Brian Blessed

Biography

Boisterous British actor Brian Blessed is known for his hearty, king-sized portrayals on film and television. A giant of a man accompanied by an eloquent wit and booming, operatic voice, Brian was born in 1936 and grew up in the mining village of Goldthorpe in South Yorkshire. His father was a miner who wanted a better life for his son; Brian lost three uncles in the pit. At a young age, he displayed an acute talent for acting in school productions, but also had a penchant for boxing, a direction that would be short-lived. Working various blue-collar jobs from undertaker's assistant to plasterer, Brian managed to attend the Bristol Old Vic and was off and running. He has lent his musical talents to several productions - from playing "Old Deuteronomy" in "Cats" to "The Baron" in the more recent "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". In the 1970s, he began appearing more and more on-camera with both classical and contemporary performances. In costumed television movies, he has played "Porthos" in _"The Three Musketeers" (1966)_ (qv) and _"The Further Adventures of the Musketeers" (1967)_ (qv), "Augustus" in _"I, Claudius" (1976)_ (qv), and "Long John Silver" in _"John Silver's Return to Treasure Island" (1986)_ (qv) and has been a part of various reenactments including _Catherine the Great (1996) (TV)_ (qv), _"Lady Chatterley" (1993)_ (qv), _The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983) (TV)_ (qv) and _Kidnapped (1995) (TV)_ (qv). On film, he has appeared in robust support in several 'William Shakespeare (I)' (qv) adaptations, including _Henry V (1989)_ (qv), _Much Ado About Nothing (1993)_ (qv), _Hamlet (1996)_ (qv) and _Macbeth (1997)_ (qv). He is married to British actress 'Hildegard Neil' (qv), who made an appearance with him in _Macbeth (1997)_ (qv). More recently, he appeared in 'Oliver Stone (I)' (qv)'s epic-scale _Alexander (2004)_ (qv) and in 'Kenneth Branagh' (qv)'s film version of 'William Shakespeare (I)' (qv)'s _As You Like It (2006)_ (qv).