Michael Hordern (1911–1995)

Michael Hordern was born in Berkhamsted, England, the son of an officer in the Royal Indian Marines and his wife who had married in Burma. He attended Brighton College and did some amateur acting before making his professional stage debut in London as Lodovico in Othello in 1937. During World War II, he served in the Royal Navy, rising to the rank of lieutenant-commander. Returning to acting after the war, he became known as one of Britain's most original and compelling actors. Although he had some big heroic roles -- as King Lear, for example -- it was in character parts that he was most memorable. His long, lined, face with its mournful countenance and thoughtful gaze could go from dramatic to comic, gloomy to sunny, and he could fill the screen or a theater with his presence. He preferred stage work but appeared in 80 or so films, including Scrooge (1951), The Spanish Gardener (1956), The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), The Slipper and the Rose (1976) and The Missionary (1982). He was the masterful narrator of Barry Lyndon (1975). He published his autobiography, A World Elsewhere, in 1993.