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Wikipedia

Brian Blessed

January 08, 2023

Brian Blessed OBE (/ˈblɛsɪd/; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer.

Brian Blessed

OBE
Blessed in 2013
Born (1936-10-09) 9 October 1936 (age 86)
Mexborough, Yorkshire, England
Alma materBristol Old Vic Theatre School
Occupations
  • Actor
  • presenter
  • writer
Years active1962–present
WorksFull list
Spouse(s)Ann Bomann
(divorced)
​
​
(m. 1978)​
Children2

Blessed is known for portraying 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 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.

Early life

Blessed was born on 9 October 1936 at Montagu Hospital[1] in Mexborough, Yorkshire,[2][3] 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,[4] and Hilda (née Wall). Blessed's father died aged 99; his mother died aged 87.[5] 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.[6]

Blessed went to Bolton on Dearne Secondary Modern School, and completed his national service in the RAF Regiment[7] before enrolling at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.[8]

Career

Acting

One of Blessed's earliest roles was that of PC "Fancy" Smith in the BBC television series Z-Cars, between 1962 and 1965.[9] In 1966, he appeared in a production of Incident at Vichy at the Phoenix Theatre in London. Also in 1966, he was offered the titular role of The Doctor in BBC's sci-fi drama, Doctor Who, to take over from William Hartnell, but had to turn it down due to conflicting projects.[10] In 1967, he played Porthos in a 10-part BBC adaptation of The Three Musketeers.[11] Blessed also had minor roles in cult TV series such as The Avengers (1967, 1969) and the original Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969). He interpreted the role of King Mark of Cornwall in the HTV television series Arthur of the Britons (1972-1973). He appeared as William Woodcock in the Yorkshire Television series Boy Dominic (1974). He played Caesar Augustus in the BBC Two drama series I, Claudius (1976),[12] Vargas in the Blake's 7 episode Cygnus Alpha (1978) and Basileos in The Aphrodite Inheritance (1979).[13] He hosted a docudrama on the life of Johann Sebastian Bach called The Joy of Bach (1978), in which he also played Bach in a number of scenes.

Blessed also appeared in two episodes of the British science fiction television series Space:1999. He played scientist Dr. Rowland Cabot in the 1975 episode Death's Other Dominion and as Mentor in the 1976 episode The Metamorph.

Blessed played Long John Silver in the 10-part serial Return to Treasure Island (1986), King Yrcanos in the Doctor Who serial Mindwarp (1986), General Yevlenko in the mini-series War and Remembrance (1988), and Lord Loxley, the father of Robin Hood, in the Hollywood film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991).

In 1981, Blessed appeared in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, Cats, as both Old Deuteronomy and Bustopher Jones, for the original West End theatre production.[14]

Blessed 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 (1989), Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing (1993), the Ghost of Hamlet's Father in Hamlet (1996), and both Duke Frederick and Duke Senior in As You Like It (2006).

In comedies, Blessed portrayed Prince Vultan in the film Flash Gordon (1980);[15] the mad, comical figure of Richard IV in the first series of The Black Adder (1983), a role Blessed has claimed to be one of his most cherished; and Spiro Halikiopoulos in the TV mini-series My Family and Other Animals (1987), a BBC adaptation of Gerald Durrell's book by the same name.[16] Blessed has joked that he was due to appear in Blackadder II (1986) as Elizabeth I, but was unavailable for filming.[17] In 1989 he made an appearance in the comedy/drama Minder, as Detective Inspector Freddie Dyer of the Serious Crime Squad in the episode The Last Video Show.[18]

In 1997, Blessed portrayed Squire Western in the BBC adaptation of Henry Fielding's 1749 comic novel Tom Jones. He later recalled accidentally punching Peter Capaldi whilst filming and said of the event, "I thought I'd killed the poor bastard."[19]

In 1999, Blessed provided both the voice and live-action reference for the CGI character Boss Nass in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and also provided the voice of the villainous hunter Clayton in Disney's animated feature film Tarzan, a role he later reprised in the video game based on the film and in the critically acclaimed Kingdom Hearts in 2002. He voiced "Sir Morris" in the 1999 cartoon series The Big Knights. He read the story "The White City" for the album series Late Night Tales, recording it in four parts released over four albums,[20] and was also the voice of Jean Valjean in Focus on the Family Radio Theatre's audio adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. Blessed was one of the narrators for Story Teller, a children's magazine partwork series in the 1980s. He has further provided vocal links for the Sony-Award-winning Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio, and introduced advertisements for Orange mobile phones.

