Brian Blessed

**Brian Blessed** OBE (born 9 October 1936) is an English actor.

## Early life

The son of William Blessed, a socialist miner, and Hilda Wall, Blessed was born at the Montague Hospital  in the town of Mexborough, Yorkshire. He attended Bolton on Dearne Secondary Modern School, but after his father suffered an industrial accident, he was forced to leave school early at 14 and spent several years working at a variety of jobs, ranging from undertaker to plasterer's assistant. He completed his National Service as a parachutist in the Royal Air Force. He began his acting training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, alongside Patrick Stewart. He has written about his early life in his autobiography, _Dynamite Kid_ (1992).

## Career

An early role was that of PC "Fancy" Smith in the BBC police drama _Z-Cars_ from 1962 to 1965. In 1966, Blessed appeared in _Incident at Vichy_ at the Phoenix Theatre in London. Blessed had small roles in such cult shows as _The Avengers_ (1967, 1969) and the original _Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)_ (1969). He portrayed Caesar Augustus in the BBC series _I, Claudius_. He portrayed Basileos in the BBC mini-series Michael J. Bird's The Aphrodite Inheritance (1979). He portrayed the father of Robin Hood, Lord Locksley, in the blockbuster _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_ (1991).

He has appeared in a number of Shakespearean roles on both stage and screen, including four of the five Shakespeare films directed by Kenneth Branagh: as The Duke of Exeter in _Henry V_ (1989), Antonio in _Much Ado About Nothing_ (1993), The Ghost of Hamlet's Father in _Hamlet_ (1996), and the dual role of Duke Frederick and Duke Senior in _As You Like It_ (2006). He also provided the voices of Bob in the animated series _Kika & Bob_ (2008) and Grampy Rabbit in _Peppa Pig_.

He also hosted the 1978 documentary on the life of Johann Sebastian Bach called _The Joy of Bach_ in which he also portrayed Bach in different vignettes in this documentary.

Other roles have emphasised his comedic abilities: notably Prince Vultan in _Flash Gordon_ (1980) – for which he is frequently remembered for the famous line "Gordon's alive!"; the mad, comic figure of Richard IV in the first series of _The Black Adder_ (1983); and Spiro in the BBC adaptation of _My Family and Other Animals_ (1987). He also played the role of General Yevlenko in the miniseries _War and Remembrance_ (1988). Blessed jokes he almost starred in _Blackadder II_ (1986) as Queen Elizabeth but he wasn't available at the time of filming.

He provided the vocal links on the Sony-Award-winning Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio and introduced adverts for Orange mobile phones. At Christmas 2006, he presented a panto _Cinderella_ for Virgin Radio starring actors such as David Tennant and Thandie Newton. In November 2006, Blessed made a surprise appearance on the midday talk show _Loose Women_. Also, he is featured reading the story "The White City, Part 1" which is the final piece on the album _Late Night Tales: Nightmares on Wax_. Blessed was also the voice of Jean Valjean in _Focus on the Family Radio Theatre's_ audio dramatic adaptation of Victor Hugo's _Les Misérables_. In 2014 to 2019 Brian voiced British novelist and historian G.A henty for heirloom audio productions radio adaptations of G.A henty's novels written for young boys about history and adventure.

Blessed has also starred in Andrew Lloyd Webber's _Cats_ as both Old Deuteronomy and Bustopher Jones during the original West End theatre production. In 2002, under the direction of Royal Shakespeare Company director Adrian Noble, Blessed originated the role of Baron Bomburst for the stage musical version of _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_.

During December 2005 to January 2006, Blessed headlined the pantomime production of _Peter Pan_, alongside CBBC Television presenter Kirsten O'Brien at the Regent Theatre in Ipswich. In late 2007 and early 2008, Blessed starred in the panto version of _Peter Pan_ as Captain Hook at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable. He played the same role again in "Peter Pan" in late 2007, early 2008 and again at Christmas 2008 at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon.

Blessed was the narrator of the Sky1 series _Crash Test Dummies_, starring Steve Marsh and Dan Wright.

