Acting
Brian Blessed
Born Oct 9, 1936 · Mexborough, Yorkshire, England, UK
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.
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Acting
Dudley & the Invasion of the Space Slugs
2027
Animation · Family · Science Fiction
Space: 1999 4K Double Bill - Breakaway and The Metamorph
2026
Science Fiction · Fantasy · Adventure
Time Travel Is Dangerous!
2025
Science Fiction · Fantasy · Comedy
Peppa Pig: Wedding Party!
2024
Animation · Family · Romance
Peppa's Cinema Party
2024
Animation · Family
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
2022
Documentary
Bug-Eyed Monsters Invade the Earth!
2022
Science Fiction · Adventure · Comedy
Best & Bester
2022
Animation · Comedy
The Queen: 70 Glorious Years
2022
Documentary
Peter O'Toole Réalta & Rógaire
2021
Documentary
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans
2021
Animation · Fantasy · Family
Dear Mr. Burton
2020
Close Enough
2020
Comedy · Animation
Eugenius!
2020
Shed of the Dead
2019
Comedy · Horror
Robin Hood: The Rebellion
2018
Adventure · History · Action
Life After Flash
2017
Documentary
Danger Mouse
2015
Comedy · Animation · Family
Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots
2015
Animation · Family
Brian Cox: Space, Time & Videotape
2014
Documentary
The Seventeenth Kind
2014
Comedy · Science Fiction
Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return
2014
Animation · Family · Fantasy
Wizards vs Aliens
2012
Drama · Sci-Fi & Fantasy · Action & Adventure
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
2012
Family · Animation · Science Fiction
So You Want To Be A Pirate!
2012
Comedy · Animation
Tales of Television Centre
2012
Documentary
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
2012
Animation · Adventure · Family
Sooty
2011
Comedy · Kids
The Amazing World of Gumball
2011
Animation · Family · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Take Me Out
2010
Reality · Comedy
Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments
2008
Comedy · Documentary
The Making of The Trial of a Time Lord
2008
Documentary
All Star Mr & Mrs
2008
Agent Crush
2008
Animation · Adventure
Back in Business
2007
Adventure · Action · Comedy
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
2007
Documentary · TV Movie
The Conclave
2006
Drama · History
As You Like It
2006
Comedy · Drama · Romance
Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
2006
TV Movie · Family · Comedy
Day of Wrath
2006
Adventure · Drama · Action
Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
2005
Family · TV Movie
448 BC: Olympiad of Ancient Hellas
2004
Documentary · Drama
Alexander
2004
War · History · Action
The Paul O'Grady Show
2004
Comedy · Talk
Peppa Pig
2004
Animation · Kids
The Legend of the Tamworth Two
2004
Drama · Comedy
The Royal
2003
Drama
Devil's Harvest
2003
Drama · Horror · Thriller
The Dark Side of Everest
2003
Documentary · Adventure · Drama
The Making of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
2002
Documentary · Music · Family
I, Claudius: A Television Epic
2002
Documentary
The Mumbo Jumbo
2000
Science Fiction · Fantasy · Comedy
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything
2000
The Greatest Store in the World
1999
Drama · Family · TV Movie
The Big Knights
1999
Tarzan
1999
Animation · Family · Adventure
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
1999
Adventure · Action · Science Fiction
Family Guy
1999
Animation · Comedy
King Lear
1999
Drama
Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
1998
Documentary · Music
The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling
1997
Drama
Macbeth
1997
Drama
Hamlet
1996
Drama
Catherine the Great
1996
Drama · TV Movie · History
The Bruce
1996
History
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher
1996
Animation
Genius: Pythagoras
1996
Documentary
Summit Fever
1996
Documentary
Kidnapped
1995
Action · Adventure · TV Movie
The Doctors: 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond
1995
Documentary
Johnny and the Dead
1995
Action & Adventure · Family · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Chasing the Deer
1994
History
MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis
1994
Action · Adventure · TV Movie
David Macaulay: Roman City
1994
Documentary · History
Sooty & Co.
