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Keith Joseph Michell (1 December 1926 – 20 November 2015) was an Australian actor who worked primarily in the United Kingdom, and was best known for his television and film portrayals of King Henry VIII. He appeared extensively in Shakespeare and other classics and musicals in Britain, and was also in several Broadway productions. He was an artistic director of the Chichester Festival Theatre in the 1970s and later had a recurring role on Murder, She Wrote as the charming thief Dennis Stanton. He was also known for illustrating a collection of Jeremy Lloyd's poems Captain Beaky, and singing the title song from the associated album.
Michell was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Film for his performance as Harry Bell in True as a Turtle (1957). He later won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for playing Henry VIII in The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970).
In 1958, he played Nestor-Le-Fripe in the musical Irma La Douce, also starring in the role with the National Theatre in Washington, DC, and on Broadway in 1960–1961. At the newly opened Chichester Festival Theatre, in 1962, he played Don John in The Chances and then Ithocles in The Broken Heart, and in British television adaptations, he starred as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (1962) and, in a series of Roman plays titled The Spread of the Eagle, he played Mark Antony (1963). He later sang in a series of television specials written for him.
Also on Broadway, he played the Count in The Rehearsal by Jean Anouilh (1963). In 1964 in London, he starred as Robert Browning in the musical Robert and Elizabeth, opposite Australian soprano June Bronhill. Australian Dictionary of Biography – Ronald Erle Grainer He played the dual role of Miguel de Cervantes and his fictional creation Don Quixote in the musical Man of La Mancha, first starring in the original London production of the musical AllMusic – Keith Michell biography; cast album: Man of La Mancha sound recording – Trove entry and then on Broadway. He also starred as Abelard in the Broadway play Abelard and Heloise with Diana Rigg by Ronald Millar (1971) and as Georges in La Cage aux Folles in the 1980s. Keith Mitchell, Internet Broadway Database, accessed 28 November 2015
On stage, in film and on television, he appeared several times as King Henry VIII, perhaps most memorably in the BBC series The Six Wives of Henry VIII in 1970 and the similar film Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972). For this he won an Emmy. The actual Emmy was given to Julie Andrews, who presented him with it when he appeared on her show, for the 2nd time.The Julie Andrews Hour, aired 10 January 1973 (dvd) He reprised the role in a 1996 television series adaptation of The Prince and the Pauper.
In the late 1950s Michell was under contract to the Rank Organisation who gave him roles in films such as True as a Turtle, The Gentleman and the Gypsy and Dangerous Exile.
Other films included The Hellfire Club (1961), Seven Seas to Calais (1962) and The Executioner (1970). He appeared in a series of Gilbert and Sullivan TV adaptations by Brent Walker.Shepherd, Marc. , the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 5 April 2003, accessed 28 November 2015 On American television from 1988 to 1993, Michell made appearances on the mystery series Murder, She Wrote, playing Dennis Stanton, a former jewel thief turned insurance claims investigator.
He was the artistic director of the Chichester Festival Theatre from 1974 to 1977, appearing in many of their productions, including as the Director in Tonight We Improvise, as the title character in Oedipus Tyrannus, and in A Month in the Country and The Confederacy by Vanbrugh.
As well as acting, Michell wrote the musical Pete McGynty and the Dreamtime, an Australian rendering of Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt, the performance of which used Michell's own paintings as backdrops. Pete McGynty and the Dreamtime by Keith Michell – Trove entry He enjoyed a recording career as a soloist, with one of his singles, I'll Give You the Earth, which he co-wrote, reaching No. 30 in the UK charts in 1971, boosted by his high profile on television at the time. He also illustrated a limited edition run of William Shakespeare's , for which he did the calligraphy; and wrote and illustrated a number of macrobiotic cookbooks. Michell himself was a proponent of the macrobiotic diet and philosophy. Michell illustrated Captain Beaky, a collection of Jeremy Lloyd's poems. The Captain Beaky character enjoyed success in the UK in the early 1980s, among both children and adults. The song "Captain Beaky", sung by Michell, peaked at No. 5 and No. 36 in the UK and Australia respectively in 1980.
Michell died in Hampstead, London, eleven days before his 89th birthday.
Personal life and death
He married the actress Jeanette Sterke in 1957. They had a son, Paul who was the lead singer of 80s band the Roaring Boys, and a daughter, Helena Michell, who appeared in the films Prick Up Your Ears and Maurice.
Filmography
External links
Categories: 1926 Births, 2015 Deaths, Australian Male Television Actors, Australian Male Film Actors, Australian Male Stage Actors, Australian Expatriates In England, Australian Expatriate Male Actors In The United Kingdom, Diet Food Advocates, Best Actor Bafta Award Winners, People From Port Pirie, 20th-century Australian Male Actors, Macrobiotic Diet Advocates, 21st-century Australian Male Actors, Spark Artists
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