Brian Blessed (pronounced /ˈblɛsɪd/; born 9 October 1937) is an English actor, author and adventurer, widely recognised thanks to his imposing stature, distinctive booming voice, and trademark beard.
The son of William Blessed, a staunchly Socialist miner, and Hilda Wall, Blessed was born in Mexborough, near Doncaster, Yorkshire, England. He attended Bolton-on-Dearne Secondary Modern School, but was forced to leave school early due to family financial troubles, and spent several unhappy years working at a variety of jobs, ranging from undertaker to plasterer's assistant to time in the RAF. He suffered a nervous breakdown at the age of 18, from which he recovered to pursue an acting career, beginning his training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has written about his early life in his autobiography, Dynamite Kid (1992).
At the beginning of his career, Blessed had small roles in such cult shows as The Avengers and the original Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). His first well-known role was that of PC 'Fancy' Smith in the BBC police drama Z Cars from 1962 to 1965.
He then went on to portray Caesar Augustus in the BBC series I, Claudius, for which performance he won the New York Critics Award. He has appeared in a number of Shakespearean roles on both stage and screen, including four of the five Shakespeare films directed by Kenneth Branagh: as The Duke of Exeter in Henry V, Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing, The Ghost of Hamlet's Father in Hamlet and the dual role of Duke Frederick and Duke Senior in As You Like It.
Other roles have emphasised his comedic abilities: notably Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon (1980); the mad, comic figure of Richard IV in the TV series The Black Adder (1983); and Spiro in the BBC adaptation of My Family and Other Animals (1987). He also played the role of General Yevlenko in the 1988 mini-series War and Remembrance.
He provided the vocal links on the Sony-Award-winning Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio and introduced adverts for Orange mobile phones. At Christmas 2006, he presented a panto Cinderella for Virgin Radio starring actors such as David Tennant and Thandie Newton. In November 2006, Blessed made a surprise appearance on the midday talk show Loose Women.
Demonstrating his versatility, Blessed has also starred in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats as both Old Deuteronomy and Bustopher Jones during the original London production. In 2002, under the direction of Royal Shakespeare Company director, Adrian Noble, Blessed originated the role of Baron Bombhurst for the stage musical version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang , for which he received tremendous acclaim.
In late 2007 and early 2008, Blessed starred in the panto version of Peter Pan as Captain Hook at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable.
Blessed is also an adventurer. He climbed Mont Blanc at the age of seventeen, and he has remained an active mountaineer throughout his life. Though he has never reached the summit, he has tried to climb Mount Everest on three separate occasions. During his attempt in 1993, the then 56-year-old climbed higher than any other man of his age; the height record was later broken by Yuichiro Miura in 2003. He has successfully climbed Aconcagua in Argentina as well as Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. He also holds the record for being the oldest man to trek on foot to the magnetic North Pole, and has undertaken an expedition deep into the jungles of Venezuela.
In 2004, he sang on Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes as Luciano Pavarotti. Blessed is also known for his football knowledge and appeared as an expert on the British satellite station UKTV G2 during the 2006 World Cup. He also appeared on A Question of Sport in 2006 and was a guest host of Have I Got News for You in May 2008. In the same month he appeared as a guest on The Paul O'Grady Show.
He is the current President of the Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC), an organisation which honours achievers in the film and radio industries. He has honorary degrees from the University of Bradford, awarded in July 2003, and Sheffield Hallam University, awarded in 2004.
Blessed now lives in Surrey. He married the actress Hildegarde Neil Zimmermann in 1978 and they have one daughter, Rosalind. He also has a number of dogs.
Blessed is a lifelong friend of another noted Shakespearean and sci-fi veteran Patrick Stewart, whom he first met at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
