Michael Kilgarriff (born 16 June 1937) is a British actor, author and pianist from Brighton. As an actor, he is well known for his rich voice and height. His film and television roles include The Dark Crystal (1982) as the General, and the Doctor Who serials The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967), Tom Baker's début story Robot (1974–75) and Attack of the Cybermen (1985).
Career
Acting
At tall, he is sought for certain roles, such as the Cyber Controller in Doctor Who, a role he played in 1967 and 1985. He appeared in the same series as an Ogron (1973) and as the eponymous K1 Robot in the story Robot (1974–75).
He returned to play the K1 robot in the Big Finish Productions Bernice Summerfield audio adventure The Relics of Jegg-Sau. He did voice work for The Twelve Tasks of Asterix as Obelix, the Jim Henson movie The Dark Crystal (1982) as SkekUng, the Garthim master (Named "The General" in the movie), was film director Joe Steiner in the UFO episode "Conflict", and played the part of the Green King in the BBC Television serial The Moon Stallion (1978). In 1979, he provided voices for several characters in the cult television adventure series "Monkey" when it was dubbed into English. These were invariably gruff, often villainous characters, including warlords and demons.
Music
Kilgarriff is a music hall enthusiast, and wrote what is considered the definitive guide to music hall songs: Sing Us One of the Old Songs: A Guide to Popular Song from 1860–1920 (Oxford University Press, 1998). This work lists thousands of influential songs by singer, lyricist and composer. Kilgarriff himself was a regular performer at the legendary Players' Theatre Club in Villiers Street, Charing Cross, London, where he took the part of chairman many times as well as performing comic songs, accompanying at the piano and directing.
Writing
He wrote the 1968 BBC Radio adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. He is also the author of many book dealing with drama, music hall tradition, and humour.
Filmography
Film
Year Title Roles Notes 1962 We Joined the Navy Claude 1967 Camelot Sir Paul Uncredited 1976 The Twelve Tasks of Asterix Obelix Voice only 1982 The Dark Crystal General Voice only 2007 Snow White: The Sequel Hannibal The Ogre Voice only 2008 Albert's Speech Voice of God Voice only
Television
Year Title Roles Notes1959 Whack-O! Security escort Episode #4.1 The Golden Spur King Edward IV 1963, 1969 ITV Playhouse TinyLagarde Episodes: "The Lads""Colombe" 1963 Taxi! Ron Farnes 1965 Theatre 625 O'Grady Episode: "The Physicists" 1967, 1973–1975, 1985 Doctor Who Cyber Controller, Second Ogron, Robot Episodes-Tomb of the Cybermen, Frontier in Space, Robot, Attack of the Cybermen 1970 UFO Steiner Episode: "Conflict" 1972 Aquarius Father Christmas Episode: "Down by the Greenwood Side – A Pantomime with a Difference" 1974 Men of Affairs Jim Draper Episode: "...As a New Born Babe" 1976, 1978 Jackanory Playhouse TrollBig Pete Episodes: "Peter and the Princess""Big Pete, Little Pete" 1977 The Upchat Line Husband Episode: "Pulling" 1978 The Moon Stallion Green King Episode #1.4 & #1.6 1981 The Borgias Cardinal San Severino Episode: "Part 1" 1986 Artists and Models Sardanapalus Episode: "Slaves of Fashion" 1987, 1988 The Storyteller Pond SpriteLion Episodes: "Fearnot""The True Bride" 1989 The Jim Henson Hour Thought Lion Episode: "Musicians" 1991 Watt on Earth Watt's Uncle 1995 Oscar's Orchestra Mr. Crotchit Voice only 2002 Tipping the Velvet Music Hall chairman Episode #1.1
Video games
Year Title Roles 2014 Dark Souls II Blacksmith Lenigrast
Partial bibliography
References
External links