Michael Balfour (actor)

Michael Balfour (actor)
Michael Creighton Balfour (11 February 1918 – 24 October 1997) was an English actor, working mainly in British films and TV, following his TV debut in the BBC's The Marvellous History of St Bernard, in 1938. He was a recognisable face, often in small character parts and supporting roles, in nearly two hundred films and TV shows, from the 1940s to the 1990s, often playing comical heavies or otherwise shady characters notable for their "loud" clothes, sometimes convincingly cast as an American.
He worked for a roll call of film directors, including Tony Richardson, Pete Walker, Billy Wilder, Lewis Gilbert, Roman Polanski, Leslie Norman, Tim Burton, John Frankenheimer, François Truffaut, John Gilling, Stanley Donen, Ken Annakin, Cavalcanti, Lance Comfort, Terence Young, Gerald Thomas, Pasolini, John Paddy Carstairs, Terence Fisher, Val Guest, Frank Launder, John Huston, Basil Dearden and Howard Hawks.
Balfour had parts in many popular TV shows of the era including Educated Evans, Mess Mates, Danger Man, The Avengers, Hancock's Half Hour, Dixon of Dock Green, Rogue's Gallery, Z-Cars, The Onedin Line, and the detective drama The Vise, playing Saber's assistant Barney O'Keefe.
Balfour was also known as the passenger in a Jaguar XK120 car driven by actor Bonar Colleano when it crashed, killing Colleano. Balfour's injuries required him to have 98 stitches, but he was released from hospital in time to attend Colleano's funeral.
As his screen career began to slow down in the late 1970s, Michael Balfour went on tour with European circuses, as a clown. He founded Circus Hazzard, and created his own clown character. His son later became a circus manager.
As well as performing, Balfour was a dedicated painter and sculptor, and in later years turned increasingly to sculpture and the arts, even running his own gallery for a while. For his subjects, he frequently drew on his own family career as a circus clown.
Selected filmography
Just William's Luck (1948) as Jenks
No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948) as Barney
Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948) as Spiegel (uncredited)
Woman Hater (1948) as Reporter (uncredited)
The Small Voice (1948) as Frankie
William Comes to Town (1948) as Stall-holder
Stop Press Girl (1949) as Crook (uncredited)
Don't Ever Leave Me (1949) as Jim Kennedy
Helter Skelter (1949) as Barman (uncredited)
Melody Club (1949) as Max
Obsession (1949) as American sailor
I Was a Male War Bride (1949) as Male Billet Sergeant (uncredited)
Prelude to Fame (1950) as Lucio
Cage of Gold (1950) as American Soldier (uncredited)
Her Favourite Husband (1950) as Pete
Blackout (1950) as Tom (uncredited)
The Quiet Woman (1951) as Lefty
A Case for PC 49 (1951) as Chubby Price
13 East Street (1952) as Joey Long
Venetian Bird (1952) as Moretto
Top Secret (1952) as Jersey Sailor
Moulin Rouge (1952) as Dodo (uncredited)
Hot Ice (1952) as Jacobson
Three Steps to the Gallows (1953) as Carter - boxing fan
Genevieve (1953) as Trumpeter (uncredited)
The Steel Key (1953) as Sailor (uncredited)
The Captain's Paradise (1953) as Customs official No. 2
Johnny on the Run (1953) as Fingers
The Red Beret (1953) as American Sergeant
Recoil (1953) as Parkes
Park Plaza 605 (1953) as Ted Birston
Three's Company (1953) as The Drunk (segment "Take a Number' story)
Albert R.N. (1953) as Hank
Black 13 (1953) as Joe
Small Town Story (1953) as Turner (uncredited)
Love in Pawn (1953) as Alaric
