Age: 89
male
Brian Blessed OBE (born 9 October 1936) is an English actor. He is known for his distinctive bushy beard, booming voice, and exuberant personality and performances. He portrayed PC "Fancy" Smith in Z-Cars; Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of I, Claudius; King Richard IV in the first series of Blackadder; Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon; Bustopher Jones and Old Deuteronomy in the 1981 original London production of Cats at the New London Theatre; Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, in Henry V; Boss Nass in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace; and the voice of Clayton and the Tarzan yell in Disney's Tarzan. In 2016, Blessed was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the arts and charity. Blessed was born on 9 October 1936 at Montagu Hospital in Mexborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of William Blessed, a socialist coal miner at Hickleton Main Colliery (and himself the son of a coal miner) and cricketer for the Yorkshire second team, and Hilda (née Wall). He had a brother Alan, seven years younger, and the pair "went everywhere together" when they were growing up. Alan Blessed died from leukaemia aged 52; their mother died aged 87, and their father died aged 99. Blessed's great-great-grandfather, Jabez Blessed, was the father of 13 children and worked as a china and glass dealer in Brigg, Lincolnshire; many of Blessed's relatives hail from Brigg. Blessed went to Bolton on Dearne Secondary Modern School, and completed his national service in the RAF, in Bicester, before enrolling at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 1956.
Brian Blessed
Boss Nass
for Boss Nass in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Suggested by stevenkelly
In this reimagined Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, the Republic sends Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi to mediate a growing political crisis on Alderaan, where tensions between the Trade Federation, the Alderaanians, and the Gungans erupt into violence after a deadly bombing orchestrated from the shadows by Sheev Palpatine and his Sith apprentice, Darth Maul. Forced to rescue Queen Padmé Amidala and flee the occupied world, the heroes crash-land on Tatooine, where they encounter the gifted teenage slave Anakin Skywalker. Through a high-stakes podrace and a series of dangerous encounters, Qui-Gon becomes convinced that Anakin is destined for something greater, while Obi-Wan slowly develops a brotherly bond with the young pilot despite his reservations about training someone so old and emotionally attached. Back on Coruscant, the Jedi Council rejects Anakin and dismisses the return of the Sith, while Palpatine manipulates the Senate into a political crisis that elevates his own power. Refusing to stand aside, Qui-Gon leads a mission back to Alderaan, where Gungans and Alderaanians unite against the Trade Federation in a climactic four-front battle involving a space assault, a ground war, a palace siege, and an epic duel with Darth Maul. Qui-Gon sacrifices his life to save his companions, inspiring Obi-Wan to overcome his anger and defeat the Sith warrior. Although the heroes liberate Alderaan and forge a new alliance, Palpatine quietly emerges as the true victor by becoming Supreme Chancellor, while Obi-Wan honors his master's dying wish by taking Anakin as his apprentice—setting in motion the destiny that will shape the future of the galaxy.
