 Although he is known for a personality best described as much larger than
life - and for his formidable lung power - Brian Blessed's acting career has
encompassed a variety of roles which demonstrate considerable versatility,
showing him equally capable of still, brooding menace, hearty bonhomie and
explosive rage.
Born in West Riding, he left school at 14 when his father was injured in a
mining accident, taking a variety of jobs before serving as a parachutist during
his National Service. After graduating from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School,
he won his major television break in the spectacularly successful police drama Z
Cars (BBC, 1962-78), becoming a household name as PC 'Fancy' Smith, 'a Ted in a
copper's uniform'. Leaving the series in 1965, he subsequently played Porthos in
The Three Musketeers (BBC, 1966-67) and made appearances in The Avengers (ITV,
1961-69) and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (ITV, 1969-70), but it was not until
I, Claudius (BBC, 1976) that he got his next defining role. As Augustus, Rome's
first emperor, he dominated early episodes, sparking off Siân Phillips' scheming
Livia and George Baker's hangdog Tiberius. The first in a series of charismatic
authority figures, Augustus allowed Blessed to display his full range, switching
in an instant from silken charm to boiling fury.
After memorable guest roles in Survivors (BBC, 1975-77) and Blake's 7 (BBC,
1978-81), he provided a boisterous turn as Basilios, the human incarnation of
Greek god Dionysus, in The Aphrodite Inheritance (BBC, 1978). By now he had
grown the bushy beard that would become his trademark, taking on a broad,
bear-like persona which began to veer into self-parody after his scene-stealing
performance as Vultan in Flash Gordon (d. Michael Hodges, 1980).
More king-sized roles followed, notably bloodthirsty Richard IV, father of
the first incarnation of The Black Adder (BBC, 1983), perennially incapable of
remembering the name of his slithering offspring. He proved equally voluble as
Long John Silver in John Silver's Return to Treasure Island (ITV,1986). From the late 1980s he
was a regular collaborator on Kenneth Branagh's Shakespearean adaptations,
providing an amiable Exeter in Henry V (1989) and a chilling Ghost in Hamlet
(1996).
Latterly he has increasingly specialised in voice work, lending his sonorous
tones to Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (US, 1999) and even a car navigation
device, and remains one of Britain's most instantly recognisable and
entertaining character actors, as well as a notable explorer and mountain
climber.
Richard Hewett
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FILM & TV CREDITS
