Brian Blessed
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.
Known for
Family Guy
Prince Vultan (voice)
Peppa Pig
Grampy Rabbit (voice)
The Amazing World of Gumball
Santa Claus (voice)
Doctor Who
King Yrcanos
Minder
Freddie Dyer
The Avengers
Sergeant Hearn
The Avengers
Mark Dayton
Blackadder
King Richard IV
BBC Play of the Month
Sgt. Kite
Space: 1999
Mentor
Space: 1999
Cabot Rowland
Tales of the Unexpected
Detective Sergeant Jack Nolan
Tarzan
Clayton (voice)
Would I Lie to You?
Self
Natural World
A Christmas Carol
Narrator (voice)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Boss Nass (voice)
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Geoffrey Lyons
Who Do You Think You Are?
Self
Tales of Television Centre
Self
Z-Cars
PC Smith
Z-Cars
PC Fancy Smith
Z-Cars
PC William "Fancy" Smith
The Sweeney
Frank Kemble
Close Enough
Sir Jack Kleghorn (voice)
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
Self
The Wednesday Play
Peter
Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments
Self
Back in Business
Trevor Pilkington
The Christmas Tree
I, Claudius
Augustus
Lovejoy
Harry Catapodis
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Lord Locksley
Thriller
Det Sgt George Briggs
Justice
Tiger Lawson
Public Eye
Rev. William Pratt
Alexander
Wrestling Trainer
Prisoner of Honor
Gen. Gonse
Blake's 7
Vargas
Danger Mouse
Santa Claus (voice)
The Expert
Hubert Innes
Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
Old Deuteronomy
The Troubleshooters
Eddie Barnaby
The Mumbo Jumbo
Lucifer Bounder
Britain's Got More Talent
Self - Narrator
David Macaulay: Pyramid
Ankhaf (voice)
Flash Gordon
Prince Vultan
Hamlet
Ghost of Hamlet's Father
The Greatest Store in the World
Mr. Scottley
448 BC: Olympiad of Ancient Hellas
Narrator
Churchill's People
Guthrum
Survivors
Brod
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything
Tales of the Unexpected: Lamb to the Slaughter
Detective Jack Noonan
Agent Crush
Boris Goudphater (voice)
Shed of the Dead
Narrator (voice)
Blankety Blank
Self - Panellist
Much Ado About Nothing
Antonio
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
The Pirate King (voice)
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher
Captain (voice)
Wine of India
Will
The Bruce
Edward I
I, Claudius: A Television Epic
Self
Henry V
Exeter
Sooty & Co.
Santa Claus
Lady Chatterley
Petty Officer
The Eagle Has Landed
Arthur Seymour (voice) (uncredited)
All Star Mr & Mrs
Best & Bester
Shouty Shirt (Voice)
Wizards vs Aliens
The Nekross King (voice)
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans
Charlemagne (voice)
Peppa's Cinema Party
Grampy Rabbit (voice)
Sooty
Father Christmas
Arthur of the Britons
Mark of Cornwall
The Kenny Everett Television Show
Self
The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling
Squire Western
Doctor Who: Mindwarp
King Yrcanos
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Captain Teach
So You Want To Be A Pirate!
The Pirate King
Shirley's World
The Three Musketeers
Porthos
Take Me Out
Announcer (voice)
The Trojan Women
Talthybius
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Jim Lawsey
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers
Porthos
The Last Days of Pompeii
Olinthus
The Seventeenth Kind
The Voice (voice)
Time Travel Is Dangerous!
Gavin the Octopus (voice)
Chasing the Deer
Maj. Elliot
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
Suffolk
Saving Planet Earth UK
Himself - Presenter
Exam Conditions
Mr. Carksdale
King Arthur, the Young Warlord
Mark of Cornwall
Brotherly Love
Jack Baird
Fun at the Funeral Parlour
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
Long John Silver
Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return
Judge Jawbreaker (voice)
Cosmic Princess
Mentor
The Last Valley
Korski
Boy Dominic
William Woodcock
Notorious Woman
Catherine the Great
Bestuzhev
Man of La Mancha
Pedro
As You Like It
Duke Senior/Duke Frederick
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
Boss Nass (voice)
My Family and Other Animals
Spiro
The Dark Side of Everest
Self
The Little World of Don Camillo
Peppone
The Aphrodite Inheritance
Basileos
Robin Hood: The Rebellion
Friar Tuck
High Road to China
Suleman Khan
MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis
Atticus
Cold Comfort Farm
Reuben Starkadder
Johnny and the Dead
William Stickers
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
Self
The Master of Ballantrae
Captain Teach
Day of Wrath
Lord Francisco del Ruiz
Wojtek: The Bear That Went to War
Narrator
Kidnapped
Cluny MacPherson
A Question Of Entertainment
The Royal
Sir Edward Fawcett
Freddie As F.R.O.7.
El Supremo (voice)
The Day After Tomorrow
Dr. Tom Bowen
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
Self
The Legend of the Tamworth Two
Wild Boar (voice)
Macbeth
Edward the Confessor
The Conclave
Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomin
Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots
Grampy Rabbit (voice)
David Macaulay: Cathedral
Master Guillaume (voice)
David Macaulay: Roman City
Gaius Valerius (voice)
The Underdog Show
Life After Flash
Self
The Gnostics
Guilhabert De Castres
Eugenius!
Space Lord
Back in the USSR
Chazov
Son of Man
Peter
Fee Fi Fo Yum
GTV Announcer
A Midsummer Nightmare
Det Sgt George Briggs
The Doctors: 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond
The Queen: 70 Glorious Years
Self
Till Death Us Do Part
Sergeant
European Heritage
Narrator (voice)
Peppa Pig: Wedding Party!
Grampy Rabbit (voice)
Into Infinity
Dr. Tom Bowen
David Macaulay: Castle
Voice
Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
Sir Gregory
Devil's Harvest
Father Gabriel Norton
King Lear
King Lear
The Castle of Adventure
Sam
The Bristol Entertainment
Cabot / Wolstan / Pocock / Colston / Pope Gregory / Dr. Beddoes
Mist: The Story of a Sheepdog Puppy
Sir Gregory(voice)
Genius: Pythagoras
Self
The Double Agent
Reg Sugden
Blood and Dust
Chatillon
Old Rococo: The Life of Gioacchino Rossini
Voice of Rossini
The Old Man Of The Mountain
Narrator
Galahad of Everest
George Mallory/Self
Brian Cox: Space, Time & Videotape
Self
Dear Mr. Burton
Narrator
The Making of The Trial of a Time Lord
Bug-Eyed Monsters Invade the Earth!
Narrator
Mr. Bojagi
Mr. Bojagi
Have I Got News for You
Self - Host
QI
Self
The Paul O'Grady Show
Have I Got a Bit More News for You
Self - Presenter
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
Self – Actor
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip
Self - Participant
Soccer AM
Self
Pebble Mill
Self
GMTV
Self
The Heaven and Earth Show
The Russell Howard Hour
Self
Fantasy World Cup
Self
The Kumars
Self