B (Part 2) - Blessed to Burton

I had thought maybe this little vanity project wouldn't generate any interest but a few of you have not only read but been kind enough to comment - I thank you. 

This weeks batch, the remainder of the B’s, include larger than life characters like Brian Blessed along with some lesser known actors whose work saw them associated with huge film & TV franchises. 

They are:

Brian Blessed

David Bradley

Jayne Brook

Mechad Brooks

Adam Brown

LeVar Burton

I adore Brian Blessed. His acting, his story telling, his love of life and his love for animals, make him a firm favourite. 

I don’t remember him from his Z Cars days but I certainly remember him playing the role of Augustus in I, Clavdivs….sorry, Claudius. Such a great series, full of the best of British talent. If you’ve never seen it, do look it up, you won’t be disappointed.  

Of course it was as Vultan, in the 1980 cult classic Flash Gordon, that Blessed rose to the status of an icon. Everywhere he goes, you’ll probably get...

but he’s actually much more than a one trick pony.   I love watching  his work in films like Much Ado About Nothing (1993) and  Henry V (1989). 

Anyway, the chance to meet the great man arose in 2019, and I headed up to Manchester. I was having a pretty tough day, struggling to get around, Jean-Luc was a lifesaver that day. When the time came to meet Mr Blessed, he pulled up two chairs and said “Come and sit down old love”.  He draped his arm around my shoulders and we chatted for a few minutes before it was time for the photo. A treasured moment captured for me. 

David Bradley is a hugely talented actor and he must also be one of the nicest and most unassuming chaps I have  met in my travels to conventions. Always smiling, always affable and chatty, always modest. I’ve spoken to him three times over the years and each time came away thinking what a lovely man. 

Jayne Brook might not be a name that everyone will recognise but if you ever watched Chicago Hope in the late 1990’s or Star Trek:Discovery in more recent times, then you will have seen her work. 

I met her at a Star Trek convention in Birmingham when most of the Discovery squad were in attendance. She was having a ball. Very happy to meet and greet everyone. 

Mehcad Brook - a strange one this. I didn’t think I had seen any of this actors work but I caught the end of an interview he was doing at a convention and heard him mention an episode of Law & Order:SVU and I remembered I had seen that episode and he was bloody good. So I sought him out and told him.  He came across as a charming young man. 

Adam Brown played Ori, one of the dwarves, in the Peter Jackson Hobbit trilogy. He’s also appeared in the Pirates of The Caribbean franchise. In person he was quiet and unassuming. I guess some people are.

LeVar Burton, as Geordie LaForge, was part of the Star Trek TV franchise reboot back in 1986. Part of a new crew, he and his Next Gen cast mates were all on my list of people I wanted to meet.  I ticked Mr Burton off the list in 2019.  Of course, there was another reason to meet him, as he was part of that brilliant 1970’s series, Roots. I didn’t get the chance to chat to him about any of this, he was a little reserved shall we say. Anyway, mission accomplished. 

That’s the end of the B’s so next week we move on to the C’s and the D’s which run from  Denise Crosby to Michael Dorn: bit of a theme developing!