Brian Bedford

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Brian Bedford (born 16 February 1935 in Morley, West Yorkshire) is an English actor, perhaps most famous as the voice of Robin Hood in the 1973 Disney movie. He was one of the leads in the spectacular 1966 film Grand Prix with James Garner. In 1967 he was a regular on the short-lived CBS television series Coronet Blue.

Primarily a theatre actor, he is regarded as the greatest English-speaking interpreter of the French playwright Molière, winning the 1971 Tony award for dramatic actor in The School for Wives and additional nominations for his performances in The Molière Comedies (an evening comprised of the short plays The Imaginary Cuckold and The School for Husbands) and as Orgon in Tartuffe.

He has done a great deal of Shakespearean work, notably as Ariel in The Tempest opposite John Gielgud's Prospero in 1958, Angelo in Measure for Measure at the Stratford Festival of Canada in 1973, and The Public Theater's New York Shakespeare Festival Shakespeare in the Park productions of As You Like It (as Orlando), and Timon of Athens (as Timon), the latter based on a production he originated with the National Actors Theatre in 1993 and which he eventually played on Broadway, earning another Tony nomination.

As of 2006, Mr. Bedford has acted and/or directed in 25 seasons of productions at the Stratford Festival in Canada, most recently directing and playing Sir Harcourt Courtly in London Assurance and playing Malviolio and Twelfth Night. In 1997 he was nominated for a Tony award for leading actor in London Assurance, and the same year he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. Other honors include the Obie, Outer Critics Circle, NY Drama Desk, and LA Drama Critics awards.