Eric Porter(1928-1995)
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
A highly respected Shakespearean for five decades until his death of
colon cancer in 1995, classical actor Eric Porter's claim to
international fame would, ironically, be outside of that realm, with
one superb portrayal in one superb miniseries,
The Forsyte Saga (1967), in
which he won the BAFTA award. The son of Richard John Porter and Phoebe
Elizabeth Spall, Porter first attended Wimbledon Technical College
before stepping onto the stage as a walk-on in a production of
William Shakespeare's
"Twelfth Night" in February 1945 at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge. He
continued in repertory until joining the National Service with the RAF
during the war years. Early post-war credits would include touring with
Sir Donald Wolfit and Sir Barry Jackson in their prestigious companies.
Favorite roles in his repertoire would eventually include "Macbeth",
"King Lear" and "Uncle Vanya". He won London's Evening Standard Award
for "Rosmersholm" in 1959. Joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in
1960, he became a prime, esteemed resident for decades. Porter made his
film debut in mid-career with
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
at age 36, but it was the BBC that made him an international favorite
as the ever-proper but intensely emotional and unhinged "Soames
Forsyte". Taboos were broken on that series with a violent rape scene
that had people talking for months. Along with the newly acquired fame
came leads in lesser films such as
The Lost Continent (1968) and
Hands of the Ripper (1971),
adding class to both those atmospheric horrors. On the plus side,
Porter engaged himself frequently in quality TV miniseries fare
including Anna Karenina (1977),
The Jewel in the Crown (1984)
and Oliver Twist (1985) (as
Fagin), while transferring many classics to TV as well, with "Cyrano de
Bergerac", "Man and Superman" and "Macbeth" being but a few.
