Brian Blessed
Biography
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.
Movies (85)
Time Travel Is Dangerous!
2025
Peppa Pig: Wedding Party!
2024
Peppa's Cinema Party
2024
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
2022
Bug-Eyed Monsters Invade the Earth!
2022
The Queen: 70 Glorious Years
2022
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans
2021
Dear Mr. Burton
2020
Eugenius!
2020
Shed of the Dead
2019
Robin Hood: The Rebellion
2018
Life After Flash
2017
Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots
2015
Brian Cox: Space, Time & Videotape
2014
The Seventeenth Kind
2014
Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return
2014
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
2012
So You Want To Be A Pirate!
2012
Tales of Television Centre
2012
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
2012
Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments
2008
The Making of The Trial of a Time Lord
2008
Agent Crush
2008
Back in Business
2007
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
2007
The Conclave
2006
As You Like It
2006
Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
2006
Day of Wrath
2006
Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
2005
448 BC: Olympiad of Ancient Hellas
2004
Alexander
2004
The Legend of the Tamworth Two
2004
Devil's Harvest
2003
The Dark Side of Everest
2003
The Making of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
2002
I, Claudius: A Television Epic
2002
The Mumbo Jumbo
2000
The Greatest Store in the World
1999
Tarzan
1999
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
1999
King Lear
1999
Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
1998
Macbeth
1997
Hamlet
1996
Catherine the Great
1996
The Bruce
1996
Genius: Pythagoras
1996
Kidnapped
1995
The Doctors: 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond
1995
Chasing the Deer
1994
MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis
1994
David Macaulay: Roman City
1994
Much Ado About Nothing
1993
Blood and Dust
1992
Freddie As F.R.O.7.
1992
Back in the USSR
1992
Galahad of Everest
1991
Prisoner of Honor
1991
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
1991
Henry V
1989
David Macaulay: Pyramid
1989
Doctor Who: Mindwarp
1986
David Macaulay: Cathedral
1986
Blake's 7: The Beginning
1985
The Master of Ballantrae
1984
The Hound of the Baskervilles
1983
High Road to China
1983
David Macaulay: Castle
1983
Cosmic Princess
1982
Flash Gordon
1980
Tales of the Unexpected: Lamb to the Slaughter
1979
A Christmas Carol
1977
The Eagle Has Landed
1976
Into Infinity
1975
A Midsummer Nightmare
1975
King Arthur, the Young Warlord
1975
Man of La Mancha
1972
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
1972
The Trojan Women
1971
The Last Valley
1971
Brotherly Love
1970
Son of Man
1969
Till Death Us Do Part
1969
The Christmas Tree
1966
TV Shows (80)
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
2022
Best & Bester
2022
Blankety Blank
2021
Close Enough
2020
The Russell Howard Hour
2017
Danger Mouse
2015
Was It Something I Said?
2013
Wizards vs Aliens
2012
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip
2011
Sooty
2011
The Amazing World of Gumball
2011
Take Me Out
2010
All Star Mr & Mrs
2008
Would I Lie to You?
2007
Britain's Got More Talent
2007
Who Do You Think You Are?
2004
The Paul O'Grady Show
2004
Peppa Pig
2004
QI
2003
The Royal
2003
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
2002
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything
2000
The Big Knights
1999
Family Guy
1999
The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling
1997
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher
1996
Soccer AM
1995
Johnny and the Dead
1995
Sooty & Co.
1993
Lady Chatterley
1993
GMTV
1993
Have I Got News for You
1990
The Castle of Adventure
1990
War and Remembrance
1988
My Family and Other Animals
1987
Crossbow
1987
The Gnostics
1987
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
1986
Lovejoy
1986
The Last Days of Pompeii
1984
Natural World
1983
Blackadder
1983
The Kenny Everett Television Show
1982
Minder
1979
Tales of the Unexpected
1979
The Aphrodite Inheritance
1979
Blake's 7
1978
I, Claudius
1976
Nobody's House
1976
Space: 1999
1975
Space: 1999
1975
Survivors
1975
The Sweeney
1975
Churchill's People
1974
Notorious Woman
1974
Boy Dominic
1974
Thriller
1973
Arthur of the Britons
1972
Shirley's World
1972
Justice
1971
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
1969
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969
The Expert
1968
Cold Comfort Farm
1968
ITV Playhouse
1967
ITV Playhouse
1967
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers
1967
The Three Musketeers
1966
BBC Play of the Month
1965
The Troubleshooters
1965
Public Eye
1965
The Wednesday Play
1964
Doctor Who
1963
Z-Cars
1962
Z-Cars
1962
Z-Cars
1962
The Avengers
1961
The Avengers
1961
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
