Michael Balfour
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
119 acting credits
Acting · 119
The Avengers
1961
Danger Man
1960
The Prisoner
1967
The Persuaders!
1971
Sunday Night Theatre
1950
Batman
1989
Dempsey and Makepeace
1985
Department S
1969
Hancock's Half Hour
1956
Interpol Calling
1959
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969
Dixon of Dock Green
1955
The Jazz Age
1968
New Scotland Yard
1972
The Larkins
1958
The Canterbury Tales
1972
Fahrenheit 451
1966
Sailor of Fortune
1957
The Cheaters
1960
The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder
1969
Armchair Theatre
1956
Macbeth
1971
Sink the Bismarck!
1960
The Krays
1990
Rogues' Gallery
1968
Moulin Rouge
1952
Cold Comfort Farm
1968
Obsession
1949
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
1970
Strange Experiences
1955
The Holcroft Covenant
1985
A Stitch in Time
1963
Candleshoe
1977
The Adventurers
1970
Kelly Monteith
1979
Kaleidoscope
1966
Carry On Constable
1960
Quatermass 2
1957
I Was a Male War Bride
1949
The Red Beret
1953
The Prisoner of Zenda
1979
The Oblong Box
1969
Albert R.N.
1953
No Orchids for Miss Blandish
1948
Genevieve
1953
The Sea Shall Not Have Them
1954
Top Secret
1952
Helter Skelter
1949
Venetian Bird
1952
Look Back in Anger
1959
Revenge of Billy the Kid
1992
The Stick Up
1977
It's Not Me - It's Them!
1965
Joseph Andrews
1977
The Flesh and the Fiends
1960
One Good Turn
1955
Breakaway
1956
Surprise Package
1960
Echo of Diana
1963
Press for Time
1966
Secret Venture
1955
Impulse
1954
Too Hot to Handle
1960
The Big Money
1958
The Small Voice
1948
3 Steps to the Gallows
1953
Her Favourite Husband
1950
Meet Mr. Callaghan
1954
The Steel Bayonet
1958
The Delavine Affair
1955
Reluctant Bandit
1965
River Beat
1954
13 East Street
1952
Fiend Without a Face
1958
Just William's Luck
1947
Five Have a Mystery to Solve
1964
Park Plaza 605
1953
Prelude to Fame
1950
Recoil
1953
Strangler's Web
1965
A Case For P.C. 49
1951
The Steel Key
1953
The Fast Lady
1962
The Diamond Wizard
1954
The Ship That Couldn't Stop
1961
It's a Great Day
1955
Man of Violence
1970
Black 13
1953
Sleeping Car to Trieste
1948
Barbados Quest
1955
The Reluctant Bride
1955
Three's Company
1953
The Quiet Woman
1951
Delayed Action
1954
Don't Ever Leave Me
1949
Stop Press Girl
1949
Hoverbug
1969
Woman Hater
1948
All Coppers Are...
1972
Pit of Darkness
1961
Scrapbook for 1933
1950
Light Fingers
1957
Man from Tangier
1957
Design for Loving
1962
Melody Club
1949
Hot Ice
1953
The Secret of the Forest
1956
Scarlet Web
1954
Love in Pawn
1953
Johnny on the Run
1953
The Monster of Highgate Ponds
1961
The Rescue Squad
1963
The Copter Kids
1976
Devil's Point
1954
Small Town Story
1953
William Comes to Town
1948
Help Yourself
1950
Resting Rough
1979
She Always Gets Their Man
1962