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Sir Michael Murray Hordern, CBE was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 60 years. He is best known for his Shakespearean roles, especially that of King Lear, which he played to much acclaim on stage in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1969 and London in 1970. He then successfully assumed the role on television five years later. He often appeared in film, rising from a bit part actor in the late 1930s to a member of the main cast; by the time of his death he had appeared in nearly 140 cinema roles. His later work was predominantly in television and radio.
Birth Name
Michael Murray Hordern
Born
Tuesday, 03 October 1911
Died
Tuesday, 02 May 1995
Actor Filmography
Title | Character | Year |
---|
MR James: Ghost Writer | Professor Parkins | 2013 |
Shakespeare Uncovered | King Lear / Prospero | 2012 |
Timeshift | Himself - Storyteller, Jackanory (archive footage) | 2002 |
The 68th Annual Academy Awards | Self - Memorial Tribute | 1996 |
Middlemarch | Peter Featherstone | 1994 |
Freddie as F.R.O.7. | King / King (voice) | 1992 |
Truckers | Abbot of the Stationeri | 1992 |
The Fool | Mr. Tatham | 1990 |
The Green Man | Gramps | 1990 |
Chillers | Colonel Eddie Phelps | 1990 |
Actor Filmography
Title | Character | Year |
---|
MR James: Ghost Writer | Professor Parkins | 2013 |
Shakespeare Uncovered | King Lear / Prospero | 2012 |
Timeshift | Himself - Storyteller, Jackanory (archive footage) | 2002 |
The 68th Annual Academy Awards | Self - Memorial Tribute | 1996 |
Middlemarch | Peter Featherstone | 1994 |
Freddie as F.R.O.7. | King / King (voice) | 1992 |
Truckers | Abbot of the Stationeri | 1992 |
The Fool | Mr. Tatham | 1990 |
The Green Man | Gramps | 1990 |
Chillers | Colonel Eddie Phelps | 1990 |
Dark Obsession | Lord Crewne | 1989 |
Danny the Champion of the World | Lord Claybury | 1989 |
The Dog It Was That Died | George | 1989 |
The Trouble with Spies | Jason Locke | 1987 |
The Secret Garden | Ben Weatherstaff | 1987 |
Daytime Live | Self | 1987 |
Comrades | Mr. Pitt | 1987 |
Scoop | Uncle Theodor / The Country - Uncle Theodore | 1987 |
The Secret World of Polly Flint | Narrator | 1987 |
Inspector Morse | Doctor Starkie | 1987 |
Suspicion | Lord McLaidlaw | 1987 |
The Little Match Girl | Himself - Introduction / Self - Introduction | 1986 |
The Story of English | Prospero / King Lear / Self | 1986 |
Labyrinth | The Wiseman (voice) / The Wiseman | 1986 |
Lady Jane | Dr. Feckenham | 1986 |
Lovejoy | Wilfred Shotley | 1986 |
Paddington's Birthday Bonanza | Narrator / Voices | 1986 |
Young Sherlock Holmes | Older Watson (voice) / Older Watson | 1985 |
Screen Two | Lord Langland / Godfrey Colston | 1985 |
Aspel & Company | Self | 1984 |
The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood | Psychoanalyst | 1984 |
The Wind in the Willows | Badger | 1984 |
All the World's a Stage | Extract from Venice Preserved | 1984 |
The Wind in the Willows | Badger | 1983 |
Yellowbeard | Dr. Gilpin | 1983 |
Clash of Loyalties | Narrator (English language version) | 1983 |
Cymbeline | Jupiter | 1982 |
Gandhi | Sir George Hodge | 1982 |
The Missionary | Narrator / Slatterthwaite / Slatterthewaite | 1982 |
Oliver Twist | Mr. Brownlow | 1982 |
