Editing Brian Blessed (section)

==Early life==
Blessed was born on 9 October 1936 at [[Montagu Hospital]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Blessed|first=Brian|title=The Dynamite Kid|year=1992|publisher=Bloomsbury|location=London|isbn=0-7475-1275-2|edition=1st|page=1|chapter=1}}</ref> in [[Mexborough]], [[West Riding of Yorkshire]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=%2F61cw2GEAYP4cwmdOMP0MQ&scan=1|title=Index entry|access-date=4 November 2010|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/21354 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301080045/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/21354 |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 March 2007 |title=BFI biodata |publisher=Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk |date=16 April 2009 |access-date=8 July 2011}}</ref> the son of William Blessed, a [[socialist]] coal miner at [[Hickleton Main Colliery]] (and himself the son of a coal miner) and cricketer for the [[Yorkshire County Cricket Club|Yorkshire second team]],<ref>Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC) – Series 11: 2. Brian Blessed</ref> and Hilda (née Wall). He had a brother Alan, seven years younger, and the pair "went everywhere together" when they were growing up. Alan Blessed died from leukaemia aged 52; their mother died aged 87, and their father died aged 99.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/02/brian-blessed-family-values|title=My family values: Brian Blessed|date=2 January 2010|website=The Guardian}}</ref> Blessed's great-great-grandfather, Jabez Blessed, was the father of 13 children and worked as a china and glass dealer in [[Brigg]], [[Lincolnshire]]; many of Blessed's relatives hail from Brigg.<ref name="ST">{{cite news|url=http://www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/think-Brian-Blessed-traces-Brigg-Winterton/story-22714610-detail/story.html|title=Who do you think you are? Brian Blessed traces Brigg & Winterton relatives on BBC1 tonight|newspaper=Scunthorpe Telegraph|date=14 August 2014|access-date=15 August 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814143723/http://www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/think-Brian-Blessed-traces-Brigg-Winterton/story-22714610-detail/story.html|archive-date=14 August 2014}}</ref>

Blessed went to [[Bolton on Dearne]] Secondary Modern School, and completed his national service in the [[RAF]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Absolute Pandemonium|last=Blessed|first=Brian|publisher=Pan Macmillan|year=2016|isbn=9781447292975|pages=67}}</ref> in [[Bicester]], before enrolling at the [[Bristol Old Vic Theatre School]] in 1956.<ref>{{cite news |date=26 May 1956 |title=Boltonian Will Play Shylock |pages=1 |work=South Yorkshire Times and Mexborough & Swinton Times |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002838/19560526/003/0001 |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 August 2023 |via=British Newspaper Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The International Who's Who 2004|year=2003|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9781857432176|page=[https://archive.org/details/internationalwho2004ond/page/176 176]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/internationalwho2004ond/page/176}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=J. B. |date=22 September 1956 |title=Mexborough Theatre Guild: "Wuthering Heights" |pages=25 |work=South Yorkshire Times |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002838/19560922/257/0025 |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 August 2023 |quote=...Brian Blessed, off next week to enrol[sic] with the Bristol Old Vic Drama Academy in the first phase in making the stage his professional career... |via=British Newspaper Archive}}</ref>