Overview (2)

Mini Bio (1)

Spouse (2)

Trade Mark (4)

Booming operatic voice



Boisterous, bombastic, eccentric persona.



His magnificent beard



His line from Flash Gordon - "GORDON'S ALIVE!", which he usually bellows during guest appearances on TV panel shows and other events.



Trivia (39)



He is the father of Rosalind Blessed



He was nearly killed when filming his death scene in Robin Hood - König der Diebe (1991).

He attempted to climb Mount Everest three times.





As a child, he and his friends used to play at "Flash Gordon", inspired by the Buster Crabbe serial films. In these childhood games, Brian would always play "Vultan", leader of the Hawkmen. In the cult science fiction film Flash Gordon (1980), he played the same role as he had in childhood.

His younger brother Alan, seven years his junior, died in 1996 at age 52.



He frequently gives up his time to appear at fan conventions for different series in which he has appeared.





He has been close friends with Patrick Stewart since childhood, when the two (both with a love of theatre) would hitch on coal wagons to London in order to see plays.



At age 14, he attended the Second World Peace Congress held in Sheffield during November 1950, where he encountered Pablo Picasso , challenging him to draw something. The artist penned a dove of peace, which the young Blessed scorned before sketching a similar bird himself and presenting it to an amused Picasso. Blessed would not accept Picasso's offer of his picture, thereby unwittingly earning his father's wrath.

He is the oldest person to have reached both the geographical North Pole and the magnetic North Pole.



He has completed Cosmonaut training and is first reserve to travel to the International Space Station. He plans to travel there in 2014.





He was considered for many guest roles in Doctor Who (1963): Grugger in "Meglos", Login in "Full Circle", Richard Mace in "The Visitation", Captain Stanley in "Time Flight", Ranulf in "The King's Demons", Vorshak in "Warriors of the Deep", Lytton in "Resurrection of the Daleks", Russell in "Attack of the Cybermen", The Governor in "Vengeance on Varos", Shockeye in "The Two Doctors", Merdeen in "The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet" and Sabalom Glitz in "The Trial of a Time Lord". He would eventually play Lord Ycranos in "The Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp". He was also going to make a cameo as his Task Force Police (1962) role PC Fancy Smith in Doctor Who: The Feast of Steven (1965), but this was vetoed by the producers. He was originally cast as Odin in Doctor Who: The Girl Who Died (2015), but had to drop out due to illness.



Because of his ever present beard and deep booming voice, he is often confused for actor John Rhys-Davies

As a reference to his loud booming voice, York University voted in 2011 to name its newly-built study centre "Brian Blessed Centre for Quiet Study".



He was nominated for the 1981 Olivier Award for 'Best Actor in a Musical' for his stage performance in 'Cats'.





During the 1980s, he was often linked in the UK press to the role of the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963) when the role became vacant.

He was forced to leave a touring production of "King Lear" in January 2015 due to heart problems.



He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to the arts and charity in Surrey, England.





He had a love-hate relationship with Peter O'Toole that lasted for thirty years.



He was considered for the role of Governor Ratcliffe in Pocahontas (1995).

Blessed is a patron of PHASE Worldwide, which works to improve education, healthcare and livelihoods in remote areas of Nepal.



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





He is embarrassed by his guest role in Blake's 7: Cygnus Alpha (1978), as he felt that his performance was too over-the-top.

He has become notorious for his unrestrained delivery of expletives during live television appearances.



Has sparred with the Dalai Lama.



Has stated he prefers climbing and exploration over acting.





Stated a favourite film he could rewatch again and again was Sergey Bondarchuk 's Krieg und Frieden (1966) (War and Peace").

His role of Augustus Caesar in 'I Claudius won him the New York Critics Award.





Sang "I Still Suits Me" with Paul Robeson at the Second World Peace Congress in Sheffield, 1950.

Personal Quotes (7)



[on William Shakespeare ] The blue planet has had its author. It would be greedy to want another.



[on Doctor Who (1963) in 1995] Like all the kind of traditional programmes on the BBC from the past, it is timeless and I do hope it comes back.



After I was in Task Force Police (1962), the head of BBC serials took me aside and said, 'We're thinking of having a young Doctor Who (1963) and we'd like to cast you'. But it clashed with other things.



[on Doctor Who (2005)] I think they need to re-examine his surname - 'Who' is very oriental. It's about time they had an Asian actor as the Doctor. And a female one.

Women are my religion. 90 per cent of men have always bored the derriere off me as people.



I would love to play the Doctor, absolutely!





I would love to be in Doctor Who (2005) if they could find me another part.

Salary (1)