Richard Briers

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Richard Briers (2009)

Richard David Briers , CBE (born January 14, 1934 in Raynes Park , Surrey , † February 17, 2013 in London ) was a British actor .

Life

Richard Briers first attended Rokeby Prep School in Kingston-upon-Thames , Surrey, but left without a degree at the age of 16. After various professional activities, he committed himself to the Royal Air Force for two years .

In 1956 he married his fellow actress Ann Davies, whom he had met while on a fellowship with the Liverpool Repertory Company. Their daughter Lucy Briers also works as an actress. Richard Briers was a second cousin of British comedian Terry-Thomas .

theatre

In his early 20s, Briers met actor Brian Murphy , who introduced him to the acting group at Borough Road Polytechnic in London. After leaving the Royal Air Force, Briers studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1954 to 1956 . His classmates included Peter O'Toole and Albert Finney . As an actor, Briers was awarded the RADA Silver Medal and also won a scholarship from the Liverpool Repertory Company. His other stage positions included the Belgrade Theater in Coventry and the Duke of York's Theater in London's renowned West End , where he made his debut in 1959 in a production of Lionel Hales Gilt And Gingerbread .

Throughout his life he kept coming back to the stage. In the 1980s he played numerous classical stage roles in Shakespeare for Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theater Company, such as “Malvolio” in What You Want and King Lear, and Chekhov's uncle Vanya .

Television and film

In 1961 Briers took on his first major role in a television production. In addition to Prunella Scales , he played the lead role in the series Marriage Lines for six years . From 1975 to 1978 played the title role "Tom Good" in the sitcom The Good Life , which the writing duo John Esmonde and Bob Larbey had developed especially for him. This series became one of his greatest successes. The last episode was recorded in the presence of Elizabeth II . He played other major series roles in Ever Decreasing Circles and Monarch of the Glen . Briers has guest roles on series such as Doctor Who , Torchwood , Mr. Bean , Inspector Morse and Inspector Barnaby .

In 1958, he made his feature film debut alongside Michael Hordern in the comedy Girls at Sea . In the following years he mostly played smaller parts in productions such as 4:50 p.m. from Paddington , the Terry Thomas comedy Verpfiffen , Doktor in Nöten and the Raquel Welch adventure film Feuerdrache . In later years he was seen internationally in various Shakespeare adaptations by Kenneth Branagh: In Henry V he played "Bardolph", in Much Ado About Nothing "Leonato", in Hamlet "Polonius", in Lost Love Mourn ' the "Nathaniel" and in As You Like It the "Adam". He also starred under Branagh's direction in Peter's Friends , Mary Shelley's Frankenstein , A Winter Night's Dream and in 1993 in the Oscar- nominated short film Swan Song . Briers made his last film appearance in 2012 in the splatter film Cockneys vs Zombies .

Briers worked as a spokesperson for commercials and dubbed, among other things, the advertising character of the Midland Bank . He also took on speaking roles in various cartoon series in the children's program and in 1978 as "Fiver" one of the leading roles in the cartoon adaptation of Richard Adams ' Watership Down . In the remake of the novel as a television series, which was made almost twenty years later, he also spoke, albeit this time in a different role than "Captain Bloom", which had not yet appeared in the film.

For the BBC he played the leading role in several adaptations of the Doctor… novels by Richard Gordon and “Bertie Wooster” in various productions of stories about Jeeves & Wooster based on PG Wodehouse .

Also with the BBC he took on a voice role for Top Gear (season 19, episode 5), in which he lent his voice to a navigation system for seniors.

Honors

Briers has received several awards for his services to the theater: in 1989 he was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) and in 2003 Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Richard Briers  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.parkinsons.org.uk
  2. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2988170.stm
personal data
SURNAME Briers, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Briers, Richard David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Raynes Park , Surrey , England , United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH 17th February 2013
Place of death London