 
Blessed at the Cambridge Film Festival in 2007

In 2002, under the direction of Royal Shakespeare Company director Adrian Noble, he originated the role of Baron Bomburst for the stage musical version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. From December 2005 to January 2006, Blessed headlined the Christmas pantomime production of Peter Pan, alongside CBBC presenter Kirsten O'Brien, at Ipswich's Regent Theatre. From 2007 to 2008, he appeared in the same play as Captain Hook at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable; he reprised the role for the Christmas 2008 season at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon. For Christmas 2006, he presented a production of Cinderella for Virgin Radio, starring David Tennant, Thandie Newton and others.

Since October 2008, Blessed has presented the English-language dub of the Japanese TV game show Unbeatable Banzuke on Challenge, under the pseudonym "Banzuke Brian". He was the narrator of the Sky 1 series Crash Test Dummies, starring Steve Marsh and Dan Wright. In animation, he has provided the voices of Bob in Kika & Bob (2008)[21] and Grampy Rabbit in Peppa Pig (2004–present).

Following a Facebook campaign, satellite navigation manufacturer TomTom recorded Blessed's voice for use in its products; he has been available as a voice command option since October 2010.[22] In September 2010, Blessed recorded the voice of Great Sultan Shahryār for Sheherazade, or The Princess, the Pirate and the Baboon!, an album of children's stories set to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's classical music composition Scheherazade, co-starring Rory Bremner and released as an instalment of Grandma Dingley's Ingeniously Musical Tales in 2011.[23]

In 2018, Blessed voiced German military engineer Konrad Kyeser in the open-world medieval RPG, Kingdom Come: Deliverance.[24] He voiced the megalomaniacal Red Ivan in the 2021 base building game Evil Genius 2: World Domination.[25]

Expeditions

Blessed has attempted to climb Mount Everest three times without supplemental oxygen,[26] reaching heights of 28,200 feet (8,600 m) in 1993 and 25,200 feet (7,700 m) in 1996, but without reaching the summit.[27]

Blessed has reached the tops of Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania,[28] and has undertaken an expedition into the jungles of Venezuela, during which he survived a plane crash.[29]

Blessed is the oldest man to have reached the North Magnetic Pole on foot,[30] where he says he punched a polar bear on the nose.[31]

Music

In 2009, Blessed featured in the song "Army of the Damned" from the album Beneath the Veiled Embrace by British power metal band Pythia, reciting the poem "Suicide in the Trenches" by Siegfried Sassoon.[32] Blessed also appeared on their 2014 album "Shadows of a Broken Past".

He had previously contributed to the song "The Joust" by Christian band Eden Burning in 1994.[33]

Other work

Blessed has completed 800 hours of space training at Star City in Russia.[15]

Blessed served as President of the Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) from 2007 to 2008 and presented the 2008 TRIC Awards at Grosvenor House, London.[34]

In 2004, Blessed appeared on and won an episode of Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes, impersonating the opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. He appeared as an expert and commentator on the satellite channel UKTV G2 during the 2006 World Cup. Blessed also appeared on A Question of Sport in 2006 and 2011, and was a guest host on the BBC's satirical quiz show Have I Got News for You in May 2008 and April 2013 (also making a surprise appearance in the 2008 Christmas special).