Escape by Night (1953) as Bearded Reporter (uncredited)
River Beat (1954) as Adams
The Diamond (1954) as Hoxie
The Scarlet Web (1954) as Coffee Stallkeeper (uncredited)
Delayed Action (1954) as Honey
The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954) as Bus Driver (uncredited)
The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954) as Dray
Devil's Point (1954) as Bennett, short henchman
Impulse (1954) as Sailor (uncredited)
Delavine Affair (1955) as Sammy
One Good Turn (1955) as Boxing Booth Spectator (uncredited)
The Gilded Cage (1955) as USAF staff (uncredited)
Track the Man Down (1955) (uncredited)
Barbados Quest (1955) as Barney Wilson
Reluctant Bride (1955) as Boxer
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955) as Stage Doorman
Secret Venture (1955) as Stevens
It's a Great Day (1956) as Charlie Mead's Mate
The Secret of the Forest (1956) as Len
Reach for the Sky (1956) as Orderly (uncredited)
Breakaway (1956) as Barney
The Big Money (1956) as 'Wilberforce'
Hour of Decision (1957) as Barman
Quatermass 2 (1957) as Harry
The Steel Bayonet (1957) as Pvt. Thomas
Light Fingers (1957) as The Major
Man from Tangier (1957) as Spade Murphy
Fiend Without a Face (1958) as Sgt. Kasper
Look Back in Anger (1959) as Picky Shopper (uncredited)
The Flesh and the Fiends (1960) as Drunken Sailor
Sink the Bismarck! (1960) as Able Seaman - Lookout on 'Suffolk' (uncredited)
Carry On Constable (1960) as Matt
Too Hot to Handle (1960) as Tourist guide
Make Mine Mink (1960) as Rowson's Butler
Surprise Package (1960) as Oscar (uncredited)
The Hellfire Club (1961) as John - Juggler (uncredited)
The Monster of Highgate Ponds (1961) as Bert
The Treasure of Monte Cristo (1961) as Pepe
Pit of Darkness (1961) as Fisher
Design for Loving (1962) as Bernie
She Always Gets Their Man (1962) as Runkle
The Fast Lady (1962) as Bandit #2
The Rescue Squad (1963) as Barrow-Boy
Echo of Diana (1963) as Newsagent
A Stitch in Time (1963) as Workman with Mallet (uncredited)
Five Have a Mystery to Solve (1964) as Emilio
The Sicilians (1964) as Stage Door Keeper
Strangler's Web (1965) as John Vichelski
The Sandwich Man (1966) as Workman (uncredited)
Kaleidoscope (1966) as Poker Player #4
Where the Bullets Fly (1966) as Band Leader
Fahrenheit 451 (1966) as Book Person: Machiavelli's 'The Prince' (uncredited)
Press for Time (1966) as Sewerman
Trouble with Junia (1967) as Joe Pennyworth
The Fixer (1968) as Boatman (uncredited)
The Oblong Box (1969) as Ruddock
Hoverbug (1969) as Mr. Gutteridge
The Adventurers (1970) as Detective
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) as Cabby
Macbeth (1971) as First Murderer
Man of Violence (1971) as Cafe Owner
All Coppers Are... (1972) as Heart attack victim (uncredited)
The Canterbury Tales (1972) as The Carpenter (segment the Miller's Tale)
Wreck Raisers (1972) as Mr. Trevor
The Copter Kids (1976) as Benny Baker
Joseph Andrews (1977) as Ruffian
Come Play with Me (1977) as Nosher
Candleshoe (1977) as Mr. McCress
The Stick Up (1977) as Sam
The Prisoner of Zenda (1979) as Luger
The Holcroft Covenant (1985) as Hard Hat
Batman (1989) as Axis Chemicals scientist
The Krays (1990) as Referee
Revenge of Billy the Kid (1992) as Gyles MacDonald (final film role)
References
External links
20th-century English male actors
English male film actors
English male television actors
English male stage actors
People from Dover, Kent
Male actors from Kent
1918 births
1997 deaths
Deaths from cancer in England
20th-century British sculptors
English male sculptors