x

Login

Remember me
Forget password ?

Or via social

x

sign up

person_profile-Bernard Miles

Bernard Miles Died at age: 83

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Bernard Miles

Date of Birth:

Sep 27, 1907

Country of birth:

UK

Died:

Jun 14, 1991

Biography of

Bernard Miles

    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.

Photos of

Bernard Miles

Photos ( 2 Photos

Filmography of

Bernard Miles

Found 46 Movies in total

... 1988

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life

Self (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1988

Treasure Island

Long John Silver ( Actor )

Writer

... 1982

Why Didn't They Ask Evans?

Dr. Thomas ( Actor )

... 1980

Run Wild, Run Free

Reg ( Actor )

... 1969

Heavens Above!

Simpson ( Actor )

... 1963

Sapphire

Ted Harris ( Actor )

... 1959

Tom Thumb

Jonathan ( Actor )

... 1958

Wuthering Heights

Joseph ( Actor )

... 1958

Saint Joan

Master Executioner ( Actor )

... 1957

... 1957

Fortune Is a Woman

Mr. Jerome ( Actor )

... 1957

Zarak

Hassu the one-eyed ( Actor )

... 1956

Tiger in the Smoke

Tiddy Doll the Gang Leader ( Actor )

... 1956

Moby Dick

The Manxman ( Actor )

... 1956

The Man Who Knew Too Much

Edward Drayton ( Actor )

... 1956

Never Let Me Go

Joe Brooks ( Actor )

... 1953

The Magic Box

Cousin Alfred ( Actor )

... 1952

Chance of a Lifetime

Stevens ( Actor )

Director

... 1950

The Guinea Pig

Mr. Read ( Actor )

Screenplay

... 1948

Fame Is the Spur

Tom Hannaway ( Actor )

... 1947

... 1947

Great Expectations

Joe Gargery ( Actor )

... 1946

Carnival

Trewhella ( Actor )

... 1946

Tawny Pipit

Colonel Barton-Barrington ( Actor )

Writer

... 1944

Tunisian Victory

British soldier (voice) ( Actor )

... 1944

The New Lot

Ted Loman ( Actor )

... 1943

In Which We Serve

Chief Petty Officer Hardy / Walter Hardy ( Actor )

... 1942

The Day Will Dawn

McAllister (Irish Soldier) ( Actor )

... 1942

One of Our Aircraft Is Missing

Geoff Hickman, Front Gunner in B for Bertie ( Actor )

... 1942

The Big Blockade

Royal Navy Mate ( Actor )

... 1942

Quiet Wedding

PC ( Actor )

... 1941

Freedom Radio

Capt. Muller ( Actor )

... 1941

Pastor Hall

Heinrich Degan ( Actor )

... 1940

Contraband

Man Lighting Pipe ( Actor )

... 1940

Band Waggon

Saboteur (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1940

The Lion Has Wings

Civilian Observer Controller ( Actor )

... 1939

The Spy in Black

Hans - Hotel Receptionist ( Actor )

... 1939

They Drive by Night

Detective at Billiard Halls (Uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1938

The Citadel

Medical Aid Society Committee Member (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1938

The Challenge

Villager ( Actor )

... 1938

Strange Boarders

Chemist (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1938

Crown v. Stevens

Detective Wells ( Actor )

... 1936

Late Extra

Charlie (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1935

The Guv'nor

Man at Meeting ( Actor )

... 1935

The Love Test

Allan ( Actor )

... 1935