Being one myself, I know a big ol’ ham when I see one. And British actor Brian Blessed, who celebrates his 71st birthday today, may very well be the King of All Hams.
He’s a delightfully big, boisterous presence whenever and wherever he appears — in dramas like I, CLAUDIUS, Kenneth Branagh’s Shakespeare films, or in comedies like FLASH GORDON (picture above) or — one of my favorite TV series ever — Rowan Atkinson’s BLACKADDER.
Mr. Blessed is larger than life off camera, too. He’s a real-life, bona fide adventurer. From his BBC page:
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As an adventurer and explorer himself, he has climbed many mountains including Mount Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua in the Andes. He has made three attempts to reach the summit of Mount Everest, becoming - at the age of 65 - the oldest man to reach the dizzy altitude of 28,000ft without oxygen. He also holds the record for being the oldest man to trek (on foot) to the magnetic North Pole and has made an expedition deep into the jungle interior of Venezuela to the plateau of Mount Roraima - a boyhood dream instilled in him by a BBC Radio production of Sir Arthur Conan Dolye’s The Lost World, which is set on that plateau.
Best of all, the man has a sense of humor, most notably about himself. He might even be barking mad. But Lord, is he entertaining. This is from a British show where a woman had just confessed that she didn’t care for Mr. Blessed’s big, hammy ways very much:
In a world of small, mumbly actors who try to shrink from their duties, I love hams like Mr. Blessed all the more.
Happy birthday, Brian Blessed. I bow to your ultra-hamminess, sir. Your hamminess is so hammy I believe it has actually achieved bacon status.
I can think of no higher words of praise than that.
32 responses so far ↓
1 Hugh on Oct 9, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Thank you. That was the image I was expecting to see.
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2 Charlie W on Oct 9, 2008 at 2:09 pm
now that’s a ham we can all enjoy!
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3 MST3Kelly on Oct 9, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I adore Brian Blessed. he will forever be the well-meaning, doomed Augustus, eating the poisoned fig. at once regal and despotic, he brought passion and dignity to this character.
he also portrayed the voice of Boss Nass in the Phantom Menace.
but he’ll always be Augustus to me.
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Reply from NavarezElectro on October 10, 2008:
I recently viewed I, Claudius. In the scene of Augustus’ death at the hand of Livia, Brian Blessed manages not to blink throughout his slow, long close-up while Livia sadly explains why she had to murder him. It’s a VERY long take, and he does not blink at all through it. I tried matching his non-blinking time and failed. Impressive.
4 MST3Kelly on Oct 9, 2008 at 2:16 pm
and also a Happy Birthday to you, John Lennon. thank you for years of wonderful music.
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5 Tv Miller on Oct 9, 2008 at 2:21 pm
And a Happy Birthday to drunken ax wielding dwarfs everywhere!
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Reply from Bill Corbett on October 9, 2008:
Might you be thinking of John Rhys Davies, another stocky, bearded Brit actor of roughly the same age who was also in I, CLAUDIUS? And who is no slouch in the ham department himself?
Hmmm, ham department…. (drool)
Reply from Anthony on October 9, 2008:
Nothing wrong with John Rhys-Davies. He’s delightful Welsh ham. But, he was born in May, and is not Brian Blessed…that we know of.
Reply from Anthony on October 9, 2008:
And John IS Welsh, not Scottish, as many people seem to think. His accent is a weird amalgam of a few voices due to him living between Wales and Africa in his upbringing, and apparently having lived on the Isle of Mann (where he adopted bits of Irish and Manx syntax, which some mistake for Scottish).
Know him vaguely through a cousin who’s worked with him for a few things. Just, wish to point out, he’s not bleeding Scottish.
6 The Professor on Oct 9, 2008 at 2:21 pm
I loved him in Blackadder. The casting on that was brilliant. Just seeing Brian & Rowan together on screen as father and son was hysterical.
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7 RemmieBarrow on Oct 9, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Dear Mr. Blessed, Have a boatload of bacon on this “blessed” of birthdays.
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8 Invisible Cracker Mom on Oct 9, 2008 at 3:16 pm
And don’t forget his role as “Mentor” in the Space: 1999 episode “The Metamorph.”
This installment of Space: 1999 was riffed on by a certain beloved cow-town puppet show in their episode entitled “Cosmic Princess.”
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9 Tim on Oct 9, 2008 at 3:31 pm
You know what his birthday needs? More horses!
