Biography
Michael Creighton Balfour (11 February 1918 – 24 October 1997) was an English actor, working mainly in British films and TV, following his TV debut in the BBC's The Marvellous History of St Bernard, in 1938. He was a recognisable face, often in small character parts and supporting roles, in nearly two hundred films and TV shows, from the 1940s to the 1990s, often playing comical heavies or otherwise shady characters notable for their "loud" clothes, sometimes convincingly cast as an American.
He worked for a roll call of film directors, including Tony Richardson, Pete Walker, Billy Wilder, Lewis Gilbert, Roman Polanski, Leslie Norman, Tim Burton, John Frankenheimer, François Truffaut, John Gilling, Stanley Donen, Ken Annakin, Cavalcanti, Lance Comfort, Terence Young, Gerald Thomas, Pasolini, John Paddy Carstairs, Terence Fisher, Val Guest, Frank Launder, John Huston, Basil Dearden and Howard Hawks.Balfour had parts in many popular TV shows of the era including Educated Evans, Mess Mates, Danger Man, The Avengers, Hancock's Half Hour, Dixon of Dock Green, Rogue's Gallery, Z-Cars, The Onedin Line, and the detective drama The Vise, playing Saber's assistant Barney O'Keefe.Balfour was also known as the passenger in a Jaguar XK120 car driven by actor Bonar Colleano when it crashed, killing Colleano. Balfour's injuries required him to have 98 stitches, but he was released from hospital in time to attend Colleano's funeral.As his screen career began to slow down in the late 1970s, Michael Balfour went on tour with European circuses, as a clown. He founded Circus Hazzard, and created his own clown character. His son later became a circus manager.As well as performing, Balfour was a dedicated painter and sculptor, and in later years turned increasingly to sculpture and the arts, even running his own gallery for a while. For his subjects, he frequently drew on his own family career as a circus clown.
Filmography
all 94
Movies 80
TV Shows 14
Revenge of Billy the Kid (1992)
The Krays (1990)
Batman (1989)
The Holcroft Covenant (1985)
Dempsey and Makepeace (1985)
Tom, Dick and Harriet (1982)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1979)
Candleshoe (1977)
The Stick Up (1977)
The Copter Kids (1976)
The Canterbury Tales (1972)
All Coppers Are... (1972)
Macbeth (1971)
The Persuaders! (1971)
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
Man of Violence (1970)
The Adventurers (1970)
The Oblong Box (1969)
Hoverbug (1969)
ITV Saturday Night Theatre (1969)
Rogues' Gallery (1968)
The Prisoner (1967)
Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Kaleidoscope (1966)
Press for Time (1966)
Strangler's Web (1965)
Reluctant Bandit (1965)
Five Have a Mystery to Solve (1964)
Echo of Diana (1963)
Beware of the Dog (1963)
The Fast Lady (1962)
Design for Loving (1962)
Pit of Darkness (1961)
The Monster of Highgate Ponds (1961)
The Avengers (1961)
Too Hot to Handle (1960)
Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
The Flesh and the Fiends (1960)
International Detective (1959)
Interpol Calling (1959)
The Larkins (1958)
Fiend Without a Face (1958)
The Big Money (1958)
The Steel Bayonet (1958)
Man from Tangier (1957)
Light Fingers (1957)
Quatermass II (1957)
Breakaway (1956)
Hancock's Half Hour (1956)
The Secret of the Forest (1956)
Secret Venture (1955)
The Reluctant Bride (1955)
Dixon of Dock Green (1955)
Barbados Quest (1955)
Track the Man Down (1955)
The Delavine Affair (1955)
It's a Great Day (1955)
Devil's Point (1954)
Mark Saber (1954)
Delayed Action (1954)
Scarlet Web (1954)
Meet Mr. Callaghan (1954)
The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954)
The Diamond Wizard (1954)
Impulse (1954)
Three Steps to the Gallows (1953)
Black 13 (1953)
Love in Pawn (1953)
Albert R.N. (1953)
Park Plaza 605 (1953)
The Red Beret (1953)
Recoil (1953)
Johnny on the Run (1953)
Genevieve (1953)
The Steel Key (1953)
Top Secret (1952)
Venetian Bird (1952)
13 East Street (1952)
A Case For P.C. 49 (1951)
The Quiet Woman (1951)
Her Favourite Husband (1950)
Help Yourself (1950)
Scrapbook for 1933 (1950)
I Was a Male War Bride (1949)
Obsession (1949)
Don't Ever Leave Me (1949)
Melody Club (1949)
Stop Press Girl (1949)
Helter Skelter (1949)
The Small Voice (1948)
Woman Hater (1948)
Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948)
No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948)
Just William's Luck (1947)
Ratings
Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1918-02-11
Deathday1997-10-24 (79 years old)
Birth PlaceKent, United Kingdom
ChildrenPerry Balfour
CitizenshipsUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom
Also Known AsMichael S. Creighton-Balfour, Michael Creighton Balfour
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