Colin Blakely
Encyclopedia
Colin George Blakely was a Northern Irish character actor
. He was considered an actor of great range.
, County Down
, Northern Ireland
, Blakely attended Sedbergh School
in Yorkshire
. At 18 he started work in his family's sports goods shop, before going on to work as a timber-loader on the railways. In 1957, after a spell of amateur dramatics with the Bangor Operatic Society, he turned professional with the Group Theatre, Belfast.
and, to critical approval, The Taming of Murderers Rock. In 1961, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company
at Stratford-upon-Avon
and from 1963 to 1968 was with the National Theatre
at the Old Vic
.
In 1969, Blakely's controversial role as Jesus Christ in Dennis Potter
's Son of Man
gained him wide recognition. From that time onwards, he was a regular on British television, and in the same year played the leading role in a BBC adaptation of Trollope's The Way We Live Now
.
Among the many stage plays in which he appeared were The Recruiting Officer
, Saint Joan
, Royal Hunt of the Sun, Filumena, Volpone
and Oedipus. He returned to the Royal Shakespeare in 1972 in Harold Pinter
's Old Times and was subsequently in many West End
plays.
Film roles included Maurice Braithwaite in This Sporting Life
(1963), Vahlin in The Long Ships
, Dr. Watson to Robert Stephens
's Holmes
in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
(1970), and Stalin in Jack Gold
's Red Monarch
(1983). In the 1975 British film, It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet
, derived from the James Herriot
books, Blakely played the eccentric Siegfried Farnon. He also appeared in A Man for All Seasons
(1966), Young Winston
(1972), The National Health
(1973), Murder on the Orient Express
(1974), The Pink Panther Strikes Again
(1976), Equus
(1977), The Dogs of War
(1980), Nijinsky
(1980) and Evil Under the Sun
(1982).
A noted Shakespearean actor, Blakely appeared on television as Antony in Antony and Cleopatra
(1981), directed by Jonathan Miller
as part of the BBC Television Shakespeare
series; and as Kent in the 1983 Granada Television
version of King Lear which starred Laurence Olivier
. Other television appearances included Loophole
(1981), Red Monarch
(1983), The Beiderbecke Affair
(1985), Operation Julie
(1985) and Paradise Postponed
(1986).
at the peak of his career, aged 56.
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
. He was considered an actor of great range.
Early life
Born in BangorBangor, County Down
Bangor is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a seaside resort on the southern side of Belfast Lough and within the Belfast Metropolitan Area. Bangor Marina is one of the largest in Ireland, and holds Blue Flag status...
, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, Blakely attended Sedbergh School
Sedbergh School
Sedbergh School is a boarding school in Sedbergh, Cumbria, for boys and girls aged 13 to 18. Nestled in the Howgill Fells, it is known for sporting sides, such as its Rugby Union 1st XV.-Background:...
in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. At 18 he started work in his family's sports goods shop, before going on to work as a timber-loader on the railways. In 1957, after a spell of amateur dramatics with the Bangor Operatic Society, he turned professional with the Group Theatre, Belfast.
Career
In 1957, at the age of 27, Blakely made his stage debut as Dick McCardle in Master of the House. He also appeared in several Ulster Group Theatre productions, including Gerard McLarnon's Bonefire (1958) and Patricia O'Connor's A Sparrow Falls (1959). From 1957 to 1959 he was at the Royal Court Theatre, appearing in Cock-A-Doodle Dandy, Serjeant Musgrave's DanceSerjeant Musgrave's Dance
Serjeant Musgrave's Dance, An Un-historical Parable is a play by English playwright John Arden, written in 1959 and premiered at the Royal Court Theatre on October 22 of that year. In Arden's introductory note to the text, he describes it as "a realistic, but not a naturalistic" play...
and, to critical approval, The Taming of Murderers Rock. In 1961, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal 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...
at Stratford-upon-Avon
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 from 1963 to 1968 was with the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
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...
.
