Trivia: The 12th of 13 children of a Welsh miner, actor Richard Burton left his humble environs by winning a scholarship to Oxford. Blessed with a thrillingly theatrical voice, Burton took to the stage, and, by 1949, had been tagged as one of Britain's most promising newcomers. Director Philip Dunne, who later helmed several of Burton's Hollywood films, would recall viewing a 1949 London staging of The Lady's Not for Burning and watching in awe as star John Gielgud was eclipsed by juvenile lead Richard Burton: "He 'took' the stage and kept a firm grip on it during every one of his brief appearances." A few years after his film debut in The Last Days of Dolwyn (1949), the actor was signed by 20th Century Fox, which had hopes of turning him into the new Lawrence Olivier -- although Burton was not quite able to grip films as well as he did the stage. Aside from The Robe (1953), most of Burton's Fox films were disappointments, and the actor was unable to shake his to-the-rafters theatricality for the smaller scope of the camera lens. Still, he was handsome and self-assured, so Burton was permitted a standard-issue 1950s spectacle, Alexander the Great (1956). His own film greatness would not manifest itself until he played the dirt-under-the-nails role of Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger (1959). In this, he spoke the vernacular of regular human beings -- rather than that of high-priced, affected Hollywood screenwriters -- and delivered a jolting performance as a working-class man trapped by the system and his own personal demons. Following a well-received Broadway run in the musical Camelot, Burton was signed in 1961 to replace Stephen Boyd on the benighted film spectacular Cleopatra (1963). It probably isn't necessary to elaborate on what happened next, but the result was that Burton suddenly found himself an international celebrity, not for his acting, but for his tempestuous romance with co-star Elizabeth Taylor. A hot property at last, Burton apparently signed every long-term contract thrust in front of him, while television networks found themselves besieged with requests for screenings of such earlier Burton film "triumphs" as Prince of Players (1955) and The Rains of Ranchipur (1956). In the midst of the initial wave of notoriety, Burton appeared in a Broadway modern-dress version of Hamlet directed by John Gielgud, which played to standing-room-only crowds who were less interested in the melancholy Dane than in possibly catching a glimpse of the Lovely Liz. Amidst choice film work like Becket (1964) and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1966), Burton was also contractually obligated to appear with Taylor in such high-priced kitsch as The V.I.P.s, (1963) The Sandpiper (1965), and Boom! (1968). A few of the Burton/Taylor vehicles were excellent -- notably Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (she won an Oscar; he didn't, but should have) -- but the circus of publicity began to erode the public's ability to take Burton seriously. It became even harder when the couple divorced, remarried, and broke up again. Moreover, Burton was bound by contract to appear in such bland cinematic enterprises as Candy (1968), Villain (1971), The Assassination of Trotsky (1972), The Klansman (1974), and that rancid masterpiece Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977). So low had Burton's reputation sunk that when he delivered an Oscar-caliber performance in Equus (1977), it was hailed as a "comeback," even though the actor had never left. (Once again he lost the Oscar, this time to Richard Dreyfuss.) Burton managed to recapture his old performing fire in his last moviemaking years, offering up one of his best performances in his final picture, 1984 (1984). He died later that year.

Trivia: Lee Remick began her career as a dancer, then after acting onstage and TV she debuted onscreen in A Face in the Crowd (1957). Remick went on to a series of strong screen performances which established her as a major leading lady; for her work in Days of Wine and Roses (1962) she received a Best Actress Oscar nomination. She sustained a fairly busy screen career into the late '70s, meanwhile also working often on the stage and TV. From 1957-68 Remick was married to TV director-producer William Colleran. In 1970 she married director William Rory "Kip" Gowens, with whom she moved to England. In the '80s she rarely appeared onscreen but increased her work in TV movies and mini-series. In 1988 she formed a production company in partnership with James Garner and Peter Duchow. Remick died from cancer at age 55.

Trivia: British character Harry Andrews, who has appeared in a wide assortment of British, American, and international films, is best remembered for his portrayals of stern fellows or military men in films such as The Red Beret (1952), and Sands of the Kalahari (1965). Though almost always a supporting player, his performances often overshadow those of the stars. Before making his cinematic debut in the early '50s, Andrews graduated from Wrekin College. During the 1930s he began his career as a distinguished stage actor noted for his portrayals of Shakespearean roles. Though he was often typecast as the tough guy in films, Andrews broke the mold in his brilliant portrayal of a flamboyant homosexual in the 1970 black comedy Entertaining Mr. Sloane. Andrews' son David was a well-known child actor who eventually became a television director.

