Brian Blessed
Known For
Acting
Born
1936-10-09 in Mexborough, Yorkshire, England, UK
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.
Most Known For
Family Guy
as Prince Vultan (voice)
Peppa Pig
as Grampy Rabbit (voice)
Doctor Who
as King Yrcanos
The Amazing World of Gumball
as Santa Claus (voice)
Have I Got News for You
as Self - Host
QI
as Self
The Avengers
as Sergeant Hearn
The Avengers
as Mark Dayton
Minder
as Freddie Dyer
Space: 1999
as Mentor
Space: 1999
as Cabot Rowland
Blackadder
as King Richard IV
BBC Play of the Month
as Sgt. Kite
Would I Lie to You?
as Self
Close Enough
as Sir Jack Kleghorn (voice)
Natural World
Tales of the Unexpected
as Detective Sergeant Jack Nolan
GMTV
as Self
Have I Got a Bit More News for You
as Self - Presenter
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
as Boss Nass (voice)