caption death_date death_place children birth_place birth_date spouse image article_title name occupation
in '' the private life of sherlock holmes '' 24 october 1997 surrey , england shane balfour and perry balfour kent , england 11 february 1918 kathleen stuart michael_balfour _ -lrb- actor -rrb- . jpg michael balfour -lrb- actor -rrb-
 michael balfour actor , sculptor and clown
michael balfour -lrb- actor -rrb-

michael balfour -lrb- 11 february 1918 -- 24 october 1997 -rrb- 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 .
he worked for a rollcall 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 `` 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 a passenger in the 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 .