Trivia: A graduate of Britain's Brighton College, Michael Hordern entered the workaday world as a schoolteacher. Engaging in amateur theatricals in his off-hours, Hordern turned pro in 1937, making his film debut two years later. After serving in the Royal Navy from 1940 to 1945, Hordern returned to show business, matriculating into one of England's most delightful and prolific character actors. His extensive stage work included two Shakespearean roles that may as well have been for him: King Lear and The Tempest's Prospero. In films, Hordern appeared as Marley's Ghost in the 1951 Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol (1951), Demosthenes in Alexander the Great (1956), Cicero in Cleopatra (1963), Baptista in Zeffirelli's Taming of the Shrew (1967), Thomas Boleyn in Anne of a Thousand Days (1968), and Brownlow in the 1982 TV adaptation of Oliver Twist. Other significant movie credits include the lascivious Senex (he's the one who introduces the song "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid") in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), a pathetic Kim Philby type in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1967), theatre critic George Maxwell (who has his heart cut out by looney actor Vincent Price) in Theatre of Blood (1973), and what many consider his finest film assignment, the dissipated, disillusioned journalist in England Made Me (1983). He also served as offscreen narrator for Barry Lyndon (1976) and Young Sherlock Holmes (1985). Michael Hordern was knighted in 1983, and a decade later published his autobiography, A World Elsewhere.

Trivia: One of Britain's most distinguished stage performers, Derek Jacobi is one of two actors (the other being Laurence Olivier) to hold both Danish and English knighthoods. Primarily known for his work on the stage, he has also made a number of films and remains best-known to television audiences for his stunning portrayal of the titular Roman emperor in I, Claudius.Born in Leytonstone, East London, on October 22, 1938, Jacobi was raised with a love of film, and he began performing on the stage while attending an all-boys school. Thanks to the school's single sex population, his first roles with the drama club -- until his voice broke -- were all female. It was with one of his first male roles that Jacobi earned his first measure of acclaim: playing Hamlet in a school production staged at the 1957 Edinburgh Festival, he made enough of an impression that he was approached by an agent from Twentieth Century Fox. Ultimately deemed too young to be signed to the studio, Jacobi instead went to Cambridge University, where he studied history and continued acting. His stage work at Cambridge was prolific and allowed him to work with classmates Ian McKellen and Trevor Nunn, and, thanks to his performance as Edward II, landed him his first job after graduation. Jacobi acted with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre until his portrayal of Henry VIII attracted the attention of Laurence Olivier. Olivier was so impressed with Jacobi's work that he invited him to London to become one of the eight founding members of the prestigious National Theatre.Jacobi went on to become one of his country's most steadily employed and respected actors, performing in numerous plays over the years on both sides of the Atlantic (in 1985, he won a Tony Award for his work in Much Ado About Nothing). He also branched out into film and television, making his film debut with a secondary role in Douglas Sirk's Interlude (1957). He acted in numerous film adaptations of classic plays, including Othello (1965) and The Three Sisters (1970). However, it was through his collaborations with Kenneth Branagh on various screen adaptations of Shakespeare that he became most visible to an international film audience, appearing as the Chorus in Branagh's acclaimed 1989 Henry V and as Claudius in the director's 1996 full-length adaptation of Hamlet. Jacobi made one of his most memorable (to say nothing of terrifying) screen impressions in Branagh's Hitchcock-inspired Dead Again (1991), portraying a hypnotist with a very shady background. In 1998, Jacobi earned more recognition with his portrayal of famed painter Francis Bacon in John Maybury's controversial Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon.On television, in addition to his celebrated work in I, Claudius, Jacobi has also earned praise for his roles in a number of other productions. In 1989, he won an Emmy for his performance in the 1988 adaptation of Graham Greene's The Tenth Man.In 1994 he began a successful run as a mystery-solving monk in the TV series Cadfael, a program that ran for three years. He had a Shakespeare heavy 1996 playing Claudius opposite Branagh's Hamlet, and appearing in Al Pacino's documentary Looking for Richard. He lent his voice to the animated version of Beowulf. He began the new century appearing in the Best Picture winner Gladiator, and was part of the rich ensemble compiled by Robert Altman for Gosford Park. In 2005 he was in the cast of the hit children's film Nanny McPhee, and two years later he was in The Golden Compass. In 2010 he appeared in another Oscar winning best picture when he was in The King's Speech. The next year he appeared in Anonymous as well as My Week With Marilyn.

