Brian Blessed is an iconic British actor with a bushy beard and booming laugh. He’s perfect for the “loud uncouth country squire” role! Or medieval lord shouting a lot. Or many other things! He’s a talented guy, and he’s been in many, many historical movies and TV series. Let’s count ’em down!
There’s an unusually long list of films that I can’t find pictures of Blessed in:
- Reuben Starkadder in Cold Comfort Farm (1968)
- Sergeant in Alf ‘n’ Family (1968)
- Mark Ridware in Whom God Hath Joined (1970)
- Sgt. Kite in BBC Play of the Month: “The Recruiting Officer” (1973)
- Albert Grzymala in Notorious Woman (1974)
- Sir Godfrey de Gules in Jackanory Playhouse: “The Dragon in the Dungeon” (1975)
- Captain Hook in The Basil Brush Show (1976)
- Rudolf Kammerling in Once in a Life Time (1988)
- Hereward The Wake in Blood Royal: William the Conqueror (1990)
- Gen. Gonse in Prisoner of Honor (1991)
- Chatillon in De terre et de sang (1992)
- Petty Officer in Lady Chatterley (1993)
- Cluny MacPherson in Kidnapped (1995)
- Modern day priest in Decline of an Empire (2014)
For the rest, here they are!
Porthos in The Three Musketeers (1966-67) & The Further Adventures of the Musketeers (1967)
A British TV adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas, 17th-century set swashbuckler.
Peter in The Story of Christ, Son of Man (1969)
A BBC TV play portraying a secular, human version of Jesus.
Korski in The Last Valley (1971)
A mercenary and a teacher find a valley untouched by the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648).
Talthybius in The Trojan Women (1971)
An adaptation of a classical tragedy by Euripides, which tells the story of the aftermath of the Trojan War by focusing on the fate of the various female characters.
Bishop Wolstan in The Bristol Entertainment (1971)
A TV movie: “A thousand years of the gossip, scandals, successes, disasters, eccentricities, and cupidity that lie behind the facades of a great city” (IMDB).
Suffolk in Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972)
The feature film about (surprise) Henry VIII and his various wives.
Pedro in Man of La Mancha (1972)
An adaptation of the musical based on the story of Don Quixote.
Mark of Cornwall in Arthur of the Britons (1972-73)
A British TV series with a historical take on King Arthur.
William Woodcock in Boy Dominic (1974-76)
A TV series about an orphaned boy in 19th-century Yorkshire.
Guthrum in Churchill’s People (1974-75)
“A historical anthology series based on ‘A History of the English-Speaking Peoples,’ Winston Churchill’s four-volume history of Britain and its former colonies,” per IMDB. Guthrum was was King of East Anglia in the late 9th century.
Abner in The Story of David (1976)
An American TV movie about the biblical story of King David.
Augustus in I, Claudius (1976)
A classic miniseries about the the early Roman Empire from the years between 24 BCE to 54 CE.
Suleman Khan in High Road to China (1983)
An “adventure-romance film set in the 1920s starring Tom Selleck in his first major starring role, playing a hard-drinking biplane pilot hired by society heiress… to find her missing father” (IMDB).
Richard IV & Richard XII of Scotland in The Black Adder (1983)
The classic Rowan Atkinson comedy TV series set in the late 15th century, in “an alternative history in which Richard III won the Battle of Bosworth Field only to be mistaken for someone else and murdered, and is succeeded by Richard IV, one of the Princes in the Tower. The series follows the exploits of Richard IV’s unfavored second son Edmund, the Duke of Edinburgh … in his various attempts to increase his standing with his father and his eventual quest to overthrow him” (Wikipedia).
Geoffrey Lyons in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983)
A TV movie adaptation of the Arthur Conan Doyle/Sherlock Holmes novel.
Captain Teach in The Master of Ballantrae (1984)
A TV movie adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel set in the 1745 Scottish Jacobite rebellion.
Olinthus in The Last Days of Pompeii (1984)
A major TV miniseries about, you guessed it, Pompeii before the eruption.
Long John Silver in Return to Treasure Island (1986)
A Disney TV series set 10 years after Robert Louis Stevenson’s 18th-century set pirate novel.
Gaston in Crossbow (1987)
An American TV series about William Tell set in 14th-century Switzerland.
Spiro in My Family and Other Animals (1987)
A TV adaptation of the same novel that inspired The Durrells of Corfu.
Gen. Yevlenko in War and Remembrance (1988-89)
A miniseries adaptation of a World War II-set novel.
Duke Thomas Beaufort of Exeter in Henry V (1989)
Kenneth Branagh’s feature film Shakespeare adaptation.
Lord Locksley in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
The feature film starring Kevin Costner.
Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
Another Branagh Shakespeare adaptation film.
Maj. Elliot in Chasing the Deer (1994)
A feature film about the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion and Battle of Culloden.
Bestuzhev in Catherine the Great (1995)
A TV movie biopic of the famous Russian empress.
Edward I in The Bruce (1996)
“The rise to power of Robert I of Scotland, culminating in the Battle of Bannockburn in AD 1314” (Wikipedia).
Ghost of Hamlet’s Father in Hamlet (1996)
Yet another Branagh Shakespeare adaptation film!
Edward the Confessor in Macbeth (1997)
More Shakespeare, no Branagh.
Squire Western in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1997)
A British TV miniseries adaptation of the mid-18th century Henry Fielding novel.
King Lear in King Lear (1999)
Blessed co-directed and starred in this Shakespeare adaptation film.
Wrestling Trainer in Alexander (2004)
A huge raspberry of an attempt at a biopic about Alexander the Great.
