Michael Bryant

Michael Dennis Bryant (5 April 192825 April 2002) was a British stage and television actor. An eight-time Olivier Award nominee, Bryant won three. He was also a three-time British Academy Television Award nominee for Best Actor.

Biography Bryant attended Battersea Grammar School and, after service in the Merchant Navy and the Army, attended drama school and appeared in many productions on the London stage. He made his film debut in 1955. He had a role as Mathieu in the BBC2 serial The Roads to Freedom, a 1970 adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's trilogy of the same name. 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 that 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 project by the distributor, the film quickly sank into obscurity.

One of Bryant's most memorable performances was in the 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. Equally memorable is his later performance in an adaptation of M. R. James's The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974).

Bryant also had a supporting role as a psychiatrist in the 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 Vladimir Lenin in the film Nicholas and Alexandra, Bryant later reprised the role in Robert Bolt's play State of Revolution (1977), having previously co-starred in Bolt's unsuccessful Gentle Jack. State of Revolution was significant for featuring the first role that Bryant performed at the National Theatre, where he went on to be a constant presence for a quarter of a century. Described by Michael Billington as a "rock-solid company man", he 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, Bryant won the London Drama Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best Actor, and his other theatrical performances were equally well-thought-of. He won Laurence Olivier Awards in 1988 and 1990 and was nominated twice more.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1955 Passage Home Stebbings 1956 Jesus of Nazareth John 1956 Uranium Boom 1958 A Night to Remember Sixth Officer James Moody 1962 Life for Ruth John's counsel 1963 The Mind Benders Dr. Danny Tate 1966 The Deadly Affair Gaveston Uncredited1967 Torture Garden Colin Williams (segment 1, "Enoch")1969 Goodbye, Mr. Chips Max Staefel 1970 Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly New Friend 1970 The Deep John Ingram 1971 Nicholas and Alexandra Vladimir Lenin 1972 The Ruling Class Dr. Herder 1974 Fall of Eagles Rachkovsky 1974 Caravan to Vaccares (film) Zuger 1982 Gandhi Principal Secretary 1984 Sakharov Syshchikov 1992 Bikini Summer II Sammy 1996 Hamlet Priest 2000 The Miracle Maker God / The Doctor Voice (final film role)

Stage credits This table contains selected known professional theatrical roles for Bryant.

Production Date Theatre(London, unless otherwise noted) Role Notes The Homecoming Aldwych Theatre Teddy The Return of A.J.Raffles Aldwych Theatre Captain von Blixen State of Revolution Lyttleton Theatre Vladimir Lenin Brand Olivier Theatre Pastor Brand Strife Olivier Theatre David Roberts As You Like It Olivier Theatre Jacques The Wild Duck Olivier Theatre Gregers Werle Othello Olivier Theatre Iago The Mayor of Zalamea Cottesloe Theatre Pedro Crespo Uncle Vanya Lyttleton Theatre Vanya The Ancient Mariner Olivier Theatre Ancient Mariner Love for Love Lyttleton Theatre Sir Sampson Legend The American Clock Cottesloe Theatre Moe Baum King Lear Olivier Theatre Earl of Gloucester Antony and Cleopatra Olivier Theatre Enobarbus The Tempest Cottesloe Theatre Prospero Hamlet Olivier Theatre Polonius The Voysey Inheritance Cottlesloe Theatre Peacey Racing Demon Cottesloe Theatre Reverend Henderson The Crucible Olivier Theatre Giles Corey The Wind in the Willows Olivier Theatre Badger Pygmalion Olivier Theatre Alfred Doolittle Richard II Cottesloe Theatre Duke of York John Gabriel Borkman Lyttleton Theatre Vilhelm Foldal King Lear Cottesloe Theatre Fool The Invention of Love Cottesloe Theatre Charon Money Olivier Theatre Old Member Summerfolk Olivier Theatre Semyon Dvoetochie The Cherry Orchard Cottesloe Theatre Firs

Awards and nominations