Oct 3, 1911

Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Date of Death
2 May 1995, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK. (kidney disease)


Birth Name
Michael Murray Hordern


Mini Biography
Following a brief teaching career, Michael Hordern made his stage debut in 1937. He made his film debut in 1939, but his career was stalled by WWII. He resumed his acting career in 1946, both in theatre and films. He hit his stride in the 1960s playing befuddled characters, particularly stuffy public officials. He was knighted in 1983.

Some of Hordern's ... ... (read more...) finest work was not in films or television but on radio: His performance as Gandalf in the BBC's radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings was arguably the definitive portrayal of that character (contrast Hordern's Gandalf with that of Ian McKellen in the 3-part film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings directed by Peter Jackson).

On the Wogan chat show he said he refused the offers to play the second Doctor Who (played by Patrick Troughton) and Maigret (played by Rupert Davies).

He and Ian McKellen, who have both played Gandalf, also share the same middle name of Murray.

He was awarded the 1988 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) Special Award.

Terry Gilliam's first casting choice for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988).

Made his professional debut in 1937 at the People's Palace, east London, playing Lodovico in "Othello". Later in the year he joined the repertory company of the Little Theatre in Bristol; it was here that he met his future wife, actress Eve Mortimer. They had one daughter.

He and brother Peter were educated at Brighton College.

Notable stage work for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford and in London, at the Old Vic and in the West End. In addition to his many Shakespearean roles (As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Twelfth Night), Hordern performed in plays by Strindberg, Chekhov, Ibsen, Pinero, Pinter, Dürrenmatt, Albee, Alan Ayckbourn, David Mercer and Tom Stoppard. His King Lear is considered his most respected work, which he also played on the BBC.