Brian Blessed

Acting

Brian Blessed

Born 1936-10-09 · 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.

Acting credits

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace poster
6.6

Anakin Skywalker, a young slave strong with the Force, is discovered on Tatooine. Meanwhile, the evil Sith have returned, enacting their plot for revenge against the Jedi.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

1999

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves poster
6.9

Nobleman crusader Robin of Locksley breaks out of a Jerusalem prison with the help of Moorish fellow prisoner Azeem and travels back home to England. But upon arrival he discovers his dead father in the ruins of his family estate, killed by the vicious sheriff of Nottingham, Robin and Azeem join forces with outlaws Little John and Will Scarlett to save the kingdom from the sheriff's villainy.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

1991

Tarzan poster
7.4

Tarzan was a small orphan who was raised by an ape named Kala since he was a child. He believed that this was his family, but on an expedition Jane Porter is rescued by Tarzan. He then finds out that he's human. Now Tarzan must make the decision as to which family he should belong to...

Tarzan

1999

Alexander poster
6.0

Alexander, the King of Macedonia, leads his legions against the giant Persian Empire. After defeating the Persians, he leads his army across the then known world, venturing farther than any westerner had ever gone, all the way to India.

Alexander

2004

Much Ado About Nothing poster
7.0

In this Shakespearean farce, Hero and her groom-to-be, Claudio, team up with Claudio's commanding officer, Don Pedro, the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick and Beatrice -- a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John plots to ruin the wedding.

Much Ado About Nothing

1993

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! poster
6.5

The enthusiastic Pirate Captain, along with his rag-tag crew, sets out to beat his bitter rivals. The chaotic adventure takes them from exotic shores to Victorian London, and from a haplessly smitten scientist to a diabolical queen.

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!

2012

Flash Gordon poster
6.3

A football player and his mates travel to the planet Mongo and find themselves fighting the tyranny of Ming the Merciless to save Earth.

Flash Gordon

1980

The Eagle Has Landed poster
6.7

When the Nazi high command learns in late 1943 that Winston Churchill will be spending time at a country estate in Norfolk, it hatches an audacious scheme to kidnap the prime minister and spirit him to Germany for enforced negotiations with Hitler.

The Eagle Has Landed

1976

Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans poster
7.6

The Guardians of Arcadia reunite to battle the nefarious Arcane Order, who've reawakened the primordial Titans.

Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans

2021

Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return poster
6.3

Dorothy wakes in post-tornado Kansas, only to be whisked back to Oz to try to save her old friends, the Scarecrow, the Lion, the Tin Man, and Glinda, from a devious new villain, the Jester. New comrades Wiser the Owl, Marshal Mallow, China Princess, and Tugg the Tugboat join Dorothy on her latest magical journey through the colorful landscape of Oz to restore order and happiness to Emerald City.

Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return

2014

Hamlet poster
7.3

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother now marrying the murderer... his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.

Hamlet

1996

The Trojan Women poster
6.2

In the aftermath of the Trojan Wars, Queen Hecuba takes stock of the defeated kingdom. Her son has been killed, and his widow, Andromache, is left to raise their son, Astyanax, alone. Hecuba's daughter, Cassandra, fears being enslaved by her Greek masters, while Helen of Troy risks being executed. Astyanax also becomes the focus of the Greeks' attention as the last male heir of the Trojan royal family.

The Trojan Women

1971

Henry V poster
7.1

In 1415, in the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France.

Henry V

1989

Day of Wrath poster
4.4

At the height of the Spanish Inquisition, high-ranking noblemen begin dropping like flies, with alarming frequency and unexplained violence. But can local 16th-century sheriff Ruy de Mendoza discern who's responsible when no one wants to cooperate? After all, before Mendoza can even identify the bodies, the crime scenes are mysteriously cleared - and the villagers pretend the murders never happened.

Day of Wrath

2006

As You Like It poster
5.8

Witty, playful and utterly magical, the story is a compelling romantic adventure in which Rosalind and Orlando's celebrated courtship is played out against a backdrop of political rivalry, banishment and exile in the Forest of Arden - set in 19th-century Japan.

As You Like It

2006

The Last Valley poster
6.5

People in a small German village in the last valley to remain untouched by the devastating Thirty Years' War try to exist in peace with a group of soldiers occupying the valley.

The Last Valley

1971

The Bruce poster
6.4

Robert the Bruce unites the Scots in a rebellion against the hated English, led by Edward I. He is supported by various loyal followers, notably the bishop who agrees to recognize his claim and crown him as King of the Scots.

The Bruce

1996

Robin Hood: The Rebellion poster
5.0

With his true love captured by the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham, the legendary Robin Hood and his crew of outlaws execute a daring rescue to save her.

Robin Hood: The Rebellion

2018

High Road to China poster
6.0

A biplane pilot is saddled with a spoiled industrialist's daughter on a search for her missing father through Asia that eventually involves them in a struggle against a Chinese warlord.

High Road to China

1983

Brotherly Love poster
6.5

Having left her husband, Hilary moves in with her unbalanced brother, Pink, who uses wit and humor to hide his amorous yearnings.

Brotherly Love

1970

Catherine the Great poster
5.6

Trapped in a loveless arranged marriage to the immature future Czar, a young German Princess proves a skillful political infighter and rises to become Catherine the Great.

Catherine the Great

1996

Freddie As F.R.O.7. poster
5.2

Frederick is a young medieval French prince with magical powers, turned into a frog by his evil sorceress aunt, who kills his father in a bid to seize the throne. After being pursued by his aunt, the prince is saved by the Loch Ness Monster, who indebts herself to him, and hides out with a colony of anthropomorphic frogs for a time. After ultimately deciding to accept his fate and fight evil using his powers, Freddie grows to the size of an adult human, travels to the future, and becomes a French secret agent with a sentient car.

Freddie As F.R.O.7.

1992

The Hound of the Baskervilles poster
6.5

When a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, detective Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

1983

Agent Crush poster
4.8

To fight crime, a new hero is created but there are a few small glitches to iron out.

Agent Crush

2008

Behind the camera