Michael Bryant on AllMovie

London-born Michael Dennis Bryant was a consummate actor, capable of playing court jesters, heads of state, cowboys, drunks, magicians, and ordinary people with extraordinary problems. Although he never enjoyed superstardom, his peers recognized him as one of world's great actors -- a meticulous professional who could handle the subtlest of roles -- and presented him four Olivier awards, the British equivalent of the Tony, for performances in Hamlet, Antony and Cleopatra, The Voysey Inheritance, and Racing Demon. For his long and distinguished accomplishments in film, television, and theater, he was named a Commander of the British Empire in 1988.

After graduating from Battersea Grammar School, Bryant served in the British Merchant Navy between 1945 and 1949, then studied two years at the Webber Douglas acting school. He debuted on the stage in 1951 in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire at the Palace Pier in Brighton and earned acclaim two years later at the same theater for his performance in Eugene O'Neill's The Ice Man Cometh. His impressive work led to numerous roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company and later with the National Theatre under esteemed directors Peter Hall, Richard Eyre, and Trevor Nunn. Never seeking stardom, Bryant accepted minor roles as well as major ones. But regardless of the role he played, even if it was the part of Badger in Wind in the Willows, he devoted himself entirely to it. Worldwide film and television audiences may not have known him by name, but they certainly recognized him by his familiar face and the quality of his acting in such roles as Lenin in Nicholas and Alexandra (1972), the principal secretary in Gandhi (1982), Syshchikov in Sakharov (1984), the priest in Hamlet (1996), the fool in King Lear (1997), and Dr. Nichols in Wives and Daughters (1999). In one of his final roles, he played the voice of God in The Miracle Maker (2000). When he died at his home in Richmond, London, England, on April 25, 2002, he left behind his second wife, Judy Coke, and four children.