Bedford died Wednesday of cancer in Santa Barbara, California, said his agent at Paradigm Talent Agency, Richard Schmenner. Bedford’s competition that year included John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson.
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In June 2013, he withdrew from his role as Shylock in “The Merchant of Venice” at the Stratford Festival due to “a medical condition”. He also helmed Stratford productions of THE LUNATIC, THE LOVER & THE POET, WAITING FOR GODOT, FALLEN ANGELS and more.
His last Broadway appearance was in the 2011 revival of The Importance of Being Earnest, in which he donned skirts to play Lady Brackell, earning him his seventh Tony nomination. It was not a happy situation, he noted in interviews; two of his brothers died of tuberculosis, and his father, a postal worker, committed suicide.
Bedford’s death was announced on Twitter by the Stratford Festival in southern Ontario, where he performed a host of classical Shakespearean roles over almost four decades, starting in 1974.
Born in Yorkshire, Bedford shared Royal Academy classrooms with the likes of Peter O’Toole and Albert Finney, before embarking on an acting career that would span almost 60 years and take him to theaters overseas.
Bedford’s big break came with “Five Finger Exercise”, which moved from London to Broadway with co-star Jessica Tandy in 1959.
Bedford received his final Tony nomination for Earnest, losing to Jerusalem star Mark Rylance in the category of Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play.
One person tweeted: “RIP Brian Bedford, the voice of the only cartoon animal people willingly admit to being attracted to”, with another replying: “Robin Hood was my first crush when I was 5”.
“He was not only kind, loving and generous, but one of the finest classical actors in North America”, Todd Haimes, the Roundabout’s artistic director, told Deadline. “When you are young, you have all these fabulous ideas, but you haven’t got the technique to realize them”.
Playing comedy or tragedy, pathos or hilarity, Mr. Bedford was known for controlled and layered performances, and for finding the depth and subtlety in monumental characters, from King Lear to Tartuffe. He acted in film and TV, with credits including “Nixon”, “Grand Prix” and “Coronet Blue“.
He’s survived by his partner of 30 years, actor Tim MacDonald, whom he married in July 2013.
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The two had a home in Stratford.