Since October 2008, Blessed presents the UK showings of the Japanese gameshow _Unbeatable Banzuke_ on the Challenge channel under the name _Banzuke Brian_. He also guest hosted episodes of _Have I Got News for You_ in May 2008 and April 2013.

In 2009, Blessed played the world's worst explorer, Sir Basil Champion – a character based upon Blessed's fictional inspiration, _The Lost World's_ Professor Challenger – in the fourth story in _The Scarifyers_ series, _The Curse of the Black Comet_. The story was broadcast on BBC7 in 2010.

In November 2009, Blessed starred in a series of online videos on the BBC Comedy website in which he played Henry VIII. The concept of the video series is that the Tudor king is alive & well, and living in a suburban semi with his long-suffering sixth wife Catherine Parr. Henry has embraced modern technology and lives his life online – insulting the King of France on Facebook, surfing for desirable women friends, and blocking the Pope on Twitter.

In late 2009, Blessed starred as the Narrator in the In the Wings production of _Peter and the Wolf_ at the New Victory Theater, New York.

After a successful campaign on social networking site Facebook, satnav manufacturer TomTom recorded Brian Blessed's voice as an option for those using its satnav devices; Blessed's voice has been available in devices since October 2010.

In September 2010, Blessed recorded the voiceover to _Sheherazade, or The Princess, the Pirate and the Baboon!_, an album of children's stories set to the classical music composition _Scheherazade_ by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and also featuring the voices of Rory Bremner, Jess Murphy, Sam Morris and Nigel Garton. Brian voiced the role of the Great Sultan Shahryār; the album was released as the first in a series entitled _Grandma Dingley's Ingeniously Musical Tales_ in March 2011.

In 2013, Blessed starred in an advertising campaign for the New Zealand bank ASB playing a fictionalised version of himself encouraging the humble population to be proud of their achievements whether big or small.

## Other achievements

Blessed has attempted to climb Mount Everest three times, getting to  in 1993 and  in 1996, but never reaching the summit. He has reached the summit of Aconcagua, in Argentina, and Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania. He is the oldest man to trek on foot to the magnetic North Pole, and has undertaken an expedition deep into the jungles of Venezuela.

Blessed has an honorary position as official Shoutsperson of the University of York's Douglas Adams Society, and in 2011 the University's student body voted to name a new study space as the 'Brian Blessed Centre for Quiet Study'.

In 2004, Blessed sang on _Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes_, impersonating Luciano Pavarotti. He is known for his football knowledge and appeared as an expert on the British satellite station UKTV G2 during the 2006 World Cup. He also appeared on _A Question of Sport_ in 2006 and again in 2011 and was a guest host of _Have I Got News for You_ in May 2008, alongside guests Alan Duncan and Marcus Brigstocke (also making a surprise appearance in the Christmas special later in the year). His madcap manner quickly made the show deviate from its usual format, with Paul Merton remarking "Does anyone remember how this show used to be like?" In the same month he appeared as a guest on _The Paul O'Grady Show_.

Blessed was President of the Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) in 2007–2008 and presented the 2008 TRIC Awards at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane. TRIC is an organisation which honours achievers in the film and radio industries. He has honorary degrees from the University of Bradford, awarded in July 2003, and Sheffield Hallam University, awarded in 2004.

He also stars in the _Living Legend_ show in Jersey, Channel Islands. It features many celebrity faces, such as Roger Lloyd Pack, Samantha Janus, Kevin Whately and Tony Robinson. The story is of the history of the island.

In 2009, he featured on the song "Army of the Damned", part of the debut album _Beneath the Veiled Embrace_ by UK power-metal band Pythia, reading the poem "Suicide in the Trenches" by Siegfried Sassoon. He also contributed to "The Joust" by Eden Burning in 1994.

In June 2011, a campaign by Cambridge graduates resulted in Blessed's being nominated for the post of Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.

In February 2013, a piece of DLC for the PC game _War of the Roses_ will feature narration from Blessed.

