Brian Blessed

Boisterous British actor 'Brian Blessed' (qv) is known for his hearty, king-sized portrayals on film and television. A giant of a man accompanied by an eloquent wit and booming, operatic voice, Brian was born in 1936 and grew up in the mining village of Goldthorpe in South Yorkshire. His father was a miner who wanted a better life for his son; Brian lost three uncles in the pit. At a young age, he displayed an acute talent for acting in school productions, but also had a penchant for boxing, a direction that would be short-lived.Working various blue-collar jobs from undertaker's assistant to plasterer, Brian managed to attend the Bristol Old Vic and was off and running. He has lent his musical talents to several productions - from playing "Old Deuteronomy" in "Cats" to "The Baron" in the more recent "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". In the 1970s, he began appearing more and more on-camera with both classical and contemporary performances. In costumed television movies, he has played "Porthos" in _The Three Musketeers (1966)_ (qv) and _The Further Adventures of the Musketeers (1967)_ (qv), "Augustus" in _I, Claudius (1976)_ (qv), and "Long John Silver" in _Return to Treasure Island (1986)_ (qv) and has been a part of various reenactments including _Katharina die Große (1995)_ (qv), _Lady Chatterley (1993)_ (qv), _The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983)_ (qv) and _Kidnapped (1995)_ (qv).On film, he has appeared in robust support in several 'William Shakespeare' (qv) adaptations, including _Henry V (1989)_ (qv), _Much Ado About Nothing (1993)_ (qv), _Hamlet (1996)_ (qv), _Macbeth (1997)_ (qv) and the title role in _King Lear (1999)_ (qv), which he also directed.More recently, he appeared in 'Oliver Stone' (qv)'s epic-scale _Alexander (2004)_ (qv) and in 'Kenneth Branagh' (qv)'s film version of 'William Shakespeare' (qv)'s _As You Like It (2006)_ (qv).In recent years, the octogenarian has been heard more than seen with voice work in video games, documentaries and such animated TV programs as _Kika & Bob (2007)_ (qv) (as Bob); _The Amazing World of Gumball (2011)_ (qv) (as Santa Claus); _Wizards vs. Aliens (2012)_ (qv) (as the Necross King); _Henry Hugglemonster (2013)_ (qv) (as Eduardo Enormomonster); and _Peppa Pig (2004)_ (qv) as Grampy Rabbit.He is married to British actress 'Hildegard Neil' (qv), who made an appearance with him in _Macbeth (1997)_ (qv).::Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net