A highly respected Shakespearean for five decades until his death of colon cancer in 1995, classical actor Eric Porter's claim to international fame would, ironically, be outside of that realm, with one superb portrayal in one superb miniseries, The Forsyte Saga(1967), in which he won the BAFTA awar ... d. The son of Richard John Porter and Phoebe Elizabeth Spall, Porter first attended Wimbledon Technical College before stepping onto the stage as a walk-on in a production of William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" in February 1945 at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge. He continued in repertory until joining the National Service with the RAF during the war years. Early post-war credits would include touring with Sir Donald Wolfit and Sir Barry Jackson in their prestigious companies. Favorite roles in his repertoire would eventually include "Macbeth", "King Lear" and "Uncle Vanya". He won London's Evening Standard Award for "Rosmersholm" in 1959. Joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960, he became a prime, esteemed resident for decades. Porter made his film debut in mid-career with The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) at age 36, but it was the BBC that made him an international favorite as the ever-proper but intensely emotional and unhinged "Soames Forsyte". Taboos were broken on that series with a violent rape scene that had people talking for months. Along with the newly acquired fame came leads in lesser films such as The Lost Continent(1968) and Hands of the Ripper (1971), adding class to both those atmospheric horrors. On the plus side, Porter engaged himself frequently in quality TV miniseries fare includingAnna Karenina (1977), The Jewel in the Crown (1984) and Oliver Twist (1985) (as Fagin), while transferring many classics to TV as well, with "Cyrano de Bergerac", "Man and Superman" and "Macbeth" being but a few.
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| Organization | Category | Movie |
|---|
The Forsyte Saga
as Soames Forsyte
Episodes: 26
First Aired: Jan 07, 1967
The Jewel in the Crown
as Dimitri Bronowsky
Episodes: 14
First Aired: Jan 09, 1984
Oliver Twist
as Fagin
Episodes: 12
First Aired: Oct 13, 1985
Anna Karenina
as Karenin
Episodes: 10
First Aired: Sep 25, 1977
Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
as Neville Chamberlain
Episodes: 8
First Aired: Sep 06, 1981
Sherlock Holmes
as Professor Moriarty
Episodes: 3
First Aired: Apr 24, 1984
Play for Today
as Stanley Wilkinson
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 15, 1970
BBC Play of the Month
as Cyrano De Bergerac
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 19, 1965
Civilisation
as Macbeth (voice)
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Feb 23, 1969
BBC Play of the Month
as Macbeth
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 19, 1965
BBC Play of the Month
as Councillor Albert Parker
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 19, 1965
BBC Play of the Month
as Arthur Winslow
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 19, 1965
Morecambe & Wise: Christmas Specials
as Himself
Episodes: 8
First Aired: Dec 25, 1969
The BBC Television Shakespeare
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Dec 03, 1978
The Perfect Morecambe & Wise
as Himself
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Unknown
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