Bernard Miles

Bernard Miles

  • Birthday: 1907-09-27
  • Deathday: 1991-06-14
  • Place of birth: Uxbridge, Hillingdon, Middlesex, England, UK

Biography

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.

Filmography

Tawny Pipit

1944

As Colonel Barton-Barrington

The Dawn Guard

1941

As Farmer

Henry Moore

1951

As Narrator

The New Lot

1943

As Ted Loman

Barbara Hepworth

1961

As Narrator

Two Fathers

1944

As The Englishman

Never Let Me Go

1953

As Joe Brooks

Why Didn't They Ask Evans?

1980

As Dr. Thomas

The Guinea Pig

1948

As Mr. Read

Tunisian Victory

1944

As British soldier (voice)

In Which We Serve

1942

As Chief Petty Officer Hardy / Walter Hardy

Chance of a Lifetime

1950

As Stevens

Fame Is the Spur

1947

As Tom Hannaway

Treasure Island

1982

As Long John Silver

The Man Who Knew Too Much

1956

As Edward Drayton

One of Our Aircraft Is Missing

1942

As Geoff Hickman, Front Gunner in B for Bertie

Tiger in the Smoke

1956

As Tiddy Doll the Gang Leader

Carnival

1946

As Trewhella

Great Expectations

1946

As Joe Gargery

Sapphire

1959

As Ted Harris

Run Wild, Run Free

1969

As Reg

Heavens Above!

1963

As Simpson

The Big Blockade

1942

As Royal Navy Mate

Twelve Good Men

1936

As Inspector Pine

Moby Dick

1956

As The Manxman

Tom Thumb

1958

As Jonathan

Zarak

1956

As Hassu the one-eyed

Late Extra

1935

As Charlie (uncredited)

The Love Test

1935

As Allan

The Rebel Son

1938

As Polish Prisoner

Wuthering Heights

1958

As Joseph

Quiet Wedding

1941

As PC

Crown v. Stevens

1936

As Detective Wells

Fortune Is a Woman

1957

As Mr. Jerome

Pastor Hall

1940

As Heinrich Degan

Freedom Radio

1941

As Capt. Muller

The Guv'nor

1935

As Man at Meeting

Saint Joan

1957

As Master Executioner

The Common Touch

1941

As Cricket Steward

The Day Will Dawn

1942

As McAllister (Irish Soldier)

They Drive by Night

1938

As Detective at Billiard Halls (Uncredited)

Strange Boarders

1938

As Chemist (uncredited)

The Spy in Black

1939

As Hans - Hotel Receptionist

The Challenge

1938

As Villager

Band Waggon

1940

As Saboteur (uncredited)

The Lion Has Wings

1939

As Civilian Observer Controller

The Citadel

1938

As Medical Aid Society Committee Member (uncredited)

Contraband

1940

As Man Lighting Pipe

The Magic Box

1952

As Cousin Alfred

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life

1988

As Self (archive footage)

Production

Chance of a Lifetime

1950

As Director

Tawny Pipit

1944

As Director

Tawny Pipit

1944

As Producer

Tawny Pipit

1944

As Writer

Thunder Rock

1942

As Screenplay

The Goose Steps Out

1942

As Idea

The Guinea Pig

1948

As Screenplay

Treasure Island

1982

As Writer

Lock Up Your Daughters

1969

As Writer

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