Ivanhoe | Cedric | 1982 |
American Playhouse | Lord McLaidlaw | 1982 |
All's Well That Ends Well | Lafeu | 1981 |
The History Man | Professor Marvin / Prof Marvin | 1981 |
Shogun | Friar Domingo | 1980 |
Shogun | Friar Domingo | 1980 |
The Wildcats of St. Trinian's | Sir Charles Hackforth | 1980 |
Gauguin the Savage | Durand-Huel | 1980 |
The Tempest | Prospero | 1980 |
Tales of the Unexpected | Cyril Bixby | 1979 |
The Talking Parcel | Oswald, the Sea Serpent | 1978 |
Romeo & Juliet | Capulet | 1978 |
Watership Down | Frith / Frith (voice) | 1978 |
The Medusa Touch | Altropos - Fortune Teller / Atropos - Fortune Teller | 1978 |
The South Bank Show | Creation Performer / Self | 1978 |
A Christmas Carol | Ebenezer Scrooge / Scrooge | 1977 |
To See Such Fun | Self | 1977 |
Joseph Andrews | Parson Adams | 1977 |
The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella | King | 1976 |
Paddington Bear | Narrator / Voices | 1976 |
Knossos: The Lost Capital of Atlantis | Narrator | 1976 |
Lucky Lady | Capt. Rockwell | 1975 |
Barry Lyndon | Narrator (voice) / Narrator | 1975 |
Mr. Quilp | Edward Trent / Grandfather | 1975 |
Royal Flash | Headmaster | 1975 |
Arena | Self | 1975 |
Edward the King | W.E. Gladstone / W. E. Gladstone | 1975 |
Juggernaut | Mr. Baker | 1974 |
Fall of Eagles | Narrator | 1974 |
BBC2 Playhouse | Patient | 1974 |
The Three Musketeers | Treville | 1973 |
The MacKintosh Man | Brown / Mr. Brown | 1973 |
England Made Me | F. Minty | 1973 |
Theater of Blood | George Maxwell | 1973 |
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Mock Turtle | 1972 |
Demons of the Mind | Priest | 1972 |
The Pied Piper | Melius / Melius, Alchemist | 1972 |
The Possession of Joel Delaney | Justin | 1972 |
A Christmas Carol | Jacob Marley / Marley's Ghost (voice) | 1971 |
Film '72 | Self | 1971 |
Six Dates with Barker | Arch Funster | 1971 |
Up Pompeii | Ludicrus Sextus | 1971 |
Girl Stroke Boy | George Mason | 1971 |
Some Will, Some Won't | Denniston Russell / Deniston Russell | 1970 |
Futtocks End | The Butler | 1970 |
Anne of the Thousand Days | Thomas Boleyn | 1969 |
The Bed Sitting Room | Bules Martin | 1969 |
Where Eagles Dare | Adm. Rolland | 1968 |
Prudence and the Pill | Dr. Morley | 1968 |
I'll Never Forget What's'isname | Headmaster | 1967 |
How I Won the War | Grapple | 1967 |
The Jokers | Sir Matthew | 1967 |
The Taming of The Shrew | Baptista | 1967 |
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum | Senex | 1966 |
Khartoum | Lord Granville | 1966 |
Cast a Giant Shadow | British Ambassador | 1966 |
BBC Play of the Month | God / King Lear / Mr. Posket / Tartuffe / The Devil | 1965 |
Call My Bluff | Self | 1965 |
Court Martial | Col. Gordon Miller | 1965 |
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold | Ashe | 1965 |
Genghis Khan | Geen | 1965 |
The Yellow Rolls-Royce | Harnsworth | 1964 |
The Wednesday Play | Sir Jocelyn Symonds / General Kokoshkin, Chief of Police | 1964 |
Horizon | Self - Narrator | 1964 |
Detective | Detective Inspector Rason | 1964 |
Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow | Squire Thomas Banks | 1963 |
Espionage | Minister | 1963 |
The V.I.P.s | Airport Director | 1963 |
Cleopatra | Cicero | 1963 |
The Scales of Justice | Opening narration | 1962 |
