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Brian Bedford (born 16 February 1935) is an English actor. He has appeared on the stage and in film, and is known for both acting in and directing Shakespeare. Bedford was born in Morley, West Riding of Yorkshire (present day West Yorkshire), the son of Ellen (née O'Donnell) and Arthur Bedford, a postman. Bedford attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London from 1952–1954 and was in the same class as Albert Finney, Alan Bates and Peter O'Toole. Primarily a stage actor, he is known for his English-speaking interpretations of the French playwright Molière, including Tony Award... MORE

Brian Bedford (born 16 February 1935) is an English actor. He has appeared on the stage and in film, and is known for both acting in and directing Shakespeare. Bedford was born in Morley, West Riding of Yorkshire (present day West Yorkshire), the son of Ellen (née O'Donnell) and Arthur Bedford, a postman. Bedford attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London from 1952–1954 and was in the same class as Albert Finney, Alan Bates and Peter O'Toole. Primarily a stage actor, he is known for his English-speaking interpretations of the French playwright Molière, including Tony Award nominated performances in Tartuffe, The Molière Comedies (a double bill of the short plays The School for Husbands and The Imaginary Cuckold) and The School for Wives, for which he received the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. He has done a great deal of Shakespearean work, notably as Ariel in The Tempest opposite John Gielgud's Prospero in 1958, Angelo in Measure for Measure at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 1975 and 1976, and The Public Theater's New York Shakespeare Festival Shakespeare in the Park productions of As You Like It (as Orlando), and Timon of Athens (as LESS