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Shakespeare's Early Stars: Did you see them here first?

We've scoured the archives and collected a few famous faces as you may not have seen them. Many have been found from series - the complete plays, broadcast between 1978 and 1985. And we've a few other surprises, including a silent short with a very youthful John Gielgud! Enjoy our collection...

Alan Rickman as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (´óÏó´«Ã½ TV Shakespeare, 1978)

Alan Rickman as Tybalt - Romeo and Juliet (´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare, 1978)

was a fine, versatile actor on stage, screen and radio who played everything from villains to romantic leads. But there’s no escaping the fact that he made a great baddie!

The RADA graduate took on numerous Shakespearean roles in theatre before playing Tybalt in his first television role – kicking off the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare series, and a glittering career.

Rickman had it all – a touch of evil as Hans Gruber in Die Hard or the dastardly Sherriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, and dark ambiguous complexity as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films.

With his rich resonating voice and wry expression, a dryly comic delivery marked many of his roles, including that of ‘Dr Lazaras’/ Alexander Dane in in the comic space adventure Galaxy Quest. With tongue firmly in cheek, Rickman portrayed Dane, the former Shakespearean great who found himself trapped in a tacky TV ‘space opera’.

And just like Dane in his heyday, we’re certain that Rickman has received many ovations and repeat curtain calls - what a legend…

Alan Rickman in Romeo and Juliet (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1978)

Dame Judi Dench as Katherine - The Band of Brothers

This production of Henry V is Part Eight of a fifteen-part ´óÏó´«Ã½ series comprising Shakespeare’s history plays from Richard II to Richard III (the two tetralogies).

This is the second and final part of Henry V, and in this scene from 1960 a very youthful Judi Dench is being wooed by Henry...

BAFTA winner Dame Judi Dench

Dame Judi trained at the National Theatre and RSC. Her illustrious career has taken in several Shakespeare productions and many acclaimed TV and Film roles - including Mrs Brown, and the no-nonsense head of M16, 'M' in James Bond films alongside Daniel Craig.

Judi Dench as Katherine - Henry V

Early appearances: Dame Judi Dench - Henry V (1960)

From the ´óÏó´«Ã½TV series The Band of Brothers, episode 8 of 15

Sean Connery as Hotspur in Henry IV: Rebellion from the North

Part of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s An Age of Kings series.

Sean Connery - An Age of Kings (1960)

Early Appearances: Sean Connery

Sean Connery in Henry IV, from An Age of Kings (1960)

Virginia McKenna as Juliet - Romeo and Juliet (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1955)

Virginia McKenna, actor and wildlife campaigner, is probably most famous among film fans for her role in Born Free (1966). In the 1950s she was part of the Old Vic Theatre and as her TV career took off she won a BAFTA for her performance in the movie A Town Like Alice (1956).

Virginia McKenna in Romeo and Juliet (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1955)

This is an early appearance as Juliet in the ´óÏó´«Ã½’s 1955 production. Later in the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare series, McKenna also played Portia in (1979).

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Virginia McKenna as Portia in Julius Caesar (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1979)

Virginia McKenna as Juliet

Romeo and Juliet (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1955)

Ian McKellen as King Richard - Richard II (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1971)

Sir Ian McKellen clearly lives and breathes Shakespeare, often sharing his knowledge and passion with fans both in person at special events and via Twitter.

We were not born to sue, but to command; Which since we cannot do to make you friends, Be ready, as your lives shall answer it...
Richard II

McKellen recently kicked off our in style. He also gave a .

In 1969, Sir Ian starred in Prospect Theatre Company's Edinburgh Festival production, Edward II - by Christopher Marlow, which was recorded at the Piccadilly Theatre, London.

Richard II was his first TV Shakespeare performance. Over the course of a long and distinguished career, McKellen has delighted fans on stage, radio, tv and film.

Ian McKellen in Edward II - 1969

Among his many Shakespeare performances is the haunting .

These days he's probably most famous among film fans as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films, and also as Magneto in The X-Men.

Ian McKellen as Richard II (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1969)

Early appearances: Ian McKellen as Richard II (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1971)

Ian McKellen as the tragic King Richard in the 1971 ´óÏó´«Ã½ production

Vanessa Redgrave as Rosalind - As You Like It (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1963)

Academy Award winning actor , a member of the successful Redgrave acting family, has appeared in over 80 films, and began her career with the RSC, where she first played Rosalind in As You Like It in 1961.

I would cure you, if you would but call me Rosalind and come every day to my cote and woo me
As You Like It

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ production soon followed and gave Redgrave one of her first prominent TV roles.

She has been a consistent star of TV and Film since, recently narrating the popular ´óÏó´«Ã½ One drama and appearing in films such as Atonement and Foxcatcher.

Our clip, from the 1963 ´óÏó´«Ã½ production of As You Like It, is featured in the ...

Vanessa Redgrave with daughter Joely Richardson - ´óÏó´«Ã½ Breakfast
Sorry, this clip is not currently available

Vanessa Redgrave as Rosalind in As You Like It

"How to know a man in love..." - Act 3, Scene 2

Helen Mirren as Rosalind - As You Like It (´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare, 1978)

As You Like it in 1978 was only second TV role, having played a number of Shakespearean characters with the RSC in the ‘60s and ‘70s after graduating from the National Youth Theatre.

Helen Mirren's ´óÏó´«Ã½ TV Shakespeare roles - Imogen in Cymbeline, Rosalind in As You Like It, and Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream

Since then Mirren has starred in numerous films, both cult and mainstream. In recent years, she has played Elizabeth I in the TV series Elizabeth (also portraying Elizabeth on stage), and was the outspoken Chris in the hugely popular Calendar Girls film with Julie Walters. Mirren most famously portrayed Elizabeth II in the movie The Queen (2006) – bagging an Academy Award.

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Helen Mirren as Rosalind - As You Like It (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1978)

Helen Mirren as Rosalind: As You Like It (´óÏó´«Ã½ TV Shakespeare)

Early appearances: Helen Mirren - As You Like It (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1978)

Helen Mirren as Rosalind in the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare production

Patsy Byrne as Audrey - As You Like It (´óÏó´«Ã½/RSC, 1963)

, gave an unforgettable performance as Nursie in the ´óÏó´«Ã½ comedy Blackadder - always putting her foot in it, embarrassing Queen Elizabeth I (Miranda Richardson) and frequently missing the point.

In As You Like It, a young Byrne portrays the unsophisticated country girl Audrey, the object of Touchstone's affections...

Early appearances: Patsy Byrne as Audrey - As You Like It (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1963)

From the archive ´óÏó´«Ã½ production of As You Like It

Patsy Byrne in Blackadder II - ´óÏó´«Ã½

Michael Gambon as Theseus - A Midsummer Night's Dream (´óÏó´«Ã½ Play of the Month, 1971)

Sir Michael Gambon rose to fame on TV playing Detective Philip Marlow in The Singing Detective, and followed up with the controversial drama The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover – also starring Helen Mirren.

This is an early TV Shakespeare appearance from Gambon, as Theseus in the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s . He had also appeared the 1965 film version of Othello, which starred Laurence Olivier. Following experience at the National Theatre, Gambon played several title roles in Shakespeare productions at Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

Gambon found further fame in Hollywood, starring as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films.

Gambon in The Singing Detective - ´óÏó´«Ã½
Michael Gambon with Eleanor Bron in A Midsummer Night's Dream, (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1971)

Michael Gambon

As Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Paul Henry as Flute/ Thisbe in A Midsummer Night's Dream (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1971)

Is that Benny from Oh yes. Before Paul Henry found fame and cult stardom as handyman Benny Hawkins in the British soap opera, he was paired up with comedy legend in the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Play of the Month, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Here's Henry as a lovestruck Thisbe, lamenting the cruel death of heroic lover Pyramus (played by Barker as Bottom!)

Early appearances: Paul Henry - A Midsummer Night's Dream (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1971)

From the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Play of the Month series, also starring Ronnie Barker

Michele Dotrice as Lady Percy - Henry IV Pt 1 (´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare, 1979)

“Ooh, Betty!” - Michelle Dotrice has had a varied career, mixing classical roles with contemporary drama and comedy. Fans of 1970s sitcom Some Mother’s Do ‘Ave ‘Em will know her as the loving wife of hapless hero Frank Spencer. More recently, she has played mother to Sheridan Smith's eponymous central character in Inside Number Nine: The 12 Days of Christine, which was created by the team behind dark comedy The League of Gentlemen.

In Henry IV, part 1, Dotrice is wife to Harry Percy, played here by a youthful Tim Piggott-Smith...

Early appearances: Michelle Dotrice in Henry IV Part One (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1979)

As Lady Percy, with Tim Piggott-Smith in the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare production

Felicity Kendall, Robert Lindsay, Trevor Peacock, Annette Crosbie - Twelfth Night, 1980

We've rounded up a few stars of British TV, and something of a collection of sit-com royalty! Felicity Kendall stars as Viola, with Robert Lindsay as Fabian, Trevor Peacock as Feste and Annette Crosbie as Maria.

