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Place of Birth: Dover, Kent, England, UK
Michael Balfour
Michael Creighton Balfour (11 February 1918 – 24 October 1997) was an English actor, working mainly in British films and TV, following his TV debut in the BBC's The Marvellous History of St Bernard, in 1938. He was a recognisable face, often in small character parts and supporting roles, in nearly two hundred films and TV shows, from the 1940s to the 1990s, often playing comical heavies or otherwise shady characters notable for their "loud" clothes, sometimes convincingly cast as an American. He worked for a roll call of film directors, including Tony Richardson, Pete Walker, Billy Wilder, Lewis Gilbert, Roman Polanski, Leslie Norman, Tim Burton, John Frankenheimer, François Truffaut, John Gilling, Stanley Donen, Ken Annakin, Cavalcanti, Lance Comfort, Terence Young, Gerald Thomas, Pasolini, John Paddy Carstairs, Terence Fisher, Val Guest, Frank Launder, John Huston, Basil Dearden and Howard Hawks. Balfour had parts in many popular TV shows of the era including Educated Evans, Mess Mates, Danger Man, The Avengers, Hancock's Half Hour, Dixon of Dock Green, Rogue's Gallery, Z-Cars, The Onedin Line, and the detective drama The Vise, playing Saber's assistant Barney O'Keefe. Balfour was also known as the passenger in a Jaguar XK120 car driven by actor Bonar Colleano when it crashed, killing Colleano. Balfour's injuries required him to have 98 stitches, but he was released from hospital in time to attend Colleano's funeral. As his screen career began to slow down in the late 1970s, Michael Balfour went on tour with European circuses, as a clown. He founded Circus Hazzard, and created his own clown character. His son later became a circus manager. As well as performing, Balfour was a dedicated painter and sculptor, and in later years turned increasingly to sculpture and the arts, even running his own gallery for a while. For his subjects, he frequently drew on his own family career as a circus clown
Movie | Cast | Year |
---|---|---|
Design for Loving | Bernie | 1962 |
Obsession | American Sailor Promoting Book | 1949 |
No Orchids for Miss Blandish | Barney | 1948 |
Five Have a Mystery to Solve | Emilio | 1964 |
Meet Mr. Callaghan | Coffee Stallkeeper | 1954 |
Press for Time | Sewerman | 1966 |
Man of Violence | Cafe Owner | 1970 |
Man from Tangier | Spade | 1957 |
The Secret of the Forest | Len | 1956 |
Recoil | Parkes | 1953 |
Scrapbook for 1933 | (voice) | 1950 |
Revenge of Billy the Kid | Gyles MacDonald | 1992 |
Secret Venture | Stevens | 1955 |
Barbados Quest | Barney Wilson | 1955 |
3 Steps to the Gallows | Carter, boxing fan | 1953 |
Park Plaza 605 | Ted Birston | 1953 |
Delayed Action | Honey | 1954 |
The Stick Up | Sam | 1977 |
Breakaway | Barney | 1956 |
A Case For P.C. 49 | Chubby Price | 1951 |
The Small Voice | Frankie | 1948 |
The Delavine Affair | Sammy | 1955 |
The Diamond Wizard | Hoxie | 1954 |
The Canterbury Tales | The Carpenter | 1972 |
Top Secret | Jersey Sailor | 1952 |
Light Fingers | The Major | 1957 |
The Steel Bayonet | Pte. Thomas | 1958 |
Black 13 | Joe | 1953 |
The Oblong Box | Ruddock | 1969 |
Impulse | uncredited | 1954 |
Just William's Luck | Tonks | 1947 |
Help Yourself | Charlie | 1950 |
