Brian Blessed
Acting • Born 1936-10-09
Biography
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
180 credits
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
Movie • 2007
Self
Devil's Harvest
Movie • 2003
Father Gabriel Norton
Hamlet
Movie • 1996
Ghost of Hamlet's Father
Flash Gordon
Movie • 1980
Prince Vultan
Henry V
Movie • 1989
Exeter
Back in Business
Movie • 2007
Trevor Pilkington
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Movie • 1991
Lord Locksley
Much Ado About Nothing
Movie • 1993
Antonio
Into Infinity
Movie • 1975
Dr. Tom Bowen
A Christmas Carol
Movie • 1977
Narrator (voice)
Old Rococo: The Life of Gioacchino Rossini
Movie • 1992
Voice of Rossini
The Last Valley
Movie • 1971
Korski
Till Death Us Do Part
Movie • 1969
Sergeant
Tarzan
Movie • 1999
Clayton (voice)
Wine of India
Movie • 1970
Will
The Trojan Women
Movie • 1971
Talthybius
The Mumbo Jumbo
Movie • 2000
Lucifer Bounder
Cosmic Princess
Movie • 1982
Mentor
The Conclave
Movie • 2006
Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomin
Catherine the Great
Movie • 1996
Bestuzhev
MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis
Movie • 1994
Atticus
The Castle of Adventure
Movie • 1990
Sam
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
Movie • 1972
Suffolk
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
Movie • 2012
The Pirate King (voice)
The Dark Side of Everest
Movie • 2003
Self
The Queen: 70 Glorious Years
Movie • 2022
Self
Exam Conditions
Movie • 1992
Mr. Carksdale
Kidnapped
Movie • 1995
Cluny MacPherson
Freddie As F.R.O.7.
Movie • 1992
El Supremo (voice)
Brotherly Love
Movie • 1970
Jack Baird
The Master of Ballantrae
Movie • 1984
Captain Teach
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
Movie • 2022
Self
Wojtek: The Bear That Went to War
Movie • 2011
Narrator
Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
Movie • 1998
Old Deuteronomy
Prisoner of Honor
Movie • 1991
Gen. Gonse
The Seventeenth Kind
Movie • 2014
The Voice (voice)
Macbeth
Movie • 1997
Edward the Confessor
Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return
Movie • 2014
Judge Jawbreaker (voice)
High Road to China
Movie • 1983
Suleman Khan
Galahad of Everest
Movie • 1991
George Mallory/Self
Man of La Mancha
Movie • 1972
Pedro
The Bruce
Movie • 1996
Edward I
Bug-Eyed Monsters Invade the Earth!
Movie • 2022
Narrator
Day of Wrath
Movie • 2006
Lord Francisco del Ruiz
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
Movie • 2012
Boss Nass (voice)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Movie • 1999
Boss Nass (voice)
Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots
Movie • 2015
Grampy Rabbit (voice)
Genius: Pythagoras
Movie • 1996
Self
The Old Man Of The Mountain
Movie • 1989
Narrator
The Greatest Store in the World
Movie • 1999
Mr. Scottley
Tales of Television Centre
Movie • 2012
Self
The Double Agent
Movie • 1969
Reg Sugden
The Eagle Has Landed
Movie • 1976
Arthur Seymour (voice) (uncredited)
King Arthur, the Young Warlord
Movie • 1975
Mark of Cornwall
The Christmas Tree
Movie • 1966
Brian Cox: Space, Time & Videotape
Movie • 2014
Self
Back in the USSR
Movie • 1992
Chazov
Blood and Dust
Movie • 1992
Chatillon
Alexander
Movie • 2004
Wrestling Trainer
King Lear
Movie • 1999
King Lear
Mr. Bojagi
Movie • 2010
Mr. Bojagi
Peppa's Cinema Party
Movie • 2024
Grampy Rabbit (voice)
Chasing the Deer
Movie • 1994
Maj. Elliot
The Doctors: 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond
Movie • 1995
As You Like It
Movie • 2006
Duke Senior/Duke Frederick
So You Want To Be A Pirate!
Movie • 2012
The Pirate King
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Movie • 1983
Geoffrey Lyons
Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
Movie • 2006
Sir Gregory
Shed of the Dead
Movie • 2019
Narrator (voice)
Life After Flash
Movie • 2017
Self
448 BC: Olympiad of Ancient Hellas
Movie • 2004
Narrator
Robin Hood: The Rebellion
Movie • 2018
Friar Tuck
David Macaulay: Roman City
Movie • 1994
Gaius Valerius (voice)
David Macaulay: Pyramid
Movie • 1989
Ankhaf (voice)
David Macaulay: Castle
Movie • 1983
Voice
David Macaulay: Cathedral
Movie • 1986
Master Guillaume (voice)
The Legend of the Tamworth Two
Movie • 2004
Wild Boar (voice)
The Making of The Trial of a Time Lord
Movie • 2008
Eugenius!
Movie • 2020
Space Lord
I, Claudius: A Television Epic
Movie • 2002
Self
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans
Movie • 2021
Charlemagne (voice)
Doctor Who: Mindwarp
Movie • 1986
King Yrcanos
Dear Mr. Burton
Movie • 2020
Narrator
A Midsummer Nightmare
Movie • 1975
Det Sgt George Briggs
Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments
Movie • 2008
Self
Son of Man
Movie • 1969
Peter
Agent Crush
Movie • 2008
Boris Goudphater (voice)
Peppa Pig: Wedding Party!
