Michael Hordern
Encyclopedia
Sir Michael Murray Hordern (3 October 1911 – 2 May 1995) was an English actor, knight
ed in 1983 for his services to the theatre, which stretched back to before the Second World War.
in Berkhamsted
, Hertfordshire
, and educated at Brighton College
, as was his brother Peter. He acted at school and then as an amateur with the St. Pancras
People's Theatre. He worked as a school teacher and travelling salesman before entering the profession. In 1937, he made his professional stage début at the People's Palace, East London
, playing a minor role in Othello
, and later in the year joined the repertory company of the Little Theatre in Bristol
. There he met the actress Grace Eveline Mortimer; they married in 1943, and remained together until her death in 1986. They had one daughter, Joanna.
in Stratford
and in London, at the Old Vic
and in the West End
demonstrated his wide range and distinctive, rich voice. In addition to his many Shakespearean
roles (Jaques in As You Like It
, Cassius in Julius Caesar
, Polonius in Hamlet
, Malvolio in Twelfth Night), Hordern performed in plays by Strindberg
, Chekhov
, Ibsen
, Pinero
, Pinter
, Dürrenmatt
, Albee
, Alan Ayckbourn
, David Mercer and Tom Stoppard
.
He played King Lear
, as directed by Jonathan Miller
, at the Nottingham Playhouse
in 1970. He reprised the role for Miller on two further occasions, in 1975 and in the BBC Television Shakespeare
series in 1982. In 1978 he returned to Stratford to play a wise Prospero in The Tempest
. This was also replicated for the BBC Shakespeare series in 1980.
(1949), Scrooge
(1951, as Jacob Marley
; he was to play Ebenezer Scrooge
himself in a 1977 TV adaptation), The Heart of the Matter
(1953), Grand National Night
(1953),The Spanish Gardener
(1956), Sink the Bismarck!
(1960), El Cid
(1961), Cleopatra
(1963), The V.I.P.s
(1963), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
(1965), Khartoum
(1966), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
(1966), The Taming of the Shrew
(1967), Where Eagles Dare
(1969), Anne of the Thousand Days
(1969), England Made Me (1972), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972), Juggernaut
(1974), The Slipper and the Rose
(1976), Shogun
(1980), Gandhi
(1982). In 1968 he appeared as the central character in Jonathan Miller
's television adaptation of M. R. James
's ghost story Whistle and I'll Come to You
. Some years later he narrated nineteen unabridged supernatural stories by M. R. James, released across four audio cassette collections by Argo Records
in the 1980s. In 1986, he appeared in the TV series Paradise Postponed
. In 1992 Hordern narrated the two-cassette recording of the John Mortimer
story Rumpole on Trial.
Hordern was also in demand for other voice-over work. As the narrator of FilmFair Production's Paddington
, and as the voice of Badger in the 1980s TV series The Wind in the Willows
, Hordern is familiar to TV audiences everywhere. He also provided the ironic voice-over narration in Stanley Kubrick
's film Barry Lyndon
, and can be heard playing the part of the rabbits' god Frith in Martin Rosen
's 1978 animated
adaptation of Richard Adams' Watership Down
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078480/fullcredits.
On radio he played Gandalf
in the BBC radio adaptation
of Tolkien
's Lord of the Rings
(1981); another great wizard, Merlin, in an adaptation of T. H. White
's The Sword in the Stone
(1982); and P. G. Wodehouse
's famous indefatigable valet (or gentleman's gentleman) Jeeves in several series in the 1970s.
Hordern's abridged 1991 recording of C. S. Lewis
' The Chronicles of Narnia
remains a classic recording of the series.
He was knighted in 1983.
for the BBC in 1971 and Professor Marvin in The History Man
in 1980. He also appeared in several classic drama serials, his last performance being in the BBC
adaptation of Middlemarch
(1994).
In 1956 he had bought a house near Newbury in Berkshire, where he spent his final years close to the river Lambourn on which he had enjoyed fishing (for trout and grayling) for so long, where dramatist Tom Stoppard
"shared a rod" with him, as Stoppard once put it.
Shortly before his death from a kidney disease, Brighton College
named a room in his honour where a bronze portrait bust stands; the National Portrait Gallery in London has another copy.
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed in 1983 for his services to the theatre, which stretched back to before the Second World War.
Personal life
Hordern was born in The Poplars, an 18th-Century townhouseTownhouse
A townhouse is the term historically used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries to describe a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...
in Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted
-Climate:Berkhamsted experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Castle:...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, and educated at Brighton College
Brighton College
Brighton College is an institution divided between a Senior School known simply as Brighton College, the Prep School and the Pre-Prep School. All of these schools are co-educational independent schools in Brighton, England, sited immediately next to each another. The Senior School caters for...
, as was his brother Peter. He acted at school and then as an amateur with the St. Pancras
St Pancras, London
St Pancras is an area of London. For many centuries the name has been used for various officially-designated areas, but now is used informally and rarely having been largely superseded by several other names for overlapping districts.-Ancient parish:...