Downloadable content for the computer game War of the Roses featured narration by Blessed.[35] In 2013, he received the Spirit of Hammer Award at the Metal Hammer magazine's Golden Gods Awards.[36]

On 14 August 2014, Blessed was the subject of an episode of the BBC documentary series Who Do You Think You Are?, tracing the lives of his ancestors.[6]

In October 2016 the BBC broadcast a 3-hour compilation of interviews with Blessed, Brian Blessed's Radio Adventures, featuring interviews with him where he discusses his life and career.[37]

Personal life

In 1963, Blessed, then in his late twenties, assisted a mother giving birth in Richmond Park, London. He delivered the healthy baby girl, then bit through the umbilical cord.[38] He later recounted "I was covered in blood, my shirt was covered in blood, I was wrapping her, wiping her, [saying] 'it's alright, darling'.... And I was licking the baby's face."[39]

In 1978, Blessed married actress Hildegarde Neil. They both live in Windlesham, Surrey. Their daughter, Rosalind, is an actress.[40]

Blessed owns several dogs and is a patron of the charity Pet Respect. [41] In 2011 he became a patron for Hopefield Animal Sanctuary in Brentwood, Essex.[42]

Health

Blessed suffered a nervous breakdown at age 18. He eventually recovered with the support of friends, family and his speech teacher.[43][44]

On 19 January 2015, Blessed collapsed on stage during a performance of King Lear with the Guildford Shakespeare Company, in which his daughter Rosalind was also acting. He received medical attention from a doctor in the audience and returned to the stage to complete the play 20 minutes later.[45] On 30 January 2015, it was announced that Blessed had been "compelled to withdraw" from the production on the advice of his heart specialist.[46] He has been fitted with a pacemaker.[15]

Honours

He has honorary degrees from the University of Bradford (awarded July 2003) and Sheffield Hallam University (awarded 2004) and has also been awarded the honorary title of "Official Shoutsperson" by the University of York's Douglas Adams Society.[34]

In 2011, the student union at the University of York voted to name a new study area the "Brian Blessed Centre for Quiet Study".[47] The same year, Blessed was nominated for the post of Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, following a campaign by graduates.[48] He was later awarded Honorary Membership of the Cambridge Union in recognition of his nomination.[49]

Blessed was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to the arts and charity.[50]

Stage, film, and audio performances

Main article: List of Brian Blessed performances

Bibliography

  • The Turquoise Mountain: Brian Blessed on Everest (1991)
  • Dynamite Kid (1992)
  • Nothing's Impossible (1994)
  • To the Top of the World (1995)
  • Quest for the Lost World (1999)
  • Sooty (2013)
  • Absolute Pandemonium (2015)
  • The Panther in My Kitchen: My Wild Life with Animals (2017)

