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.
Known For
Credits
- 2024 · Peppa's Cinema Party as Grampy Rabbit (voice)
- 2022 · Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba as Self
- 2022 · Bug-Eyed Monsters Invade the Earth! as Narrator
- 2022 · Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg as Self – Actor
- 2022 · Best & Bester as Shouty Shirt (Voice)
- 2022 · The Queen: 70 Glorious Years as Self
- 2021 · Blankety Blank as Self - Panellist
- 2021 · Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans as Charlemagne (voice)
- 2020 · Dear Mr. Burton as Narrator
- 2020 · Close Enough as Sir Jack Kleghorn (voice)
- 2020 · Eugenius! as Space Lord
- 2019 · Shed of the Dead as Narrator (voice)
- 2018 · Robin Hood: The Rebellion as Friar Tuck
- 2017 · Life After Flash as Self
- 2017 · The Russell Howard Hour as Self
- 2015 · Danger Mouse as Santa Claus (voice)
- 2015 · Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots as Grampy Rabbit (voice)
- 2014 · Brian Cox: Space, Time & Videotape as Self
- 2014 · The Seventeenth Kind as The Voice (voice)
- 2014 · Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return as Judge Jawbreaker (voice)
- 2014 · The Kumars as Self
- 2012 · LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out as Boss Nass (voice)
- 2012 · So You Want To Be A Pirate! as The Pirate King
- 2012 · Tales of Television Centre as Self
- 2012 · The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! as The Pirate King (voice)
- 2011 · Celebrity Antiques Road Trip as Self - Participant
- 2011 · Wojtek: The Bear That Went to War as Narrator
- 2011 · Sooty as Father Christmas
- 2011 · The Amazing World of Gumball as Santa Claus (voice)
- 2010 · Fee Fi Fo Yum as GTV Announcer
- 2010 · Mr. Bojagi as Mr. Bojagi
- 2010 · Take Me Out as Announcer (voice)
- 2008 · Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments as Self
- 2008 · The Making of The Trial of a Time Lord as
- 2008 · The Underdog Show as
- 2008 · All Star Mr & Mrs as
- 2008 · Agent Crush as Boris Goudphater (voice)
- 2007 · Saving Planet Earth UK as Himself - Presenter
- 2007 · Would I Lie to You? as Self
- 2007 · Britain's Got More Talent as Self - Narrator
- 2007 · The Conclave as Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomin
- 2007 · Back in Business as Trevor Pilkington
- 2007 · The 50 Greatest Television Dramas as Self
- 2006 · As You Like It as Duke Senior/Duke Frederick
- 2006 · Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy as Sir Gregory
- 2006 · Day of Wrath as Lord Francisco del Ruiz
- 2004 · 448 BC: Olympiad of Ancient Hellas as Narrator
- 2004 · Alexander as Wrestling Trainer
- 2004 · Who Do You Think You Are? as Self
- 2004 · The Paul O'Grady Show as
- 2004 · Peppa Pig as Grampy Rabbit (voice)
- 2004 · The Legend of the Tamworth Two as Wild Boar (voice)
- 2003 · QI as Self
- 2003 · The Royal as Sir Edward Fawcett
- 2003 · Devil's Harvest as Father Gabriel Norton
- 2003 · The Dark Side of Everest as Self
- 2002 · I, Claudius: A Television Epic as Self
- 2001 · Fun at the Funeral Parlour as
- 2000 · The Mumbo Jumbo as Lucifer Bounder
- 2000 · The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything as
- 1999 · The Greatest Store in the World as Mr. Scottley
- 1999 · Family Guy as Prince Vultan (voice)
- 1999 · King Lear as King Lear
- 1998 · Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh as Old Deuteronomy
- 1998 · The Heaven and Earth Show as
- 1998 · Fantasy World Cup as Self
- 1997 · The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling as Squire Western
- 1997 · Macbeth as Edward the Confessor
- 1996 · Hamlet as Ghost of Hamlet's Father
- 1996 · Catherine the Great as Bestuzhev
- 1996 · The Bruce as Edward I
- 1996 · Dennis the Menace and Gnasher as Captain (voice)
- 1996 · Genius: Pythagoras as Self
- 1995 · Kidnapped as Cluny MacPherson
- 1995 · The Doctors: 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond as
- 1995 · Soccer AM as Self
- 1995 · Johnny And The Dead as Stickers
