Brian Blessed OBE ( born 9 October 1936) is an English actor. He is known for his distinctive bushy beard, booming voice, and exuberant personality and performances. He portrayed PC "Fancy" Smith in Z-Cars; Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of I, Claudius; King Richard IV in the first series of Blackadder; Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon; Bustopher Jones and Old Deuteronomy in the 1981 original London production of Cats at the New London Theatre; Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, in Henry V; Boss Nass in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace; and the voice of Clayton and the Tarzan yell in Disney's Tarzan.
In 2016, Blessed was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the arts and charity.
Blessed was born on 9 October 1936 at Montagu Hospital in Mexborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of William Blessed, a socialist coal miner at Hickleton Main Colliery (and himself the son of a coal miner) and cricketer for the Yorkshire second team, and Hilda (née Wall). He had a brother Alan, seven years younger, and the pair "went everywhere together" when they were growing up. Alan Blessed died from leukaemia aged 52; their mother died aged 87, and their father died aged 99. Blessed's great-great-grandfather, Jabez Blessed, was the father of 13 children and worked as a china and glass dealer in Brigg, Lincolnshire; many of Blessed's relatives hail from Brigg.
Blessed went to Bolton on Dearne Secondary Modern School, and completed his national service in the RAF, in Bicester, before enrolling at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 1956.
Peppa Pig: Wedding Party!
Grampy Rabbit (voice)
2024
Peppa's Cinema Party
Grampy Rabbit (voice)
2024
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
Self
2022
Bug-Eyed Monsters Invade the Earth!
Narrator
2022
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
Self – Actor · (1 episode)
2022
Best & Bester
Shouty Shirt (Voice) · (52 episodes)
2022
The Queen: 70 Glorious Years
Self
2022
Blankety Blank
Self - Panellist · (1 episode)
2021
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans
Charlemagne (voice)
2021
Dear Mr. Burton
Narrator
2020
Close Enough
Sir Jack Kleghorn (voice) · (1 episode)
2020
Eugenius!
Space Lord
2020
Shed of the Dead
Narrator (voice)
2019
Robin Hood: The Rebellion
Friar Tuck
2018
Life After Flash
Self
2017
The Russell Howard Hour
Self · (1 episode)
2017
Danger Mouse
Santa Claus (voice) · (1 episode)
2015
Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots
Grampy Rabbit (voice)
2015
Brian Cox: Space, Time & Videotape
Self
2014
The Seventeenth Kind
The Voice (voice)
2014
Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return
Judge Jawbreaker (voice)
2014
The Kumars
Self · (1 episode)
2014
Wizards vs Aliens
The Nekross King (voice) · (36 episodes)
2012
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
Boss Nass (voice)
2012
So You Want To Be A Pirate!
The Pirate King
2012
Tales of Television Centre
Self
2012
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
The Pirate King (voice)
2012
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip
Self - Participant · (1 episode)
2011
Wojtek: The Bear That Went to War
Narrator
2011
Sooty
Father Christmas · (1 episode)
2011
The Amazing World of Gumball
Santa Claus (voice) · (1 episode)
2011
Fee Fi Fo Yum
GTV Announcer · (1 episode)
2010
Mr. Bojagi
Mr. Bojagi
2010
Take Me Out
Announcer (voice) · (9 episodes)
2010
Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments
Self
2008
The Making of The Trial of a Time Lord
2008
The Underdog Show
(10 episodes)
2008
All Star Mr & Mrs
(1 episode)
2008
Agent Crush
Boris Goudphater (voice)
2008
Saving Planet Earth UK
Himself - Presenter · (1 episode)
2007
Would I Lie to You?
Self · (1 episode)
2007
Britain's Got More Talent
Self - Narrator · (17 episodes)
2007
The Conclave
Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomin
2007
Back in Business
Trevor Pilkington
2007
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
Self
2007
As You Like It
Duke Senior/Duke Frederick
2006
Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
Sir Gregory
2006
Day of Wrath
Lord Francisco del Ruiz
2006
448 BC: Olympiad of Ancient Hellas
Narrator
2004
Alexander
Wrestling Trainer
2004
Who Do You Think You Are?
Self · (1 episode)
2004
The Paul O'Grady Show
(1 episode)
2004
Peppa Pig
Grampy Rabbit (voice) · (416 episodes)
2004
The Legend of the Tamworth Two
Wild Boar (voice)
2004
QI
Self · (1 episode)
2003
The Royal
Sir Edward Fawcett · (1 episode)
2003
Devil's Harvest
Father Gabriel Norton
2003
The Dark Side of Everest
Self
2003
I, Claudius: A Television Epic
Self
2002
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
Self · (1 episode)
2002
Fun at the Funeral Parlour
(1 episode)
2001
The Mumbo Jumbo
Lucifer Bounder
2000
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything
(2 episodes)
2000
The Greatest Store in the World
Mr. Scottley
1999
Tarzan
Clayton (voice)
1999
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Boss Nass (voice)
1999
Family Guy
Prince Vultan (voice) · (1 episode)
1999
King Lear
King Lear
1999
Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
Old Deuteronomy
1998
The Heaven and Earth Show
(1 episode)
1998
Fantasy World Cup
Self · (1 episode)
1998
The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling
Squire Western · (5 episodes)
1997
Macbeth
Edward the Confessor
1997
Hamlet
Ghost of Hamlet's Father
1996
Catherine the Great
Bestuzhev
1996
The Bruce
Edward I
1996
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher
Captain (voice) · (1 episode)
1996
Genius: Pythagoras
Self
1996
Kidnapped
Cluny MacPherson
1995
The Doctors: 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond
1995
Soccer AM
Self · (1 episode)
1995
Johnny And The Dead
Stickers · (4 episodes)
1995
Chasing the Deer
Maj. Elliot
1994
MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis
Atticus
1994
David Macaulay: Roman City
Gaius Valerius (voice)
1994
Sooty & Co.