El Cid | Don Diego | 1961 |
Macbeth | Banquo | 1960 |
Man in the Moon | Dr. Davidson | 1960 |
Sink the Bismarck! | Admiral Jack Tovey - Commander in Chief - HMS King George V / Admiral Sir John Tovey, Commander-in-Chief - 'King George' | 1960 |
Malaga | Inspector Farrell | 1960 |
Play of the Week | Morganhall / Tony Peters | 1959 |
Hell, Heaven or Hoboken | Governor of Gibraltar / Governor of Gibralter | 1958 |
Girls at Sea | Adm. Reginald Victor Hewitt / Admiral Reginald Victor Hewitt | 1958 |
The Spaniard's Curse | Judge Manton / Mr. Justice Manton | 1958 |
I Accuse! | Prosecutor at Second Dreyfus Trial / Prosecutor - 2nd Dreyfus Trial | 1958 |
Monitor | Preacher (The Sermon) | 1958 |
Windom's Way | Patterson | 1957 |
The DuPont Show of the Month | Mr. Brownlow | 1957 |
No Time for Tears | The Surgeon / Surgeon | 1957 |
The Spanish Gardener | Harrington Brande | 1956 |
Playhouse 90 | Griffith | 1956 |
Armchair Theatre | Det. Supt. Coates | 1956 |
The Baby and the Battleship | Capt. Hugh | 1956 |
Alexander the Great | Demosthenes | 1956 |
The Man Who Never Was | Gen. Coburn / Gen. Cockburn | 1956 |
Pacific Destiny | Resident Commissioner | 1956 |
Storm Over the Nile | General Faversham / Gen. Faversham | 1955 |
ITV Play of the Week | Absolon / Andrew Crocker-Harris / George Kettle / Jim Cherry / Lloyd Hartley / Lord Minto / Pastor Iorweth / Ratcliff / Sir Norman Tullis / Sir Ralph Bloomfield Bonington | 1955 |
ITV Television Playhouse | Priam Farll / Man / Comte | 1955 |
Marriage a la Mode | The Judge / The Law - The Judge | 1955 |
The Warriors | King Edward | 1955 |
The Night My Number Came Up | Lindsay | 1955 |
The Magical World of Disney | Squire Banks / Scathelock / Squire Thomas Banks | 1954 |
Svengali | Billy's Uncle | 1954 |
The Beachcomber | The Headman | 1954 |
Forbidden Cargo | Director of Customs | 1954 |
You Know What Sailors Are | Captain Hamilton | 1954 |
The Heart of the Matter | Commissioner | 1953 |
Personal Affair | Headmaster Griffith | 1953 |
Wicked Wife | Insp. Ayling / Inspector Ayling | 1953 |
Both Sides of the Law | Insp. Heron / Det. Insp. Heron | 1953 |
The Hour of 13 | Sir Herbert Frensham | 1952 |
The Promoter | Bank Manager | 1952 |
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men | Scathelock | 1952 |
The Magic Box | Official Receiver | 1952 |
A Christmas Carol | Jacob Marley | 1951 |
Tom Brown's Schooldays | Wilkes | 1951 |
Flesh and Blood | Webster | 1951 |
Highly Dangerous | Owens - Lab Director / Lab Director Owens | 1950 |
Trio | Vicar (segment "The Verger") / Vicar | 1950 |
The Astonished Heart | Ernest | 1950 |
Passport to Pimlico | Bashford | 1949 |
Train of Events | First Plain Clothes Man | 1949 |
Lost Daughter | Johnson | 1949 |
Third Time Lucky | Doctor | 1949 |
The Hideout | Dr. Mennell | 1948 |
Good-Time Girl | Seddon | 1948 |
Mine Own Executioner | Co-Counsel at Felix's Hearing / Co-Counsel at Inquest | 1947 |
Unconquered | Court Bailiff | 1947 |
Secret Flight | Lt. Cmdr. Lowther | 1946 |
A Girl in a Million | Divorce Counsel | 1946 |
The Years Between | Member Of Parliament | 1946 |
The Girl in the News | Assistant Prosecuting Counsel - Second Trial / Assistant Prosecuting Counsel (Uncredited) | 1940 |
Band Waggon | Minor Role | 1940 |
A Girl Must Live | 1939 |