People's Theatre. He worked as a school teacher and travelling salesman before entering the profession. In 1937, he made his professional stage début at the People's Palace, East London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
, playing a minor role in Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
, and later in the year joined the repertory company of the Little Theatre in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. There he met the actress Grace Eveline Mortimer; they married in 1943, and remained together until her death in 1986. They had one daughter, Joanna.
On stage
His stage work, for the Royal Shakespeare CompanyRoyal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
in Stratford
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
and in London, at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
and in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
demonstrated his wide range and distinctive, rich voice. In addition to his many Shakespearean
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
roles (Jaques in As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, Cassius in Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
, Polonius in Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, Malvolio in Twelfth Night), Hordern performed in plays by Strindberg
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
, Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
, Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
, Pinero
Arthur Wing Pinero
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero was an English actor and later an important dramatist and stage director.-Biography:...
, Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
, Dürrenmatt
Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Friedrich Dürrenmatt was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-garde dramas, philosophically deep crime novels, and often macabre satire...
, Albee
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
, Alan Ayckbourn
Alan Ayckbourn
Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
, David Mercer and Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
.
He played King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
, as directed by Jonathan Miller
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE is a British theatre and opera director, author, physician, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and...
, at the Nottingham Playhouse
Nottingham Playhouse
The Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in the 1950s when it operated from a former cinema. Directors during this period included Val May and Frank Dunlop.-The building:...
in 1970. He reprised the role for Miller on two further occasions, in 1975 and in the BBC Television Shakespeare
BBC Television Shakespeare
The BBC Television Shakespeare was a set of television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, produced by the BBC between 1978 and 1985.-Origins:...
series in 1982. In 1978 he returned to Stratford to play a wise Prospero in The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
. This was also replicated for the BBC Shakespeare series in 1980.
Film, television and radio
He made more than a hundred and sixty film appearances, usually in character roles, including Passport to PimlicoPassport to Pimlico
Passport to Pimlico is a 1949 British comedy film made by Ealing Studios and starred Stanley Holloway, Margaret Rutherford, and Hermione Baddeley. It was directed by Henry Cornelius....
(1949), Scrooge
Scrooge (1951 film)
Scrooge, released as A Christmas Carol in the United States, is a 1951 film adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. It starred Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge and was directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, with a screenplay by Noel Langley.The film also features Kathleen Harrison in an...
(1951, as Jacob Marley
Jacob Marley
Jacob Marley is a fictional character who appears in Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol.- Relationship with Scrooge:In life, Marley was the business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge. As teenagers, both men had been apprenticed in business and met as clerks in another business...
; he was to play Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge is the principal character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge is a cold-hearted, tight-fisted and greedy man, who despises Christmas and all things which give people happiness...
himself in a 1977 TV adaptation), The Heart of the Matter
The Heart of the Matter (film)
The Heart of the Matter is a 1953 British film based on the book of the same name by Graham Greene. It was directed by George More O'Ferrall for London Films. It was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot, cast and production:...
(1953), Grand National Night
Grand National Night
Grand National Night is a 1953 British thriller brought to the screen by George Minter under the production of Phil C. Samuel from a play by Campbell and Dorothy Christie. It was directed by Bob McNaught and starred Nigel Patrick, Moira Lister and Beatrice Campbell with support from Michael...
(1953),The Spanish Gardener
The Spanish Gardener (film)
The Spanish Gardener is a 1956 film based on the novel by A. J. Cronin, first published in 1950. The film stars Dirk Bogarde and Jon Whiteley, and was directed by Philip Leacock. The adaptation was filmed both at Pinewood Studios, situated outside of London, and in S'Agaro, on the Costa Brava...
(1956), Sink the Bismarck!
Sink the Bismarck!
Sink the Bismarck! is a 1960 black-and-white British war film based on the book, the "Last Nine Days of the Bismarck" by C. S. Forester. It stars Kenneth More and Dana Wynter and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. To date, it is the only movie made that deals directly with the operations, chase, and...
(1960), El Cid
El Cid (film)
El Cid is a historical epic film, a romanticized story of the life of the Christian Castilian knight Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called "El Cid" who in the 11th century fought the North African Almoravides and ultimately contributed to the unification of Spain.Made by Samuel Bronston Productions in...
(1961), Cleopatra
Cleopatra (1963 film)
Cleopatra is a 1963 British-American-Swiss epic drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The screenplay was adapted by Sidney Buchman, Ben Hecht, Ranald MacDougall, and Mankiewicz from a book by Carlo Maria Franzero. The film starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy...
(1963), The V.I.P.s
The V.I.P.s
The V.I.P.s, also known as Hotel International, is a 1963 British drama film. It was directed by Anthony Asquith, produced by Anatole de Grunwald and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
(1963), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (film)
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a 1965 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by John le Carré. It was adapted by Paul Dehn and Guy Trosper. The film stars Richard Burton as Alec Leamas, along with Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner, Peter van Eyck, Sam Wanamaker, Rupert Davies and Cyril Cusack...
(1965), Khartoum
Khartoum (film)
Khartoum is a 1966 film written by Robert Ardrey and directed by Basil Dearden. It stars Charlton Heston as General Gordon and Laurence Olivier as the Mahdi and is based on Gordon's defence of the Sudanese city of Khartoum from the forces of the Mahdist army during the Siege of Khartoum.Khartoum...