In 1969, Blakely's controversial role as Jesus Christ in Dennis Potter
Dennis Potter
Dennis Christopher George Potter was an English dramatist, best known for The Singing Detective. His widely acclaimed television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. He was particularly fond of using themes and images from popular culture.-Biography:Dennis Potter was born...
's Son of Man
Son of Man (play)
Son of Man is a television play by British playwright Dennis Potter which was directed by Gareth Davies. It premiered in The Wednesday Play slot on 19 April 1969 starring Irish actor Colin Blakely and was an alternative depiction of the last days of Jesus, leading to Potter being accused of...
gained him wide recognition. From that time onwards, he was a regular on British television, and in the same year played the leading role in a BBC adaptation of Trollope's The Way We Live Now
The Way We Live Now (1969 TV serial)
The Way We Live Now is an adaptation of the novel The Way We Live Now as a serial for television, first broadcast in 1969.-Partial cast:*Colin Blakely - Augustus Melmotte*Rachel Gurney - Lady Carbury*Sharon Gurney - Henrietta Carbury...
.
Among the many stage plays in which he appeared were The Recruiting Officer
The Recruiting Officer
The Recruiting Officer is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury to recruit soldiers...
, Saint Joan
Saint Joan (play)
Saint Joan is a play by George Bernard Shaw, based on the life and trial of Joan of Arc. Published not long after the canonization of Joan of Arc by the Roman Catholic Church, the play dramatises what is known of her life based on the substantial records of her trial. Shaw studied the transcripts...
, Royal Hunt of the Sun, Filumena, Volpone
Volpone
Volpone is a comedy by Ben Jonson first produced in 1606, drawing on elements of city comedy, black comedy and beast fable...
and Oedipus. He returned to the Royal Shakespeare in 1972 in Harold 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...
's Old Times and was subsequently in many 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...
plays.
Film roles included Maurice Braithwaite in This Sporting Life
This Sporting Life
This Sporting Life is a 1963 British film based on a novel of the same name by David Storey which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award. It tells the story of a rugby league footballer, Frank Machin, in Wakefield, a mining area of Yorkshire, whose romantic life is not as successful as his sporting...
(1963), Vahlin in The Long Ships
The Long Ships
The Long Ships or Red Orm is a best-selling Swedish novel written by Frans Gunnar Bengtsson . The novel is divided into two parts, published in 1941 and 1945, with two books each....
, Dr. Watson to Robert Stephens
Robert Stephens
Sir Robert Stephens was a leading English actor in the early years of England's Royal National Theatre.-Early life and career:...
's Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is a 1970 film directed and produced by Billy Wilder; he also shared writing credit with his longtime collaborator I. A. L. Diamond. It starred Robert Stephens as Sherlock Holmes and Colin Blakely as Dr. Watson...
(1970), and Stalin in Jack Gold
Jack Gold
Jack Gold is a British film and television director. He was part of the British Realist Tradition that followed Free Cinema.-Career:...
's Red Monarch
Red Monarch
Red Monarch is a 1983 British TV film starring Colin Blakely as Joseph Stalin. It is directed by Jack Gold and features David Suchet as Lavrentiy Beria and David Threlfall as Stalin's son Vasily....
(1983). In the 1975 British film, It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet
It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet (film)
It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet , was a sequel to the 1975 film All Creatures Great and Small....
, derived from the James Herriot
James Herriot
James Herriot was the pen name of James Alfred Wight, OBE, FRCVS also known as Alf Wight , an English veterinary surgeon and writer, who used his many years of experiences as a veterinarian to write a series of books of stories about animals and their owners...
books, Blakely played the eccentric Siegfried Farnon. He also appeared in A Man for All Seasons
A Man for All Seasons (1966 film)
A Man for All Seasons is a 1966 film based on Robert Bolt's play A Man for All Seasons about Sir Thomas More. It was released on December 12, 1966. Paul Scofield, who had played More in the West End stage premiere, also took the role in the film. It was directed by Fred Zinnemann, who had...