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10 Heather on Oct 9, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Yaaaay! I love Brian Blessed. And [u]I, Claudius[/u]. And [u]Blackadder[/u]. And I even enjoy those silly Shakespeare adaptations that Branagh does so he can ham it up himself. Happy Birthday, you fine old Caesar Augustus/King Richard IV/Hamlet’s Dad/Signor Antonio/Lord Locksley, you!
Holy hell, I didn’t know this: he was the voice of Boss Nass, the Gungan leader in The Phantom Menace who, in his infinite wisdom, banished JarJar and threatened to kill him if he ever came back. And after seeing that clip I think he actually played himself.
In a somewhat related note, Paul Sabourin (of Paul and Storm fame) appeared on the Ken P. D. Snyde-Cast with Ken Plume not too long ago, and I nearly fell out of my chair laughing at their Brian Blessed impressions.
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11 Schwa Love on Oct 9, 2008 at 6:31 pm
No avian human fills out a diaper quite like Brian Blessed. Happy birthday to him.
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12 Brian O. on Oct 9, 2008 at 9:49 pm
I’M USING BRIAN BLESSED’S INDOOR VOICE TO WISH HIM A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
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13 Anthony on Oct 9, 2008 at 10:02 pm
I enjoy when he acts along with Branagh. It’s hamtacular.
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14 seanf on Oct 10, 2008 at 4:48 am
DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
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15 Montagthemagician on Oct 10, 2008 at 4:52 am
Because I am reading this on 10/10 instead of 10/9 I want to say Happy Birthday to the one and only Ed Wood Jr.
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16 Jeff on Oct 10, 2008 at 5:06 am
I have to admit, for a long time, the only place I knew Brian Blessed from was this taped MacGyver movie I had as a kid. Then I saw Blackadder a couple years back and thought “hey, isn’t that the loud guy that was helping MacGyver find Atlantis?”
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17 blablover5 on Oct 10, 2008 at 5:58 am
I loved him as King Richard IV in BlackAdder. It was so easy to see him as one of those barking mad English kings (and reminds me of the many times Peter O’Toole played Henry II).
I could so easily see him as one of thoe college professors you’re always worried are going to get so exctied they impale themselves on the whiteboard somehow.
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18 Ben on Oct 10, 2008 at 8:19 am
I’d like to have seen Blessed in a “ham off” against the late Charleton Heston.
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Reply from Ben on October 10, 2008:
oops I meant “Charlton Heston”.
19 Nanobots on Oct 10, 2008 at 9:25 am
So, the life of Brian. I bet you could make a movie out of it…
Speaking of movies, I happened to be watching “Reign of Fire last night. The time the front-page of a newspaper is shown, the date on that paper is “Oct 9, 2008″.
Sorry for reminding everyone about the existence of “Reign of Fire. Let’s go back to the life of Brian!
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20 mcelebs on Oct 10, 2008 at 10:24 am
just would like to say happy b-day a day late…really enjoyed your work in the movie flash gordon as one of the winged monkeys…..
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21 CompassRosie on Oct 10, 2008 at 11:37 am
Sweet Brian Blessed. Thanks for posting the snooker video. “I COULD HAVE FARTED THAT IN!”
When I read anything about Augustus it is impossible not to see him as B.B.
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22 Melman on Oct 10, 2008 at 12:32 pm
My favourite Brian Blessed quote is “If the audeince aren’t laughing, either it means the joke isn’t very funny, or YOU’RE NOT SHOUTING LOUD ENOUGH.”
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23 Olcas on Oct 10, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Heh, Ah, Room 101…
His episode of Have I Got News For You was one of the best ever! Happy Belated Birthday BRAIN BLESSED!
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24 Eeliza on Oct 10, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Thank you, Bill, for honoring one of mine and my husband’s favorite actors. We both occasionally wander through the house yelling “FRESH HORSES!!!!” for no apparent reason.
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25 Josh P on Oct 12, 2008 at 8:03 pm
I’m 3 days late, so I will wish Mr. Blessed a belated Happy Birthday!
And, as a huge fan of the British Whose Line Is It Anyway?, I’d like to thank Bill for a clip that also includes Paul Merton (also featured, coincidentally enough, in Have I Got News For You).
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26 attaturk on Oct 14, 2008 at 2:23 am
Why oh why, has no one ever cast BLESSED and SHATNER together in the ultimate buddy cop film?
THE WORLD DEMANDS IT!
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27 John H. on Oct 21, 2008 at 2:59 pm
We’ve been on a Blackadder kick here lately, and Blessed is awesome in it. They don’t make them like him anymore, dammit.
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