## Personal life

Blessed lives in Windlesham, Surrey. He married actress Hildegarde Neil in 1978 and they have one daughter, Rosalind. He also has a number of dogs and is a patron of Hopefield Animal Sanctuary.

### Film

|Year|Title|Role|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1967|_Asterix the Gaul_|Caous (voice)||
|1969|_Till Death Us Do Part_|Sergeant||
|_The Same Skin_|Jack Baird|||
|1970|_Country Dance_|||
|1971|_The Last Valley_|Korski||
|_The Trojan Women_|Talthybius|||
|1972|_Henry VIII and His Six Wives_|Earl of Suffolk||
|_Man of La Mancha_|Pedro|||
|1980|_Flash Gordon_|Prince Vultan||
|1983|_High Road to China_|Suleman Khan||
|1989|_Henry V_|Exeter||
|_Asterix and the Big Fight_|Caous (voice)|(English version)||
|1991|_Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_|Lord Locksley||
|_Galahad of Everest_|George Mallory|||
|1992|_Freddie as F.R.O.7_|El Supremo (voice)||
|1993|_Much Ado About Nothing_|Signor Antonio||
|1994|_Chasing the Deer_|Maj. Elliot||
|1996|_Hamlet_|Ghost||
|1999|_King Lear_|King Lear||
|_Tarzan_|Clayton (voice)|||
|_Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace_|Boss Nass (voice)|||
|2004|_Alexander_|Wrestling trainer||
|2006|_The Conclave_|Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini||
|2007|_Back in Business_|Trevor Pilkington||
|2008|_Agent Crush_|Boris Goudphater (voice)||
|2012|_The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists_|Pirate King (voice)||
|_Katherine of Alexandria_||_(post-production)_||
|2013|_Dorothy of Oz_|Judge Jawbreaker (voice)|_(post-production)_|