(1966), Young Winston
Young Winston
Young Winston is a 1972 British film based on the early years of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.The film was based on the book My Early Life: A Roving Commission by Winston Churchill. The first part of the film covers Churchill's unhappy schooldays, up to the death of his father...
(1972), The National Health
The National Health (film)
The National Health is a 1973 British comedy film directed by Jack Gold and starring Lynn Redgrave, Colin Blakely and Eleanor Bron. It is based on the play The National Health by Peter Nichols, in which the staff struggle to cope in an underfunded NHS hospital...
(1973), Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient Express (1974 film)
Murder on the Orient Express is a 1974 British mystery film directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot, and based on the1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.-Overview:...
(1974), The Pink Panther Strikes Again
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
The Pink Panther Strikes Again is the fifth film in the Pink Panther series and picks up where The Return of the Pink Panther leaves off...
(1976), Equus
Equus (film)
Equus is a 1977 British-American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Richard Burton. Peter Shaffer wrote the screenplay based on his play Equus...
(1977), The Dogs of War
The Dogs of War (film)
The Dogs of War is a 1980 war film based upon the novel The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth, directed by John Irvin. It stars Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger as part of a small, international unit of mercenary soldiers privately hired to depose President Kimba of a fictional "Republic of...
(1980), Nijinsky
Nijinsky (film)
Nijinsky is a 1980 American biographical film directed by Herbert Ross. Hugh Wheeler, whose screenplay centers on the later life and career of Vaslav Nijinsky, used the legendary dancer's personal diaries and his wife's 1933 book Life of Nijinsky as his primary source materials.-Synopsis:The film...
(1980) and Evil Under the Sun
Evil Under the Sun (1982 film)
Evil Under the Sun is a 1982 British mystery film based on the 1941 novel Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie.-Production:The screenplay was written by Anthony Shaffer and an uncredited Barry Sandler...
(1982).
A noted Shakespearean actor, Blakely appeared on television as Antony in Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony...
(1981), 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...
as part of 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; and as Kent in the 1983 Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
version of King Lear which starred Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
. Other television appearances included Loophole
Loophole
A loophole is a weakness that allows a system to be circumvented.Loophole may also refer to:*Arrowslit, a slit in a castle wall*Loophole , a short science fiction story by Arthur C...
(1981), Red Monarch
Red Monarch
Red Monarch is a 1983 British TV film starring Colin Blakely as Joseph Stalin. It is directed by Jack Gold and features David Suchet as Lavrentiy Beria and David Threlfall as Stalin's son Vasily....
(1983), The Beiderbecke Affair
The Beiderbecke Affair
The Beiderbecke Affair is a television series produced in the UK by ITV during 1985, written by the prolific Alan Plater, whose lengthy credits to British Television since the 1960s included the preceding 4 part mini series Get Lost! for ITV in 1981...
(1985), Operation Julie
Operation Julie
Operation Julie was a UK police investigation into the production of LSD by two drug rings during the mid-1970s. The operation, involving 11 police forces over a two-and-a-half year period, resulted in the break-up of one of the largest LSD manufacturing operations in the world...
(1985) and 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...
(1986).
Personal life
Blakely was married to actress Margaret Whiting for 26 years and had three sons, including twins. He died of leukemiaLeukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
at the peak of his career, aged 56.
Filmography
- Saturday Night and Sunday MorningSaturday Night and Sunday Morning (film)Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a 1960 British film. It is an adaptation of the 1958 novel of the same name by Alan Sillitoe. Sillitoe wrote the screenplay adaptation and the film was directed by Karel Reisz.-Synopsis:...
(1960) - The HellionsThe Hellions (film)The Hellions is a 1961 British adventure film directed by Ken Annakin starring Richard Todd, Anne Aubrey, Lionel Jeffries, Ronald Fraser and Colin Blakely that was set and filmed in South Africa. The film was about a lone law enforcement officer battling criminals in South Africa. The premise of...
