Brian Blessed, the only choice of actor if you need a loud, jolly yet battle ready, eccentric king, has a great many strings to his bow.
Below are just some of the reasons that he is probably the best person ever… if his beard wasn’t enough!
He has several fantastic catchphrases
“Gordon’s Alive!”
“I’ll shag anything that moves!”
“I’m Boss Nass, King of the Gungans!” (along with face wobble)
“Don’t let the bastards grind you down!”
This video
He’s the oldest man to visit the North Pole and the Magnetic North Pole
There’s more. It get’s better!
Being an animal lover, he refused to take a gun to defend himself on the journey.
One night a polar bear approached his camp and tore it’s way into his tent. Where any other man would soil themselves, Brian stood, yelled and punched the bear in the face.
They never saw the bear again.
He challenged Picasso’s art skills and declared himself winner
As a child he met Picasso and asked him to draw him something. In about twenty seconds, Picasso doodled a dove of peace. Brian looked at it, handed it back and said “I’ll show you how to draw a dove!”
He drew his own and gave it to Picasso.
The Picasso dove now hangs in a gallery in Sheffield valued at 57 million pounds. Brian’s father was understandably upset.
He boxed the Dalai Lama
Brian is on friendly terms with the Lama (I think the Lama likes everyone though) and share their age.
On one of his visits he noticed that His Holiness owned two pairs of boxing gloves, previously owned by World Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis. Being Yorkshire schoolboy champion, Brian challenged him to a sparring match.
Of course Brian went easy on him and let the Lama win, going down after a light knock to the chin.
He owns at least 2000 pets
They include cats, dogs, ponies, ducks, chickens, donkeys, robins and many others.
He does an amazing Pavarotti
He can do the Tarzan yell
He was a paratrooper
He completed his national service in the RAF in one of the most challenging roles.
He went to theatre school with Patrick Stewart
His training was at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. You know who the cool kids were in that class!
He is a master plasterer
Just another of his many skills.
In his dreams he meets and speaks with the most important figures in history
Brian has said that he has met Jesus, Buddha and Mohammad.
I imagine he’s one of very few people worthy of their time.
This video
He’s climbed Everest three times
Although, he’s never made the top this is still amazingly impressive. That’s not to say he hasn’t made the summit of several other difficult climbs including Mount Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Obviously he’s keen to keep trying until he manages it. He says he’s lucky to be able to do so at his age as he has lungs twice the size of a normal man.
He also encourages people to not use oxygen supplies on the climb as it detracts from the human achievement.
One of his Everest expeditions had to be cut short as he had to save the life of another climber.
Another was interrupted by an avalanche. As the snow tumbled towards him he simply raised his arms, shook his fists and yelled ‘We came in peace!’
He was to play Queen Elizabeth
After the first series of Blackadder, in which Brian was the king, he was offered the part of the queen in the next installment. His character would have been a lot more attracted to Rowan Atkinsons. He unfortunately couldn’t do it as he was unavailable.
He won’t let skeptics grind him down
Through his travels he has come to believe that there is a good chance that Yetis exist.
Normally, I’d be skeptical of anyone who made that suggestion, but as it is Mr Blessed, it would be ridiculous to not trust him on this one.
Himalayan locals have explained to him that the beast they seek bears a strong resemblance to him.
Next year (2014) he will be the oldest man in space
Fully trained and ready to go, Brian is keen to realise a lifelong dream and get out of the atmosphere for his next adventure.
He survived a plane crash
On an expedition into the jungles of Venezuela the journey started quite dramatically.
The trip also involved a swim across the Amazon with Pemon Indians, all of them naked, while piranha’s nibbled at them.
The trek through the jungle lasted 11 days, before they were found by a Jack Russell who happened to be owned a shaman in the group which led them to safety.
He does a lot for charity
Be it for Scope or saving badgers, he’s always willing to aid a good cause.