Trivia: Supporting actor, onscreen from the '50s.

Trivia: Jeremy Brett was a gifted yet ultimately underappreciated Thespian whose symbiotic relationship with the character Sherlock Holmes has earned him a permanent place in the livelihood of the fictitious legend as well as Baker Street Irregulars and the like. (His portrayal of the character is, arguably, the most authentic and revered today.) Born Jeremy Peter William Huggins in Berkswell, Warwickshire, England, in 1933, Brett was the son of Henry and Elizabeth Huggins along with his three brothers, John, Patrick, and Michael. His father was a Lieutenant Colonel in the army and did not want the family name associated with the dubious world of the theatrical, so young Brett plucked his stage name from the tag in his first suit, Brett & Co. He made his professional stage debut in Manchester, England, in the company of the Library Theatre in 1954. Brett's early work on the stage included everything from the classic to the avant-garde in nature; he was a diverse and multifaceted performer, who even worked alongside the likes of Charlton Heston (playing Dr. Watson oddly enough). He was still a fledgling at London's Central School of Speech and Drama when he made his first uncredited feature-film appearance in Svengali.Brett's photograph in a British actors publication caught the eye of American filmmaker King Vidor, who subsequently cast him as Nicholai Rostov in his adaptation of Tolstoy's War and Peace (1956); the film marked his first encounter with future co-star Audrey Hepburn. After a stint in film, Brett returned to the London stage and joined the Old Vic theater company touring England and Canada, and it finally landed him right on Broadway in the U.S. Brett made his first U.S. television appearance on March 4, 1957, as Paris in an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. He continued to act in London plays and sing in musicals into his late twenties, including an important role as Hamlet in 1961. He married fellow Thespian Anna Massey in 1958; however, the marriage was short-lived. The couple had one son, David, for whom they continued to care for adequately in the aftermath of their divorce.The early '60s found Brett collaborating with renowned British actor/director Laurence Olivier, who offered him supporting roles in his productions of Othello and Hamlet. Brett would have been more inclined to focus on these stage roles if he hadn't been distracted by the filming of My Fair Lady, in which he sang alongside Audrey Hepburn as Freddy Eynesford-Hill. Olivier did his best to get Brett to stay in London, but Hollywood and the West Coast were too alluring for the adventurous young man, who was always up for an adventure. After the filming of My Fair Lady finally ended, Brett partook in a number of theatrical pieces including Rolf Hochhuth's The Deputy and Turgenev's A Month in the Country. Taking a nod from director Olivier and other patrons of London's National Theatre, Brett finally made his debut with the prestigious company in 1967 as Orlando in Shakespeare's As You Like It, which premiered with mixed reviews. He also appeared with the company in MacRune's Guevara (as Che Guavara, reportedly spending time hitchhiking around South America to fully understand his character), The Merchant of Venice, and Hedda Gabler, directed by Ingmar Bergman. The '70s attracted Brett more to television and radio with a few small intermissions on the stage; he was a player in the 1976 Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada. Television, however, brought him together with his second wife, producer Joan Sullivan (aka Joan Wilson), on the set of Rebecca. The two claim it was love at first sight, and they were married in November of 1977 until her untimely death from cancer in 1985. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes had begun filming that year, thanks to producer and Brett-enthusiast Michael Cox; Brett continued to work through his period of grief, performing in Aren't We All through the end of July and then showed up to start filming The Return of Sherlock Holmes in August of that same year. As he fought to belie his inward grief through continuous working, his emotions finally caught up with him, and he had a breakdown of sorts after finishing the first few episodes of the Return series in 1986. It was at this point that Brett was officially diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a sickness which had gone mostly undocumented throughout his life and was played off as indiosyncracies of an impulsive actor amongst his friends and associates.Aside from his loss and psychological demons at bay, Brett's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in the Granada series was to be his most poignant work, partly due to the emotive energy he channeled into it from his personal standpoint. He approached the role with utter seriousness and respect for the detective; Brett was a staunch critic in keeping true to the historical and literary keynotes from the stories, which resulted in a stylish, witty, and sophisticated interpretation of the singular friendship between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. At the same time, Brett articulated facets of Holmes that went beyond the stories, creating a fresh and more vibrant (and sometimes more comical) Holmes than had been seen before. The Granada anthology includes The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes; four feature films were also produced from the short novels -- A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and The Master Blackmailer (adapted from Doyle's The Valley of Fear). Brett was not only manic depressive, but he also had a continually failing heart; his condition was further compromised by heavy smoking, a grueling work schedule, and an already weakened heart from a spout with rheumatic fever as a child. He had become compulsive and brooding like the Holmes he portrayed in The Secret of Sherlock Holmes, a centennial commemorative play written by his good friend, Jeremy Paul, the man who also wrote a number of Holmes episodes for Granada. The Secret ran a rigorous year in the U.K. and finally came to a close in late 1989. By then, Brett's health was waning; his last appearances were on the set of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes at 221b Baker Street. He passed away on September 12, 1995, in his sleep at his home in Clapham Common. His career legacy is still treasured to many, and his portraiture of the famous detective hero will always remain in the hearts of Sherlockians everywhere.

