Michael Gough
About
Biography
Filmography
Notes
"There was some indecision as to when I was born. My sister said it was 1916. I'd lost my birth certificate." --Gough in the London Times, June 23, 1997
Biography
A ubiquitous presence in British film and television for nearly 50 years, Michael Gough played well-heeled, occasionally cruel, slightly mad men in films and television ranging from "The Horse's Mouth" (1959) and "The Go-Between" (1970) to "Horror of Dracula" (1958) and "Berserk!" (1967). His saturnine features and resonant voice made him ideal for upper-class gentlemen with a taste for flaunting their power in unpleasant ways, as his many horror and exploitation features evidenced. But he could also play fatherly - and grandfatherly - as evidenced by his four turns as butler Alfred in four of the "Batman" features (1989-1995). A wealth of varied projects were woven through his five decades of screen appearances, but no matter the quality of the role or the film, Gough gave his all, which made him a beloved and well-remembered performer.
Born Nov. 23, 1917 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Gough (pronounced "GOFF") attended Wye Agricultural College before seeing Rex Harrison in a production of "Sailors Don't Care" that convinced him to become an actor. Training at the Old Vic and appearances with their theater company in 1936 preceded his debut on Broadway in "Love of Women" in 1937; his London debut came a year later in "The Zeal of Thy House." For nearly a decade, Gough was seen predominately on British stages, and his association with classical theater would carry him over to the relatively new medium of television, beginning in 1946 with a BBC production of George Bernard Shaw's "Androcles and the Lion." His feature film debut came two years later in the 1948 UK production of "Anna Karenina," with Vivian Leigh in the title role. Gough's commanding voice and steely demeanor made him a natural go-to for men of power and influence, like his fabric mill owner in Alexander Mackendrick's "The Man in the White Suit" (1951), and various noblemen in the Walt Disney-produced "The Sword and the Rose" (1953) and "Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue" (1953). His onscreen efforts frequently linked back to his theatrical origins; he was one of the murderers in Laurence Olivier's "Richard III" (1955), and Cassius in a 1959 BBC production of "Julius Caesar." Gough also showed a comic side in "The Horse's Mouth" (1959) as a sculptor who aids dissolute painter Alec Guinness in completely destroying a patron's apartment.
Despite the critical acclaim of projects like these, Gough was probably best known for a string of wildly overacted performances in U.K.-made horror and exploitation films that spanned from 1958 to the late 1970s. His association with the genre began in 1958 with "Horror of Dracula" for Hammer Films. There, he was relatively restrained as Arthur Holmwood, whose sister and wife fall victim to Christopher Lee's sexually alluring Count. But for his next effort, "Konga" (1961), Gough let loose with an unbridled, scenery-destroying turn as a mad scientist whose experiments cause a chimpanzee to mutate into a giant ape. The performance set the tone for most of his horror efforts that followed; in "Horrors of the Black Museum" (1959), he was a madman who used the torture devices from Scotland Yard's Black Museum to eliminate his enemies, while in "Black Zoo" (1961), he worshipped the big cats under his care at a local zoo - and used them to kill as well. For a time in the mid to late 1960s, Gough was making regular appearances in horror films, including "The Skull" (1965), "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" (1965), "Berserk" (1967) and "Curse of the Crimson Altar" (1969). Gough was frequently the elegant source of the supernatural mayhem in these pictures, or its snide, catty and altogether deserving victim. Gough's villainy extended to television as well; in 1966, he menaced "Doctor Who" (BBC, 1963- ) as the Celestial Toymaker, and contributed similar turns to such cult series as "The Avengers" (ITV, 1961-69) and "The Champions" (ITC, 1968-69).
Gough's film career found some balance between the outré and the arthouse in the late 1960s and early 1970s; there were appearances in Ken Russell's "Women in Love" (1969), Joseph Losey's "The Go-Between" (1971) and "Savage Messiah" (1972), the Charlton Heston-led "Julius Caesar" (1970), and the 1971 miniseries "The Search for the Nile" (BBC) as Dr. David Livingstone. Numerous quality miniseries also followed, including "QB VII" (NBC, 1974), "Brideshead Revisited" (ITV, 1981), "Inside the Third Reich" (NBC, 1982) and "Smiley's People" (BBC, 1982), though there was still plenty of low-budget nastiness that bore Gough's name, including "Satan's Slave" (1976) and "Venom" (1981). The latter seemed to come to an end in the early 1980s, and Gough settled into a long series of quality projects, including "The Dresser" (1983), "Out of Africa" (1985), and Derek Jarman's experimental film, "Caravaggio" (1986). Gough also found time to return to the theater throughout this period, winning a Tony in 1979 for "Bedroom Farce."
