Brian Blessed

Actors

Brian Blessed OBE (born October 9, 1936) is an English actor, writer, television presenter and singer. Early film roles include Country Dance (1970), with Peter O’Toole, Susannah York, and Michael Craig; The Last Valley (1970), with Michael Caine and Omar Sharif; The Trojan Women (1971), with Katharine Hepburn and Vanessa Redgrave; and Man of La Mancha (1972), with O’Toole and Sophia Loren.

He is known for portraying PC “Fancy” Smith in Z-Cars, Augustus in the BBC television production of I, Claudius (1976), with Derek Jacobi, Siân Phillips, George Baker, Margaret Tyzack, John Hurt, Patricia Quinn, Ian Ogilvy, Kevin McNally, Patrick Stewart, and John Rhys-Davies; Prince Vultan in Mike Hodges’ Flash Gordon (1980), with Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Topol, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton and Ornella Muti; and Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter in the film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Henry V (1989), with Kenneth Branagh (who also directed), Paul Scofield, Derek Jacobi, Ian Holm, Emma Thompson, Alec McCowen, Judi Dench, Robbie Coltrane, and Christian Bale.

He provided the voice Boss Nass in George Lucas‘ Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), with Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Pernilla August, and Frank Oz; Clayton in Disney’s Tarzan (1999), with Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, Glenn Close, Rosie O’Donnell, Lance Henriksen, Wayne Knight, and Nigel Hawthorne; Agent Crush (2008), with Ioan Gruffudd, Brian Cox, Neve Campbell, Roger Moore, Rula Lenska and Ruby Wax; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (2012), with Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek, and Lenny Henry; and Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return (2014), with Lea Michele, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, Kelsey Grammer, Hugh Dancy, Megan Hilty, Oliver Platt, Stewart, Bernadette Peters, and Martin Short.

He’s also worked with Branagh on other Shakespeare adaptations including Much Ado About Nothing (1993), with Thompson, Robert Sean Leonard, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Keanu Reeves, and Kate Beckinsale; Hamlet (1996), with Jacobi, Julie Christie, Kate Winslet, Michael Maloney, Richard Briers, Nicholas Farrell, Robin Williams, Gérard Depardieu, Jack Lemmon, Billy Crystal, Rufus Sewell, Charlton Heston, Richard Attenborough, Judi Dench, John Gielgud, and Ken Dodd; and As You Like It (2006), with Bryce Dallas Howard, Romola Garai, Kevin Kline, Adrian Lester, Janet McTeer, Alfred Molina, and David Oyelowo.

Other notable films include High Road to China (1983), with Tom Selleck, Bess Armstrong, Jack Weston, and Wilford Brimley; Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), with Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Alan Rickman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Christian Slater, and Sean Connery (uncredited), and Oliver Stone‘s Alexander (2004), with Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Anthony Hopkins, Jared Leto, and Rosario Dawson. In 2016, Blessed was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the arts and charity.