(1961) - The Password Is CourageThe Password is CourageThe Password Is Courage is a 1962 World War II film, directed, produced and written by Andrew L. Stone, and starring Dirk Bogarde. The film is a lighthearted take on the true story of Sergeant-Major Charles Coward, and the screenplay is based on the biography of Coward written by John...
(1962) - This Sporting LifeThis Sporting LifeThis Sporting Life is a 1963 British film based on a novel of the same name by David Storey which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award. It tells the story of a rugby league footballer, Frank Machin, in Wakefield, a mining area of Yorkshire, whose romantic life is not as successful as his sporting...
(1963) - The InformersThe Informers (1963 film)The Informers is a 1963 British crime film produced and distributed in the UK by The Rank Organisation and distributed in the USA by Continental Film Distributors. It was directed by Ken Annakin, produced by William MacQuitty with the screenplay by Paul Durst and Alun Falconer from the novel...
(1963) - The Long Ships (1964)
- Never Put It in WritingNever Put It in WritingNever Put It in Writing is a 1964 British comedy film directed by Andrew L. Stone and starring Pat Boone, Milo O'Shea, Fidelma Murphy and Reginald Beckwith. While in Ireland an insurance executive learns that somebody else has been promoted over his head. He writes an abusive letter to his bosses,...
(1964) - The Counterfeit ConstableThe Counterfeit ConstableThe Counterfeit Constable is a 1964 French comedy film directed by Robert Dhéry andPierre Tchernia and starring Ronald Fraser, Diana Dors and Arthur Mullard. Its French title is Allez France!. A French rugby supporter in England for a match at Twickenham is knocked out and loses two teeth...
(1964) - The Spy with a Cold NoseThe Spy with a Cold NoseThe Spy with a Cold Nose is a 1966 British comedy film directed by Daniel Petrie.-Cast:* Laurence Harvey as Dr. Francis Trevelyan* Daliah Lavi as Princess Natasha Romanova* Lionel Jeffries as Stanley Farquhar* Eric Sykes as Wrigley...
(1966) - A Man for All SeasonsA Man for All Seasons (1966 film)A Man for All Seasons is a 1966 film based on Robert Bolt's play A Man for All Seasons about Sir Thomas More. It was released on December 12, 1966. Paul Scofield, who had played More in the West End stage premiere, also took the role in the film. It was directed by Fred Zinnemann, who had...
(1966) - Charlie BubblesCharlie BubblesCharlie Bubbles is a British film of 1967 starring Billie Whitelaw and Albert Finney, and also featuring a young Liza Minnelli. It was listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, but the festival was cancelled due to the events of May 1968 in France.The film made great play of its...
(1967) - The Day the Fish Came OutThe Day the Fish Came OutThe Day the Fish Came Out is a 1967 Greek- British comedy film directed and written by Michael Cacoyannis who also designed the film's costumes...
(1967) - The Vengeance of SheThe Vengeance of SheThe Vengeance of She is a 1968 British fantasy film directed by Cliff Owen and starring John Richardson, Olga Schoberová, Edward Judd and Colin Blakely. It bears little in common with the novel Ayesha: The Return of She by H. Rider Haggard...
(1968) - Decline and Fall... of a BirdwatcherDecline and Fall... of a BirdwatcherDecline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher is a 1968 British comedy film directed by John Krish and starring Robin Phillips, Geneviève Page and Donald Wolfit...
(1968) - Alfred the GreatAlfred the Great (film)Alfred the Great is a 1969 epic film which portrayed Alfred the Great's struggle to rid Wessex of the invading Danes, in the 870s AD. It starred David Hemmings in the title role.-Plot:...
(1969) - The Private Life of Sherlock HolmesThe Private Life of Sherlock HolmesThe Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is a 1970 film directed and produced by Billy Wilder; he also shared writing credit with his longtime collaborator I. A. L. Diamond. It starred Robert Stephens as Sherlock Holmes and Colin Blakely as Dr. Watson...
