In 2016, Blessed was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to the arts and charity.
45 Facts About Brian Blessed
2.
Brian Blessed was born on 9 October 1936 at Montagu Hospital in Mexborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of William Brian Blessed, a socialist coal miner at Hickleton Main Colliery and cricketer for the Yorkshire second team, and Hilda.
3.
Brian Blessed's father died aged 99; his mother died aged 87.
4.
Brian Blessed went to Bolton on Dearne Secondary Modern School, and completed his national service in the RAF Regiment before enrolling at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
5.
Brian Blessed had minor roles in cult TV series such as The Avengers and the original Randall and Hopkirk.
6.
Brian Blessed interpreted the role of King Mark of Cornwall in the HTV television series Arthur of the Britons.
7.
Brian Blessed appeared as William Woodcock in the Yorkshire Television series Boy Dominic.
8.
Brian Blessed hosted a docudrama on the life of Johann Sebastian Bach called The Joy of Bach, in which he played Bach in a number of scenes.
9.
Brian Blessed appeared in two episodes of the British science fiction television series Space:1999.
10.
Brian Blessed played scientist Dr Rowland Cabot in the 1975 episode Death's Other Dominion and as Mentor in the 1976 episode The Metamorph.
11.
Brian Blessed played Long John Silver in the 10-part serial Return to Treasure Island, King Yrcanos in the Doctor Who serial Mindwarp, General Yevlenko in the mini-series War and Remembrance, and Lord Loxley, the father of Robin Hood, in the Hollywood film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
12.
In 1981, Brian Blessed appeared in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, Cats, as both Old Deuteronomy and Bustopher Jones, for the original West End theatre production.
13.
Brian 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, Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing, the Ghost of Hamlet's Father in Hamlet, and both Duke Frederick and Duke Senior in As You Like It.
14.
In comedies, Brian Blessed portrayed Prince Vultan in the film Flash Gordon ; the mad, comical figure of Richard IV in the first series of The Black Adder, a role Brian Blessed has claimed to be one of his most cherished; and Spiro Halikiopoulos in the TV mini-series My Family and Other Animals, a BBC adaptation of Gerald Durrell's book by the same name.
15.
Brian Blessed has joked that he was due to appear in Blackadder II as Elizabeth I, but was unavailable for filming.
16.
In 1997, Brian Blessed portrayed Squire Western in the BBC adaptation of Henry Fielding's 1749 comic novel Tom Jones.
17.
Brian Blessed voiced "Sir Morris" in the 1999 cartoon series The Big Knights.
18.
Brian Blessed read the story "The White City" for the album series Late Night Tales, recording it in four parts released over four albums, and was the voice of Jean Valjean in Focus on the Family Radio Theatre's audio adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables.
19.
Brian Blessed was one of the narrators for Story Teller, a children's magazine partwork series in the 1980s.
20.
Brian Blessed 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.
21.
From December 2005 to January 2006, Brian Blessed headlined the Christmas pantomime production of Peter Pan, alongside CBBC presenter Kirsten O'Brien, at Ipswich's Regent Theatre.
22.
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".
23.
Brian Blessed was the narrator of the Sky 1 series Crash Test Dummies, starring Steve Marsh and Dan Wright.
24.
In 2018, Brian Blessed voiced German military engineer Konrad Kyeser in the open-world medieval RPG, Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
25.
Brian Blessed voiced the megalomaniacal Red Ivan in the 2021 base building game Evil Genius 2: World Domination.
26.
Brian Blessed has attempted to climb Mount Everest three times without supplemental oxygen, reaching heights of 28,200 feet in 1993 and 25,200 feet in 1996, but without reaching the summit.
27.
Brian Blessed has reached the tops of Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and has undertaken an expedition into the jungles of Venezuela, during which he survived a plane crash.
28.
Brian Blessed is the oldest man to have reached the North Magnetic Pole on foot, where he says he punched a polar bear on the nose.
29.
In 2009, Brian 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.
30.
Brian Blessed appeared on their 2014 album Shadows of a Broken Past.
31.
Brian Blessed had previously contributed to the song "The Joust" by Christian band Eden Burning in 1994.
32.
Brian Blessed has completed 800 hours of space training at Star City in Russia.
33.
Brian Blessed served as President of the Television and Radio Industries Club from 2007 to 2008 and presented the 2008 TRIC Awards at Grosvenor House, London.
34.
In 2004, Brian Blessed appeared on and won an episode of Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes, impersonating the opera singer Luciano Pavarotti.
35.
Brian Blessed appeared as an expert and commentator on the satellite channel UKTV G2 during the 2006 World Cup.
36.
Brian Blessed 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.
37.
Brian Blessed delivered the healthy baby girl, then bit through the umbilical cord.
38.
Brian Blessed owns several dogs and is a patron of the charity Pet Respect.
39.
Brian Blessed eventually recovered with the support of friends, family, and his speech teacher.
40.
On 19 January 2015, Brian Blessed collapsed on stage during a performance of King Lear with the Guildford Shakespeare Company, in which his daughter Rosalind was acting.
41.
Brian Blessed received medical attention from a doctor in the audience and returned to the stage to complete the play 20 minutes later.
42.
On 30 January 2015, it was announced that Brian Blessed had been "compelled to withdraw" from the production on the advice of his heart specialist.
43.
Brian Blessed has honorary degrees from the University of Bradford and Sheffield Hallam University and has been awarded the honorary title of "Official Shoutsperson" by the University of York's Douglas Adams Society.
44.
Brian Blessed was later awarded Honorary Membership of the Cambridge Union in recognition of his nomination.
45.
Brian Blessed was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to the arts and charity.