Michael Bryant (actor)

Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:One source Template:Infobox person Michael Dennis Bryant Template:Post-nominals (5 April 1928Template:Spaced ndash25 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 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 classic 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 sadistic psychiatrist in the cult classic 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 Bryant performed at the National Theatre, where he went on to be a constant presence for a quarter of a century.Template:R Described by Michael Billington as a "rock-solid company man",Template:R 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	Notes
1955	Passage Home	Stebbings
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	Uncredited
1967	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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1971	British Academy Television Awards	Best Actor	The Roads to Freedom (TV serial)	Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1973			Stage 2: The Duchess of Malfi / Colditz	Template:Nom
1975			ITV Playhouse: Mr Axelford's Angel	Template:Nom
1977	Laurence Olivier Awards	Actor of the Year in a New Play	State of Revolution	Template:Won	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1978		Best Actor in a Supporting Role	The Double Dealer	Template:Nom	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1979		Actor of the Year in a Revival	Strife	Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Undiscovered Country	Template:Nom
1987		Best Performance in a Supporting Role	King Lear / Antony and Cleopatra	Template:Won	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1990			Hamlet / The Voysey Inheritance / Racing Demon	Template:Won	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1998			King Lear	Template:Nom	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2000		Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Summerfolk	Template:Nom	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0117188

 | name/{{#if:{{#invoke:ustring|match|1=0117188|2=^nm}}
   | Template:Trim/
   | nm0117188/
   }}
 | {{#if: {{#property:P345}}
   | name/Template:First word/
   | find?q=%7B%7B%23if%3A+Michael+Bryant%0A++++++%7C+Michael+Bryant%0A++++++%7C+%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D%0A++++++%7D%7D&s=nm
   }}
 }}{{#if:  0117188 {{#property:P345}} | {{#switch: 
 | award | awards = awards Awards for | biography | bio = bio Biography for
 }}}} {{#if: Michael Bryant
 | Michael Bryant
 | Template:PAGENAMEBASE
 }}] at IMDb{{#if: 0117188{{#property:P345}}
 | Template:EditAtWikidata
 | Template:Main other

}}{{#switch:{{#invoke:string2|matchAny|^nm.........|^nm.......|nm|.........|source=0117188|plain=false}}

 | 1 | 3 =  Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning
 | 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning

}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}

• {{#if: 100373 {{#property:P1220}}

| [https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/{{#if: 100373

 | 100373
 | Template:First word
 }} {{#if: 
 | {{{name}}}
 | Template:PAGENAMEBASE
 }}] at the Internet Broadway DatabaseTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck{{#ifeq:0|0|{{#if:100373||}}}}

| {{#ifeq:0|0|}}

}}