Michael Hordern

Michael Hordern

Highest Rated: 100% The Missionary (1982)

Lowest Rated: 0% The V.I.P.s (1963)

Birthday: Oct 3, 1911

Birthplace: Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, UK

A graduate of Britain's Brighton College, Michael Hordern entered the workaday world as a schoolteacher. Engaging in amateur theatricals in his off-hours, Hordern turned pro in 1937, making his film debut two years later. After serving in the Royal Navy from 1940 to 1945, Hordern returned to show business, matriculating into one of England's most delightful and prolific character actors. His extensive stage work included two Shakespearean roles that may as well have been for him: King Lear and The Tempest's Prospero. In films, Hordern appeared as Marley's Ghost in the 1951 Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol (1951), Demosthenes in Alexander the Great (1956), Cicero in Cleopatra (1963), Baptista in Zeffirelli's Taming of the Shrew (1967), Thomas Boleyn in Anne of a Thousand Days (1968), and Brownlow in the 1982 TV adaptation of Oliver Twist. Other significant movie credits include the lascivious Senex (he's the one who introduces the song "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid") in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), a pathetic Kim Philby type in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1967), theatre critic George Maxwell (who has his heart cut out by looney actor Vincent Price) in Theatre of Blood (1973), and what many consider his finest film assignment, the dissipated, disillusioned journalist in England Made Me (1983). He also served as offscreen narrator for Barry Lyndon (1976) and Young Sherlock Holmes (1985). Michael Hordern was knighted in 1983, and a decade later published his autobiography, A World Elsewhere.