Santa Claus · (1 episode)
1993
Much Ado About Nothing
Antonio
1993
GMTV
Self · (1 episode)
1993
Blood and Dust
Chatillon
1992
Freddie as F.R.O.7.
El Supremo (voice)
1992
Exam Conditions
Mr. Carksdale
1992
Back in the USSR
Chazov
1992
Old Rococo: The Life of Gioacchino Rossini
Voice of Rossini
1992
Galahad of Everest
George Mallory/Self
1991
Prisoner of Honor
Gen. Gonse
1991
Pebble Mill
Self · (2 episodes)
1991
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Lord Locksley
1991
Have I Got News for You
Self - Host · (1 episode)
1990
The Castle of Adventure
Sam
1990
Henry V
Exeter
1989
David Macaulay: Pyramid
Ankhaf (voice)
1989
The Old Man Of The Mountain
Narrator
1989
A Question Of Entertainment
(1 episode)
1988
My Family and Other Animals
Spiro · (10 episodes)
1987
Doctor Who: Mindwarp
King Yrcanos
1986
David Macaulay: Cathedral
Master Guillaume (voice)
1986
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
Long John Silver · (10 episodes)
1986
Lovejoy
Harry Catapodis · (2 episodes)
1986
The Last Days of Pompeii
Olinthus · (3 episodes)
1984
The Master of Ballantrae
Captain Teach
1984
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Geoffrey Lyons
1983
Natural World
(1 episode)
1983
Blackadder
King Richard IV · (6 episodes)
1983
High Road to China
Suleman Khan
1983
David Macaulay: Castle
Voice
1983
Cosmic Princess
Mentor
1982
The Kenny Everett Television Show
Self · (1 episode)
1982
The Little World of Don Camillo
Peppone · (13 episodes)
1981
Flash Gordon
Prince Vultan
1980
Minder
Freddie Dyer · (1 episode)
1979
Tales of the Unexpected
Detective Sergeant Jack Nolan · (1 episode)
1979
The Aphrodite Inheritance
Basileos · (8 episodes)
1979
Blake's 7
Vargas · (1 episode)
1978
A Christmas Carol
Narrator (voice)
1977
The Eagle Has Landed
Arthur Seymour (voice) (uncredited)
1976
I, Claudius
(5 episodes)
1976
I, Claudius
Augustus · (12 episodes)
1976
Into Infinity
Dr. Tom Bowen
1975
The Day After Tomorrow
Dr. Tom Bowen · (1 episode)
1975
A Midsummer Nightmare
Det Sgt George Briggs
1975
Space: 1999
Mentor · (1 episode)
1975
Space: 1999
Cabot Rowland · (1 episode)
1975
Survivors
Brod · (1 episode)
1975
The Sweeney
Frank Kemble · (1 episode)
1975
King Arthur, the Young Warlord
Mark of Cornwall
1975
Notorious Woman
(2 episodes)
1974
Boy Dominic
William Woodcock · (13 episodes)
1974
Thriller
Det Sgt George Briggs · (1 episode)
1973
Man of La Mancha
Pedro
1972
Arthur of the Britons
Mark of Cornwall · (1 episode)
1972
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
Suffolk
1972
Shirley's World
(1 episode)
1972
The Bristol Entertainment
Cabot, Wolstan, Pocock, Colston, Pope Gregory, Dr. Beddoes
1971
Justice
Tiger Lawson · (1 episode)
1971
The Trojan Women
Talthybius
1971
The Last Valley
Korski
1971
Wine of India
Will
1970
Brotherly Love
Jack Baird
1970
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Jim Lawsey · (1 episode)
1969
The Double Agent
Reg Sugden
1969
Son of Man
Peter
1969
Till Death Us Do Part
Sergeant
1969
The Expert
Hubert Innes · (1 episode)
1968
Cold Comfort Farm
Reuben Starkadder · (3 episodes)
1968
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers
Porthos · (16 episodes)
1967
The Christmas Tree
1966
The Three Musketeers
Porthos · (10 episodes)
1966
BBC Play of the Month
Sgt. Kite · (1 episode)
1965
The Troubleshooters
Eddie Barnaby · (1 episode)
1965
Z-Cars
PC William "Fancy" Smith · (170 episodes)
1962
Have I Got a Bit More News for You
Self - Presenter · (2 episodes)
Public Eye
Rev. William Pratt · (1 episode)
1965
The Wednesday Play
Peter · (1 episode)
1964
Doctor Who
King Yrcanos · (4 episodes)
1963
Z-Cars
PC Smith · (1 episode)
1962
Z-Cars
PC Fancy Smith · (1 episode)
1962
The Avengers
Sergeant Hearn · (1 episode)
1961
The Avengers
Mark Dayton · (1 episode)
1961
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Captain Teach · (1 episode)
1951