Movie • 2024
Grampy Rabbit (voice)
The Bristol Entertainment
Movie • 1971
Cabot / Wolstan / Pocock / Colston / Pope Gregory / Dr. Beddoes
Time Travel Is Dangerous!
Movie • 2025
Gavin the Octopus (voice)
Tales of the Unexpected: Lamb to the Slaughter
Movie • 1979
Detective Jack Noonan
Mist: The Story of a Sheepdog Puppy
Movie • 2005
Sir Gregory(voice)
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
Movie • 2005
King Richard IV (archive footage) (uncredited)
Blake's 7: The Beginning
Movie • 1985
Vargas
Thriller
TV • 1973
Det Sgt George Briggs
The Sweeney
TV • 1975
Frank Kemble
Soccer AM
TV • 1995
Self
Family Guy
TV • 1999
Prince Vultan (voice)
Blake's 7
TV • 1978
Vargas
Doctor Who
TV • 1963
King Yrcanos
Tales of the Unexpected
TV • 1979
Detective Sergeant Jack Nolan
The Avengers
TV • 1961
Sergeant Hearn
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
TV • 2002
Self
The Paul O'Grady Show
TV • 2004
The Underdog Show
TV • 2008
Minder
TV • 1979
Freddie Dyer
Survivors
TV • 1975
Brod
I, Claudius
TV • 1976
Augustus
Lovejoy
TV • 1986
Harry Catapodis
The Aphrodite Inheritance
TV • 1979
Basileos
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Captain Teach
Blackadder
TV • 1983
King Richard IV
Peppa Pig
TV • 2004
Grampy Rabbit (voice)
Shirley's World
TV • 1972
The Expert
TV • 1968
Hubert Innes
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers
TV • 1967
Porthos
Boy Dominic
TV • 1974
William Woodcock
Pebble Mill
TV • 1991
Self
The Heaven and Earth Show
TV • 1998
A Question of Entertainment
TV • 1988
BBC Play of the Month
TV • 1965
Sgt. Kite
Fun at the Funeral Parlour
TV • 2001
Natural World
TV • 1983
GMTV
TV • 1993
Self
The Three Musketeers
TV • 1966
Porthos
All Star Mr & Mrs
TV • 2008
Fee Fi Fo Yum
TV • 2010
GTV Announcer
Fantasy World Cup
TV • 1998
Self
Britain's Got More Talent
TV • 2007
Self - Narrator
The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling
TV • 1997
Squire Western
Z-Cars
TV • 1962
PC Smith
Z-Cars
TV • 1962
PC Fancy Smith
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
TV • 1986
Long John Silver
The Kenny Everett Television Show
TV • 1982
Self
The Kumars
TV • 2014
Self
Who Do You Think You Are?
TV • 2004
Self
The Day After Tomorrow
TV • 1975
Dr. Tom Bowen
Danger Mouse
TV • 2015
Santa Claus (voice)
Justice
TV • 1971
Tiger Lawson
Would I Lie to You?
TV • 2007
Self
The Last Days of Pompeii
TV • 1984
Olinthus
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher
TV • 1996
Captain (voice)
Wizards vs Aliens
TV • 2012
The Nekross King (voice)
Sooty & Co.
TV • 1993
Santa Claus
Sooty
TV • 2011
Father Christmas
The Royal
TV • 2003
Sir Edward Fawcett
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
TV • 2022
Self – Actor
The Amazing World of Gumball
TV • 2011
Santa Claus (voice)
Close Enough
TV • 2020
Sir Jack Kleghorn (voice)
QI
TV • 2003
Self
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
TV • 1969
Jim Lawsey
Johnny and the Dead
TV • 1995
William Stickers
Cold Comfort Farm
TV • 1968
Reuben Starkadder
Blankety Blank
TV • 2021
Self - Panellist
The Little World of Don Camillo
TV • 1981
Peppone
The Russell Howard Hour
TV • 2017
Self
Z-Cars
TV • 1962
PC William "Fancy" Smith
Have I Got a Bit More News for You
TV
Self - Presenter
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip
TV • 2011
Self - Participant
My Family and Other Animals
TV • 1987
Spiro
Public Eye
TV • 1965
Rev. William Pratt
Arthur of the Britons
TV • 1972
Mark of Cornwall
The Troubleshooters
TV • 1965
Eddie Barnaby
Space: 1999
TV • 1975
Mentor
Space: 1999
TV • 1975
Cabot Rowland
Take Me Out
TV • 2010
Announcer (voice)
Saving Planet Earth UK
TV • 2007
Himself - Presenter
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything
TV • 2000
The Avengers
TV • 1961
Mark Dayton
Best & Bester
TV • 2022
Shouty Shirt (Voice)
Have I Got News for You
TV • 1990
Self - Host
The Wednesday Play
TV • 1964
Peter
Lady Chatterley
TV • 1993
Petty Officer
Churchill's People
TV • 1974
Guthrum
European Heritage
TV • 1973
Narrator (voice)
The Gnostics
TV • 1987
Guilhabert De Castres
The Big Knights
TV • 1999
Sir Morris
Crossbow
TV • 1987
Nobody's House
TV • 1976
Jack Treadful
Notorious Woman
TV • 1974
Albert Grzymala