(1966), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (film)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a 1966 farce musical comedy film, based on the stage musical.Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus – specifically Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus and Mostellaria – it tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus...
(1966), The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew (1967 film)
The Taming of the Shrew is a 1967 film based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare about a courtship between two strong-willed people...
(1967), Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 World War II action-adventure spy film starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It was directed by Brian G. Hutton and shot on location in Upper Austria and Bavaria....
(1969), Anne of the Thousand Days
Anne of the Thousand Days
Anne of the Thousand Days is a 1969 costume drama made by Hal Wallis Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Charles Jarrott and produced by Hal B. Wallis. The film tells the story of Anne Boleyn...
(1969), England Made Me (1972), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972), Juggernaut
Juggernaut (film)
Juggernaut is a 1974 British thriller film. It was produced by David V. Picker Productions and released in 1974 by United Artists. The film was directed by Richard Lester, who took over after directors Bryan Forbes and Don Medford each left the project in pre-production.On taking over the film,...
(1974), The Slipper and the Rose
The Slipper and the Rose
The Slipper and the Rose is a 1976 British musical film retelling the classic fairy tale of Cinderella. This film was chosen as the Royal Command Performance motion picture selection for 1976....
(1976), Shogun
Shogun (TV miniseries)
Shōgun is an American television miniseries based on the namesake novel by James Clavell. As with the novel, the title is often shown as Shōgun in order to conform to Hepburn romanization. The miniseries was broadcast over five nights, between September 15 and September 19, 1980 on NBC in the...
(1980), Gandhi
Gandhi (film)
Gandhi is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. They both...
(1982). In 1968 he appeared as the central character in Jonathan Miller
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE is a British theatre and opera director, author, physician, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and...
's television adaptation of M. R. James
M. R. James
Montague Rhodes James, OM, MA, , who used the publication name M. R. James, was an English mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge and of Eton College . He is best remembered for his ghost stories, which are regarded as among the best in the genre...
's ghost story Whistle and I'll Come to You
Whistle and I'll Come to You
Whistle and I'll Come to You is the name of two BBC television drama adaptations based on the ghost story "Oh, Whistle, And I'll Come To You, My Lad" by Victorian and Edwardian academic and supernatural writer M. R. James. The story tells the tale of an introverted academic who happens upon a...
. Some years later he narrated nineteen unabridged supernatural stories by M. R. James, released across four audio cassette collections by Argo Records
Argo Records (UK)
Argo Records was a record label founded in 1951 by Harley Usill , and musicologist Cyril Clarke with £500 capital, initially as a company specialising in "British music played by British artists" , but it quickly became a company primarily specialising in spoken-word recordings and other esoteric ...
in the 1980s. In 1986, he appeared in the TV series Paradise Postponed
Paradise Postponed
Paradise Postponed is a 1986 TV serial based on a novel by John Mortimer. The plot focused on inquires into why the leftist Reverend Simeon Simcox left the Simcox brewery millions to the loathsome Leslie Titmuss, a city developer and Conservative cabinet minister...
. In 1992 Hordern narrated the two-cassette recording of the John Mortimer
John Mortimer
Sir John Clifford Mortimer, CBE, QC was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
story Rumpole on Trial.
Hordern was also in demand for other voice-over work. As the narrator of FilmFair Production's Paddington
Paddington (1975 TV series)
Paddington Bear is a series of British animated shorts based on the Paddington Bear book series by Michael Bond produced by FilmFair. This was the first television series based on the popular children's book Paddington Bear. In the United States it was usually shown on pay television as filler in...
, and as the voice of Badger in the 1980s TV series The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows (TV series)
The Wind in the Willows is a 52-episode TV series that was originally broadcast between 1984 and 1987, based on characters from Kenneth Grahame's classic story The Wind in the Willows and following the 1983 film The Wind in the Willows. It was made by animation company Cosgrove Hall for Thames...
, Hordern is familiar to TV audiences everywhere. He also provided the ironic voice-over narration in Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's film Barry Lyndon
Barry Lyndon
Barry Lyndon is a 1975 British-American period romantic war film produced, written, and directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray which recounts the exploits of an 18th century Irish adventurer...
, and can be heard playing the part of the rabbits' god Frith in Martin Rosen
Martin Rosen (director)
Martin Rosen is an American film and theater director, producer and writer. Rosen is known for the animated adaptation of Richard Adams's Watership Down.He is founder and owner of film/theater company Nepenthe.-Career:...
's 1978 animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
adaptation of Richard Adams' Watership Down
Watership Down (film)
Watership Down is a 1978 English adventure drama animated film written, produced and directed by Martin Rosen and based on the book by Richard Adams. It was financed by a consortium of British financial institutions...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078480/fullcredits.
On radio he played Gandalf
Gandalf
Gandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...
in the BBC radio adaptation
The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)
In 1981 the UK radio station BBC Radio 4 broadcast a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour stereo instalments...
of Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)
In 1981 the UK radio station BBC Radio 4 broadcast a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour stereo instalments...
(1981); another great wizard, Merlin, in an adaptation of T. H. White
T. H. White
Terence Hanbury White was an English author best known for his sequence of Arthurian novels, The Once and Future King, first published together in 1958.-Biography:...
