Michael Praed

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Michael Praed , actually Michael Prince (born April 1, 1960 in Berkeley , Great Britain ) is a British actor and singer .

Life

When Michael was two years old, the family moved to Abadan , Iran , for professional reasons , where he lived until he was eight.

After graduating from school, Michael Praed went to the well-known Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London in 1978 , where he put his acting and musical skills to the test. In his sophomore year he composed, among other things, the music for the student performance Mac and Beth . His lecturers advised him to give up acting in favor of music, especially opera ; advice that Praed did not take. He chose his stage name Praed from the telephone book after he had discovered that the British actors union Equity already had a Michael Prince in their ranks. Praedis a Cornish word for meadow .

The versatile artist appeared in various musicals, plays and small TV roles when he was discovered by Richard Carpenter and Paul Knight for the role of Robin Hood (Robin of Sherwood) due to his involvement in The Pirates of Penzance . The cult series was broadcast in 55 countries and made Michael Praed internationally known.

Michael Praed dropped out of the series for a role on Broadway . In New York he took on the role of D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers . Despite well-known and accomplished actors, the musical flopped and was discontinued after only nine performances.

The producer Aaron Spelling then engaged Michael Praed in the role of Prince Michael of Moldavia for his glamor soap Der Denver-Clan ( Dynasty ), in which Praed played Catherine Oxenberg's admirer and later TV husband . In his sophomore year he was written off the series.

In his home country Great Britain, Michael Praed is known for numerous appearances in theater, television and musicals. Since 2003 he has worked regularly as a spokesperson for the BBC's Timewatch program, which deals with historical aspects. He also produced a private album called For my Friends and wrote a musical called Dreamland .

Praed has two children from his marriage to the dancer Karen Landau.

Filmography

Movie

  • Royd Erris in an adaptation of George RR Martins Nightflyers (1987)
  • Max Schrek in Son of Darkness: To Die For 2 (1991)
  • Andrew in Writer's Block with Morgan Fairchild (1991)
  • Gary in Staggered with Martin Clunes (1994)
  • The Hitman in Darkness Falls with Ray Winstone (1999)
  • The Queen in Nine Dead Gay Guys (2002)
  • He himself in the documentary The King's Head: A Maverick in London (2006)

watch TV

  • Robin von Loxley in Robin Hood (English Robin of Sherwood) (1983-1984)
  • Prince Michael of Moldavia in The Denver Clan (1985)
  • Jake Lovell in the miniseries Riders (1993)
  • Marty James in Crown Prosecutor (1995)
  • Phileas Fogg in The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (TV series, 1999)
  • Nelson Morris in Hindenburg: The Untold Story (The Secret of Hindenburg) (2007)
  • Frank Clayton in Emmerdale ( 2016- )
  • Numerous smaller TV appearances (1982-2008)

stage

  • Frederick in the Joseph Papp production of the musical The Pirates of Penzance, Theater Royal Drury Lane - London (1982–1983)
  • D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers, Broadway Theater, New York City (1985)
  • Billy Bigelow in a Rodgers and Hammerstein Musical Carousel, Tivoli Theater, Dublin (1991)
  • Alex in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Musical Aspects of Love, Prince of Wales Theater, London (1991–1992)
  • Mick in Harold Pinters The Caretaker, Nottingham Playhouse , Nottingham (1993)
  • Evan Davies in Daphne du Maurier's September Tide with Susannah York, Comedy Theater, London (1994)
  • Otto in Noël Cowards Design for Living with Rachel Weisz, Gielgud Theater , London (1995)
  • Tony / Stephen in Barry Manilow's Copacabana: The Musical; Tour of the UK (1996–1997)
  • Jack Locke in Dangerous to Know, UK Tour (1998)
  • Michael Wiley in Susan Stroman's Musical Contact with Leigh Zimmerman, The Queen's Theater, London (2002–2003)
  • Bernard Kersal in Somerset Maughams The Constant Wife, UK Tour (2003)
  • Theodore Hoffman in Carl Djerassis Three on a Couch with Leigh Zimmerman, The King's Head Theater, London (2004)
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald in the musical Beautiful and Damned, Lyric Theater, London (2004)
  • Paul Sheldon in Misery with Susan Penhaligon, The King's Head Theater, London (2006)
  • Tom Madison in Brian Stewart's Killing Castro, UK Tour (2006)
  • Neil in Derek Listers Blue on Blue, Haymarket Theater - Basingstoke (2006)
  • Milo Tindle in Anthony Schaffers Sleuth (Murder for Two or Murder with Small Flaws) with Simon MacCorkindale , UK tour (2008)
  • Sir Robert Chiltern in Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband with Kate O'Mara , Carol Royle , Robert Duncan , Fenella Fielding , and Tony Britton , UK Tour (2008)
  • Randall Kelly in James Farewell's The Murder Game with Josefina Gabrielle ; The King's Head Theater - London (2009)
  • Captain von Trapp in Sound of Music with Connie Fischer and Margaret Preece - Tour of GB (July 2009 - August 2011)
  • Dexter Haven in High Society with Sophie Bould , Daniel Boys and Alex Young - Tour of Great Britain and Ireland (January - August 2013)
  • John Greenwood in The Wite Carnation et al. a. with Benjamin Whitrow , Robert Benfield and Tony Dale - Jermyn Street Theater, London (February 2014)
  • Charles Stanton at JB Priestley's Dangerous Corner with Colin Buchanan , Kim Thomson , Matt Milne , Lauren Drummond , Rosie Armstrong and Finty Williams , touring the UK (September - November 2014)
  • Lawrence in David Yazbek's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Noel Sullivan , Charley Stenson , Mark Benton , and Gary Wilmot , touring the UK (May 2015-March 2016)
  • George Herbert in The War Of The Worlds, musical with Madalena Alberto , Heidi Range , David Essex , Jimmy Nail and Daniel Bedingfield at the Dominion Theater (2016).

Audio

  • Narrator in Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1989, reissued 1994)
  • Professor Slyde in the Big-Finish audio drama Doctor Who: The Dark Flame (2003)
  • Narrator in Caroline Lawrence's The Roman Mysteries audio books (2004–2005)
  • Narrator in Stephen Clarke's A Year In The Merde (2005)
  • Narrator in Paul Stewart's Beyond the Deepwoods (2005)
  • Narrator in the BBC mini documentary television series The Wild West (2007)
  • Soris on B7 Media / SciFi Channel UK Podcast of Blake's 7 Adventures Rebel (2007)
  • Co-narrator on the Oneword radio series Mills & Boon at the Weekend (2006–2008)
  • Regular narrator on the BBC series Timewatch (2003-2008)

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Praed, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prince, Michael (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor and singer
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Berkeley , UK