Early appearances: Twelfth Night - ´óÏó´«Ã½ TV Shakespeare (1981)

Felicity Kendall, Robert Lindsay, Trevor Peacock and Annette Crosbie

Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal - The Good Life (´óÏó´«Ã½)

Felicity Kendall became a household name when she starred as Barbara Good, opposite Richard Briers, in hit sitcom The Good Life...

Robert Lindsay has a string of TV and theatre roles to his name, taking in musicals, Shakespeare and sitcom: from 1970s cult TV such as Citizen Smith, to My Family in the 2000s.

“Oh no no no no… yes!” It’s Trevor Peacock as Feste/ The Fool, also known to fans of Dawn French hit sitcom as the muttering Jim Trott...

Annette Crosbie will be familiar to many as long suffering Margaret Meldrew in ´óÏó´«Ã½ sitcom . She has also played strong supporting roles in film, including Jessie in Calendar Girls

Felicity Kendal, Robert Lindsay, Trevor Peacock, Annette Crosbie - Twelfth Night, ´óÏó´«Ã½

Patrick Stewart as Claudius – Hamlet (´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare, 1980)

Patrick Stewart joined the RSC in 1966 and his first TV appearance was in ITV’s soap drama Coronation Street in 1967. Among many credits, Stewart revisited the role of Claudius in the 2008 RSC production of Hamlet, starring David Tenant as Hamlet, and also played John of Gaunt in the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s The Hollow Crown: Richard II (2012)

More recently, Stewart will be known to many as a star of the X-Men films and TV’s re-booted . He’s also a bit of a Twitter legend!

Patrick Stewart as John of Gaunt - The Hollow Crown: Richard II (´óÏó´«Ã½)
Patrick Stewart as Claudius, with Claire Bloom as Gertrude - Hamlet (´óÏó´«Ã½ TV Shakespeare, 1980)

Early appearances: Patrick Stewart as Claudius - Hamlet (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1980)

From the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare series

Hugh Quarshie as Philostrate – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1981

Quarshie has had a few roles in ´óÏó´«Ã½ Shakespeare TV productions, also playing Aaron in Titus Andronicus in 1985 and voicing Cassius in Julius Caesar for Shakespeare: The Animated Tales, in 1994.

Fans of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ medical drama will know Quarshie as Ric Griffin, a role he has played since 2001.

Early TV appearances: Hugh Quarshie

as Attendant in A Midsummer Night's Dream - ´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare

Hugh Quarshie in A Midsummer Night's Dream (´óÏó´«Ã½ TV Shakespeare)

Bob Hoskins as Iago - Othello, 1981

once uttered the telecoms ad catchphrase "It’s good to talk” - and it’s great to see him talking Shakespeare here, although we’re not sure we like much of what he’s saying as the nasty, conniving Iago. As Othello's old lieutenant, Iago doesnt like Cassio (Othello's new lieutenant), and plans, with the help of his wife Emilia, to destroy both Cassio and Othello through Othello's feelings for Desdemona...

Hoskins' breakthrough TV role was in Dennis Potter's Pennies from Heaven in 1978, followed by a turn as a gangster out of his depth in cult British movie The Long Good Friday (1980). He was later nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Mona Lisa (1986). Since then roles were many and various - Hoskins appeared alongside an animated bunny in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and next to another British great, Judi Dench, in Mrs Henderson Presents (2005).

Bob Hoskins and Cheryl Campbell in Pennies from Heaven - ´óÏó´«Ã½, 1978
Bob Hoskins as Iago in Othello (´óÏó´«Ã½ TV Shakespeare, 1981)

Phil Daniels as Puck – A Midsummer Night's Dream (´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare, 1981)

With a range of TV and film appearances to his name, Daniels guest-voiced the pop track Parklife by Blur in 1995 and In 2006 joined the cast of the ´óÏó´«Ã½’s soap drama , playing wheeler-dealer Kevin Wicks until 2008.

I jest to Oberon and make him smile When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile

Here he is enjoying a bit of 'Pucklife' (sorry!) getting up to mischief with the fairies...

Early appearances: Phil Daniels as Puck - A Midsummer Night's Dream (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1981)

Phil Daniels as Puck in the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare production

Penelope Wilton (Regan) and Brenda Blethyn (Cordelia) - King Lear (´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare, 1982)

Now a veteran of stage and screen, a young Penelope Wilton played one of the less well-intentioned sisters here. She also played Desdemona in the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Othello.

Penelope Wilton in Dr Who (´óÏó´«Ã½)

In a career spanning numerous dramatic and comic roles, Wilton played opposite Richard Briers in ´óÏó´«Ã½ sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles, went on to star in Alan Bennett's Talking Heads series and films including Calendar Girls, Shaun of the Dead and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Wilton has also starred in the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s and is also know to many for playing Isobel Crawley in ITV's popular period drama .