Lord Francisco del Ruiz in Day of Wrath (2006)
“Set in the 16th century, a sheriff working on a series of murders has to choose between his conscience and protecting his family when he’s tied to the crimes.” Looks low budget.
Duke Senior/Duke Frederick in As You Like It (2006)
Yet another Branagh Shakespeare adaptation film!
Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini in The Conclave (2006)
Nope, not the one you’re thinking of. A film about the 1458 papal conclave.
Henry Tudor in Henry 8.0 (2009-10)
A TV series in which Henry VIII lives in the present day.
King in The Legend of Dick and Dom (2009-11)
A British TV comedy sitcom about two medieval princes who find a cure for the plague.
Friar Tuck in Robin Hood: The Rebellion (2018)
A film about, you guessed it, Robin Hood.
Which is your favorite of Brian Blessed’s many historical performances?
If I was the actress in the top photo of The Last Days of Pompeii, I’d be worried that inhaling too much would lead to a costume malfunction. That aside, I was introduced to Brian Blessed through the various Branagh Shakespeare adaptations so those will always have a soft spot for me, even the less-good ones like As You Like It.
Blackadder!
Though he is so recognizably wonderful with his voice …
I fell in love with him from Flash Gordon, tbh.
Oh, yes–that voice! And his joy in performing.
“GORDON’S ALIVE!”
“RALLY, MY HAWKMEN!”
“OH WELL, WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER?”
“DIVE!”
Brian Blessed is on my list of hypnotic voices I would listen to anything being read by. I can’t remember if I first saw him in I, Claudius or Much Ado About Nothing, but I’ve loved him for a long time! He’s demented in Blackadder and disgustingly delightful in Tom Jones. I will watch anything he is in!
(on a weird side note, the first time I saw Matt Berry, which was in the deliberately bizarre Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, I thought they had dubbed Brian Blessed’s voice over his. My ears still think they must be related, but they’re not. )
And my favorite – although outside Frock Flicks parameters – is Lord Voltan in Flash Gordon! What a rip-roaring role for him! It was magnificent!
Hell, yeah! “Flying blind on a rocket cycle??”
And his Augustus in “I, Claudius” is superb.
I feel whenever Brian’s name is mentioned, his name should be in all capitals and boldface. BRIAN BLESSED like that. He is meant for period/historical works. When his time to join The World Beyond arrives, this world will be dimmer for it.
It is, of course, the proper spelling of the name, based on the correct pronunciation – although one could also make a case for ‘Brian BLESSED’ in recognition of His Boisterousness’ possession of the Loudest Whisper In The World (and his long-standing commitment to the time honoured, tradition hallowed whisper-whisper-SHOUTING school of Shakespeare).
That he was not cast as Richard Burbage at any point is, of course, a crime against Shakespeare.
I became familiar with him from Much Ado About Nothing, one of my favorite Shakespeare adaptations on film. I never heard of Henry 8.0 until right now, but I WANT to see it! Also, is that Joan Collins in the Pompeii picture?!?
I suspect it’s Lesley-Anne Down myself: scrumptious 1980s screen diva either way, dah-ling
There are actors one can like, actors one can love and then there are LEGENDS of Stage & Screen.
Guess which one I consider The Might BLESSED to be…
His Augustus was such a marvelous portrayal. And I remember especially when Henry V names his character in the Crispin Day speech the way he responds with a joyous (of course!) laugh
And he appeared as Johann Sebastian in the PBS special, “The Joy of Bach.”
I hate to admit this, but other than the Branaugh Shakespearean adaptations, the only thing I know for sure that I’ve seen him in is Flash Gordon, where he was some sort of flying viking. Officially one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. ™️ We were stoned. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it…
You blaspheme! No film with a title song by Queen can be part of the conversation for “worst films”.
Flash! aaaAAAaaaHHH!
I think it’s funny that an actor who played Reuben Starkadder later played the sire of the Blackadder dynasty. Blessed is terrific in anything and I love him in I, Claudius and The Black Adder. I must have seen him in Last Days of Pompeii, since I remember watching it, but I remember very little about it.
Blessed is best known for the beard and the shouty voice but damn he has fine eyes. And they show up so well in black and white.
I loved him as Squire Western. That is the best representation of the role from the novel. Benjamin Whitrow as Allworthy is such a great partner/counterpart.
I remember that adaptation of Tom Jones well from when I was a young ‘un, especially his performance.
“I despise all lords! They’re all fops and Hanoverians!”
Picky note, “My Family and Other Animals” is a memoir rather than a novel. I must have read it 20 times in my youth.
He was superb as Augustus. He plays up the NOISY side, but he can do subtle very well indeed.
To my (aged) generation he was PC “Fancy” Smith in the original Z-Cars on the BBC sixty years ago, when he was quite cute in his own way. A police series purporting to show “real” police work – my policeman father hated it, so it was something of a forbidden pleasure to watch the show when he was on the late shift.
https://www.tvmaze.com/characters/200755/z-cars-pc-fancy-smith-1962-1965
He does subtle extremely well in the early Branagh Shakespeares – a real menace about his Leonato.
He’s a true National Treasure.
The first movie I saw him in was not historic, but futuristic! 1980’s Flash Gordon as Vultan, basically a flying security guard. Honestly, it was a bit too much of him! ;-) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080745/mediaviewer/rm627237376/?ref_=ttmi_mi_1
Random: the guy behind Blessed in the first picture from Henry V looks like Pedro Pascal.
I loved him in Branagh’s Henry V. Then again, everyone was perfectly cast in that one.
The Last Valley is also a very interesting movie, partly due to the fact it’s one of the very, very few films to cover the Thirty Years’ War.
Yay, at last! Definitely Much Ado.