Though now in his seventies, Gough worked tirelessly in film and theater and on television throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and found what was to be his greatest screen exposure since his horror efforts in the 1960s. After authoritative supporting turns in such films as "The Fourth Protocol" (1987), "The Serpent and the Rainbow" (1988) and "Strapless" (1989), Gough was cast as Alfred, faithful manservant to Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. "Batman" (1989) in Tim Burton's big screen revival of the DC Comics franchise. The picture of British gentility and reserve, his Alfred hewed closely to the character as created in the original comics, but with a hint of understanding and infinite patience for his employer's complex psyche. Gough would reprise the role in four sequels, which starred three different Dark Knights: Michael Keaton in "Batman" and "Batman Returns" (1992), Val Kilmer in "Batman Forever" (1995), and George Clooney in the critically reviled "Batman and Robin" (1997). Gough also played Alfred in six American television commercials for the OnStar automobile tracking system.
Gough's participation in the "Batman" franchise made him a favorite of director Burton, who would cast him in several subsequent projects, including "Sleepy Hollow" (1999) and "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" (2005), which made excellent use of his sepulchral voice. Meanwhile, Gough, now in his eighties but still remarkably active, continued to essay men of high rank and carriage in features and television, including a hanging judge with an agenda in Peter Medak's "Let Him Have It" (1991), a member of New York's upper crust in Martin Scorsese's "The Age of Innocence" (1993), and a noble servant in his final days in Michael Cacoyannis' adaptation of Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" (1999). Gough appeared to retire from the business following his voice contribution to "Corpse Bride" in 2005, but in 2010, he could be heard as the voice of the Dodo Bird in Burton's blockbuster "Alice in Wonderland." The veteran actor passed away on March 17, 2011. He was 94.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Sound (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1936
Made stage acting debut at the Old Vic in London
1937
Made New York stage debut in the play, "Love of Women"
1938
Returned to the London stage in the play, "The Zeal of Thy House"
1947
Made feature film debut in the costume drama, "Blanche Fury"
1953
First U.S. feature credit, the U.S.-U.K. co-production, "Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue," produced by Walt Disney Studios
1955
Portrayed one of the murderers in Laurence Olivier's adaptation of "Richard III"
1957
Appeared in the classic Powell & Pressburger WW2 drama "Ill Met By Moonlight"
1958
First Hammer horror film, "The Horror of Dracula"
1962
Second Hammer horror film, "The Phantom of the Opera"
1969
Featured in Ken Russell's "Women in Love"
1972
Played Dr. David Livingstone on the short-lived NBC historical drama series, "Search for the Nile"
1974
First miniseries to air on U.S. TV, "QB VII"
1979
Returned to Broadway for his Tony winning role in the comedy, "Bedroom Farce"
1979
Featured in "The Boys From Brazil," starring Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier
1984
Played the captured father in the Zucker Brothers' comedy "Top Secret!"
1985
Appeared opposite Robert Redford and Meryl Streep in "Out of Africa" as Lord Delamere
1987
Cast in the film adaptation of Frederick Forsyth's "The Fourth Protocol," starring Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan
1988
Returned to Broadway in the drama, "Breaking the Code"; received a Tony nomination as Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
1989
Cast as Alfred the butler in Tim Burton's "Batman," opposite Michael Keaton
1992
Reprised role of Alfred in "Batman Returns"
1993
Featured in Martin Scorsese's "The Age of Innocence"
1995
Played Alfred to Val Kilmer's Bruce Wayne in "Batman Forever"
1997
Again played Alfred, this time opposite George Clooney in "Batman & Robin"
1999
Gave a wonderful performance as Feers in "The Cherry Orchard," opposite Alan Bates and Charlotte Rampling
1999
Last on-screen performance reunited him with Burton, playing a cameo in "Sleepy Hollow"
2005
Lent his voice to Burton's "Corpse Bride"
2010
Final film role, voiced Uilleam, the Dodo bird in Burton's "Alice in Wonderland"
Photo Collections
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Bibliography
Notes
"There was some indecision as to when I was born. My sister said it was 1916. I'd lost my birth certificate." --Gough in the London Times, June 23, 1997