1993
Kids · Comedy
Lady Chatterley
1993
Drama
Much Ado About Nothing
1993
Drama · Comedy · Romance
Blood and Dust
1992
Adventure
Freddie As F.R.O.7.
1992
Animation · Adventure · Family
Back in the USSR
1992
Drama · Thriller · Crime
Galahad of Everest
1991
Documentary · History · Adventure
Prisoner of Honor
1991
Drama · History · TV Movie
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
1991
Action · Adventure · Drama
The Castle of Adventure
1990
Action & Adventure · Sci-Fi & Fantasy · Family
Henry V
1989
War · Drama · History
David Macaulay: Pyramid
1989
Documentary · History
War and Remembrance
1988
Drama · War & Politics
Comic Relief
1988
Comedy
My Family and Other Animals
1987
Drama
Crossbow
1987
Action & Adventure · Drama · Family
The Gnostics
1987
Documentary
Doctor Who: Mindwarp
1986
Science Fiction · Drama · Action
David Macaulay: Cathedral
1986
Documentary · History
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
1986
Action & Adventure · Family · Drama
Boon
1986
Comedy · Drama · Crime
Lovejoy
1986
Comedy · Drama · Mystery
Blake's 7: The Beginning
1985
Science Fiction · Drama
The Last Days of Pompeii
1984
Drama
The Master of Ballantrae
1984
Adventure · TV Movie · Drama
The Hound of the Baskervilles
1983
Horror · Crime · Mystery
Natural World
1983
Documentary
Blackadder
1983
Comedy
High Road to China
1983
Adventure · Drama · History
David Macaulay: Castle
1983
Documentary
Cosmic Princess
1982
Science Fiction
Flash Gordon
1980
Science Fiction · Adventure · Action
Minder
1979
Comedy · Drama · Action & Adventure
Tales of the Unexpected: Lamb to the Slaughter
1979
Crime
Tales of the Unexpected
1979
Drama
The Aphrodite Inheritance
1979
Drama · Sci-Fi & Fantasy · Action & Adventure
Blake's 7
1978
Drama · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
A Christmas Carol
1977
Family · Drama · TV Movie
The Eagle Has Landed
1976
Adventure · Drama · Action
I, Claudius
1976
Drama · War & Politics
Nobody's House
1976
Sci-Fi & Fantasy · Drama · Family
The Day After Tomorrow: Into Infinity
1975
Science Fiction · Family · TV Movie
A Midsummer Nightmare
1975
TV Movie · Crime · Horror
Space: 1999
1975
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Survivors
1975
Drama · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
The Sweeney
1975
Action & Adventure · Drama · Crime
King Arthur, the Young Warlord
1975
Adventure · Drama · TV Movie
Churchill's People
1974
Drama · War & Politics
Notorious Woman
1974
Drama
Boy Dominic
1974
Family
Thriller
1973
Drama · Crime · Mystery
Man of La Mancha
1972
Adventure · Comedy · Drama
Arthur of the Britons
1972
Action & Adventure · Drama
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
1972
Drama · History
Shirley's World
1972
Drama · Comedy
Justice
1971
Drama
The Trojan Women
1971
Drama
The Last Valley
1971
History · War · Drama
Brotherly Love
1970
Drama
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
1969
Comedy · Sci-Fi & Fantasy · Crime
Son of Man
1969
Drama · History · TV Movie
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969
Till Death Us Do Part
1969
Comedy
The Expert
1968
Drama
Cold Comfort Farm
1968
ITV Playhouse
1967
Drama
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers
1967
Action & Adventure · Drama
The Christmas Tree
1966
Family · Adventure
The Three Musketeers
1966
Action & Adventure · Drama
BBC Play of the Month
1965
Drama
The Troubleshooters
1965
Drama
Public Eye
1965
Crime · Drama
The Wednesday Play
1964
Drama
Doctor Who
1963
Drama · Action & Adventure · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Z-Cars
1962
Drama
The Avengers
1961
Action & Adventure · Crime · Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Directed
King Lear
1999
Drama