Trivia: British stage and screen actor Alan Badel flourished from his debut in the early 1940s to the late 1970s. He made both his English and American film bows in 1953, with Britain's The Stranger Left No Card and Hollywood's Salome (as John the Baptist). One film historian has commented that the versatile but plain-looking Badel was "not easy to cast in leading roles," but the actor enjoyed at least one starring part, as German composer Richard Wagner, in the 1956 biopic Magic Fire. Alan Badel was the father of actress Sarah Badel.

Trivia: In films since at least 1963's The Scarlet Blade, British actor Michael Byrne has had roles ranging from the benign to the malevolent. He was equally at home with the Olde English trappings of Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1973) as he was with the up-to-date gangster ambience of The Long Good Friday (1982). Among his credits were Butley (1974), A Bridge too Far (1977) (halfway down the cast sheet as Lt. Col. Vandelur), The Medusa Touch (1978) and Force 10 from Navarone (1978). In 1989, Michael Byrne played Vogel, one of the multitudes of plot motivators in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Trivia: In his earliest films (his first was 1942's The Foreman Went to France), Scottish actor Gordon Jackson was often seen as a weakling or coward. As age added character to his face, Jackson eased into roles of quiet authority, notably butlers and businessmen. Of his many British and American films, the highlights of Jackson's career include Whisky Galore (1948), Tunes of Glory (1960) and The Ipcress File (1965). On television, Gordon Jackson was seen as Hudson the butler on the internationally popular serial Upstairs, Downstairs (1973-74), and he later co-starred on the domestically distributed British series The Professionals (1977-81).

Trivia: British actor Robert Flemyng worked steadily in both London and Broadway after his stage debut in 1931. Head Over Heels (1936) was his first film, but he wouldn't return to moviemaking full time until after his World War II military service--a conspicuous period for Flemyng, who was awarded the Military Cross and the OBE. The actor settled into a long film career playing dignified character roles in 1947, starting with Bond Street. Perhaps his flashiest movie role (albeit still played with a measure of dignity) was the necrophiliac title character in The Horrible Dr. Hitchcock (1962). In 1992, Robert Flemyng was still pursuing his life's work, appearing with Jeremy Irons, Theresa Russell and Joel Grey in the moody biopic Kafka.

Trivia: British character actor Bird has been onscreen from 1954.

Trivia: Though his parts were often on the smallish side, British actor Philip Stone has been fortunate enough to appear in several international movie moneymakers. He was seen in the James Bond opus Thunderball (1965), in producer Dino De Laurentiis' Flash Gordon (1980), and in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1985) (as Captain Blumbartt). He had occasional important roles in a few non-hits as well, such as Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973), in which he played General Jodl. Stone was also an off-and-on particpant in the long-running Carry On series of British slapstick comedy films. As a member of director Stanley Kubrick's informal "stock company," Philip Stone appeared in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971), Barry Lyndon (1976) and The Shining (1978).

Trivia: Though he may have been best known to U.K. audiences for his roles in such television series as London's Burning and Young, Gifted and Broke, stage and screen actor James Hazeldine would find true career fulfillment under the bright lights of the stage. Born in Salford, Lancashire, England, in April 1947, Hazeldine made his Broadway debut in the 1984 production of Strange Interludes. Though Hazeldine would later return to the stage alongside Kevin Spacey in The Iceman Cometh, he would work extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company for roles in such productions as Troilus and Cressida and The Fool. Later serving as television's first incarnation of Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger, film appearances included The Medusa Touch (1978), Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982), and A Small Dance (1991). Falling ill just four short days into his run in the Royal National Theater production of The Talking Cure, James Hazeldine died in London. He was 55.

Trivia: Scowling British character actor, onscreen from 1963.