's The Sword in the Stone
The Sword in the Stone
The Sword in the Stone is a novel by T. H. White, published in 1939, initially a stand-alone work but now the first part of a tetralogy The Once and Future King. A fantasy of the boyhood of King Arthur, it is a sui generis work which combines elements of legend, history, fantasy and comedy...
(1982); and P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
's famous indefatigable valet (or gentleman's gentleman) Jeeves in several series in the 1970s.
Hordern's abridged 1991 recording of C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
' The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...
remains a classic recording of the series.
He was knighted in 1983.
Later years and death
On television, he played TartuffeTartuffe
Tartuffe is a comedy by Molière. It is one of his most famous plays.-History:Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664...
for the BBC in 1971 and Professor Marvin in The History Man
The History Man
The History Man is a campus novel by the British author Malcolm Bradbury set in 1972 in the fictional seaside town of Watermouth in the South of England. Watermouth bears some resemblance to Brighton. For example, there is a frequent and fast train service to London.-Plot introduction:Howard Kirk...
in 1980. He also appeared in several classic drama serials, his last performance being in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
adaptation of Middlemarch
Middlemarch
Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life is a novel by George Eliot, the pen name of Mary Anne Evans, later Marian Evans. It is her seventh novel, begun in 1869 and then put aside during the final illness of Thornton Lewes, the son of her companion George Henry Lewes...
(1994).
In 1956 he had bought a house near Newbury in Berkshire, where he spent his final years close to the river Lambourn on which he had enjoyed fishing (for trout and grayling) for so long, where dramatist Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
"shared a rod" with him, as Stoppard once put it.
Shortly before his death from a kidney disease, Brighton College
Brighton College
Brighton College is an institution divided between a Senior School known simply as Brighton College, the Prep School and the Pre-Prep School. All of these schools are co-educational independent schools in Brighton, England, sited immediately next to each another. The Senior School caters for...
named a room in his honour where a bronze portrait bust stands; the National Portrait Gallery in London has another copy.
Filmography
- A Girl Must LiveA Girl Must LiveA Girl Must Live is a 1939 British romantic comedy film directed by Carol Reed and starring Margaret Lockwood, with supporting cast Renee Houston, Lilli Palmer, and Hugh Sinclair...
(1939) - Girl in the NewsGirl in the NewsGirl in the News is a 1940 British thriller film directed by Carol Reed and starring Margaret Lockwood, Barry K. Barnes and Emlyn Williams.-Cast:* Margaret Lockwood - Anne Graham* Barry K...
(1940) - The Years BetweenThe Years Between (film)The Years Between is a 1946 British film starring Michael Redgrave, Valerie Hobson and Flora Robson in an adaptation of The Years Between by Daphne du Maurier...
(1946) - School for SecretsSchool for SecretsSchool for Secrets is a 1946 British film written and directed by Peter Ustinov and starring David Tomlinson, Ralph Richardson, Raymond Huntley, Richard Attenborough, John Laurie and Michael Hordern...
(1946) - A Girl in a Million (1948)
- Night BeatNight Beat (1947 film)Night Beat is a 1947 British crime drama film directed by Harold Huth and starring Anne Crawford, Maxwell Reed, Ronald Howard, Christine Norden and Sid James. Following the Second World War two comrades go their separate ways one joining the Metropolitan police while the other becomes a racketeer...
(1947) - The Small Voice (1947)
- Third Time LuckyThird Time Lucky (1948 film)Third Time Lucky is a 1948 British crime drama film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Glynis Johns, Dermot Walsh, Charles Goldner, and Michael Hordern.-Plot:...
(1948) - Portrait from LifePortrait from LifePortrait from Life is a 1948 British drama film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Mai Zetterling and Robert Beatty.-Cast:* Mai Zetterling as Lidia* Robert Beatty as Campbell Reid* Guy Rolfe as Major Lawrence* Herbert Lom as Fritz Kottler Hendlemann...
(1948) - Good-Time GirlGood-Time GirlGood-Time Girl is a 1948 British drama film directed by David MacDonald. The film was based on Arthur La Bern's novel "Night Darkens the Street."-Plot:...
(1948) - Passport to PimlicoPassport to PimlicoPassport to Pimlico is a 1949 British comedy film made by Ealing Studios and starred Stanley Holloway, Margaret Rutherford, and Hermione Baddeley. It was directed by Henry Cornelius....
(1949) - Train of EventsTrain of EventsTrain of Events is a 1949 British film made by Ealing Studios directed by Sidney Cole, Charles Crichton and Basil Dearden.A portmanteau work, it tells the various stories of the passengers who are on a train which crashes into a stalled petrol tanker at a level crossing.-Plot:The film opens with a...
(1949) - The Astonished HeartThe Astonished Heart (film)The Astonished Heart is a 1950 drama film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Celia Johnson and Noel Coward and is based on his play The Astonished Heart.-Plot:...
(1950) - TrioTrio (1950 film)Trio is a 1950 British anthology film based on three short stories by W. Somerset Maugham: "The Verger", "Mr. Know-All" and "Sanatorium". Ken Annakin directed "The Verger" and "Mr...