### Television

|Year|Title|Role|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1962–1965|_Z-Cars_|PC "Fancy" Smith||
|1966|_The Three Musketeers_|Porthos||
|1967-1969|_The Avengers_|Mark Dayton|Episodes: "The Superlative Seven" "The Morning After"|
|1968|_Cold Comfort Farm_|Reuben Starkadder|Episodes: "Folk" "Woodshed" "Doom"|
|1969|_Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)_|The Ghost Who Saved the Bank at Monte Carlo||
|1969-1970|_The Wednesday Play_|Peter Will || Episodes: "Son of Man" "Wine of India"||
|1971|_Jackanory_|Storyteller|Episodes: "The Miller and the Smiling Cat - Part 1" "The Miller and the Smiling Cat - Part 2" "The Imp and the Nagging Wife" "The Crow-Fairy - Part 1" "The Crow-Fairy - Part 2"|
|1972-1973|_Arthur of the Britons_|Mark of Cornwall|Episodes: "Arthur Is Dead" "The Duel" "Rolf the Preacher" "The Prize" "The Prisoner" "The Marriage Feast" "The Games"|
|1974|_Boy Dominic_|William Woodcock||
|1975|_King Arthur, the Young Warlord_|Mark of Cornwall||
|1976|_The Day After Tomorrow_|Dr Tom Bowen||
|_The Sweeney_|Frank Kemble|Episode: "Ringer"||
|_Space: 1999_|Dr. Cabot Rowland, "The Metamorph" Mentor|Episode: "Death's Other Dominion"||
|_I, Claudius_|Augustus|Episodes: "A Touch of Murder" "Waiting in the Wings" "What Shall We Do About Claudius?" "Poison Is Queen" "Old King Log"||
|1977|_Survivors_|Brod|Episode: "Law of the Jungle"|
|1978|_Blake's 7_|Vargas|Episode: "Cygnus Alpha"|
|1980|_The Little World of Don Camillo_|Peppone||
|_The Joy of Bach_|J.S. Bach himself |||||
|1983|_Great Little Railways_|Himself||
|_The Black Adder_|Richard IV|Episodes: "The Foretelling" "Born to be King" "The Archbishop" "The Queen of Spain's Beard" "Witchsmeller Pursuivant" "The Black Seal"||
|1984|_The Last Days of Pompeii_|Olinthus||
|1986|_Doctor Who_|King Yrcanos|Episode: "Mindwarp"|
|_Return to Treasure Island_|Long John Silver|||
|1987|_My Family and Other Animals_|Spiro||
|1989|_Minder_|Detective|Episode: "The Last Video Show"|
|1990|_The Castle of Adventure_|Sam Scar ||||
|1991|_Lovejoy_|Harry Catapodis|Episode: "The Black Virgin of Vladimir"|
|1993|_Lady Chatterley_|Petty Officer|Episode: "Episode #1.4"|
|1994|_MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis_|Atticus|(TV movie)|
|1995|_Johnny and the Dead_|William 'Bill' Sticker||
|_Kidnapped_|Cluny MacPherson|(TV movie)||
|1996|_Catherine the Great_|Bestuzhev||
|1997|_The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling_|Squire Western||
|1998|_Dennis the Menace_|Captain|Episode: "Skull and Crossbones"|
|1999|_Adam's Family Tree_|Cavalier|Episode: "A Cavalier Spirit"|
|_The Big Knights_|Sir Morris (voice)|(TV movie)||
|_The Greatest Store in the World_|Mr. Scottley|||
|_The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything_|King Henry VIII|(TV movie)||
|2004|_Winter Solstice_|Max||
|_The Legend of the Tamworth Two_|Wild Boar (voice)|||
|2006|_Alexander the Great_|Narrator|(Video documentary)|
|_Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy_|Sir Gregory|(TV movie)||
|2006-2010|_Peppa Pig_|Grampy Rabbit|Episodes: "Grandpa Pig's Boat" "Grampy Rabbits Lighthouse"|
|2007-2011|_Doctors_|Dominic Duvall / Micky 'Rebel' Becket|Episodes: "Rebel, Rebel" "The Devil's Daughter"|
|2008|_Kika & Bob_|Bob||
|_The Wrong Door_|Captain Goiter|Episodes: "The Train Pirates" "Bondo"||
|_Family Guy_|Prince Vultan|Episode: "Road to Germany"||
|_The Royal_|Sir Edward Fawcett|Episode: "Pastures New"||
|_Have I Got News for You_|Guest Presenter|Episodes: "Episode #35.3" "Episode #36.10"||
|2009|_Henry 8.0_|Henry Tudor||
|2010|_Fee Fi Fo Yum_|GTV Announcer (voice)||
|_Little Princess_|Great Uncle Walter|Episode: "I Want My Horace"||
|2010-2011|_The Legend of Dick and Dom_|King|Episodes: "Beastly" "Home"|
|2011|_Wojtek: The Bear That Went to War_|Narrator|(Video documentary)|
|_QI_|Himself|Episode: "Ice"||
|2012|_Wizards vs Aliens_|Nekross King (Voice)||
|_The Amazing World of Gumball_|Santa Claus (voice)|Episode: "Christmas"||
|2013|_Have I Got News for You_|Guest Presenter|Episode: "Episode #45.2"|

### Video Games

|Year|Title|Role|
| --- | --- | --- |
|1999|_Tarzan_|Clayton|
|2002|_Kingdom Hearts_||

## Bibliography

- _The Turquoise Mountain: Brian Blessed on Everest_ (1991)
- _Dynamite Kid_ (1992)
- _Nothing's Impossible_ (1994)
- _To the Top of the World_ (1995)
- _Quest for the Lost World_ (1999)

## Other websites

- Brian Blessed at AllRovi

## Infobox (person)

- **honorific suffix**: OBE
- **name**: Brian Blessed
- **image**: Brian Blessed by Offwhitehouse.jpg
- **caption**: Brian Blessed at Cambridge Film Festival in 2007
- **birth place**: Mexborough, Yorkshire, England
- **alma mater**: Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
- **occupation**: Actor, author, comedian, director, presenter
- **years active**: 1962–present
- **spouse**: Hildegarde Neil (m. 1978–2023; her death)
- **children**: 2