- 1994 · Chasing the Deer as Maj. Elliot
- 1994 · MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis as Atticus
- 1994 · David Macaulay: Roman City as Gaius Valerius (voice)
- 1993 · Sooty & Co. as Santa Claus
- 1993 · Much Ado About Nothing as Antonio
- 1993 · GMTV as Self
- 1992 · Blood and Dust as Chatillon
- 1992 · Freddie as F.R.O.7. as El Supremo (voice)
- 1992 · Exam Conditions as Mr. Carksdale
- 1992 · Back in the USSR as Chazov
- 1992 · Old Rococo: The Life of Gioacchino Rossini as Voice of Rossini
- 1991 · Galahad of Everest as George Mallory/Self
- 1991 · Prisoner of Honor as Gen. Gonse
- 1991 · Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves as Lord Locksley
- 1990 · Have I Got News for You as Self - Host
- Future · Have I Got a Bit More News for You as Self - Presenter
- 2012 · Wizards vs Aliens as The Nekross King (voice)
- 2002 · Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway as Self
- 1999 · Tarzan as Clayton (voice)
- 1999 · Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace as Boss Nass (voice)
- 1991 · Pebble Mill as Self
- 1990 · The Castle of Adventure as Sam
- 1989 · Henry V as Exeter
- 1989 · David Macaulay: Pyramid as Ankhaf (voice)
- 1989 · The Old Man Of The Mountain as Narrator
- 1988 · A Question Of Entertainment as
- 1987 · My Family and Other Animals as Spiro
- 1986 · Doctor Who: Mindwarp as King Yrcanos
- 1986 · David Macaulay: Cathedral as Master Guillaume (voice)
- 1986 · John Silver's Return to Treasure Island as Long John Silver
- 1986 · Lovejoy as Harry Catapodis
- 1985 · MacGyver as Atticus
- 1984 · The Last Days of Pompeii as Olinthus
- 1984 · The Master of Ballantrae as Captain Teach
- 1983 · The Hound of the Baskervilles as Geoffrey Lyons
- 1983 · Natural World as
- 1983 · Blackadder as King Richard IV
- 1983 · High Road to China as Suleman Khan
- 1983 · David Macaulay: Castle as Voice
- 1982 · Cosmic Princess as Mentor
- 1982 · The Kenny Everett Television Show as Self
- 1981 · The Little World of Don Camillo as Peppone
- 1980 · Flash Gordon as Prince Vultan
- 1979 · Minder as Freddie Dyer
- 1979 · Tales of the Unexpected as Detective Sergeant Jack Nolan
- 1979 · The Aphrodite Inheritance as Basileos
- 1978 · Blake's 7 as Vargas
- 1977 · A Christmas Carol as Narrator (voice)
- 1976 · The Eagle Has Landed as Arthur Seymour (voice) (uncredited)
- 1976 · I, Claudius as
- 1976 · I, Claudius as Augustus
- 1975 · Into Infinity as Dr. Tom Bowen
- 1975 · The Day After Tomorrow as Dr. Tom Bowen
- 1975 · A Midsummer Nightmare as Det Sgt George Briggs
- 1975 · Space: 1999 as Mentor
- 1975 · Space: 1999 as Cabot Rowland
- 1975 · Survivors as Brod
- 1975 · The Sweeney as Frank Kemble
- 1975 · King Arthur, the Young Warlord as Mark of Cornwall
- 1974 · Notorious Woman as
- 1974 · Boy Dominic as William Woodcock
- 1973 · Thriller as Det Sgt George Briggs
- 1972 · Man of La Mancha as Pedro
- 1972 · Arthur of the Britons as Mark of Cornwall
- 1972 · Henry VIII and His Six Wives as Suffolk
- 1972 · Shirley's World as
- 1971 · Justice as Tiger Lawson
- 1971 · The Trojan Women as Talthybius
- 1971 · The Last Valley as Korski
- 1970 · Wine of India as Will
- 1970 · Brotherly Love as Jack Baird
- 1969 · Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) as Jim Lawsey
- 1969 · The Double Agent as Reg Sugden
- 1969 · Son of Man as Peter
- 1969 · Till Death Us Do Part as Sergeant
- 1968 · The Expert as Hubert Innes
- 1968 · Cold Comfort Farm as Reuben Starkadder
- 1967 · The Further Adventures of the Musketeers as Porthos
- 1966 · The Christmas Tree as
- 1966 · The Three Musketeers as Porthos
- 1965 · BBC Play of the Month as Sgt. Kite
- 1965 · The Troubleshooters as Eddie Barnaby
- 1965 · Public Eye as Rev. William Pratt
- 1964 · The Wednesday Play as Peter
- 1963 · Doctor Who as King Yrcanos
- 1962 · Z-Cars as PC Smith
- 1962 · Z-Cars as PC Fancy Smith
- 1962 · Z-Cars as PC William "Fancy" Smith
- 1961 · The Avengers as Sergeant Hearn
- 1961 · The Avengers as Mark Dayton
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Captain Teach