References

  1. ^ Blessed, Brian (1992). "1". The Dynamite Kid (1st ed.). London: Bloomsbury. p. 1. ISBN 0-7475-1275-2.
  2. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  3. ^ . Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 1 March 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  4. ^ Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC) – Series 11: 2. Brian Blessed
  5. ^ "My family values: Brian Blessed". The Guardian. 2 January 2010.
  6. ^ a b . Scunthorpe Telegraph. 14 August 2014. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  7. ^ Blessed, Brian (2016). Absolute Pandemonium. Pan Macmillan. p. 67. ISBN 9781447292975.
  8. ^ The International Who's Who 2004. Psychology Press. 2003. p. 176. ISBN 9781857432176.
  9. ^ "Z Cars: 5: Big Catch – BBC Television – 30 January 1962". BBC Genome.
  10. ^ "Brian Blessed: I turned down Doctor Who". The Guardian. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  11. ^ "The Three Musketeers – BBC One London – 8 January 1967". BBC Genome.
  12. ^ "I, Claudius – BBC Two England – 6 December 1976". BBC Genome.
  13. ^ "The Aphrodite Inheritance – BBC One London – 14 February 1979". BBC Genome.
  14. ^ "Brian Blessed: 'All my life, 90% of men have bored the arse off me'". The Guardian. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  15. ^ a b c "Brian Blessed: 'Picasso Gave me a £50m picture – I threw it away'". The Telegraph. 8 November 2015. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Gerald Durrell's Lasting Legacy". BBC News Online. 15 September 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2008.
  17. ^ "Brian Blessed Web Chat". The Guardian. 22 August 2001. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
  18. ^ "#7.4 The Last Video Show". www.minder.org. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  19. ^ "The day Brian Blessed punched and knocked out Peter Capaldi". Radio Times. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  20. ^ "Brian Blessed discography". Discogs.
  21. ^ "KIKA & BOB :: submarine productions". www.kikaandbob.com. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  22. ^ Wallop, Harry (6 August 2010). "Brian Blessed new voice of TomTom Sat Nav". Telegraph Media Group Limited. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  23. ^ "Sheherazade or The Princess, the Pirate and the Baboon! | Grandma Dingley's Ingeniously Musical Tales". Grandmadingley.com. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  24. ^ "Kingdom Come: Deliverance presents: Brian Blessed as Lord Konrad Kyeser". YouTube. Warhorse Studios. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  25. ^ "Evil Genius 2 Voice Cast Announced Featuring Samantha Bond and Brian Blessed". Gamasutra. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  26. ^ Dickinson, Matt (19 February 2012). "How We Met: Matt Dickinson and Brian Blessed". The Independent. Retrieved 24 April 2013. Dickinson: "But as for going back to Everest with Brian: in truth, he's too old now to try again."
  27. ^ Arthur, Charles (30 May 1996). "Blessed Launches Bitter Attack on 'Human Lemmings' of Everest". The Independent. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  28. ^ "Blessed are the meek: Brian Blessed talks ahead of Shrewsbury show - Shropshire Star". Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  29. ^ "An Evening with Brian Blessed at Weston's Playhouse Theatre - Weston Mercury". Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  30. ^ Benedictus, Leo (29 July 2003). "Why I Love Brian Blessed". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2008.
  31. ^ Blessed, Brian; Morgan, Richie (2 December 2015). "Did Brian Blessed really punch a polar bear? – video - Stage". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  32. ^ naverhtrad [Matthew Cooper] (9 February 2011). "Pythia - Beneath the Veiled Embrace - Reviews". Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives. Encyclopaedia Metallum. Retrieved 30 June 2021. ...some [songs] are inexplicably followed by Brian Blessed’s stentorian narrations of British anti-war poetry...
  33. ^ Eden Burning Mirth and Matter sleeve notes.
  34. ^ a b "DougSoc Committee". Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  35. ^ "War of the Roses Details Brian Blessed DLC, Free Content and Kingmaker Gold Edition". PC Gamer. 1 February 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  36. ^ . Metal Hammer. 17 June 2013. Archived from the original on 4 April 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  37. ^ "Brian Blessed's Radio Adventures". BBC.
  38. ^ "Brian Blessed speaks candidly about the day he helped a woman deliver her baby". MagicMum.com. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  39. ^ Mann, Sebastian (7 October 2015). "Brian Blessed: I chewed through an umbilical cord while delivering a baby in Richmond Park". Evening Standard. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  40. ^ Sleeman, Elizabeth (2003). The International Who's Who 2004: 2004 (67th ed.). Abingdon, England: Routledge. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-85743-217-6.
  41. ^ Hartley, Glen. "Our New Patron, Brian Blessed OBE | Pet Respect". Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  42. ^ . Hopefield Animal Sanctuary. Archived from the original on 4 December 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  43. ^ "The other Brian Blessed". Deskarati. 16 August 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  44. ^ "Brian Blessed - My Yorkshire". Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  45. ^ "Brian Blessed collapses on stage – but returns to finish show". BBC News. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  46. ^ "Brian Blessed pulls out of King Lear on doctor's orders". BBC News. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  47. ^ Davis-Digges, Hoagy (25 January 2011). "Union General Meeting Sees Highest Voting Numbers Since 2008". Nouse.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  48. ^ "Brian Blessed Bids to be Cambridge Chancellor". BBC News. BBC. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  49. ^ "Brian Blessed | Week 08 | Cambridge Union". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  50. ^ "No. 61608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2016. p. B11.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brian Blessed.

