Brian Blessed

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One of Britain's most recognisable actors1 for his imposing stature, booming voice and his suitably impressive trademark beard which small woodland creatures could seek refuge in2. Brian is also an adventurer/explorer, an author and has lent his vocal talents to televised Sumo Wrestling.

Born in 1936 in the small coalmining community of Mexborough in Yorkshire, England, his father was a coalminer and a staunch socialist. Forced to leave school early due to family financial troubles he spent several unhappy years taking jobs as an undertaker and plasterer until suffering a nervous breakdown at the age of 18 from which he recovered to pursue an acting career. He also served in the RAF for 3 years as part of the now defunct National Service.

Brian trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Although his later acting work, particularly on screen, tends to be of a type (big and shouty), his talents have scored him a wide variety of roles like the somewhat tacit but thoroughly villainous Caesar Augustus in 'I Claudius' for which he won the New York Critics Award, he has also had numerous roles on stage as a member of the RSC including Claudius in Hamlet. A small selection of his acting credits include:

The firm but fair PC 'Fancy' Smith in 'Z Cars', a raucous Richard IV in 'Blackadder', Vultan in 'Flash Gordon', Lord Locksley in 'Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves', Sir Tunbelly Clumsey in 'The Relapse', Baron Bomburst in the stage version of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and Old Deuteronomy in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Cats'.

A more comprehensive list of Brian's screen work can be found at the IMDb web site.

He has also performed with, amongst others, the London Symphony Orchestra and Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra in works such as 'Peter and the Wolf' and Prokiev's 'Ivan the Terrible'.

Brian's fame and cult status has been boosted enormously by his work on 'Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace', providing the voice of the character Boss Nass, for which his fan mail has now become unmanageable.

Brian's personal heroes include George Mallory and Ernest Shackleton and as an adventurer and explorer himself, he has climbed many mountains including Mt. Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua in the Andes and has made several attempts to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, becoming the oldest man at 65, to reach the dizzy altitude of 28,000ft without oxygen. He also holds the record for being the oldest man to trek to the North Pole and has made an expedition deep into the jungle interior of Venezuela - a boyhood dream instilled in him by a BBC Radio production of Sir Arthur Conan Dolye's 'The Lost World'.

A keen author, his book titles include 'Blessed Everest' and 'Quest to the Lost World'.

Ever since a couple of old school friends developed cerebral palsy - one of whom had gone on to achieve medals in the Paralympics - he has become a tireless supporter of the charity SCOPE and Brian derives a large amount of personal motivation and inspiration from the sufferers of the disease that he meets. An ecological campaigner, Brian is the current President of The Council for National Parks, an animal lover - Brian has counted over 2000 animals at his home in Surrey, England that he also shares with his wife, actress Hildegard Neil.

The character of Vultan3 in the film 'Flash Gordon' probably epitomises the persona of Brian Blessed for a lot of his fans, as a cheery, gruff and lovably roguish champion of the underdog, a role that remains one of his favourites to this day.

Brian's much quoted personal motto is: Never let the bastards grind you down.

1Brian has been voted the God look-a-like in a poll as to which actor most resembled the Judeo-Christian Creator, recieving over 65,000 votes.2Which Brian would probably not object to.3'DIIIIIVE' and 'Gordon's alive?' are much requested Vultan quotes by Brian's more sycophantic fans.

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