Brian Bedford

Brian Bedford was a British actor best known for his work on the Canadian stage and screen, including 29 seasons with the Stratford Festival in southern Ontario. He began performing with the company in 1974, playing Shakespearean roles including Hamlet, Brutus, Macbeth, Richard II and Richard III, among others.

Bedford got his start, however, in 1959 on Broadway, where he performed in a total of 18 productions. He received seven Tony nominations over the course of his career, winning one in 1971 for his role as Arnolphe in Molière’s School for Wives. His most recent nomination came in 2011, for his performance in the role of Lady Bracknell, for Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

Bedford also appeared on television, including roles on the series Sir Francis Drake; Ben Casey; Murder, She Wrote; Cheers; The Equalizer; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; Frasier; Great Performances and Black Jesus.

Perhaps his best known screen credit was for voicing the title role in the 1973 animated film Robin Hood. Additionally, he appeared in the films The Angry Silence; Grand Prix, with James Garner and Eva Marie Saint; Nixon, starring Anthony Hopkins; and The Importance of Being Earnest, the 2011 live production, which was filmed for the big screen.

In 1996, Bedford earned a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination alongside his Nixon co-stars in the category of outstanding performance by a cast.

He was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 1997.

Bedford died January 13, 2016, in Santa Barbara, California. He was 80.