Each review will be linked to title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • The Christmas Tree (1966) – directed by Jim Clark
  • Till Death Us Do Part (1969) – directed by Norman Cohen
  • Barrister at Law (1969 – directed by Vere Lorimer – TV movie
  • Country Dance (1970) – directed by J. Lee Thompson – aka Brotherly Love
  • Whom God Hath Joined (1970) – directed by John Davies – TV movie
  • The Last Valley (1971) – directed by James Clavell
  • The Trojan Women (1971) – directed by Michael Cacoyannis
  • The Bristol Entertainment (1971) – directed by Michael Croucher & Colin Rose
  • Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972) – directed by Waris Hussein
  • Man of La Mancha (1972) – directed by Arthur Hiller
  • The Great Alfred (1975) – TV movie
  • The Story of David (1976) – directed by David Lowell Rich & Alex Segal
  • The Day After Tomorrow (1976) – directed by Johnny Byrne – aka Infinity – TV movie
  • I, Claudius (1976) – directed by Herbert Wise – TV series
  • A Christmas Carol (1977) – directed by Moira Armstrong – uncredited narrator – TV movie
  • Flash Gordon (1980) – directed by Mike Hodges
  • Cosmic Princess (1982) – directed by Charles Crichton & Peter Medak – TV movie – 2 episodes of Space: 1999 edited together
  • High Road to China (1983) – directed by Brian G. Hutton – aka Raiders of the End of the World
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983) – directed by Douglas Hickox – TV movie
  • The Master Ballantrae (1984) – directed by Douglas Hickox – TV movie
  • The Last Days of Pompeii (1984) – directed by Peter R. Hunt – miniseries
  • Return to Treasure Island (1986) – directed by Piers Haggard – miniseries
  • David Macaulay: Cathedral (1986) – directed by Tim King – TV movie
  • My Family and Other Animals (1987) – directed by Peter Barber-Fleming – miniseries
  • Once in a Lifetime (1988) – directed by Robin Midgley – TV movie
  • David Macaulay: Pyramid (1988) – directed by Larry Klein – TV movie
  • Asterix and the Big Fight (1989) – directed by Philippe Grimond – aka Astérix et le coup du menhir – UK Dub – France/Germany
  • Henry V (1989) – directed by Kenneth Branagh
  • Blood Royal: William the Conquerer (1990) – directed by Peter Jedferies – TV movie
  • Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) – directed by Kevin Reynolds
  • Prisoner of Honor (1991) – directed by Ken Russell
  • Back in the USSR (1992) – directed by Deran Sarafian
  • Exam Conditions (1992) – directed by John Scoffield – TV short
  • Freddie as F.R.O.7 (1992) – directed by Jon Acevski – aka Freddie the Frog
  • Blood and Dust (1992) – directed by Jim Goddard – TV movie
  • Much Ado About Nothing (1993) – directed by Kenneth Branagh
  • Agincourt 1415: The Triumph of the Longbow (1993) – directed by Graham Holloway
  • MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis (1994) – directed by Michael Vejar – TV movie
  • Chasing the Deer (1994) – directed by Graham Holloway – aka Culloden 1746
  • Catherine the Great (1995) – directed by Marvin J. Chomsky & John Goldsmith – TV movie
  • Johnny and the Dead (1995) – directed by Gerald Fox – miniseries
  • Kidnapped (1995) – directed by Ivan Passer – TV movie
  • The Bruce (1996) – directed by Bob Carruthers & David McWhinnie
  • Hamlet (1996) – directed by Kenneth Branagh
  • Macbeth (1997) – directed by Jeremy Freeston
  • The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling (1997) – directed by Metin Hüseyin – miniseries
  • Tarzan (1999)* – directed by Kevin Lima & Chris Buck
  • Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)* – directed by George Lucas
  • The Greatest Store in the World (1999) – directed by Jane Prowse – TV movie
  • The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything (1999) – directed by Dewi Humphreys, Paul Jackson, & Matt Lipsey – TV movie
  • King Lear (1999) – co-directed with Tony Rotherham
  • Day Return (2000) – directed by Andrew Walkington – TV movie
  • The Mumbo Jumbo (2000) – directed by Stephen Cookson
  • Winter Solstice (2003) – directed by Martyn Friend – TV movie
  • Devil’s Harvest (2003) – directed by James Shanks
  • The Legend of the Tamworth Two (2004) – directed by Metin Hüseyin – TV movie
  • 448 BC: Olympiad of Ancient Hellas (2004) – directed by Paul Pissanos – narrator – documentary
  • Alexander (2004)* – directed by Oliver Stone
  • Midsummer Dream (2005) – directed by Ángel de la Cruz & Manolo Gómez – English dub – aka El sueño de una noche de San Juan
  • Day of Wrath (2006) – directed by Adrian Rudomin
  • Alexander The Great (2006) – directed by Paul Pissanos – documentary
  • As You Like It (2006) – directed by Kenneth Branagh
  • The Conclave (2006) – directed by Christoph Schrewe
  • Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy (2006) – directed by Richard Overall – TV movie
  • Back in Business (2007) – Chris Munro
  • Agent Crush (2008) – directed by Sean Robinson – not released till 2019
  • Mr. Bojagi (2009) – directed by Marco van Belle – short
  • Beheading Buddha (2010) – directed by Marc John
  • Re-Evolution (2011) – directed by Andrew Walkington
  • Wojtek: The Bear That Went to War (2011) – directed by Will Hood & Adam Lavis – narrator – documentary
  • The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012)* – directed by Peter Lord – aka The Pirates! Band of Misfits
  • So You Want to Be a Pirate! (2012) – directed by Jay Grace – short
  • Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out (2012) – directed by Guy Vasilovich – TV short
  • Santa’s Blotto (2012) – directed by Patrick Myles – short
  • Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return (2014) – directed by Daniel St. Pierre & Will Finn
  • Death Knight Love Story (2014) – directed by Hugh Hancock – short
  • The Seventeenth Kind (2014) – directed by Andy Collier – short
  • Decline of an Empire (2014) – directed by Michael Redwood
  • Dragon (2015) – directed by Gulliver Moore – short
  • Beric the Briton (2016) – directed by Bill Heid – short
  • The Cat of Bubastes (2016) – directed by Bill Heid – short
  • The Harklets in Reality Capture for Cinema (2016) – directed by Richard Mitchell – short
  • The Harklets in The Dirty Cinema Screen (2017) – directed by Richard Mitchell – short
  • Eric the Barbarian (2018) – directed by Ben Mottershead – short
  • Robin Hood: The Rebellion (2018) – directed by Nicholas Winter
  • Shed of the Dead (2019) – directed by Drew Cullingham
  • Gandidean (2019) – directed by Adara Todd – short
  • Dear Mr. Burton (2020) – directed by Maj Jukic – short
  • The Apeman of the Amazon (2020) – directed by Gareth Molan – short
  • Banking on Mr. Toad (2021) – directed by Luis Mandoki