Michael Kilgarriff (born 16 June 1937) is an English actor, author and pianist from

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. As an actor, he is well known for his rich voice and height. His film and television roles include ''

The Dark Crystal ''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and The J ...

'' (1982) as the General, and the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' serials ''

The Tomb of the Cybermen ''The Tomb of the Cybermen'' is the first serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was originally broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 September 1967. In the serial, the ...

'' (1967), ''

Robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

'' (1974–75) and ''

Attack of the Cybermen ''Attack of the Cybermen'' is the first serial of the 22nd season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 5 and 12 January 1985. It was credited to the pseudonymous autho ...

'' (1985). For details of publications and BBC Radio productions see website.

Career

Acting

At tall, he is sought for certain roles, such as the Cyber Controller in ''

'', a role he played in 1967 and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. He also appeared in the series as an

Ogron Ogrons are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Ogrons are low-intelligence, ape-like hominids who live in scattered communities on the rocky planet Ograviss, on the outer fringe ...

(1973) and as the eponymous K1 Robot in the story ''

'' (1974–75). He returned to play the K1 robot in the

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...

Bernice Summerfield Bernice Surprise Summerfield (later Professor Bernice Summerfield or just Benny) is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length ''Doctor Who ...

audio adventure '' The Relics of Jegg-Sau''. He also did voice work for ''

The Twelve Tasks of Asterix ''The Twelve Tasks of Asterix'' (''Les Douze travaux d'Astérix'') is a 1976 Belgian/French animated feature film based on the ''Asterix'' comic book series, and the third in the animated franchise. René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, the crea ...

'' as Obelix, the

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...

movie ''

'' (1982) as SkekUng, the Garthim master (Named "The General" in the movie), was film director Joe Steiner in the ''

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

'' episode "

Conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...

", and played the part of the Green King in the BBC Television serial '' The Moon Stallion'' (1978). In 1979, he provided voices for several characters in the cult television adventure series "Monkey" when it was dubbed into English. These were invariably gruff, often villainous characters, including warlords and demons.

Music

Kilgarriff is a

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

enthusiast, and wrote what is considered the definitive guide to music hall songs: ''Sing Us One of the Old Songs: A Guide to Popular Song from 1860–1920'' (Oxford University Press, 1998). This work lists thousands of influential songs by singer, lyricist and composer. Kilgarriff himself was a regular performer at the legendary

Players' Theatre The Players' Theatre was a London theatre which opened at 43 King Street, Covent Garden, on 18 October 1936. The club originally mounted period-style musical comedies, introducing Victorian-style music hall in December 1937. The threat of World ...

Club in Villiers Street, Charing Cross, London, where he took the part of chairman many times as well as performing comic songs, accompanying at the piano and directing.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * 1937 births Living people English male television actors English male voice actors People from Brighton {{UK-voice-actor-stub