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

The Missionary
100%
Khartoum
100%
The Man Who Never Was
100%
Theater of Blood (Theatre of Blood) (Much Ado About Murder)
94%

Filmography

MOVIES

RATING	TITLE	CREDIT	BOX OFFICE	YEAR
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	Suspicion	Lord McLaidlaw	—	1987
No Score Yet	Scoop	Uncle Theodore	—	1987
74%	Labyrinth	The Wiseman	—	1986
56%	Lady Jane	Doctor Feckenham	—	1986
No Score Yet	Paradise Postponed	Reverand Simcox	—	1986
64%	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
85%	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
17%	Lucky Lady	Capt. Rockwell	—	1975
No Score Yet	Royal Flash	Headmaster	—	1975
No Score Yet	Mr. Quilp (Old Curiosity Shop)	Grandfather/Edward Trent	—	1975
91%	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
94%	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
44%	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
No Score Yet	Some Will, Some Won't	Denniston Russell	—	1970
38%	Anne of the Thousand Days	Thomas Boleyn	—	1969
64%	The Bed Sitting Room	Bules Martin	—	1969
87%	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
83%	The Taming of the Shrew	Baptista	—	1967
44%	How I Won the War	Grapple	—	1967
86%	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
89%	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
60%	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	Girls At Sea	Actor	—	1958
No Score Yet	Spaniard's Curse	Judge Manton	—	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 Night My Number Came Up	Cmdr. Lindsay	—	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
50%	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
94%	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

RATING	TITLE	CREDIT	YEAR
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	Actor
No Score Yet	Paddington Bear 1975-1980	Narrator
No Score Yet	Tales of the Unexpected 1979-1988	Cyril Bixby

Quotes from Michael Hordern's Characters

Jacob Marley:

Mankind should have been my business!

Narrator:

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.

On Dvd & Streaming

Michael Hordern

Highest Rated Movies

Filmography

MOVIES

TV

Quotes from Michael Hordern's Characters