January 08, 2023
brian, blessed, born, october, 1936, english, actor, presenter, writer, mountaineer, obeblessed, 2013born, 1936, october, 1936, mexborough, yorkshire, englandalma, materbristol, theatre, schooloccupationsactor, presenter, writeryears, active1962, presentworksf. Brian Blessed OBE ˈ b l ɛ s ɪ d born 9 October 1936 is an English actor presenter writer and mountaineer Brian BlessedOBEBlessed in 2013Born 1936 10 09 9 October 1936 age 86 Mexborough Yorkshire EnglandAlma materBristol Old Vic Theatre SchoolOccupationsActor presenter writerYears active1962 presentWorksFull listSpouse s Ann Bomann divorced Hildegarde Neil m 1978 wbr Children2Blessed is known for portraying 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 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 Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 Acting 2 2 Expeditions 2 3 Music 2 4 Other work 3 Personal life 3 1 Health 3 2 Honours 4 Stage film and audio performances 5 Bibliography 6 References 7 External linksEarly life EditBlessed was born on 9 October 1936 at Montagu Hospital 1 in Mexborough Yorkshire 2 3 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 4 and Hilda nee Wall Blessed s father died aged 99 his mother died aged 87 5 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 6 Blessed went to Bolton on Dearne Secondary Modern School and completed his national service in the RAF Regiment 7 before enrolling at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School 8 Career EditActing Edit One of Blessed s earliest roles was that of PC Fancy Smith in the BBC television series Z Cars between 1962 and 1965 9 In 1966 he appeared in a production of Incident at Vichy at the Phoenix Theatre in London Also in 1966 he was offered the titular role of The Doctor in BBC s sci fi drama Doctor Who to take over from William Hartnell but had to turn it down due to conflicting projects 10 In 1967 he played Porthos in a 10 part BBC adaptation of The Three Musketeers 11 Blessed also had minor roles in cult TV series such as The Avengers 1967 1969 and the original Randall and Hopkirk Deceased 1969 He interpreted the role of King Mark of Cornwall in the HTV television series Arthur of the Britons 1972 1973 He appeared as William Woodcock in the Yorkshire Television series Boy Dominic 1974 He played Caesar Augustus in the BBC Two drama series I Claudius 1976 12 Vargas in the Blake s 7 episode Cygnus Alpha 1978 and Basileos in The Aphrodite Inheritance 1979 13 He hosted a docudrama on the life of Johann Sebastian Bach called The Joy of Bach 1978 in which he also played Bach in a number of scenes Blessed also appeared in two episodes of the British science fiction television series Space 1999 He played scientist Dr Rowland Cabot in the 1975 episode Death s Other Dominion and as Mentor in the 1976 episode The Metamorph Blessed played Long John Silver in the 10 part serial Return to Treasure Island 1986 King Yrcanos in the Doctor Who serial Mindwarp 1986 General Yevlenko in the mini series War and Remembrance 1988 and Lord Loxley the father of Robin Hood in the Hollywood film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves 1991 In 1981 Blessed appeared in Andrew Lloyd Webber s musical Cats as both Old Deuteronomy and Bustopher Jones for the original West End theatre production 14 Blessed 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 1989 Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing 1993 the Ghost of Hamlet s Father in Hamlet 1996 and both Duke Frederick and Duke Senior in As You Like It 2006 In comedies Blessed portrayed Prince Vultan in the film Flash Gordon 1980 15 the mad comical figure of Richard IV in the first series of The Black Adder 1983 a role Blessed has claimed to be one of his most cherished and Spiro Halikiopoulos in the TV mini series My Family and Other Animals 1987 a BBC adaptation of Gerald Durrell s book by the same name 16 Blessed has joked that he was due to appear in Blackadder II 1986 as Elizabeth I but was unavailable for filming 17 In 1989 he made an appearance in the comedy drama Minder as Detective Inspector Freddie Dyer of the Serious Crime Squad in the episode The Last Video Show 18 In 1997 Blessed portrayed Squire Western in the BBC adaptation of Henry Fielding s 1749 comic novel Tom Jones He later recalled accidentally punching Peter Capaldi whilst