Michael Bryant
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- April 5, 1928
- Died
- April 25, 2002 (aged 74)
- Birthplace
- London, England, UK
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Michael Dennis Bryant (5 April 1928 – 25 April 2002) was a British stage and television actor. Bryant attended Battersea Grammar School and after service in the Merchant Navy and Army, he attended drama school and appeared in many productions on the London stage. He made his film debut in 1955. His greatest role was Mathieu in BBC2's 1970 adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's Roads to Freedom trilogy. His guest star appearance as Wing Commander Marsh, who feigns insanity in the 'Tweedledum' episode of the BBC drama series, Colditz (1972), is still widely remembered. Bryant was chosen by Orson Welles to play the lead role in The Deep, Welles's adaptation of the Charles Williams novel Dead Calm. The production frequently ran out of money, and following the death of actor Laurence Harvey in 1973, Welles stopped production and announced the movie - which had been completed except for one special effects shot of a ship exploding - would not be released. (The novel was finally adapted to film in 1989.) In 1969 Bryant took his love of the stage on a strange trip into the realm of cult films, playing a clever male prostitute who outwits a delusional family of killers in the dark comedy Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly, an adaptation of a play by Maisie Mosco. Due to poor marketing and a lack of faith in the film by the distributor, the film quickly sank into obscurity even before it could develop a cult following. One of Bryant's most memorable performances was in the classic BBC television play The Stone Tape (1972), in which he plays the leader of a team of scientists who investigate ghost sightings in a brooding gothic mansion. Bryant also had a supporting role as a sadistic psychiatrist in the cult classic black comedy The Ruling Class, with Peter O'Toole and Alastair Sim. He also appeared in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982) as a British diplomat. Having played Lenin in the film Nicholas and Alexandria, Bryant would later reprise the role in Robert Bolt's play State of Revolution (1977). He had previously co-starred in Bolt's unsuccessful Gentle Jack. The 1977 production of a Bolt play though was significant for featuring the first role he performed at the National Theatre where he was a constant presence for a quarter of a century. Bryant, described by Michael Billington as "rock-solid company man", had earlier performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1964, including the premiere production of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming (1965), in which he played Teddy, the returning academic. In 1980, Michael Bryant won the London Drama Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best Actor, and his other theatrical performances were equally well thought of. Bryant won Laurence Olivier Awards in 1988 and 1990 and was nominated twice more. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Bryant (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Known For
Filmography
Mrs. Weekley's Lover
Movie · as Ernest Weekley
The Deep
Movie · as John Ingram
The Miracle Maker
Movie · as God/ The Doctor (voice)
Wives and Daughters
TV · as Dr Nichols · 1 ep
King Lear
Movie · as Fool
Hamlet
Movie · as Priest
Orson Welles: The One-Man Band
Movie · as Self (segment "The deep") (archive footage)
The Absence of War
Movie · as Bryden Thomas
Anna Lee: Headcase
Movie · as Commander Martin Brierly
Heading Home
Movie · as Derek Green
Performance
TV · as Fool · 1 ep
Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'
Movie · as Advocate
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
TV · as Advocate · 1 ep
A Crack in the Ice
Movie · as Gen. Kokoshkin
Screen Two
TV · as Bryden Thomas · 1 ep
Summer Season
TV · as General Kokoshkin · 1 ep
Sakharov
Movie · as Syshchikov
Reilly: Ace of Spies
TV · as Narrator (voice) · 12 eps
Shakespeare Lives!
TV · 12 eps
Gandhi
Movie · as Principal Secretary
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Movie · as Doctor Caius
My Homeland
Movie · as Reader
The Daedalus Equations
Movie · as Sam McInstrey
Late Call
TV · as Howard Calvert · 4 eps
Private Affairs
TV · as Ernest Weekley · 1 ep
Three Comedies of Marriage
TV · as Nigel · 1 ep
The Treasure of Abbot Thomas
Movie · as The Rev. Justin Somerton
If There Weren't Any Blacks You'd Have to Invent Them
Movie
Is It Something I Said?
Movie · as Arthur
Mr. Axelford's Angel
Movie · as Mr Axelford
Caravan to Vaccarès
Movie · as Zuger
Fall of Eagles
TV · as Ratchkowsky · 1 ep
Playhouse
TV · as Sam McInstrey · 1 ep
Affairs of the Heart
TV · as Herbert Dodd · 1 ep
The Professional
Movie · as Duckworth
The Ruffian on the Stair
Movie · as Mike
Centre Play
TV · as Arthur · 1 ep
Away from It All
TV · as Chris · 1 ep
The Ruling Class
Movie · as Dr. Herder
The Stone Tape
Movie · as Peter Brock
The Greeks and Their Gifts
Movie · as Stuart Lindsay
The Duchess of Malfi
Movie · as Bosola
Colditz
TV · as W / Cdr George Marsh · 1 ep
Nicholas and Alexandra
Movie · as Lenin
The Switch
Movie · as Henry Martin
A Ghost Story for Christmas
TV · as The Rev. Justin Somerton · 1 ep
Stage 2
TV · as Daniel de Bosola · 1 ep
Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny & Girly
Movie · as New Friend
The Three Sisters
Movie · as Vershinin
The Roads to Freedom
TV · as Mathieu Delarue · 13 eps
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Movie · as Max Staefel
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
TV · as Anthony Berridge, Mike · 1 ep
W. Somerset Maugham
TV · as Mr. Davidson · 1 ep
Mille Miglia
Movie · as Stirling Moss
The Explorer
Movie · as Erik Petterson
The Deadly Affair
Movie · as Gaveston (in Edward II)
Torture Garden
Movie · as Colin Williams (segment 1 "Enoch")
Easier in the Dark
Movie · as The Man
The Big M
TV · as Johnny Treherne · 6 eps
ITV Playhouse
TV · as Erik Petterson, Gen. Clarence Fitzallan, Stuart Lindsay, Duckworth, Boris J. Axelford, John Hardy · 1 ep
Talking to a Stranger
TV · 4 eps
BBC Play of the Month
TV · as Vershinin · 1 ep
Theatre 625
TV · as Gerard, Alan Stevens, Stirling Moss · 3 eps
The Wednesday Play
TV · as Mr. Burch · 1 ep
Thursday Theatre
TV · as Sir Henry Harcourt-Reilly · 1 ep
The Mind Benders
Movie · as Dr. Danny Tate
Life for Ruth
Movie · as John's Counsel
A Night to Remember
Movie · as Sixth Officer James Moody
Harbor Command
TV · 1 ep
Uranium Boom
Movie · as Peterson
Telephone Time
TV · 1 ep
Jesus of Nazareth
TV · as John bar Zebedee · 1 ep
Passage Home
Movie · as Stebbings
The Millionaire
TV · as McGinnis · 1 ep
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
TV · 1 ep
Buffalo Bill Jr.
TV · 2 eps
ITV Play of the Week
TV · as Walter Luke · 1 ep
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV · as Britannus · 1 ep
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
TV · 1 ep