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Countless
television roles include; ‘Augustus Caesar’ in I CLAUDIUS for which he
received the New York Critics Award; ‘PC Fancy Smith’ in Z CARS;
‘Porthos’ in THE THREE MUSKETEERS; ‘Pepone’ in THE LITTLE WORLD OF DON
CAMILLO; ‘Spiro’ in MY FAMILY AND OTHER ANIMALS; the title role in THE
JOY OF BACH, ‘Richard IV’ in BLACK ADDER; and the larger than life
‘Squire Western’ in the BBC’s classic drama series TOM JONES. More
recently the ‘Laughing Cavalier’ in ADAM’S FAMILY TREE (YTV), ‘Mr
Scottley’ in THE GREATEST STORE IN THE WORLD, ‘Sir Morris’ in the award
winning animated series THE BIG KNIGHTS (BBC) and ’Max’ in WINTER
SOLSTICE ( BBC).
On Film, Brian
played ‘Talthybius’ in TROJAN WOMEN in which he was thrilled to co-star
with Katherine Hepburn, Irene Papas and Vanessa Redgrave. He played
‘Vultan’ in the ever popular FLASH GORDON; ‘Pedro’ in MAN OF LA MANCHA;
‘Long John Silver’ in RETURN TO TREASURE ISLAND; ‘General Zukov’ in WAR
AND REMEMBRANCE and ‘Lord Locksley’ in ROBIN HOOD PRINCE OF THIEVES with
Kevin Costner. In Kenneth Branagh’s HENRY V he played ‘Exeter’, in MUCH
ADO ABOUT NOTHING he played ‘Antonio’ and in hamlet he played ‘Hamlet’s
Father and the Ghost’. He played ‘Boss Nass’ in George Lucas’ STAR WARS,
THE PHANTOM MENACE, ‘Pendragon’ in MERLIN - THE LEGEND BEGINS, ‘Clayton’
in Walt Disney’s
TARZAN and
‘Leonidas’ in Oliver Stones’ ALEXANDER. More recently he played
‘Cardinal Piccolomini’ in THE CONCLAVE, ‘Lord Francisco del Ruiz’ in DAY
OF WRATH, ‘Duke Frederick/Duke Senior’ in Kenneth Branagh’s version of
AS YOU LIKE IT and the role of ‘Trevor Pilkington’ in BACK IN BUSINESS.
Brian has
worked with some of this country’s great orchestras. At the Royal
Festival Hall he appeared with The London Symphony Orchestra and massed
choirs performing Arthur Bliss’ MORNING HEROES. He followed this with
the inevitable PETER AND THE WOLF with the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra in
Birmingham, Prokofiev’s IVAN THE TERRIBLE with the Royal National
Scottish Orchestra in Glasgow and he has recorded A YOUNG PERSONS GUIDE
TO THE ORCHESTRA. He ‘Narrated’ KING OLAF with The Danesborough Chorus
and TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED/ LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD with The BBC Concert
Orchestra.
Brian has
written five books; THE TURQUOISE MOUNTAIN, THE DYNAMITE KID, NOTHING’S
IMPOSSIBLE, BLESSED EVEREST, an inspiring abbreviated history of
Everest, which includes many magnificent photographs and QUEST to the
lost world. Brian loves writing and would write a great deal more if he
could find the time!
Since the late
sixties Brian has had a great love of mountaineering and a great desire
to stand on ‘the top of the world’. He has been on three expeditions to
Mount Everest. The first to make the film GALAHAD OF EVEREST, a tribute
to George Leigh Mallory. In 1993 he returned to Everest, this time to
climb the Southern side where he reached a height of 28,000 feet – the
highest a man of his age has achieved without oxygen. He returned to the
Northern side in 1996 when the climb was filmed by a Channel 4
Television team as part of the ENCOUNTERS series. Brian has also
completed a trek to the North Pole, an expedition to The Lost World in
Venezuela, a climb to the summit of Mount Ararat in Turkey at 17,000
feet and a climb to the summit of Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia.
Most recently
Brian played “The Narrator” in a UK Tour of the Prokofiev’s PETER & THE
WOLF, made a Guest Appearance as ‘The Host’ on HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU,
filmed ‘THE UNDERDOG SHOW for Mentorn and he fronted the 35 episodes of
UNBEATABLE BANUKE for Challenge TV. He also played ‘Captain Goitre’ IN
THE CGI SKETCH SHOW for the BBC, and ‘Sir David Fawcett’ in THE ROYAL
for ITV.
Brian lives in
Surrey with his wife, the actress Hildegard Neil. They share their home
with numerous dogs, ponies, cats, ducks and fish !! They have one
daughter, Rosalind, who is also an actress. |