Scarlet Web | Barman | 1954 |
The Prisoner of Zenda | 1979 | |
Three's Company | The Drunk | 1953 |
Look Back in Anger | Picky Shopper (uncredited) | 1959 |
River Beat | Adams | 1954 |
Moulin Rouge | Dodo (uncredited) | 1952 |
Melody Club | Max | 1949 |
I Was a Male War Bride | Male Billet Sergeant (uncredited) | 1949 |
Macbeth | First Murderer | 1971 |
Carry On Constable | Matt | 1960 |
Resting Rough | 1979 | |
Hoverbug | Mr. Gutteridge | 1969 |
Fiend Without a Face | Sgt. Kasper | 1958 |
Johnny on the Run | 1953 | |
The Copter Kids | Benny Baker | 1976 |
Strangler's Web | John Vichelski | 1965 |
William Comes to Town | 1948 | |
Candleshoe | Mr. McCress | 1977 |
The Quiet Woman | Lefty Brown | 1951 |
Her Favourite Husband | Pete | 1950 |
13 East Street | Joey Long | 1952 |
The Monster of Highgate Ponds | Bert | 1961 |
Quatermass 2 | Harry | 1957 |
All Coppers Are... | Heart Attack Victim (uncredited) | 1972 |
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes | Cabby | 1970 |
The Red Beret | American Sergeant | 1953 |
Devil's Point | Bennett, short henchman | 1954 |
Sleeping Car to Trieste | Spiegel | 1948 |
Batman | Scientist | 1989 |
Albert R.N. | Hank | 1953 |
Too Hot to Handle | Tourist Guide | 1960 |
Sink the Bismarck! | Able Seaman - Lookout on 'Suffolk' (uncredited) | 1960 |
Pit of Darkness | Fisher | 1961 |
Don't Ever Leave Me | Jim Kennedy | 1949 |
Love in Pawn | Alaric | 1953 |
The Adventurers | Detective | 1970 |
Genevieve | Trumpeter (Uncredited) | 1953 |
The Big Money | 'Wilberforce' | 1958 |
Venetian Bird | Moretto | 1952 |
Echo of Diana | Newsagent | 1963 |
Helter Skelter | Barman | 1949 |
The Fast Lady | Bandit | 1962 |
The Reluctant Bride | Boxer | 1955 |
It's a Great Day | Charlie Mead's Mate | 1955 |
The Steel Key | 'The Mae McCleod' Captain | 1953 |
Fahrenheit 451 | Book Person: Machiavelli's 'The Prince' (uncredited) | 1966 |
The Holcroft Covenant | Hard Hat | 1985 |
Stop Press Girl | Crook (uncredited) | 1949 |
The Sea Shall Not Have Them | Dray | 1954 |
Woman Hater | Reporter (uncredited) | 1948 |
The Flesh and the Fiends | Drunken Sailor | 1960 |
Kaleidoscope | Poker Player | 1966 |
The Krays | Referee | 1990 |
Surprise Package | Oscar | 1960 |
She Always Gets Their Man | Runkle | 1962 |
The Rescue Squad | Barrow-Boy | 1963 |
Series | Cast | Year |
Reluctant Bandit | Luigi | 1965 |
Interpol Calling | Russ | 1959 |
Interpol Calling | Inspector Hill | 1959 |
Hancock's Half Hour | 1956 | |
Dixon of Dock Green | Joe Ward | 1955 |
Dixon of Dock Green | Pip Rutley | 1955 |
The Larkins | Sharkey | 1958 |
Rogues' Gallery | Tom Meatyard | 1968 |
The Prisoner | Will | 1967 |
The Persuaders! | Donkey Cart Driver | 1971 |
Danger Man | Gaston | 1960 |
The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder | Albert | 1969 |
Kelly Monteith | 1979 | |
Department S | Eccles | 1969 |
The Cheaters | Harry | 1960 |
Armchair Theatre | Mr. Bollanger | 1956 |
Armchair Theatre | Ward | 1956 |
Dixon of Dock Green | Bill Nelson | 1955 |
Armchair Theatre | 1956 | |
Dixon of Dock Green | Nicky Medwin | 1955 |
The Cheaters | Freddy | 1960 |
Dixon of Dock Green | Hobbs | 1955 |
Dempsey and Makepeace | Jim Kelly | 1985 |
The Avengers | Tom | 1961 |
Sailor of Fortune | Alphonso Italian Ship's Engineer | 1957 |