(1970) - Something to HideSomething to HideSomething to Hide , is a 1972 British thriller film, written and directed by Alastair Reid, based on a 1963 novel by Nicholas Monsarrat. The film stars Peter Finch, Shelley Winters, Colin Blakely, Linda Hayden and Graham Crowden...
(1972) - Young WinstonYoung WinstonYoung Winston is a 1972 British film based on the early years of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.The film was based on the book My Early Life: A Roving Commission by Winston Churchill. The first part of the film covers Churchill's unhappy schooldays, up to the death of his father...
(1972) - The National HealthThe National Health (film)The National Health is a 1973 British comedy film directed by Jack Gold and starring Lynn Redgrave, Colin Blakely and Eleanor Bron. It is based on the play The National Health by Peter Nichols, in which the staff struggle to cope in an underfunded NHS hospital...
(1973) - Murder on the Orient ExpressMurder on the Orient Express (1974 film)Murder on the Orient Express is a 1974 British mystery film directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot, and based on the1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.-Overview:...
(1974) - It Shouldn't Happen to a VetIt Shouldn't Happen to a Vet (film)It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet , was a sequel to the 1975 film All Creatures Great and Small....
(1975) - GalileoGalileo (film)Galileo is a 1975 film version of the Bertolt Brecht play The Life of Galileo. The film was produced and released as part of the American Film Theatre, which adapted theatrical works for a subscription-driven cinema series.-Plot:...
(1975) - The Pink Panther Strikes AgainThe Pink Panther Strikes AgainThe Pink Panther Strikes Again is the fifth film in the Pink Panther series and picks up where The Return of the Pink Panther leaves off...
(1976) - EquusEquus (film)Equus is a 1977 British-American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Richard Burton. Peter Shaffer wrote the screenplay based on his play Equus...
(1977) - The Big SleepThe Big Sleep (1978 film)The Big Sleep was the second film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Michael Winner and stars Robert Mitchum in his second feature film portrayal of the detective Philip Marlowe. The cast includes Sarah Miles, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, and...
(1978) - Meetings with Remarkable MenMeetings with Remarkable Men (film)Meetings with Remarkable Men is a 1979 British film directed by Peter Brook and based on the book of the same name. Shot on location in Afghanistan , it starred Terence Stamp, and Dragan Maksimovic as the adult G. I. Gurdjieff...
(1979) - NijinskyNijinsky (film)Nijinsky is a 1980 American biographical film directed by Herbert Ross. Hugh Wheeler, whose screenplay centers on the later life and career of Vaslav Nijinsky, used the legendary dancer's personal diaries and his wife's 1933 book Life of Nijinsky as his primary source materials.-Synopsis:The film...
(1980) - Little Lord FauntleroyLittle Lord Fauntleroy (1980 film)Little Lord Fauntleroy is a 1980 British family film directed by Jack Gold and starring Alec Guiness, Rick Schroder and Eric Porter. It is based on the children's novel of the same name.-Plot synopsis:...
(1980) - The Dogs of WarThe Dogs of War (film)The Dogs of War is a 1980 war film based upon the novel The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth, directed by John Irvin. It stars Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger as part of a small, international unit of mercenary soldiers privately hired to depose President Kimba of a fictional "Republic of...
(1980) - Nailed (1981)
- LoopholeLoophole (1981 film)Loophole is a 1981 British heist film, directed by John Quested, and starring Albert Finney, Martin Sheen, Susannah York, Jonathan Pryce, Colin Blakely and Tony Doyle. It was written by Jonathan Hales, based upon the novel by Robert Pollock...
(1981) - Evil Under the Sun (1982)
- Trail of the Pink PantherTrail of the Pink PantherTrail of the Pink Panther is a 1982 comedy film starring Peter Sellers. It was the seventh film in the Pink Panther series, and the last in which Peter Sellers starred as Inspector Jacques Clouseau, although Sellers died before production began and the film thus contains no original material...
(1982) - The World of Don Camillo (1983)