Acting
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.
Filmography
Dudley & the Invasion of the Space Slugs
Film · 2027
Space: 1999 4K Double Bill - Breakaway and The Metamorph
Film · 2026
Time Travel Is Dangerous!
Film · 2025
Peppa's Cinema Party
Film · 2024
Peppa Pig: Wedding Party!
Film · 2024
The Queen: 70 Glorious Years
Film · 2022
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
Film · 2022
Bug-Eyed Monsters Invade the Earth!
Film · 2022
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
Series · 2022
Best & Bester
Series · 2022
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans
Film · 2021
Peter O'Toole Réalta & Rógaire
Film · 2021
Blankety Blank
Series · 2021
Eugenius!
Film · 2020
Dear Mr. Burton
Film · 2020
Close Enough
Series · 2020
Shed of the Dead
Film · 2019
Robin Hood: The Rebellion
Film · 2018
Life After Flash
Film · 2017
The Russell Howard Hour
Series · 2017
Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots
Film · 2015
Danger Mouse
Series · 2015
The Seventeenth Kind
Film · 2014
Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return
Film · 2014
Brian Cox: Space, Time & Videotape
Film · 2014
The Kumars
Series · 2014
Was It Something I Said?
Series · 2013
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
Film · 2012
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
Film · 2012
Tales of Television Centre
Film · 2012
So You Want To Be A Pirate!
Film · 2012
Wizards vs Aliens
Series · 2012
Wojtek: The Bear That Went to War
Film · 2011
Sooty
Series · 2011
The Amazing World of Gumball
Series · 2011
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip
Series · 2011
Mr. Bojagi
Film · 2010
Fee Fi Fo Yum
Series · 2010
Take Me Out
Series · 2010
In Confidence
Series · 2010
The Making of The Trial of a Time Lord
Film · 2008
Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments
Film · 2008
Agent Crush
Film · 2008
The Underdog Show
Series · 2008
All Star Mr & Mrs
Series · 2008
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
Film · 2007
Back in Business
Film · 2007
Britain's Got More Talent
Series · 2007
Would I Lie to You?
Series · 2007
Saving Planet Earth UK
Series · 2007
The Conclave
Film · 2006
Day of Wrath
Film · 2006
As You Like It
Film · 2006
Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
Film · 2006
Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
Film · 2005
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
Film · 2005
Alexander
Film · 2004
448 BC: Olympiad of Ancient Hellas
Film · 2004
The Legend of the Tamworth Two
Film · 2004
The Paul O'Grady Show
Series · 2004
Peppa Pig
Series · 2004
Who Do You Think You Are?
Series · 2004
Devil's Harvest
Film · 2003
The Dark Side of Everest
Film · 2003
The Royal
Series · 2003
QI
Series · 2003
I, Claudius: A Television Epic
Film · 2002
The Making of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Film · 2002
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
Series · 2002
Fun at the Funeral Parlour
Series · 2001
The Mumbo Jumbo
Film · 2000
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything
Series · 2000
Tarzan
Film · 1999
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Film · 1999
The Greatest Store in the World
Film · 1999
King Lear
Film · 1999
Family Guy
Series · 1999
The Big Knights
Series · 1999
Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
Film · 1998
The Heaven and Earth Show
Series · 1998
Fantasy World Cup
Series · 1998
Macbeth
Film · 1997
The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling
Series · 1997
Hamlet
Film · 1996
Catherine the Great
Film · 1996
The Bruce
Film · 1996
Genius: Pythagoras
Film · 1996
Summit Fever
Film · 1996
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher
Series · 1996
Kidnapped
Film · 1995
The Doctors: 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond
Film · 1995
Soccer AM
Series · 1995
Johnny and the Dead
Series · 1995
MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis
Film · 1994
Chasing the Deer
Film · 1994
David Macaulay: Roman City
Film · 1994
Much Ado About Nothing
Film · 1993
GMTV
Series · 1993
Sooty & Co.
Series · 1993
Lady Chatterley
Series · 1993
Old Rococo: The Life of Gioacchino Rossini
Film · 1992
Exam Conditions
Film · 1992
Freddie As F.R.O.7.
Film · 1992
Back in the USSR
Film · 1992
Blood and Dust
Film · 1992
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Film · 1991
Prisoner of Honor
Film · 1991
Galahad of Everest
Film · 1991
Pebble Mill
Series · 1991
The Castle of Adventure
Film · 1990
Have I Got News for You
Series · 1990
The Castle of Adventure
Series · 1990
Henry V
Film · 1989
The Old Man Of The Mountain
Film · 1989
David Macaulay: Pyramid
Film · 1989
A Question of Entertainment
Series · 1988
War and Remembrance
Series · 1988
Comic Relief
Series · 1988
My Family and Other Animals
Series · 1987
The Gnostics
Series · 1987
Crossbow
Series · 1987
David Macaulay: Cathedral
Film · 1986
Doctor Who: Mindwarp
Film · 1986
Lovejoy
Series · 1986
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
Series · 1986
Boon
Series · 1986
Blake's 7: The Beginning
Film · 1985
The Master of Ballantrae
Film · 1984
The Last Days of Pompeii
Series · 1984
High Road to China
Film · 1983
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Film · 1983
David Macaulay: Castle
Film · 1983
Blackadder
Series · 1983
Natural World
Series · 1983
Cosmic Princess
Film · 1982
The Kenny Everett Television Show
Series · 1982
The Little World of Don Camillo
Series · 1981
Flash Gordon
Film · 1980
Tales of the Unexpected: Lamb to the Slaughter
Film · 1979
Tales of the Unexpected
Series · 1979
Minder
Series · 1979
The Aphrodite Inheritance
Series · 1979
Blake's 7
Series · 1978
A Christmas Carol
Film · 1977
The Eagle Has Landed
Film · 1976
I, Claudius
Series · 1976
Nobody's House
Series · 1976
The Day After Tomorrow: Into Infinity
Film · 1975
King Arthur, the Young Warlord
Film · 1975
A Midsummer Nightmare
Film · 1975
The Sweeney
Series · 1975
Survivors
Series · 1975
The Day After Tomorrow
Series · 1975
Space: 1999
Series · 1975
Space: 1999
Series · 1975
Boy Dominic
Series · 1974
Churchill's People
Series · 1974
Notorious Woman
Series · 1974
Thriller
Series · 1973
European Heritage
Series · 1973
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
Film · 1972
Man of La Mancha
Film · 1972
Shirley's World
Series · 1972
Arthur of the Britons
Series · 1972
The Last Valley
Film · 1971
The Trojan Women
Film · 1971
The Bristol Entertainment
Film · 1971
Justice
Series · 1971
Wine of India
Film · 1970
Brotherly Love
Film · 1970
Till Death Us Do Part
Film · 1969
The Double Agent
Film · 1969
Son of Man
Film · 1969
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Series · 1969
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
Series · 1969
The Expert
Series · 1968
Cold Comfort Farm
Series · 1968
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers
Series · 1967
ITV Playhouse
Series · 1967
ITV Playhouse
Series · 1967
The Christmas Tree
Film · 1966
The Three Musketeers
Series · 1966
BBC Play of the Month
Series · 1965
Public Eye
Series · 1965
The Troubleshooters
Series · 1965
The Wednesday Play
Series · 1964
The Wednesday Play
Series · 1964
Doctor Who
Series · 1963
Z-Cars
Series · 1962
Z-Cars
Series · 1962
Z-Cars
Series · 1962
The Avengers
Series · 1961
The Avengers
Series · 1961
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Series · 1951
Have I Got a Bit More News for You
Series