearance as Wing Commander Marsh, who feigns insanity in the 'Tweedledum' episode of the BBC drama series, Colditz (1972), is still widely remembered. Bryant was chosen by Orson Welles to play the lead role in The Deep, Welles's adaptation of the Charles Williams novel Dead Calm. The production frequently ran out of money, and following the death of actor Laurence Harvey in 1973, Welles stopped production and announced the movie - which had been completed except for one special effects shot of a ship exploding - would not be released. (The novel was finally adapted to film in 1989.) In 1969 Bryant took his love of the stage on a strange trip into the realm of cult films, playing a clever male prostitute who outwits a delusional family of killers in the dark comedy Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly, an adaptation of a play by Maisie Mosco. Due to poor marketing and a lack of faith in the film by the distributor, the film quickly sank into obscurity even before it could develop a cult following. One of Bryant's most memorable performances was in the classic BBC television play The Stone Tape (1972), in which he plays the leader of a team of scientists who investigate ghost sightings in a brooding gothic mansion. Bryant also had a supporting role as a sadistic psychiatrist in the cult classic black comedy The Ruling Class, with Peter O'Toole and Alastair Sim. He also appeared in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982) as a British diplomat. Having played Lenin in the film Nicholas and Alexandria, Bryant would later reprise the role in Robert Bolt's play State of Revolution (1977). He had previously co-starred in Bolt's unsuccessful Gentle Jack. The 1977 production of a Bolt play though was significant for featuring the first role he performed at the National Theatre where he was a constant presence for a quarter of a century. Bryant, described by Michael Billington as "rock-solid company man", had earlier performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1964, including the premiere production of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming (1965), in which he played Teddy, the returning academic. In 1980, Michael Bryant won the London Drama Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best Actor, and his other theatrical performances were equally well thought of. Bryant won Laurence Olivier Awards in 1988 and 1990 and was nominated twice more. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Bryant (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Known For
Credits
- 2020 · The Curse Of Denton Rose as Self
- 2007 · The Deep as John Ingram
- 2000 · The Miracle Maker as God/ The Doctor (voice)
- 1998 · King Lear as Fool
- 1996 · Hamlet as Priest
- 1995 · Orson Welles: The One-Man Band as Self (segment "The deep") (archive footage)
- 1993 · Anna Lee: Headcase as Commander Martin Brierly
- 1991 · Heading Home as Derek Green
- 1988 · Franz Kafka's 'The Trial' as Advocate
- 1988 · The Modern World: Ten Great Writers as Advocate
- 1984 · Sakharov as Syshchikov
- 1983 · Reilly: Ace of Spies as Narrator (voice)
- 1982 · The Merry Wives of Windsor as Doctor Caius
- 1982 · Gandhi as Principal Secretary
- 1982 · A Genius Like Us: A Portrait of Joe Orton as Mike
- 1978 · BBC Television Shakespeare as
- 1977 · Short Back and Sides as John Hardy
- 1976 · My Homeland as Reader
- 1976 · The Daedalus Equations as Sam McInstrey
- 1975 · Late Call as Howard Calvert
- 1974 · The Treasure of Abbot Thomas as The Rev. Justin Somerton
- 1974 · Caravan to Vaccarès as Zuger
- 1974 · Is It Something I Said? as Arthur
- 1974 · Mr. Axelford's Angel as Mr Axelford
- 1974 · Fall of Eagles as Ratchkowsky
- 1974 · If There Weren't Any Blacks You'd Have to Invent Them as
- 1973 · The Professional as Duckworth
- 1972 · The Stone Tape as Peter Brock
- 1972 · Colditz as W / Cdr George Marsh
- 1972 · The Duchess of Malfi as Bosola
- 1972 · The Ruling Class as Dr. Herder
- 1972 · The Greeks and Their Gifts as Stuart Lindsay
- 1971 · Nicholas and Alexandra as Lenin
- 1971 · The Switch as Henry Martin
- 1970 · The Roads to Freedom as Mathieu Delarue
- 1970 · Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny & Girly as New Friend
- 1970 · The Three Sisters as Vershinin
- 1969 · Goodbye, Mr. Chips as Max Staefel
- 1968 · The Explorer as Erik Petterson
- 1968 · Mille Miglia as Stirling Moss
- 1967 · Torture Garden as Colin Williams (segment 1 "Enoch")
- 1967 · The Big M as Johnny Treherne
- 1967 · Easier in the Dark as The Man
- 1967 · The Deadly Affair as Gaveston (in Edward II)
- 1966 · Talking to a Stranger as
- 1965 · BBC Play of the Month as Vershinin
- 1963 · The Mind Benders as Dr. Danny Tate
- 1962 · Life for Ruth as John's Counsel
- 1958 · A Night to Remember as Sixth Officer James Moody
- 1957 · Harbor Command as
- 1956 · Telephone Time as
- 1956 · Uranium Boom as Peterson
- 1955 · ITV Play of the Week as Walter Luke
- 1955 · The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp as
- 1955 · Passage Home as Stebbings
- 1955 · Buffalo Bill Jr. as
- 1955 · The Millionaire as McGinnis
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Britannus
- 1951 · The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok as