The Lord Miles | |
|---|---|
 Bernard Miles in 1974 (with his parrot, Jack Sprat) byAllan Warren | |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 7 February 1979 – 14 June 1991 Life peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Bernard James Miles (1907-09-27)27 September 1907 Uxbridge,Middlesex, England |
| Died | 14 June 1991(1991-06-14) (aged 83) Knaresborough,North Yorkshire, England |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingJohn Miles |
Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles (27 September 1907 – 14 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director.[1] He opened theMermaid Theatre in 1959, the first new theatre that opened in theCity of London since the 17th century.[2]
He was known for playing character roles that usually had bucolic backgrounds or links to countrymen. His strong accent was typical of rustic dialects associated with the counties ofHertfordshire andBuckinghamshire. His pleasant rolling bass-baritone voice made him a regular presence on the stage and in films for more than fifty years. In addition to his acting, he was a voice-over artist and published author.
Miles was educated atUxbridge County School,Pembroke College, Oxford, and the Northampton Institute (laterCity University of London) in London.[3]He lived for a while in New Road, Hillingdon Heath.
In 1946 his comedy about theHome GuardLet Tyrants Tremble! was staged at theScala Theatre in theWest End, with Miles in the cast.
By the 1950s, he had started to work in television. In 1951 he playedLong John Silver in a British TV version ofTreasure Island. A decade later he reprised the role for a performance ofTreasure Island at theMermaid Theatre in the winter of 1961–62, where the cast includedSpike Milligan asBen Gunn.[4]
Miles was always keen to promote up-and-coming talent. Impressed with the writing of English playwrightJohn Antrobus, he introduced him to Spike Milligan, which led to the production of the one-act playThe Bed Sitting Room. It was later expanded and staged by Miles at Mermaid Theatre on 31 January 1963, with critical and commercial success.[5][6][7]
Miles was also known for his comic monologues, often delivered with a rural dialect, which were issued on record albums.[8]
Miles married the actressJosephine Wilson, with whom he had two daughters and one son,[3] the racing driverJohn Miles, in 1931. She co-founded and was involved actively with Miles in the Mermaid Theatre.[3] She predeceased him on 7 November 1990.
Miles was made aCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1953,[9] wasknighted in 1969,[10] and was created alife peer as Baron Miles, of Blackfriars in the City of London, on 7 February 1979.[11] He was only the second British actor to receive a peerage, afterLaurence Olivier.[12]
Miles survived his wife by six months and died in June 1991. He had been born in the same year, and died on the same day, as the actressPeggy Ashcroft.[13]
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