(1950) - Highly DangerousHighly DangerousHighly Dangerous is a 1950 British spy film starring Margaret Lockwood as a British entomologist trying to stop a biological attack with the help of an American journalist played by Dane Clark. The screenplay was written by Eric Ambler.-Cast:...
(1950) - Flesh & Blood (1951)
- The Magic BoxThe Magic BoxThe Magic Box is a fictional magic shop in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon. It is located in Sunnydale and was last owned and operated by Rupert Giles, and served as the primary headquarters of the Scooby Gang for seasons five and six.-Ownership history:The shop went...
(1951) - ScroogeScrooge (1951 film)Scrooge, released as A Christmas Carol in the United States, is a 1951 film adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. It starred Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge and was directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, with a screenplay by Noel Langley.The film also features Kathleen Harrison in an...
(1951) - Tom Brown's SchooldaysTom Brown's Schooldays (1951 film)Tom Brown's Schooldays is a 1951 British drama film directed by Gordon Parry and starring John Howard Davies, Robert Newton and James Hayter. It is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Hughes. The screenplay was written by Noel Langley....
(1951) - The Card (1952)
- The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie MenThe Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie MenThe Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men is a 1952 live action Disney version of the Robin Hood story in Technicolor which was filmed in Buckinghamshire, England...
(1952) - The Hour of 13 (1952)
- Street CornerStreet Corner (1953 film)Street Corner is a 1953 British drama film. It was written by Muriel and Sydney Box and directed by Muriel. It was marketed as Both Sides of the Law in the United States. While not quite a documentary, the film depicts the daily routine of women in the police force from three different angles...
(1953) - Grand National NightGrand National NightGrand National Night is a 1953 British thriller brought to the screen by George Minter under the production of Phil C. Samuel from a play by Campbell and Dorothy Christie. It was directed by Bob McNaught and starred Nigel Patrick, Moira Lister and Beatrice Campbell with support from Michael...
(1953) - Personal AffairPersonal AffairPersonal Affair is a 1953 British drama film directed by Anthony Pelissier and starring Gene Tierney, Leo Genn, and Glynis Johns.-Plot summary:...
(1953) - The Heart of the MatterThe Heart of the Matter (film)The Heart of the Matter is a 1953 British film based on the book of the same name by Graham Greene. It was directed by George More O'Ferrall for London Films. It was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot, cast and production:...
(1953) - You Know What Sailors Are (1954)
- The BeachcomberThe Beachcomber (film)The Beachcomber is a 1954 British comedy-drama film directed by Muriel Box starring Donald Sinden, Glynis Johns, Robert Newton, Paul Rogers, Donald Pleasence and Michael Hordern. The film is based on the story The Vessel of Wrath by W. Somerset Maugham and was adapted by Sydney Box. It was the...
(1954) - Forbidden CargoForbidden Cargo (1954 film)Forbidden Cargo is a 1954 British film starring Jack Warner, Nigel Patrick and Elizabeth Sellars. The plot involved a narcotics agent tryinng to halt illegal drug smuggling under the cover of bird-watching.-Cast:* Jack Warner as Major Alec White...
(1954) - SvengaliSvengali (1954 film)Svengali is a 1954 British drama film directed by Noel Langley and starring Hildegard Knef, Donald Wolfit and Terence Morgan. A svengali hypnotises an artist's model into becoming a great opera singer, but she struggles to escape from his powers. It was based on a novel by George Du Maurier.-Cast:*...
(1954) - Storm Over the NileStorm Over the NileStorm Over the Nile is a 1955 film adaptation of the novel The Four Feathers, directed by Terence Young. The film not only extensively used footage of the action scenes from the 1939 film version stretched into CinemaScope, but exactly the same screenplay, almost line-for-line also then directed by...
(1955) - The Dark AvengerThe Dark AvengerThe Dark Avenger is a 1955 film directed by Henry Levin. The screenplay was written by Daniel P. Ullman and Phil Park who was uncredited. The film starred Errol Flynn, Joanne Dru and Peter Finch...
(1955) - The Constant HusbandThe Constant HusbandThe Constant Husband is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Rex Harrison, Margaret Leighton, Kay Kendall, Cecil Parker, George Cole and Raymond Huntley.-Plot:...
(1955) - The Night My Number Came UpThe Night My Number Came UpThe Night My Number Came Up is a film, directed by Les Norman at Ealing Studios. The screenplay was written by R. C. Sherriff based on a real incident in the life of British Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard.-Plot summary:...
(1955) - Alexander the GreatAlexander the Great (1956 film)Alexander the Great is a 1956 America sword and sandal epic film written, directed and produced by Robert Rossen with Gordon S. Griffith as executive producer...
(1956) - The Man Who Never WasThe Man Who Never WasThe Man Who Never Was is a nonfiction 1953 book by Ewen Montagu and a 1956 Second World War war film, based on the book and dramatising actual events...
(1956) - The Spanish GardenerThe Spanish GardenerThe Spanish Gardener is a 1950 novel by A. J. Cronin which tells the story of a British diplomat, Harrington Brande, who is posted to Catalonia, Spain after his marriage collapses. The overbearing father becomes jealous of the evolving friendship between his young son, Nicholas, and the...
