page_title: Michael Hordern
section_title: Family background
hierarchical_section_title: Michael Hordern / Life and career / Family background
caption_attribution_description: English: The Poplars, a 19th-Century house in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. It was the home of the sheep-dip entrepreneur William Cooper at the time of his death in 1885, and the actor Sir Michael Hordern was born here in 1911
context_page_description: Sir Michael Murray Hordern, CBE was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 60 years. He is best known for his Shakespearean roles, especially that of King Lear, which he played to much acclaim on stage in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1969 and London in 1970. He then successfully assumed the role on television five years later. He often appeared in film, rising from a bit part actor in the late 1930s to a member of the main cast; by the time of his death he had appeared in nearly 140 cinema roles. His later work was predominantly in television and radio.
  Born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, into a family with no theatrical connections, Hordern was educated at Windlesham House School where he became interested in drama. He went on to Brighton College where his interest in the theatre developed. After leaving the college he joined an amateur dramatics company, and came to the notice of several influential Shakespearean directors who cast him in minor roles in Othello and Macbeth. During the Second World War he served on HMS Illustrious where he reached the rank of lieutenant commander.
context_section_description: Hordern's mother, Margaret Murray, was descended from James Murray, an Irish physician whose research into digestion led to his discovery of the stomach aid milk of magnesia in 1829. The invention earned him a knighthood and brought the family great wealth. Margaret grew up in England, and attended St Audries School for Girls in Somerset.
  Hordern's father, Edward, was the son of a Lancastrian priest who was the rector at the Holy Trinity Church in Bury. As a young man Edward joined the Royal Indian Marines and gained the rank of lieutenant. During a short break on home-leave he fell in love with Margaret, after they were introduced by one of his brothers. The courtship was brief and the young couple married in Burma on 28 November 1903. They had their first child, a son, Geoffrey, in 1905, followed by another, Peter, in 1907.
caption: The Poplars, Hordern's birthplace in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
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