Michael Balfour

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

124

Gender

Male

Birthday

1918-02-11

Day of death

1997-10-24 (79 years old)

Place of Birth

Dover, Kent, England, UK

Michael Balfour

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

Known For

  • The Avengers

    The Avengers

  • Light Fingers

    Light Fingers

  • Batman

    Batman

  • The Persuaders!

    The Persuaders!

  • The Adventurers

    The Adventurers

  • Resting Rough

    Resting Rough

  • Sunday Night Theatre

    Sunday Night Theatre

  • The Prisoner

    The Prisoner

  • Pit of Darkness

    Pit of Darkness

  • Recoil

    Recoil

  • Dempsey and Makepeace

    Dempsey and Makepeace

  • Kaleidoscope

    Kaleidoscope

  • Melody Club

    Melody Club

  • Moulin Rouge

    Moulin Rouge

  • Macbeth

    Macbeth

  • Venetian Bird

    Venetian Bird

  • Danger Man

    Danger Man

  • Barbados Quest

    Barbados Quest

  • Helter Skelter

    Helter Skelter

  • Hoverbug

    Hoverbug

  • Surprise Package

    Surprise Package

  • Prelude to Fame

    Prelude to Fame

  • Interpol Calling

    Interpol Calling

  • Interpol Calling

    Interpol Calling

  • The Delavine Affair

    The Delavine Affair

  • Genevieve

    Genevieve

  • Three's Company

    Three's Company

  • Dixon of Dock Green

    Dixon of Dock Green

  • Dixon of Dock Green

    Dixon of Dock Green

  • Dixon of Dock Green

    Dixon of Dock Green

  • Dixon of Dock Green

    Dixon of Dock Green

  • Dixon of Dock Green

    Dixon of Dock Green

  • Just William's Luck

    Just William's Luck

  • Department S

    Department S

  • Obsession

    Obsession

  • Hancock's Half Hour

    Hancock's Half Hour

  • Impulse

    Impulse

  • One Good Turn

    One Good Turn

  • Fahrenheit 451

    Fahrenheit 451

  • The Larkins

    The Larkins

  • The Jazz Age

    The Jazz Age

  • Sink the Bismarck!

    Sink the Bismarck!

  • The Holcroft Covenant

    The Holcroft Covenant

  • I Was a Male War Bride

    I Was a Male War Bride

  • Sailor of Fortune

    Sailor of Fortune

  • The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

    The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

  • The Canterbury Tales

    The Canterbury Tales

  • The Cheaters

    The Cheaters

  • The Cheaters

    The Cheaters

  • Strange Experiences

    Strange Experiences

  • The Krays

    The Krays

  • The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder

    The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder

  • Meet Mr. Callaghan

    Meet Mr. Callaghan

  • The Secret of the Forest

    The Secret of the Forest

  • Candleshoe

    Candleshoe

  • Carry On Constable

    Carry On Constable

  • Strangler's Web

    Strangler's Web

  • The Oblong Box

    The Oblong Box

  • Kelly Monteith

    Kelly Monteith

  • Rogues' Gallery

    Rogues' Gallery

  • It's Not Me - It's Them!

    It's Not Me - It's Them!

  • Quatermass 2

    Quatermass 2

  • The Ship That Couldn't Stop

    The Ship That Couldn't Stop

  • It's a Great Day

    It's a Great Day

  • Look Back in Anger

    Look Back in Anger

  • Top Secret

    Top Secret

  • The Prisoner of Zenda

    The Prisoner of Zenda

  • Joseph Andrews

    Joseph Andrews

  • Armchair Theatre

    Armchair Theatre

  • Armchair Theatre

    Armchair Theatre

  • Armchair Theatre

    Armchair Theatre

  • The Flesh and the Fiends

    The Flesh and the Fiends

  • No Orchids for Miss Blandish

    No Orchids for Miss Blandish

  • Love in Pawn

    Love in Pawn

  • The Red Beret

    The Red Beret

  • Press for Time

    Press for Time

  • A Stitch in Time

    A Stitch in Time

  • Echo of Diana

    Echo of Diana

  • The Fast Lady

    The Fast Lady

  • 3 Steps to the Gallows

    3 Steps to the Gallows

  • River Beat

    River Beat

  • Albert R.N.

    Albert R.N.

  • The Small Voice

    The Small Voice

  • Fiend Without a Face

    Fiend Without a Face

  • Too Hot to Handle

    Too Hot to Handle

  • Park Plaza 605

    Park Plaza 605

  • Black 13

    Black 13

  • Stop Press Girl

    Stop Press Girl

  • The Sea Shall Not Have Them

    The Sea Shall Not Have Them

  • All Coppers Are...

    All Coppers Are...

  • The Steel Bayonet

    The Steel Bayonet

  • Her Favourite Husband

    Her Favourite Husband

  • Sleeping Car to Trieste

    Sleeping Car to Trieste

  • Woman Hater

    Woman Hater

  • Reluctant Bandit

    Reluctant Bandit

  • William Comes to Town

    William Comes to Town

  • Don't Ever Leave Me

    Don't Ever Leave Me

  • Man of Violence

    Man of Violence

  • Man from Tangier

    Man from Tangier

  • The Diamond Wizard

    The Diamond Wizard

  • Secret Venture

    Secret Venture

  • The Stick Up

    The Stick Up

  • The Rescue Squad

    The Rescue Squad

  • 13 East Street

    13 East Street

  • The Steel Key

    The Steel Key

  • Breakaway

    Breakaway

  • Devil's Point

    Devil's Point

  • The Big Money

    The Big Money

  • Revenge of Billy the Kid

    Revenge of Billy the Kid

  • The Monster of Highgate Ponds

    The Monster of Highgate Ponds

  • The Reluctant Bride

    The Reluctant Bride

  • Scrapbook for 1933

    Scrapbook for 1933

  • Johnny on the Run

    Johnny on the Run

  • Small Town Story

    Small Town Story

  • A Case For P.C. 49

    A Case For P.C. 49

  • The Quiet Woman

    The Quiet Woman

  • Five Have a Mystery to Solve

    Five Have a Mystery to Solve

  • Hot Ice

    Hot Ice

  • Scarlet Web

    Scarlet Web

  • Design for Loving

    Design for Loving

  • Delayed Action

    Delayed Action

  • The Copter Kids

    The Copter Kids

  • She Always Gets Their Man

    She Always Gets Their Man

  • Help Yourself

    Help Yourself