(1956) - Pacific DestinyPacific DestinyPacific Destiny is a 1956 British drama film directed by Wolf Rilla and starring Denholm Elliott, Susan Stephen and Michael Horden. In the colonial era, a young British couple win the respect of the inhabitants of a South Pacific island. It was based on the memoirs of Sir Arthur Grimble.-Cast:*...
(1956) - The Baby and the BattleshipThe Baby and the BattleshipThe Baby and the Battleship is a colour 1956 British comedy film directed by Jay Lewis and starring John Mills, Richard Attenborough and André Morell. It is based on the 1956 novel by Anthony Thorne with a screenplay by Richard De Roy, Gilbert Hackforth-Jones and Bryan Forbes...
(1956) - No Time for TearsNo Time for Tears (film)No Time for Tears is a 1957 British drama film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Anna Neagle, George Baker and Sylvia Syms. The staff at a children's hospital struggle with their workload.-Cast:* Anna Neagle ... Matron Eleanor Hammond...
(1957) - Windom's WayWindom's WayWindom's Way is a 1957 British thriller film directed by Ronald Neame. It was nominated for four British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards in 1958.-Cast:* Peter Finch as Alec Windom* Mary Ure as Lee Windom* Natasha Parry as Anna Vidal...
(1957) - I Accuse!I Accuse!I Accuse! is a 1958 biographical drama film directed by and starring José Ferrer. The film is based on the true story of the Dreyfus Case, in which a Jewish captain in the French Army is falsely accused of treason.-Plot synopsis:...
(1958) - The Spaniard's CurseThe Spaniard's CurseThe Spaniard's Curse is a 1958 British drama film directed by Ralph Kemplen and starring Tony Wright, Lee Patterson, Michael Hordern, Susan Beaumont and Henry Oscar.-Cast:* Tony Wright - Charlie Manton* Lee Patterson - Mark Brett...
(1958) - I Was Monty's DoubleI Was Monty's Double (film)I Was Monty's Double is a 1958 film made by Associated British Picture Corporation . It was directed by John Guillermin, from a screenplay adapted by Bryan Forbes.- Plot :...
(1958) - Girls at SeaGirls at Sea (1958 film)Girls At Sea is a 1958 British comedy film directed by Gilbert Gunn and starring Ronald Shiner as Marine Ogg and Warren Mitchell as Arthur. It was based on a play by Ian Hay...
(1958) - Sink the Bismarck!Sink the Bismarck!Sink the Bismarck! is a 1960 black-and-white British war film based on the book, the "Last Nine Days of the Bismarck" by C. S. Forester. It stars Kenneth More and Dana Wynter and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. To date, it is the only movie made that deals directly with the operations, chase, and...
(1960) - MalagaMalaga (1960 film)Malaga is a 1960 crime drama film starring Trevor Howard, Dorothy Dandridge, and Edmund Purdom. It was filmed in Europe in the late months of 1959 under the original title, Moment of Danger, but when filming was completed the title was changed to Malaga, for reasons unknown...
(1960) - Man in the MoonMan in the Moon (film)Man in the Moon is a 1960 comedy film directed by Basil Dearden. It stars Kenneth More and Shirley Anne Field.-Plot:William Blood is a man who appears to be immune to all known diseases, and possesses extraordinary resistance to heat and cold - a fact he puts down to his carefree, single life,...
(1960) - El CidEl Cid (film)El Cid is a historical epic film, a romanticized story of the life of the Christian Castilian knight Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called "El Cid" who in the 11th century fought the North African Almoravides and ultimately contributed to the unification of Spain.Made by Samuel Bronston Productions in...
(1961) - CleopatraCleopatra (1963 film)Cleopatra is a 1963 British-American-Swiss epic drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The screenplay was adapted by Sidney Buchman, Ben Hecht, Ranald MacDougall, and Mankiewicz from a book by Carlo Maria Franzero. The film starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy...
(1963)
- The V.I.P.sThe V.I.P.sThe V.I.P.s, also known as Hotel International, is a 1963 British drama film. It was directed by Anthony Asquith, produced by Anatole de Grunwald and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
(1963) - Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow (1963)
- The Yellow Rolls-RoyceThe Yellow Rolls-Royce-External links:, a promotional short subject for the film...
(1964) - Genghis KhanGenghis Khan (1965 film)Genghis Khan is a 1965 film depicting the life and conquests of the Mongol emperor Genghis Khan. It was released in the United Kingdom and the United States in 1965 by Columbia Pictures, and was directed by Henry Levin, and starred Omar Sharif, who that same year starred in another epic, Doctor...
(1965) - The Spy Who Came in from the ColdThe Spy Who Came in from the Cold (film)The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a 1965 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by John le Carré. It was adapted by Paul Dehn and Guy Trosper. The film stars Richard Burton as Alec Leamas, along with Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner, Peter van Eyck, Sam Wanamaker, Rupert Davies and Cyril Cusack...
(1965) - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (film)A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a 1966 farce musical comedy film, based on the stage musical.Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus – specifically Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus and Mostellaria – it tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus...
