Acting
Community Rating
5.9
TMDB estimate
Born
February 11, 1918
Died
October 24, 1997 (age 79)
Born in
Dover, Kent, England, UK
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

Revenge of Billy the Kid
as Gyles MacDonald
1992

The Krays
as Referee
1990

Batman
as Scientist
1989

The Holcroft Covenant
as Hard Hat
1985

Dempsey and Makepeace
as Jim Kelly
1985
Kelly Monteith
1979

The Prisoner of Zenda
1979
Resting Rough
1979

Candleshoe
as Mr. McCress
1977

The Stick Up
as Sam
1977

Joseph Andrews
as Ruffian
1977
The Copter Kids
as Benny Baker
1976

The Canterbury Tales
as The Carpenter
1972

All Coppers Are...
as Heart Attack Victim (uncredited)
1972

Macbeth
as First Murderer
1971

The Persuaders!
as Donkey Cart Driver
1971

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
as Cabby
1970

Man of Violence
as Cafe Owner
1970

The Adventurers
as Detective
1970

Department S
as Eccles
1969