Eric Porter
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.
Ask the Vault
Ask anything about Eric Porter.
Full filmography
- Play for Today (1970) as Stanley Wilkinson
- Sherlock Holmes (1984) as Professor Moriarty
- BBC Play of the Month (1965) as Cyrano de Bergerac
- BBC Play of the Month (1965) as Arthur Winslow
- BBC Play of the Month (1965) as Councillor Albert Parker
- BBC Play of the Month (1965) as Jack Tanner
- BBC Play of the Month (1965) as Maj. Pollock / John Malcolm
- BBC Play of the Month (1965) as Macbeth
- Playhouse (1974) as Petersham
- Theatre 625 (1964) as 'Newton'
- Performance (1991) as James Player
- The World of Hammer (1994) as Self (archive footage)
- The Day of the Jackal (1973) as Colonel Rodin
- The Forsyte Saga (1967) as Soames Forsyte
- The Jewel in the Crown (1984) as Dimitri Bronowsky
- Theatre Night (1957) as Vadim Romanoff
- The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986) as Professor Moriarty
- Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981) as Neville Chamberlain
- Anna Karenina (1977) as Karenin
- Oliver Twist (1985) as Fagin
- Civilisation (1969) as Macbeth (voice)
- The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) as Julianus
- Private Affairs (1975) as Charles Stewart Parnell
- Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980) as Mr. Havisham