(1966) - Cast a Giant ShadowCast a Giant ShadowCast a Giant Shadow is a 1966 big budget, action movie based on the life of Colonel Mickey Marcus starring Kirk Douglas and Senta Berger. Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, and Angie Dickinson also appear in supporting roles...
(1966) - KhartoumKhartoum (film)Khartoum is a 1966 film written by Robert Ardrey and directed by Basil Dearden. It stars Charlton Heston as General Gordon and Laurence Olivier as the Mahdi and is based on Gordon's defence of the Sudanese city of Khartoum from the forces of the Mahdist army during the Siege of Khartoum.Khartoum...
(1966) - The Taming of the ShrewThe Taming of the Shrew (1967 film)The Taming of the Shrew is a 1967 film based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare about a courtship between two strong-willed people...
(1967) - The JokersThe JokersThe Jokers is a 1967 comedy film written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and directed by Michael Winner. The film stars Michael Crawford and Oliver Reed as brothers who hatch a plot to steal the Crown Jewels....
(1967) - How I Won the WarHow I Won the WarHow I Won the War is a black comedy film directed by Richard Lester, released in 1967. The film stars Michael Crawford as bungling British Army Officer Lieutenant Earnest Goodbody, with John Lennon , Jack MacGowran , Roy Kinnear and Lee Montague as soldiers under his command...
(1967) - I'll Never Forget What's'isname (1967)
- Prudence and the PillPrudence and the PillPrudence and the Pill is a 1968 British comedy film made by Twentieth Century-Fox. It was directed by Fielder Cook and Ronald Neame and produced by Kenneth Harper and Ronald J. Kahn from a screenplay by Hugh Mills, based on his own novel...
(1968) - Where Eagles DareWhere Eagles DareWhere Eagles Dare is a 1968 World War II action-adventure spy film starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It was directed by Brian G. Hutton and shot on location in Upper Austria and Bavaria....
(1968) - The Bed Sitting Room (1969)
- Anne of the Thousand DaysAnne of the Thousand DaysAnne of the Thousand Days is a 1969 costume drama made by Hal Wallis Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Charles Jarrott and produced by Hal B. Wallis. The film tells the story of Anne Boleyn...
(1969) - Futtocks End (1970)
- Some Will, Some Won'tSome Will, Some Won'tSome Will, Some Won't was a 1970 British comedy film directed by Duncan Wood. It was a remake of Laughter in Paradise. It starred an ensemble British cast, including Michael Hordern, Ronnie Corbett, Dennis Price, Leslie Phillips and Arthur Lowe....
(1970) - Girl Stroke BoyGirl Stroke BoyGirl Stroke Boy is a 1971 British comedy drama film directed by Bob Kellett and starring Joan Greenwood, Michael Hordern and Clive Francis. It was based on the play Girl Friend by David Percival.-Cast:* Joan Greenwood - Lettice Mason...
(1971) - Up PompeiiUp Pompeii (film)Up Pompeii is a 1971 British comedy film directed by Bob Kellett and starring Frankie Howerd and Michael Hordern. The film was shot at Elstree Film Studios, Borehamwood, England...
(1971) - The Possession of Joel DelaneyThe Possession of Joel DelaneyThe Possession of Joel Delaney is a 1972 horror film starring Shirley MacLaine and Perry King, and directed by Waris Hussein. It is based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Ramona Stewart....
(1972) - The Pied PiperThe Pied Piper (1972 film)The Pied Piper is a 1972 British-American directed by Jacques Demy and starring Jack Wild, Donald Pleasence and John Hurt and featuring Donovan and Diana Dors. It is loosely based on the legend of the Pied Piper.-Cast:* Donovan ... The Piper...
(1972) - Demons of the MindDemons of the MindDemons of the Mind is a British period horror film, produced by the Hammer studio. It was directed by Peter Sykes and its cinematographer was Arthur Grant. The cast includes Gillian Hills , Robert Hardy, Patrick Magee, Michael Hordern, and Shane Briant...
(1972) - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972)
- Theatre of BloodTheatre of BloodTheatre of Blood is a horror film starring Vincent Price as vengeful actor Edward Lionheart and Diana Rigg as his daughter Edwina Lionheart. The cast includes such distinguished actors as Harry Andrews, Coral Browne, Robert Coote, Jack Hawkins, Michael Hordern, Arthur Lowe, Joan Hickson, Robert...
(1973) - The MacKintosh ManThe Mackintosh ManThe Mackintosh Man is a 1973 British cold war spy thriller film directed by John Huston and starring Paul Newman, James Mason, Dominique Sanda and Ian Bannen. It was produced by John Foreman and William Hill as associate producer from a screenplay by Walter Hill and William Fairchild based on the...
(1973) - England Made MeEngland Made Me (film)England Made Me is a 1973 British drama film directed by Peter Duffell and starring Peter Finch, Michael York, Hildegarde Neil and Michael Hordern. It is based on the novel England Made Me by Graham Greene.-Main cast:...
(1973) - JuggernautJuggernaut (film)Juggernaut is a 1974 British thriller film. It was produced by David V. Picker Productions and released in 1974 by United Artists. The film was directed by Richard Lester, who took over after directors Bryan Forbes and Don Medford each left the project in pre-production.On taking over the film,...
