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 award. 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.
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 award. 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.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0692110
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1351583
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Filmography (Movies)
Morecambe & Wise: Christmas Specials
Character:
Release Date:12/11/2007
The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway
Character:
Release Date:31/10/2003
The Best of Morecambe and Wise
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:01/10/2001
Message for Posterity
Character:James Player
Release Date:28/10/1994
Oliver Twist
Character:Fagin
Release Date:01/01/1985
A Shilling Life
Character:Petersham
Release Date:12/02/1982
The Sin Bin
Character:Stanley Wilkinson
Release Date:17/03/1981
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Character:Mr. Havisham
Release Date:01/12/1980
Hamlet
Character:Polonius
Release Date:25/05/1980
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Character:Dr. Nicholson
Release Date:30/03/1980
The Crucible
Character:Deputy Governor Danforth
Release Date:01/01/1980
Churchill and the Generals
Character:Gen. Sir Alan Brooke
Release Date:23/09/1979
The Thirty Nine Steps
Character:Chief Superintendent Lomas
Release Date:04/11/1978
The Winslow Boy
Character:Arthur Winslow
Release Date:16/01/1977
The Shetland Experience
Character:Narrator (voice)
Release Date:01/01/1977
Hitler’s Germany - A World at War Special Presentation
Character:Narrator
Release Date:10/04/1976
Hennessy
Character:Tobin
Release Date:31/12/1975
The Statue and the Rose
Character:Parnell
Release Date:23/05/1975
The Two Deaths of Adolf Hitler
Character:Narrator
Release Date:30/04/1975
The Final Solution
Character:Narrator
Release Date:07/04/1975
Callan
Character:Hunter
Release Date:23/05/1974
The Day of the Jackal
Character:Colonel Rodin
Release Date:16/05/1973
Hitler: The Last Ten Days
Character:Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim
Release Date:19/04/1973
The Belstone Fox
Character:Asher Smith
Release Date:01/01/1973
Antony and Cleopatra
Character:Enobarbus
Release Date:18/03/1972
Nicholas and Alexandra
Character:Stolypin
Release Date:29/11/1971
Hands of the Ripper
Character:Dr. John Pritchard
Release Date:17/10/1971
Macbeth
Character:Macbeth
Release Date:20/09/1970
Separate Tables
Character:Major Pollock / John Malcolm
Release Date:15/03/1970
The Lost Continent
Character:Lansen
Release Date:19/06/1968
The Last Invasion
Character:Harold
Release Date:24/08/1966
Kaleidoscope
Character:Harry Dominion
Release Date:01/07/1966
The Heroes of Telemark
Character:Terboven
Release Date:12/11/1965
The Wars of the Roses
Character:Henry VII
Release Date:08/04/1965
The Fall of the Roman Empire
Character:Julianus
Release Date:24/03/1964
Emma
Character:
Release Date:23/05/1948
Television Appearances
The World of Hammer
Character:Self (archive footage)
Performance
Character:James Player
Oliver Twist
Character:Fagin
Sherlock Holmes
Character:Professor Moriarty
The Jewel in the Crown
Character:Dimitri Bronowsky
Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
Character:Neville Chamberlain
Anna Karenina
Character:Karenin
Playhouse
Character:Petersham
Play for Today
Character:Stanley Wilkinson
Morecambe & Wise: Christmas Specials
Character:Himself
Civilisation
Character:Macbeth (voice)
The Forsyte Saga
Character:Soames Forsyte
BBC Play of the Month
Character:Cyrano de Bergerac
BBC Play of the Month
Character:Councillor Albert Parker
BBC Play of the Month
Character:Arthur Winslow
BBC Play of the Month
Character:Jack Tanner
BBC Play of the Month
Character:Maj. Pollock / John Malcolm
BBC Play of the Month
Character:Macbeth
Theatre 625
Character:'Newton'
Theatre Night
Character:Vadim Romanoff
Images