Highest Rated Movies

Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet All's Well That Ends Well Lafeu — 2012
No Score Yet Futtocks End Actor — 2006
No Score Yet Now Voyager Actor — 1992
No Score Yet Freddie as F.R.O.7 King — 1992
36% Diamond Skulls (Dark Obsession) Lord Crewne — 1991
No Score Yet Ending Up Actor — 1991
No Score Yet Titmuss Regained Reverand Simcox — 1991
No Score Yet Charles Dickens' Ghost Stories Actor — 1990
No Score Yet Green Man Actor — 1990
No Score Yet Comrades Mr. Pitt — 1989
No Score Yet Roald Dahl's Danny, the Champion of the World Lord Claybury — 1989
No Score Yet The Secret Garden Actor — 1987
No Score Yet Wind In The Willows Actor — 1987
No Score Yet Scoop Uncle Theodore — 1987
No Score Yet Suspicion Lord McLaidlaw — 1987
71% Labyrinth The Wiseman — 1986
50% Lady Jane Doctor Feckenham — 1986
No Score Yet Paradise Postponed Reverand Simcox — 1986
67% Young Sherlock Holmes Older Watson — 1985
No Score Yet The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood Actor — 1984
No Score Yet The Trouble with Spies Jason Lock — 1984
No Score Yet The Wind in the Willows Badger — 1983
22% Yellowbeard Dr. Gilpin — 1983
84% Gandhi Sir George Hodge — 1982
100% The Missionary Slatterthwaite — 1982
No Score Yet King Lear King Lear — 1982
No Score Yet Ivanhoe Cedric the Saxon — 1982
No Score Yet Oliver Twist Mr. Brownlow — 1982
75% Shogun Friar Domingo — 1980
No Score Yet Gauguin the Savage Actor — 1980
No Score Yet The Wildcats of St. Trinians Sir Charles Hackforth — 1980
No Score Yet Romeo & Juliet Capulet — 1978
82% Watership Down Frith — 1978
No Score Yet The Medusa Touch Atropos the Fortune Teller — 1978
No Score Yet Joseph Andrews Parson Adams — 1977
No Score Yet The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella King — 1976
No Score Yet Lucky Lady Capt. Rockwell — 1975
No Score Yet Royal Flash Headmaster — 1975
No Score Yet Mr. Quilp (Old Curiosity Shop) Grandfather/Edward Trent — 1975
90% Barry Lyndon Narrator — 1975
No Score Yet Edward the King Actor — 1975
No Score Yet King Lear King Lear — 1975
58% The MacKintosh Man Brown — 1973
93% Theater of Blood (Theatre of Blood) (Much Ado About Murder) George Maxwell — 1973
No Score Yet England Made Me F. Minty — 1973
No Score Yet Demons of the Mind (Blood Evil)(Nightmare of Terror)(Blood Will Have Blood) Priest — 1972
50% The Pied Piper Melius, Alchemist — 1972
No Score Yet The Possession of Joel Delaney Justin Lorenz — 1972
No Score Yet Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Mock Turtle — 1972
No Score Yet Up Pompeii Ludicrus — 1971
38% Anne of the Thousand Days Thomas Boleyn — 1969
64% The Bed Sitting Room Bules Martin — 1969
91% Where Eagles Dare Vice Adm. Rolland — 1969
No Score Yet Prudence and the Pill Dr. Morley — 1968
No Score Yet Whistle and I'll Come to You Actor — 1968
No Score Yet I'll Never Forget What's'isname Headmaster — 1968
No Score Yet The Jokers Sir Matthew — 1967
86% The Taming of the Shrew Baptista — 1967
50% How I Won the War Grapple — 1967
85% A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Senex — 1966
No Score Yet Cast a Giant Shadow British ambassador — 1966
100% Khartoum Lord Granville — 1966
No Score Yet Genghis Khan Geen) — 1965
No Score Yet The Yellow Rolls-Royce Harmsworth — 1965
87% The Spy Who Came In from the Cold Ashe — 1965
No Score Yet Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow Squire — 1964
0% The V.I.P.s Airport Director — 1963
61% Cleopatra Cicero — 1963
92% El Cid Don Diego — 1961
No Score Yet Man in the Moon Dr. Davidson — 1961
86% Sink the Bismarck! Commander on King George — 1960
No Score Yet I Was Monty's Double Governor of Gibraltar — 1958
No Score Yet I Accuse! Prosecutor, 2nd Dreyfus Trial — 1958
No Score Yet Spaniard's Curse Judge Manton — 1958
No Score Yet Girls At Sea Actor — 1958
No Score Yet No Time for Tears Actor — 1957
No Score Yet Windom's Way Patterson — 1957
No Score Yet The Spanish Gardener Harrington Brande — 1956
No Score Yet Storm Over the Nile Gen. Faversham — 1956
100% The Man Who Never Was Gen. Coburn — 1956
0% Alexander the Great Demosthenes — 1956
No Score Yet Baby and the Battleship Captain — 1956
No Score Yet The Constant Husband (Marriage a la Mode) Judge — 1955
No Score Yet The Beachcomber Headman — 1955
No Score Yet The Heart of the Matter Commissioner — 1953
No Score Yet Personal Affair Headmaster — 1953
No Score Yet The Magic Box Official Receiver — 1952
No Score Yet The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men Scathelock — 1952
No Score Yet Train Of Events Plainclothesman — 1952
56% Promoter Banker — 1952
85% A Christmas Carol Jacob Marley — 1951
No Score Yet Tom Brown's School Days Wilkes — 1951
No Score Yet Trio The Vicar — 1950
No Score Yet The Astonished Heart Ernest — 1950
No Score Yet Highly Dangerous Rawlings — 1950
92% Passport to Pimlico Inspector Bashford — 1949
No Score Yet Mine Own Executioner Co-counsel at Felix's Hearing (uncredited) — 1949
No Score Yet The Hideout (The Small Voice) Dr. Mennell — 1948
No Score Yet Good Time Girl Seddon — 1948
No Score Yet Night Beat (uncredited) — 1948
No Score Yet Portrait from Life Johnson — 1948
No Score Yet A Girl in a Million Divorce Counsel — 1946
No Score Yet The Years Between Member Of Parliament — 1946

TV

Credit
No Score Yet Masterpiece
1971-2014 		Godfrey Colston 1992
No Score Yet American Playhouse
1982-1996 		Lord McLaidlaw 1988
No Score Yet Inspector Morse
1987-2000
No Score Yet Paddington Bear
1975-1980 		Narrator
No Score Yet Tales of the Unexpected
1979-1988 		Cyril Bixby

QUOTES FROM Michael Hordern CHARACTERS

Jacob Marley says: Mankind should have been my business!

Narrator says: Barry had resolved never to see Nora again, but such resolutions, though they may be steadfastly held for a whole week, are abandoned in a few moments of despair.