(1974) - Royal FlashRoyal FlashRoyal Flash is a 1970 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the second of the Flashman novels. It was made into the film Royal Flash in 1975.-Plot summary:...
(1975) - The Old Curiosity ShopThe Old Curiosity Shop (1975 film)The Old Curiosity Shop is a 1975 British musical film directed by Michael Tuchner and starring Anthony Newley, David Hemmings and Jill Bennett...
(1975) - Barry Lyndon (1975)
- Lucky LadyLucky LadyLucky Lady is a 1975 American film directed by Stanley Donen and starring Gene Hackman, Liza Minnelli and Burt Reynolds, with Robby Benson. Its story takes place during Prohibition in the United States in the year 1930....
(1975) - The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella (1976)
- Joseph AndrewsJoseph Andrews (film)Joseph Andrews is a 1977 period comedy film directed by Tony Richardson. It is based on the novel Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding With its rollicking comic plot, period costume and setting, ribald adventures and a dashing young hero who exposes his buttocks, the film was an obvious attempt to...
(1977) - Watership DownWatership Down (film)Watership Down is a 1978 English adventure drama animated film written, produced and directed by Martin Rosen and based on the book by Richard Adams. It was financed by a consortium of British financial institutions...
(1978) - The Medusa TouchThe Medusa Touch (film)The Medusa Touch is a 1978 British supernatural thriller film directed by Jack Gold. It starred Richard Burton, Lino Ventura, Lee Remick and Harry Andrews, with cameos by Alan Badel, Derek Jacobi, Gordon Jackson, Jeremy Brett and Michael Hordern...
(1978) - The Wildcats of St Trinian'sThe Wildcats of St Trinian'sThe Wildcats of St. Trinian's is the fifth British comedy film set in the fictional St Trinian's School, released in 1980.It poked fun at the British trade union movement which had been responsible for the recent wave of strikes that culminated in the Winter of Discontent.The film was not a...
(1980) - IvanhoeIvanhoe (1982 film)Ivanhoe is a 1982 television film adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's novel of the same name. The film was directed by Douglas Camfield and screenplay written by John Gay...
(1982) - The MissionaryThe MissionaryThe Missionary is a 1982 British comedy directed by Richard Loncraine, produced by George Harrison, Denis O'Brian, Michael Palin and Neville C. Thompson. The film stars Palin as the Rev...
(1982) - GandhiGandhi (film)Gandhi is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. They both...
(1982) - YellowbeardYellowbeardYellowbeard is a 1983 comedy film by Graham Chapman, along with Peter Cook, Bernard McKenna and David Sherlock. It was directed by Mel Damski, and was Marty Feldman's last film appearance.-Plot:...
(1983) - The Wind in the WillowsThe Wind in the Willows (1983 film)The Wind in the Willows is a 1983 79-minute film by the studio Cosgrove Hall for Thames Television and aired on the ITV network. The movie is based on Kenneth Grahame's classic story The Wind in the Willows. It won a BAFTA award and an international Emmy award...
(1983) - ComradesComrades (film)Comrades is a 1986 British historical drama film directed by Bill Douglas and starring an ensemble cast including James Fox, Robert Stephens and Vanessa Redgrave. It depicts the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, who were transported to Australia in the nineteenth century...
(1986) - Lady JaneLady Jane (film)Lady Jane is a 1986 British costume drama romance film directed by Trevor Nunn, written by David Edgar, and starring Helena Bonham Carter as the title character in her first major film role. It tells the story of Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days' Queen, on her reign and romance with husband Lord...
(1986) - LabyrinthLabyrinth (film)Labyrinth is a 1986 British/American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed by Brian Froud. Henson collaborated on the screenwriting with children's author Dennis Lee, Terry Jones from Monty Python, and Elaine May .The film stars David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin...
(1986) - Suspicion (1987)
- The Trouble with SpiesThe Trouble with SpiesThe Trouble with Spies is a 1987 film directed by Burt Kennedy. It stars Donald Sutherland and Ned Beatty.-Cast:*Donald Sutherland as Appleton Porter*Ned Beatty as Harry Lewis*Ruth Gordon as Mrs. Arkwright*Lucy Gutteridge as Mona...
(1987) - The Secret GardenThe Secret GardenThe Secret Garden is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was initially published in serial format starting in the autumn of 1910, and was first published in its entirety in 1911. It is now one of Burnett's most popular novels, and is considered to be a classic of English children's...
(1987) - Diamond Skulls (1989)
- The FoolThe Fool (film)The Fool is a British film, produced and directed by Christine Edzard in 1990 from a script by Edzard and Olivier Stockman.The plot examines the double life of a humble clerk posing as a businessman and moving in upper social circles...
(1990) - Freddie as F.R.O.7Freddie as F.R.O.7Freddie as F.R.O.7 is a 1992 British animated film written and directed by Jon Acevski. It is a parody of James Bond. The film was inspired by bedtime stories Acevski told to his son about his favourite toy frog working as a secret agent. -Plot:...
(1992)
External links
- Sir Michael Hordern - Daily Telegraph obituary
- Actor's Compendium