Michael Sheard

Michael Sheard (18 June 1938^[1] – 31 August 2005) was a Scottish actor who featured in a large number of films and television programmes.

Early life

Sheard was born in Aberdeen, Scotland; the son of a Church Minister, and was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. During his National Service, Sheard was a Royal Air Force aircraftsman.

Career

Star Wars fans know him as Admiral Ozzel, whom Vader choked to death, from The Empire Strikes Back, whereas fans of UK children's show Grange Hill will remember his performance as the terrifying deputy headmaster Mr Maurice Bronson. In 1983, he played Herr Grunwald, the German manager of a building site in the first series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.

He portrayed Adolf Hitler five times, including in The Tomorrow People (1978) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). He also portrayed Heinrich Himmler three times. In 1980, he had a major supporting role in Stephen Poliakoff's esteemed B.B.C. television play Caught on a Train. He also appeared as the police sergeant in the fifth episode of the comedy series Mind Your Language.

In the Space: 1999 science fiction television series, he played Dr. Darwin King in the episode, "Dragon's Domain".

He made appearances in six stories in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, with the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Seventh Doctors. He also provided a DVD commentary for Pyramids of Mars. He also appeared with Eighth Doctor Paul McGann, in The Stones of Venice (a Doctor Who audio drama produced by Big Finish Productions). He was often a regular guest at both Doctor Who and Star Wars conventions over the years in the UK and America.

In February 2005 he played a small cameo role as the narrator in Star Wars fan film Order of the Sith: Vengeance and its sequel Downfall - Order of the Sith - alongside Jeremy Bulloch and David Prowse. These fan films were made in England in support of Save the Children.

He died 31 August 2005, aged sixty-seven years, at his home on the Isle of Wight. He had been suffering from cancer. A few weeks previously on 9 August he appeared via telephone on the Iain Lee show on LBC and talked about his many appearances in film and television.

Filmography

• Crossroads (1964) (TV)
• The Likely Lads (1964) (TV)
• Doctor Who (1963, 1966, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1982, 1988) (TV)
• The McKenzie Break (1970)
• Holiday on the Buses (1973)
• Fall of Eagles (1974) (TV)
• Lillie (1978) (TV)
• Force 10 from Navarone (1978)
• Les Misérables (1978) (TV)
• The Riddle of the Sands (1979)
• Escape to Athena (1979)
• Caught on a Train (1980)
• Blakes 7 (1980) (TV)
• Take the High Road (1980) (TV)
• Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• The Bunker (1981) (TV)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) (uncredited)
• The Invisible Man (1984) (TV)
• Grange Hill (1978) (1985–1989) (TV)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) (uncredited)
• Coronation Street (1960) (1989) (TV)
• Shadows In The Woods (2009)

References

Bibliography

• Yes, Mr Bronson: Memoirs of a Bum Actor (ISBN 1-84024-007-5) published in 1997
• Yes, Admiral (ISBN 1-84024-103-9) published in 1999
• Yes, School's Out! (ISBN 90-76953-42-2) published 2001
• Yes, It's Photographic! published in 2004

External links

• Michael Sheard at the Internet Movie Database
• Obituary: The Independent
• Obituary: The Guardian