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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
April 8, 1928
Died
May 15, 1995
Place of Birth
Shepard's Bush, London, UK
Eric Porter
1.9 Popularity
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
0.0
Morecambe & Wise: Christmas Specials
2007
0.0
The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway
2003
0.0
Self (archive footage)
The Best of Morecambe and Wise
2001
0.0
James Player
Message for Posterity
1994
6.5
Self (archive footage)
The World of Hammer
1994
6.0
James Player
Performance
1991
5.6
Fagin
Oliver Twist
1985
5.5
Fagin
Oliver Twist
1985
8.1
Professor Moriarty
Sherlock Holmes
1984
6.4
Dimitri Bronowsky
The Jewel in the Crown
1984
Credits
Morecambe & Wise: Christmas Specials
2007
0.0
The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway
2003
0.0
The Best of Morecambe and Wise
as Self (archive footage)
2001
0.0
Message for Posterity
as James Player
1994
0.0
The World of Hammer
as Self (archive footage)
1994
6.5
Performance
as James Player
1991
6.0
Oliver Twist
as Fagin
1985
5.6
Oliver Twist
as Fagin
1985
5.5
Sherlock Holmes
as Professor Moriarty
1984
8.1
The Jewel in the Crown
as Dimitri Bronowsky
1984
6.4
A Shilling Life
as Petersham
1982
0.0
Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
as Neville Chamberlain
1981
5.0
The Sin Bin
as Stanley Wilkinson
1981
0.0
Little Lord Fauntleroy
as Mr. Havisham
1980
7.4
Hamlet
as Polonius
1980
6.1
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
as Dr. Nicholson
1980
6.6
🎬
The Crucible
as Deputy Governor Danforth
1980
1.0
Churchill and the Generals
as Gen. Sir Alan Brooke
1979
0.0
The Thirty Nine Steps
as Chief Superintendent Lomas
1978
6.7
Anna Karenina
as Karenin
1977
6.0
The Winslow Boy
as Arthur Winslow
1977
8.0
The Shetland Experience
as Narrator (voice)
1977
7.2
Hitler’s Germany - A World at War Special Presentation
as Narrator
1976
0.0
Hennessy
as Tobin
1975
4.7
🎬
The Statue and the Rose
as Parnell
1975
0.0
The Two Deaths of Adolf Hitler
as Narrator
1975
0.0
The Final Solution
as Narrator
1975
0.0
Callan
as Hunter
1974
6.9
Playhouse
as Petersham
1974
7.0
The Day of the Jackal
as Colonel Rodin
1973
7.5
Hitler: The Last Ten Days
as Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim
1973
6.1
The Belstone Fox
as Asher Smith
1973
7.2
Antony and Cleopatra
as Enobarbus
1972
5.5
Nicholas and Alexandra
as Stolypin
1971
6.9
Hands of the Ripper
as Dr. John Pritchard
1971
6.1
Play for Today
as Stanley Wilkinson
1970
6.3
🎬
Macbeth
as Macbeth
1970
0.0
Separate Tables
as Major Pollock / John Malcolm
1970
0.0
Morecambe & Wise: Christmas Specials
as Himself
1969
0.0
Civilisation
as Macbeth (voice)
1969
8.2
The Lost Continent
as Lansen
1968
5.5
The Forsyte Saga
as Soames Forsyte
1967
8.2
🎬
The Last Invasion
as Harold
1966
0.0
Kaleidoscope
as Harry Dominion
1966
4.9
The Heroes of Telemark
as Terboven
1965
6.9
BBC Play of the Month
as Cyrano de Bergerac
1965
5.0
BBC Play of the Month
as Councillor Albert Parker
1965
5.0
BBC Play of the Month
as Arthur Winslow
1965
5.0
BBC Play of the Month
as Jack Tanner
1965
5.0
BBC Play of the Month
as Maj. Pollock / John Malcolm
1965
5.0
BBC Play of the Month
as Macbeth
1965
5.0
The Wars of the Roses
as Henry VII
1965
8.5
Theatre 625
as 'Newton'
1964
7.2
The Fall of the Roman Empire
as Julianus
1964
6.5
Theatre Night
as Vadim Romanoff
1957
0.0
🎬
Emma
1948
0.0
Warrior - World at War Special Presentation
as Narrator
N/A
0.0
From War to Peace
as Narrator
N/A
0.0