Keith Joseph Michell was an Australian actor who worked primarily in the United Kingdom, and was best known for his television and film portrayals of King Henry VIII.
19 Facts About Keith Michell
2.
Keith Michell appeared extensively in Shakespeare and other classics and musicals in Britain, and was in several Broadway productions.
3.
Keith Michell was an artistic director of the Chichester Festival Theatre in the 1970s and later had a recurring role on Murder, She Wrote as the charming thief Dennis Stanton.
4.
Keith Michell was known for illustrating a collection of Jeremy Lloyd's poems Captain Beaky, and singing the title song from the associated album.
5.
Keith Michell's parents were Joseph, a cabinet-maker, and Alice.
6.
Keith Michell then worked in radio for ABC in Adelaide.
7.
Keith Michell joined the Young Vic theatre company and made his first appearance in London by 1951.
8.
Keith Michell later sang in a series of television specials written for him.
9.
Keith Michell played the dual role of Miguel de Cervantes and his fictional creation Don Quixote in the musical Man of La Mancha, first starring in the original London production of the musical and then on Broadway.
10.
Keith Michell starred as Abelard in the Broadway play Abelard and Heloise with Diana Rigg by Ronald Millar and as Georges in La Cage aux Folles in the 1980s.
11.
Keith Michell reprised the role in a 1996 television series adaptation of The Prince and the Pauper.
12.
Keith Michell appeared in a series of Gilbert and Sullivan TV adaptations by Brent Walker.
13.
Keith Michell was the artistic director of the Chichester Festival Theatre from 1974 to 1977, appearing in many of their productions, including as the Director in Tonight We Improvise, as the title character in Oedipus Tyrannus, and in A Month in the Country and The Confederacy by Vanbrugh.
14.
Keith Michell enjoyed a recording career as a soloist, with one of his singles, I'll Give You the Earth, which he co-wrote, reaching No 30 in the UK charts in 1971, boosted by his high-profile on television at the time.
15.
Keith Michell illustrated a limited edition run of William Shakespeare's sonnets, for which he did the calligraphy; and wrote and illustrated a number of macrobiotic cookbooks.
16.
Keith Michell himself was a proponent of the macrobiotic diet and philosophy.
17.
Keith Michell illustrated Captain Beaky, a collection of Jeremy Lloyd's poems.
18.
The song "Captain Beaky", sung by Keith Michell, peaked at No 5 and No 36 in the UK and Australia respectively in 1980.
19.
Keith Michell died in Hampstead, London, eleven days before his 89th birthday.