Derek Jacobi had a pronounced stammer as a child and found that it disappeared when performing, which is a common enough story and rarely leads to this.
I, Claudius on television is the defining work, playing an emperor who survives by pretending to be a fool, across thirteen episodes and fifty years of narrative.
Gladiator, Henry V and Dead Again fill out the film career, and he has played Hamlet, Richard II and Lear on stage. He was knighted and holds two of the rare Shakespearean distinctions.
Colin FirthThe King's Speech (2010) rates 7 out of 10 on the rewatch scale. A well-made two-hander about a man with a stammer and the unqualified Australian who treated him, which beat The Social Network for Best Picture and Best Director…
Brian BlessedKenneth Branagh's 1989 directorial debut. Mud and blood Agincourt instead of Olivier's pageantry.
Alan BatesRobert Altman's 2001 English country house mystery with substantial class commentary. Julian Fellowes screenplay foreshadows Downton.
Connie NielsenGladiator is the film that revived the Hollywood epic. The 9 rating is honest evaluation.
Brian BlessedThe production budget was approximately three hundred thousand pounds, which was modest even by 1976 BBC standards. Herbert Wise directed all twelve episodes.
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