Laurence Olivier<\/a> had before him. Though admired internationally for productions including Hamlet, King Lear and Henry V, Michael also gained unexpected global recognition decades later among Star Wars fans for playing Moff Jerjerrod in Return of the Jedi.<\/p>\nReflecting on Michael\u2019s suitability for Hamlet years before the production finally materialised, director John Barton said: \u201cHe\u2019s a very fine actor\u2026 he\u2019s the person I most want to do Hamlet with.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nMichael himself later explained his decision to reject the film role opposite Meryl by saying: \u201cI realised I couldn\u2019t let Hamlet go. It is one of the prizes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHis portrayal of Shakespeare\u2019s troubled Danish prince earned widespread acclaim for its intelligence, emotional sensitivity and precision of language. <\/p>\n
\nThe role became a defining thread throughout Michael\u2019s life and career. <\/p>\n
\nHe first played Hamlet in a university production before appearing as Fortinbras opposite David Warner in Peter Hall\u2019s Royal Shakespeare Company production in 1965.<\/p>\n
\nThe actor later played Laertes opposite Nicol Williamson in a celebrated Roundhouse production directed by Tony Richardson, which later transferred to New York.<\/p>\n
\nMichael eventually returned to the play once more in 1994, this time portraying Claudius and the Ghost in Peter Hall\u2019s production, before publishing Hamlet: A User\u2019s Guide two years later.<\/p>\n
\nBorn in Cambridge in 1943, Michael studied English at Trinity College, Cambridge, before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1964 without formal drama school training. <\/p>\n
\nHis early inspiration came after seeing Paul Rogers perform in Macbeth while he was still at school.<\/p>\n
\nThroughout the 1970s and 1980s, Michael established himself as one of Britain\u2019s foremost stage actors through productions including Measure for Measure, Love\u2019s Labour\u2019s Lost and Romeo and Juliet. His Mercutio earned him one of several Olivier award nominations.<\/p>\n
\nIn 1986, Michael co-founded the English Shakespeare Company alongside director Michael Bogdanov. <\/p>\n
\nThe troupe\u2019s ambitious Wars of the Roses cycle toured internationally and further enhanced his standing as a leading interpreter of Shakespeare.<\/p>\n
\nBeyond theatre, Michael worked extensively on television and film. He appeared in BBC productions including Middlemarch, Freud, The Bill, The Tudors and Father Brown. He also performed opposite Cathryn Harrison in The Witches of Pendle in 1976.<\/p>\n
\nYet despite his vast classical reputation, Michael often joked younger audiences recognised him primarily from Return of the Jedi.<\/p>\n
\nSpeaking in 2003, he said: \u201cLet\u2019s not make too much of it, but I\u2019ve done 20 years of plays since, and people still write for autographs, saying, \u2018If you ever do any more acting, please let us know.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHis later stage performances continued to earn acclaim well into his seventies. In 2010, critics praised his commanding performance in The Master Builder at Chichester, while his King Lear in Brooklyn received ecstatic reviews from American critics, with New York Times critic Ben Brantley describing the performance as \u201cdevastating\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nDuring the Covid lockdown in 2020, Michael finally tackled Prospero in The Tempest at London\u2019s Jermyn Street Theatre \u2013 one of the last major Shakespearean roles he had not previously attempted.<\/p>\n
\nAway from acting, Michael was also an acclaimed author and narrator, publishing books on Shakespeare and performance including Let Me Play the Lion Too: How to Be an Actor and his 2021 memoir In My Own Footsteps.<\/p>\n
\nHe is survived by his son. <\/p>\n
\nHis longtime partner, arts administrator Prue Skene, died last year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"11 May 2026 Michael Pennington, the distinguished Shakespearean actor who famously turned down a Hollywood role opposite Meryl Streep in order to play Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company, has died aged 82 after a six-decade career spanning stage, television, film and writing. Michael Pennington, the distinguished Shakespearean actor who famously turned down a Hollywood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":239524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[15238,15241,15232,15240,15231,7912,5495,3846,15239,15230,15233,15236,15235,15237,15234,3313],"class_list":{"0":"post-239523","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-make-up","8":"tag-cathryn-harrison","9":"tag-david-mirvish","10":"tag-david-warner","11":"tag-ed-mirvish","12":"tag-john-barton","13":"tag-judi-dench","14":"tag-laurence-olivier","15":"tag-meryl-streep","16":"tag-michael-bogdanov","17":"tag-michael-pennington","18":"tag-nicol-williamson","19":"tag-paul-rogers","20":"tag-peter-hall","21":"tag-rex-harrison","22":"tag-tony-richardson","23":"tag-william-shakespeare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}