The first volume of Brian Blessed's autobiography, providing an evocation of his wartime childhood in rural England _______________________ The son of a Yorkshire miner with strong left-wing sympathies, Brian Blessed was born in 1936 and grew up in the mining village of Goldthorpe. As well as roaming the railway tracks and the countryside as leader of a gang of small boys, he met Picasso, Paul Robeson and George VI, and disappeared from home to cycle 11 miles to see the famous boxer, Bruce Woodcock. The idyll evaporated when Blessed was forced to leave school long before his friends, as his family could not afford to keep him there. Unhappy and solitary, he worked for an undertaker and then as a plasterer, and joined the Theatre Guild at Mexborough Schofield Technical School. After suffering a nervous breakdown at 18 and recovering with the help of his speech teacher, he began his career as an actor.

About the Author
Brian Blessed grew up in Goldthorpe, Yorkshire, and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His television appearances include Z-Cars, Boy Dominic, I, Claudius, Cold Comfort Farm, The Little World of Don Camillo, Blackadder, My Family and Other Animals, The History of Tom Jones and Peppa Pig. His films include The Trojan Women, Flash Gordon, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, As You Like It, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Brian is also an explorer and mountaineer. He became the oldest man to reach the North Magnetic Pole on foot in 1999 and to reach 28,000 feet of Everest without oxygen. He lives in Surrey with his wife, Hildegard Neil.


Book Information
ISBN 9780747512752
Author Brian Blessed
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 580g