filming and said of the event I thought I d killed the poor bastard 19 In 1999 Blessed provided both the voice and live action reference for the CGI character Boss Nass in Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace and also provided the voice of the villainous hunter Clayton in Disney s animated feature film Tarzan a role he later reprised in the video game based on the film and in the critically acclaimed Kingdom Hearts in 2002 He voiced Sir Morris in the 1999 cartoon series The Big Knights He read the story The White City for the album series Late Night Tales recording it in four parts released over four albums 20 and was also the voice of Jean Valjean in Focus on the Family Radio Theatre s audio adaptation of Victor Hugo s Les Miserables Blessed was one of the narrators for Story Teller a children s magazine partwork series in the 1980s He has further provided vocal links for the Sony Award winning Christian O Connell Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio and introduced advertisements for Orange mobile phones Blessed at the Cambridge Film Festival in 2007 In 2002 under the direction of Royal Shakespeare Company director Adrian Noble he originated the role of Baron Bomburst for the stage musical version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang From December 2005 to January 2006 Blessed headlined the Christmas pantomime production of Peter Pan alongside CBBC presenter Kirsten O Brien at Ipswich s Regent Theatre From 2007 to 2008 he appeared in the same play as Captain Hook at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable he reprised the role for the Christmas 2008 season at the Fairfield Halls Croydon For Christmas 2006 he presented a production of Cinderella for Virgin Radio starring David Tennant Thandie Newton and others Since October 2008 Blessed has presented the English language dub of the Japanese TV game show Unbeatable Banzuke on Challenge under the pseudonym Banzuke Brian He was the narrator of the Sky 1 series Crash Test Dummies starring Steve Marsh and Dan Wright In animation he has provided the voices of Bob in Kika amp Bob 2008 21 and Grampy Rabbit in Peppa Pig 2004 present Following a Facebook campaign satellite navigation manufacturer TomTom recorded Blessed s voice for use in its products he has been available as a voice command option since October 2010 22 In September 2010 Blessed recorded the voice of Great Sultan Shahryar for Sheherazade or The Princess the Pirate and the Baboon an album of children s stories set to Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov s classical music composition Scheherazade co starring Rory Bremner and released as an instalment of Grandma Dingley s Ingeniously Musical Tales in 2011 23 In 2018 Blessed voiced German military engineer Konrad Kyeser in the open world medieval RPG Kingdom Come Deliverance 24 He voiced the megalomaniacal Red Ivan in the 2021 base building game Evil Genius 2 World Domination 25 Expeditions Edit David Callaway Blessed and Pasang Sherpa at Everest Base Camp Blessed has attempted to climb Mount Everest three times without supplemental oxygen 26 reaching heights of 28 200 feet 8 600 m in 1993 and 25 200 feet 7 700 m in 1996 but without reaching the summit 27 Blessed has reached the tops of Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania 28 and has undertaken an expedition into the jungles of Venezuela during which he survived a plane crash 29 Blessed is the oldest man to have reached the North Magnetic Pole on foot 30 where he says he punched a polar bear on the nose 31 Music Edit In 2009 Blessed featured in the song Army of the Damned from the album Beneath the Veiled Embrace by British power metal band Pythia reciting the poem Suicide in the Trenches by Siegfried Sassoon 32 Blessed also appeared on their 2014 album Shadows of a Broken Past He had previously contributed to the song The Joust by Christian band Eden Burning in 1994 33 Other work Edit Blessed has completed 800 hours of space training at Star City in Russia 15 Blessed served as President of the Television and Radio Industries Club TRIC from 2007 to 2008 and presented the 2008 TRIC Awards at Grosvenor House London 34 In 2004 Blessed appeared on and won an episode of Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes impersonating the opera singer Luciano Pavarotti He appeared as