Michael Sheard

Michael Sheard
Born	Michael Lawson Sheard 18 June 1938(1938-06-18) Aberdeen, Scotland
Died	31 August 2005(2005-08-31) (aged 65) Isle of Wight, England

Michael Sheard (18 June 1938^[1] – 31 August 2005) was a Scottish actor who featured in a large number of films and television programmes.

Early life

Sheard was born in Aberdeen, Scotland; the son of a church minister, and was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. During his national service, Sheard was a Royal Air Force aircraftman.

Career

Sheard is most known for playing villains. His most prominent television role was as strict deputy headmaster Maurice Bronson in the British children's series Grange Hill which he played from 1985-89. His most prominent film role was that of Admiral Ozzel in The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

In addition to his Star Wars role, Sheard had a lengthy affiliation with science fiction, and has appeared in six different stories in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, appearing with the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Seventh Doctors. He provided a DVD commentary for the 1975 Doctor Who adventure Pyramids of Mars, in which he appeared, and he also worked with Eighth Doctor Paul McGann, in "The Stones of Venice", a Doctor Who audio drama produced by Big Finish Productions. He was a regular guest at both Doctor Who and Star Wars conventions over the years in the UK and the US.

Further to this, he had guest roles in Colditz (1972), On The Buses (1973), Space: 1999 (1975), The Tomorrow People (1978), and Blake's 7 (1980).

Sheard portrayed Adolf Hitler five times throughout his career, including in The Tomorrow People (1978) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Rogue Male (1976). He has also portrayed Heinrich Himmler three times. In 1983, he played "Herr Grunwald", the German manager of a building site in the first series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.

In 1980, he had a major supporting role in Stephen Poliakoff's acclaimed BBC television play Caught on a Train.

In February 2005 he played a small cameo role as the narrator in Star Wars fan film Order of the Sith: Vengeance and its sequel Downfall - Order of the Sith - alongside Jeremy Bulloch and David Prowse. These fan films were made in England in support of Save the Children.

Personal life

Sheard died on 31 August 2005 (aged 67) at his home on the Isle of Wight. He had been suffering from cancer. A few weeks previously on 9 August he appeared via telephone on the Iain Lee show on LBC and talked about his career in film and television.

Filmography

• Crossroads (1964) (TV)
• The Likely Lads (1964) (TV)
• Doctor Who (1966, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1982, 1988) (TV)
• The McKenzie Break (1970)
• Holiday on the Buses (1973)
• Fall of Eagles (1974) (TV)
• Five Red Herrings (1975) (TV)
• Rogue Male(1976)(TV)
• The Hiding Place (1975)
• Lillie (1978) (TV)
• Force 10 from Navarone (1978)
• Les Misérables (1978) (TV)
• The Riddle of the Sands (1979)
• Escape to Athena (1979)
• Minder (1979)
• Caught on a Train (1980)
• Blake's 7 (1980) (TV)
• Take the High Road (1980) (TV)
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• The Bunker (1981) (TV)
• Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983–84) (TV)
• The Invisible Man (1984) (TV)
• Grange Hill (1985–1989) (TV)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) (uncredited)
• Coronation Street (1989) (TV)
• 'Allo 'Allo! (1991) (TV)
• Shadows In The Woods (2006)

References

1. ^ Date of birth from obituaries printed in The Independent and The Times. Sheard's official website claims date of birth as 1940.

Bibliography

• Yes, Mr Bronson: Memoirs of a Bum Actor (ISBN 1-84024-007-5) published in 1997
• Yes, Admiral (ISBN 1-84024-103-9) published in 1999
• Yes, School's Out! (ISBN 90-76953-42-2) published 2001
• Yes, It's Photographic! published in 2004

External links

• Michael Sheard at the Internet Movie Database
• Bio at Ancestry.com - shows birth year as 1938
• Obit from The Independent also shows birth year as 1938
• Obituary: The Guardian shows incorrect birth year

Persondata
Name	Sheard, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	18 June 1938
Place of birth	Aberdeen, Scotland
Date of death	31 August 2005
Place of death	Isle of Wight, England