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Morley & District Family History Group

 

 

Brian Bedford

.......Actor and Director was born in Morley on 16 th February 1935 and lived with his parents and older brother in Britannia Road, Morley. He was accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where his contemporaries included Peter O’Toole, Albert Finney and Alan Bates, and he was so outstanding that during his final year the Liverpool Repertory Company gave him a year’s contract and after six months, and at only 21 years of age, he played the title role in Hamlet. He went on from there to highly successful performances in London’s West End and at Stratford-on-Avon where he worked with Sir John Gielgud and Peter Brook. This was the start of a distinguished, successful and long career in England, Canada and the United States. Mr. Brian Bedford earned five Tony nominations for his work on Broadway and actually won the award for his performance in “The School for Wives.” Other awards include the Obie and New York Drama Desk Awards for his role in “The Knack,” a Drama Desk award for “Two Shakespearian Actors” and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for “Equus.”

As a Shakespearian actor he has long been a mainstay of the Stratford Festival of Canada in Ontario. He made his debut there in 1975 and over the years has played numerous leading roles. His one-man “Shakespearian Evening” has taken him around the world.

In addition to a distinguished stage career Brian Bedford has appeared many times in films and on television. His mother’s maiden name was O’Donnell and he has many relations in Chicago from that side of the family.

He became a naturalized citizen of the United States where he has resided for over forty years. In 1997 he was inducted into the American Theatre “Hall of Fame.”

 

 

information supplied by R Barraclough

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