an expert and commentator on the satellite channel UKTV G2 during the 2006 World Cup Blessed also appeared on A Question of Sport in 2006 and 2011 and was a guest host on the BBC s satirical quiz show Have I Got News for You in May 2008 and April 2013 also making a surprise appearance in the 2008 Christmas special Downloadable content for the computer game War of the Roses featured narration by Blessed 35 In 2013 he received the Spirit of Hammer Award at the Metal Hammer magazine s Golden Gods Awards 36 On 14 August 2014 Blessed was the subject of an episode of the BBC documentary series Who Do You Think You Are tracing the lives of his ancestors 6 In October 2016 the BBC broadcast a 3 hour compilation of interviews with Blessed Brian Blessed s Radio Adventures featuring interviews with him where he discusses his life and career 37 Personal life EditIn 1963 Blessed then in his late twenties assisted a mother giving birth in Richmond Park London He delivered the healthy baby girl then bit through the umbilical cord 38 He later recounted I was covered in blood my shirt was covered in blood I was wrapping her wiping her saying it s alright darling And I was licking the baby s face 39 In 1978 Blessed married actress Hildegarde Neil They both live in Windlesham Surrey Their daughter Rosalind is an actress 40 Blessed owns several dogs and is a patron of the charity Pet Respect 41 In 2011 he became a patron for Hopefield Animal Sanctuary in Brentwood Essex 42 Health Edit Blessed suffered a nervous breakdown at age 18 He eventually recovered with the support of friends family and his speech teacher 43 44 On 19 January 2015 Blessed collapsed on stage during a performance of King Lear with the Guildford Shakespeare Company in which his daughter Rosalind was also acting He received medical attention from a doctor in the audience and returned to the stage to complete the play 20 minutes later 45 On 30 January 2015 it was announced that Blessed had been compelled to withdraw from the production on the advice of his heart specialist 46 He has been fitted with a pacemaker 15 Honours Edit He has honorary degrees from the University of Bradford awarded July 2003 and Sheffield Hallam University awarded 2004 and has also been awarded the honorary title of Official Shoutsperson by the University of York s Douglas Adams Society 34 In 2011 the student union at the University of York voted to name a new study area the Brian Blessed Centre for Quiet Study 47 The same year Blessed was nominated for the post of Chancellor of the University of Cambridge following a campaign by graduates 48 He was later awarded Honorary Membership of the Cambridge Union in recognition of his nomination 49 Blessed was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire OBE in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to the arts and charity 50 Stage film and audio performances EditMain article List of Brian Blessed performancesBibliography EditThe Turquoise Mountain Brian Blessed on Everest 1991 Dynamite Kid 1992 Nothing s Impossible 1994 To the Top of the World 1995 Quest for the Lost World 1999 Sooty 2013 Absolute Pandemonium 2015 The Panther in My Kitchen My Wild Life with Animals 2017 References Edit Blessed Brian 1992 1 The Dynamite Kid 1st ed London Bloomsbury p 1 ISBN 0 7475 1275 2 Index entry FreeBMD ONS Retrieved 4 November 2010 BFI biodata Ftvdb bfi org uk 16 April 2009 Archived from the original on 1 March 2007 Retrieved 8 July 2011 Who Do You Think You Are BBC Series 11 2 Brian Blessed My family values Brian Blessed The Guardian 2 January 2010 a b Who do you think you are Brian Blessed traces Brigg amp Winterton relatives on BBC1 tonight Scunthorpe Telegraph 14 August 2014 Archived from the original on 14 August 2014 Retrieved 15 August 2014 Blessed Brian 2016 Absolute Pandemonium Pan Macmillan p 67 ISBN 9781447292975 The International Who s Who 2004 Psychology Press 2003 p 176 ISBN 9781857432176 Z Cars 5 Big Catch BBC Television 30 January 1962 BBC Genome Brian Blessed I turned down Doctor Who The Guardian 5 August 2014 Retrieved 11 November 2018 The Three Musketeers BBC One London 8 January 1967 BBC Genome I Claudius BBC Two England 6 December 1976 BBC Genome The Aphrodite Inheritance BBC One London 14 February 1979 BBC Genome Brian Blessed All my life 90 of men have bored the arse off me The Guardian 13 