From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE (27 September 1907–14 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre opened in the City of London since the 17th century.
Miles was born in Uxbridge, Middlesex and attended Bishopshalt School in Hillingdon. While his parents were respectively a farm labourer and a cook, he was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford. He entered the theatre in the 1930s, soon appearing in films. Like many actors, he featured prominently in the patriotic cinema during the Second World War, including classics of the genre such as In Which We Serve and One of Our Aircraft Is Missing. He also had an uncredited role in the WWII classic The First of the Few, released in the US as Spitfire.
His typical persona as an actor was as a countryman, with a strong accent typical of the Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire counties. He was also, after Robert Newton, the actor most associated with the part of Long John Silver, which he played in a British TV version of Treasure Island, and in an annual performance at the Mermaid commencing in the winter of 1961-62. Actors in the annual theatrical productions included Spike Milligan as Ben Gunn, and, in the 1968 production, Barry Humphries as Long John Silver. It was Miles who, impressed by the talent of John Antrobus originally commissioned him to write a play of some sort. This led to Antrobus collaborating with Milligan to produce a one-act play called The Bed Sitting Room, which was later adapted to a longer play, and staged by Miles at The Mermaid on 31 January 1963, with both critical and commercial success.
He had a pleasant rolling bass-baritone voice that worked well in theatre and film, as well as being much in demand for voice-overs. As a performer, he was most well known for a series of comic monologues, often given in a rural dialect. These were recorded and sold as record albums, which were quite popular. Some of his comic monologues are currently available on youtube.com.
Miles was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1953, was knighted in 1969, and was granted a life peerage as Baron Miles, of Blackfriars in the City of London in 1979. He was only the second British actor ever to be given a peerage (the first was Laurence Olivier).
Miles's written works include "The British Theatre" (1947), "God's Brainwave" (1972), and "Favorite Tales from Shakespeare" (1972). In 1981, he co-authored the book Curtain Calls with J.C. Trewin.
He died in Yorkshire.
His daughters are the actress Sally Miles and the artist Bridget Miles. His son John Miles was a Grand Prix Driver in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the Lotus team.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Bernard Miles, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0587061
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q822610
Facebook: No data
Instagram: No data
X: No data
Filmography (Movies)
The Lady and the Highwayman
Character:Judge
Release Date:03/12/1988
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:13/03/1987
Treasure Island
Character:Long John Silver
Release Date:01/01/1982
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Character:Dr. Thomas
Release Date:30/03/1980
Closing Ranks
Character:Sir Alec Ware
Release Date:01/01/1980
Run Wild, Run Free
Character:Reg
Release Date:28/03/1969
The Specialist
Character:
Release Date:21/08/1966
Heavens Above!
Character:Simpson
Release Date:20/05/1963
Barbara Hepworth
Character:Narrator
Release Date:17/09/1961
Sapphire
Character:Ted Harris
Release Date:02/11/1959
Tom Thumb
Character:Jonathan
Release Date:04/12/1958
Wuthering Heights
Character:Joseph
Release Date:09/05/1958
The Vision of William Blake
Character:Poems & Narration
Release Date:01/01/1958
Saint Joan
Character:Master Executioner
Release Date:08/05/1957
The Smallest Show on Earth
Character:Old Tom
Release Date:09/04/1957
Doctor at Large
Character:Haymaking Farmer (uncredited)
Release Date:26/03/1957
Fortune Is a Woman
Character:Mr. Jerome
Release Date:13/03/1957
Zarak
Character:Hassu the one-eyed
Release Date:01/12/1956
Tiger in the Smoke
Character:Tiddy Doll the Gang Leader
Release Date:27/11/1956
Moby Dick
Character:The Manxman
Release Date:27/06/1956
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Character:Edward Drayton
Release Date:16/05/1956
Never Let Me Go
Character:Joe Brooks
Release Date:18/03/1953
The Magic Box
Character:Cousin Alfred
Release Date:01/01/1952
Henry Moore
Character:Narrator
Release Date:30/04/1951
Chance of a Lifetime
Character:Stevens
Release Date:24/04/1950
The Guinea Pig
Character:Mr. Read
Release Date:26/10/1948
Fame Is the Spur
Character:Tom Hannaway
Release Date:23/09/1947
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
Character:Newman Noggs
Release Date:12/03/1947
Great Expectations
Character:Joe Gargery
Release Date:26/12/1946
Carnival
Character:Trewhella
Release Date:02/12/1946
Tawny Pipit
Character:Colonel Barton-Barrington
Release Date:28/04/1944
Tunisian Victory
Character:British soldier (voice)
Release Date:23/03/1944
Two Fathers
Character:The Englishman
Release Date:19/01/1944
The New Lot
Character:Ted Loman
Release Date:01/01/1943
In Which We Serve
Character:Chief Petty Officer Hardy / Walter Hardy
Release Date:17/09/1942
The Day Will Dawn
Character:McAllister (Irish Soldier)
Release Date:08/06/1942
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing
Character:Geoff Hickman, Front Gunner in B for Bertie
Release Date:24/04/1942
The Big Blockade
Character:Royal Navy Mate
Release Date:19/01/1942
Sabotage!
Character:Self - Narrator (voice)
Release Date:01/01/1942
The Common Touch
Character:Cricket Steward
Release Date:15/11/1941
Quiet Wedding
Character:PC
Release Date:19/04/1941
Freedom Radio
Character:Capt. Muller
Release Date:04/02/1941
The Dawn Guard
Character:Farmer
Release Date:01/01/1941
Pastor Hall
Character:Heinrich Degan
Release Date:28/05/1940
Contraband
Character:Man Lighting Pipe
Release Date:11/05/1940
Band Waggon
Character:Saboteur (uncredited)
Release Date:23/03/1940
The Lion Has Wings
Character:Civilian Observer Controller
Release Date:03/11/1939
The Spy in Black
Character:Hans - Hotel Receptionist
Release Date:03/08/1939
They Drive by Night
Character:Detective at Billiard Halls (Uncredited)
Release Date:01/12/1938
The Citadel
Character:Medical Aid Society Committee Member (uncredited)
Release Date:29/10/1938
The Challenge
Character:Villager
Release Date:14/09/1938
Strange Boarders
Character:Chemist (uncredited)
Release Date:01/05/1938
The Rebel Son
Character:Polish Prisoner
Release Date:02/02/1938
Secrets of Kew Gardens
Character:Narrator (voice)
Release Date:01/01/1937
Crown v. Stevens
Character:Detective Wells
Release Date:03/08/1936
Twelve Good Men
Character:Inspector Pine
Release Date:01/03/1936
Late Extra
Character:Charlie (uncredited)
Release Date:19/11/1935
The Guv'nor
Character:Man at Meeting
Release Date:01/10/1935
The Love Test
Character:Allan
Release Date:30/06/1935
Television Appearances
Images