Following her screen debut in the play Grown Ups as part of the 's Playhouse strand – the start of her ongoing collaboration with director Mike Leigh - Brenda Blethyn took on roles in the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare series, as Cordelia in and in .

Brenda Blethyn with Penelope Wilton and Gillian Barge - King Lear (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1982)

Blethyn is another popular star of TV and Film, with standout performances in Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies, as well as the film adaptation of Jim Cartwright's Little Voice and the lead role as eponymous detective in the ...

Gillian Barge Brenda Blethyn and Penelope Wilton in the ´óÏó´«Ã½ adaptation of King Lear (1982)
Blethyn as Joan La Purcelle, with Ian Saynor as Charles the Dauphin, in Henry VI pt 1 (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1983)

Early TV appearances: Penelope Wilton and Brenda Blethyn - King Lear (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1982)

As Regan and Cordelia in the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare production

Roger Daltrey as Dromio of Ephesus/Dromino of Syracuse in The Comedy Of Errors (´óÏó´«Ã½ Television Shakespeare, 1983)

Never one to be pigeonholed, Roger Daltrey's varied and envelope-pushing performance career has seen him not only find prolongued success as frontman of British pop act The Who, but stretch his acting muscles. Who could forget bizarre rock-opera Tommy (1977)?

In The Comedy of Errors it's a double role for Roger Daltrey and Michael Kitchen, each playing 'two of a kind' - sets of identical twins separated soon after birth and living in rival cities. When 'The boys from Syracuse' arrive in Ephesus, an ingenious sequence of misunderstandings and false identifications follows...

Roger Daltrey with Michael Kitchen in The Comedy of Errors (´óÏó´«Ã½, 1983)

Michael Kitchen and Roger Daltrey

In The Comedy of Errors

Roger Daltrey

As Dromio in The Comedy of Errors

David Harewood as Macduff – Macbeth on the Estate (1997)

Macbeth on The Estate was part of ´óÏó´«Ã½ 2's Performance season, filmed on an inner city estate in Ladywood, Birmingham, and also starring Ray Winstone as Duncan

David Harewood has risen to prominence in TV Dramas in the UK and USA, from The Night Manager and Hustle on ´óÏó´«Ã½ One to the tense political thriller Homeland for HBO.

Harewood is from Birmingham in the English West Midlands (so there’s another link to Shakespeare!)

David Harewood in The Night Manager - ´óÏó´«Ã½ One

Early appearances: David Harewood - Macbeth on the Estate (1997)

A re-telling, broadcast on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Four: Performance

Christopher Plummer (Hamlet) and Michael Caine (Horatio) - Hamlet at Elsinore (1964)

Hamlet at Elsinore is a ´óÏó´«Ã½/ Danish Radio co-production, filmed at Elsinore Castle

This is Michael Caine’s only classical role. He had no formal training, but went on to become a major film star, earning two supporting actor Academy Awards from a varied career of films including Zulu, Alfie, The Italian Job, Get Carter, Hannah and her Sisters, The Cider House Rules, and more recently the re-booted Batman movies starting with Batman Begins.

Christopher Plummer is also a famous face in Hollywood, and a much-awarded and nominated actor, the oldest actor to scoop the Academy Award at age 82! As King Lear in 2004 he was nominated for a Tony Award, and his varied career has taken in everything from the film musical The Sound Of Music (1965) to the Terry Gilliam fantasy The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus (2009).

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Michael Caine and Christopher Plummer - Hamlet at Elsinore (1964)

Early appearances: Christopher Plummer and Michael Caine - Hamlet at Elsinore

From the ´óÏó´«Ã½/ Danish Radio co-production, 1964

Sir John Gielgud as Romeo - Romeo and Juliet (1924 silent film, courtesy of BFI)

In a rare discovery, courtesy of the BFI, appears as Romeo in this 1924 silent version of Romeo and Juliet.

Early appearances: John Gielgud - Romeo and Juliet (1924)

A very early appearance in this silent film from the BFI

In 1994, Gielgud led a star-studded cast in the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3 and Renaissance Theatre Company co-production of King Lear, recorded as a special tribute to Sir John who celebrated his 90th birthday that year.

Gielgud had a long and illustrious career, with a great theatrical heritage and more than 60 films to his name. He appeared in many ´óÏó´«Ã½ Shakespeare adaptations on television and radio.

John Gielgud in Richard II - ´óÏó´«Ã½ TV Shakespeare, 1978
Sir John Gielgud with Emma Thompson - King Lear (´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3, 1994)

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