January 2020 Retrieved 1 November 2022 a b c Brian Blessed Picasso Gave me a 50m picture I threw it away The Telegraph 8 November 2015 Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 Gerald Durrell s Lasting Legacy BBC News Online 15 September 2006 Retrieved 5 May 2008 Brian Blessed Web Chat The Guardian 22 August 2001 Retrieved 1 September 2008 7 4 The Last Video Show www minder org Retrieved 8 August 2020 The day Brian Blessed punched and knocked out Peter Capaldi Radio Times 9 October 2014 Retrieved 2 November 2016 Brian Blessed discography Discogs KIKA amp BOB submarine productions www kikaandbob com Retrieved 8 August 2020 Wallop Harry 6 August 2010 Brian Blessed new voice of TomTom Sat Nav Telegraph Media Group Limited Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 Retrieved 19 September 2017 Sheherazade or The Princess the Pirate and the Baboon Grandma Dingley s Ingeniously Musical Tales Grandmadingley com 21 March 2011 Retrieved 8 July 2011 Kingdom Come Deliverance presents Brian Blessed as Lord Konrad Kyeser YouTube Warhorse Studios Retrieved 5 May 2017 Evil Genius 2 Voice Cast Announced Featuring Samantha Bond and Brian Blessed Gamasutra Retrieved 30 March 2021 Dickinson Matt 19 February 2012 How We Met Matt Dickinson and Brian Blessed The Independent Retrieved 24 April 2013 Dickinson But as for going back to Everest with Brian in truth he s too old now to try again Arthur Charles 30 May 1996 Blessed Launches Bitter Attack on Human Lemmings of Everest The Independent Retrieved 24 April 2013 Blessed are the meek Brian Blessed talks ahead of Shrewsbury show Shropshire Star Retrieved 4 December 2020 An Evening with Brian Blessed at Weston s Playhouse Theatre Weston Mercury Retrieved 4 December 2020 Benedictus Leo 29 July 2003 Why I Love Brian Blessed The Guardian Retrieved 5 May 2008 Blessed Brian Morgan Richie 2 December 2015 Did Brian Blessed really punch a polar bear video Stage The Guardian Retrieved 4 December 2020 naverhtrad Matthew Cooper 9 February 2011 Pythia Beneath the Veiled Embrace Reviews Encyclopaedia Metallum The Metal Archives Encyclopaedia Metallum Retrieved 30 June 2021 some songs are inexplicably followed by Brian Blessed s stentorian narrations of British anti war poetry Eden Burning Mirth and Matter sleeve notes a b DougSoc Committee Retrieved 8 July 2011 War of the Roses Details Brian Blessed DLC Free Content and Kingmaker Gold Edition PC Gamer 1 February 2013 Retrieved 25 April 2013 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Winners Metal Hammer 17 June 2013 Archived from the original on 4 April 2014 Retrieved 19 June 2013 Brian Blessed s Radio Adventures BBC Brian Blessed speaks candidly about the day he helped a woman deliver her baby MagicMum com Retrieved 26 October 2020 Mann Sebastian 7 October 2015 Brian Blessed I chewed through an umbilical cord while delivering a baby in Richmond Park Evening Standard Retrieved 26 October 2020 Sleeman Elizabeth 2003 The International Who s Who 2004 2004 67th ed Abingdon England Routledge p 176 ISBN 978 1 85743 217 6 Hartley Glen Our New Patron Brian Blessed OBE Pet Respect Retrieved 30 October 2022 Hopefield Patrons and Trustees Hopefield Animal Sanctuary Archived from the original on 4 December 2011 Retrieved 18 November 2011 The other Brian Blessed Deskarati 16 August 2011 Retrieved 4 December 2019 Brian Blessed My Yorkshire Retrieved 4 December 2019 Brian Blessed collapses on stage but returns to finish show BBC News 21 January 2015 Retrieved 21 January 2015 Brian Blessed pulls out of King Lear on doctor s orders BBC News 30 January 2015 Retrieved 30 January 2015 Davis Digges Hoagy 25 January 2011 Union General Meeting Sees Highest Voting Numbers Since 2008 Nouse co uk Retrieved 8 July 2011 Brian Blessed Bids to be Cambridge Chancellor BBC News BBC 3 June 2011 Retrieved 25 April 2013 Brian Blessed Week 08 Cambridge Union www facebook com Retrieved 28 March 2018 No 61608 The London Gazette Supplement 11 June 2016 p B11 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brian Blessed Brian Blessed at IMDb Brian Blessed at AllMovie Brian Blessed at the TCM Movie Database Brian Blessed at British Comedy Guide Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Brian Blessed amp oldid 1131292560, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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