Name
Eric Porter
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1928-04-08
Deathday
1995-05-15 (67 years old)
Place of Birth
Shepard's Bush, London, UK
Biography
A highly respected Shakespearean for five decades until his death of colon cancer in 1995, classical actor Eric Porter's claim to international fame would, ironically, be outside of that realm, with one superb portrayal in one superb miniseries, The Forsyte Saga(1967), in which he won the BAFTA award. The son of Richard John Porter and Phoebe Elizabeth Spall, Porter first attended Wimbledon Technical College before stepping onto the stage as a walk-on in a production of William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" in February 1945 at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge. He continued in repertory until joining the National Service with the RAF during the war years. Early post-war credits would include touring with Sir Donald Wolfit and Sir Barry Jackson in their prestigious companies. Favorite roles in his repertoire would eventually include "Macbeth", "King Lear" and "Uncle Vanya". He won London's Evening Standard Award for "Rosmersholm" in 1959. Joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960, he became a prime, esteemed resident for decades. Porter made his film debut in mid-career with The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) at age 36, but it was the BBC that made him an international favorite as the ever-proper but intensely emotional and unhinged "Soames Forsyte". Taboos were broken on that series with a violent rape scene that had people talking for months. Along with the newly acquired fame came leads in lesser films such as The Lost Continent(1968) and Hands of the Ripper (1971), adding class to both those atmospheric horrors. On the plus side, Porter engaged himself frequently in quality TV miniseries fare includingAnna Karenina (1977), The Jewel in the Crown (1984) and Oliver Twist (1985) (as Fagin), while transferring many classics to TV as well, with "Cyrano de Bergerac", "Man and Superman" and "Macbeth" being but a few.
Known For
7.526
An international assassin known as ‘The Jackal’ is employed by disgruntled French gene...
6.9
Set in German-occupied Norway, resistance fighter Knut Straud enlists the reluctant physic...
6.452
In the year 180 A.D. Germanic tribes are about to invade the Roman empire from the north. ...
7
Tsar Nicholas II, the inept last monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people...
7.311
Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after ...
5.3
Barney Lincoln is a rambling gambling man who scores sensational wins at poker and chemin ...
6.2
A series of murders occur that mirror those committed by the Whitechapel Ripper. Through h...
6.733
The year is 1914 and Richard Hannay, Mining Engineer who is visiting Britain for a short t...
6.198
Hitler: The Last Ten Days takes us into the depths of der Furher’s Berlin bunker during ...
- 1973 The Day of the Jackal as Colonel Rodin
- 1968 The Lost Continent as Lansen
- 1966 Kaleidoscope as Harry Dominion
- 1978 The Thirty Nine Steps as Chief Superintendent Lomas
- 1964 The Fall of the Roman Empire as Julianus
- 1971 Hands of the Ripper as Dr. John Pritchard
- 1974 Callan as Hunter
- 1972 Antony and Cleopatra as Enobarbus
- 1980 Why Didn't They Ask Evans? as Dr. Nicholson
- 1973 The Belstone Fox as Asher Smith
- 1994 Message for Posterity as James Player
- 1985 Oliver Twist as Fagin
- 1970 Macbeth as Macbeth
- 1977 The Shetland Experience as Narrator (voice)
- 1980 Little Lord Fauntleroy as Mr. Havisham
- 1977 The Winslow Boy as Arthur Winslow
- 2001 The Best of Morecambe and Wise as Self (archive footage)
- 1973 Hitler: The Last Ten Days as Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim
- 1975 Hennessy as Tobin
- 1965 The Heroes of Telemark as Terboven
- 1981 The Crucible as Deputy Governor Danforth
- 1979 Churchill and the Generals as Gen. Sir Alan Brooke
- 1980 Hamlet as Polonius
- 1981 The Sin Bin as Stanley Wilkinson
- 1970 Separate Tables as Major Pollock / John Malcolm
- 1971 Nicholas and Alexandra as Stolypin
- 1965 The Wars of the Roses as Henry VII
- 2003 The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway
- 2007 Morecambe & Wise: Christmas Specials
- 1966 The Last Invasion as Harold
- 1948 Emma
- 1982 A Shilling Life as Petersham
- 1975 The Final Solution as Narrator
- 1975 The Two Deaths of Adolf Hitler as Narrator
- 1974 From War to Peace as Narrator
- 1974 Warrior - World at War Special Presentation as Narrator
- 1976 Hitler’s Germany - A World at War Special Presentation as Narrator
- 1975 The Statue and the Rose as Parnell
- 1970 Play for Today ( 1 episode ) as Stanley Wilkinson
- 1965 BBC Play of the Month ( 1 episode ) as Cyrano de Bergerac
- 1981 Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years ( 8 episodes ) as Neville Chamberlain
- 1977 Anna Karenina ( 10 episodes ) as Karenin
- 1967 The Forsyte Saga ( 26 episodes ) as Soames Forsyte
- 1969 Civilisation ( 1 episode ) as Macbeth (voice)
- 1965 BBC Play of the Month ( 1 episode ) as Councillor Albert Parker
- 1965 BBC Play of the Month ( 1 episode ) as Arthur Winslow
- 1984 Sherlock Holmes ( 3 episodes ) as Professor Moriarty
- 1969 Morecambe & Wise: Christmas Specials ( 8 episodes ) as Himself
- 1991 Performance ( 1 episode ) as James Player
- 1974 Playhouse ( 1 episode ) as Petersham
- 1965 BBC Play of the Month ( 1 episode ) as Jack Tanner
- 1965 BBC Play of the Month ( 1 episode ) as Maj. Pollock / John Malcolm
- 1965 BBC Play of the Month ( 1 episode ) as Macbeth
- 1984 The Jewel in the Crown ( 6 episodes ) as Dimitri Bronowsky
- 1964 Theatre 625 ( 1 episode ) as 'Newton'
- 1957 Theatre Night ( 1 episode ) as Vadim Romanoff
- 1994 The World of Hammer ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
- 1975 Private Affairs ( 1 episode ) as Charles Stewart Parnell
- 1970 Solo ( 1 episode )
- 1986 The Return of Sherlock Holmes ( 1 episode ) as Professor Moriarty
- 1984 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ( 2 episodes ) as Professor Moriarty
- 1975 The Final Solution ( 2 episodes ) as Self - Narrator
- 1965 Knock on Any Door ( 1 episode ) as Johnny Isaacs
- 1985 Oliver Twist ( 10 episodes ) as Fagin
