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
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An accident in the butchers shop leads Norman Pitkin and Mr Grimsdale to the hospital where, after c...
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Norman is quite happy selling newspapers outside Westminster station but his Grandfather (the Prime ...
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In the future, the government maintains control of public opinion by outlawing literature and mainta...
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Evil lurks in the gloomy house at Markham Manor where a deranged Sir Edward is the chained prisoner ...
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Moon is a mercenary who joins forces with two crooked cops in an attempt to steal $90 million in gol...
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When a bored Sherlock eagerly takes the case of Gabrielle Valladon following an attempt on her life,...
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When ex-con artist Harry claims that a secret treasure is hidden inside Candleshoe, an English estat...
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Duke Turnbeau (David Soul) has come to England, in the 1930s, as a way to improve his fortunes. For ...
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A man who was a confidant of Adolf Hitler dies and leaves a fortune to make amends for his Nazi past...
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Recent movies
| # | Name | Character | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Krays (1990) | Referee | 6.5 | |
| 2 | Batman (1989) | Scientist | 7.3 | |
| 3 | The Holcroft Covenant (1985) | Hard Hat | 6.5 | |
| 4 | Candleshoe (1977) | Mr. McCress | 6 | |
| 5 | The Stick Up (1977) | Sam | 6 | |
| 6 | Macbeth (1971) | First Murderer | 6 | |
| 7 | Man of Violence (1970) | Cafe Owner | 5 | |
| 8 | The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) | Cabby | 7 | |
| 9 | The Oblong Box (1969) | Ruddock | 4 | |
| 10 | Press for Time (1966) | Sewerman | 6 | |
| 11 | Fahrenheit 451 (1966) | Book Person: Machiavelli's 'The Prince' (uncredited) | 6.5 | |
| 12 | A Stitch in Time (1963) | Workman with Mallet (uncredited) | 8 | |
| 13 | The Flesh and the Fiends (1960) | Drunken Sailor | 7 | |
| 14 | Too Hot to Handle (1960) | Tourist Guide | - | - |
| 15 | Sink the Bismarck! (1960) | Able Seaman - Lookout on 'Suffolk' (uncredited) | 7 | |
| 16 | Carry On Constable (1960) | Matt | 5.5 | |
| 17 | Look Back in Anger (1959) | Picky Shopper (uncredited) | 6 | |
| 18 | Fiend Without a Face (1958) | Sgt. Kasper | 9 | |
| 19 | Quatermass 2 (1957) | Harry | 5 | |
| 20 | One Good Turn (1955) | Boxing Spectator (uncredited) | 7 | |
| 21 | Impulse (1954) | uncredited | 4 | |
| 22 | Genevieve (1953) | Trumpeter (Uncredited) | 5 | |
| 23 | Venetian Bird (1952) | Moretto | - | - |
| 24 | Moulin Rouge (1952) | Dodo (uncredited) | - | - |
| 25 | I Was a Male War Bride (1949) | Male Billet Sergeant (uncredited) | 5 | |
| 26 | Stop Press Girl (1949) | Crook (uncredited) | - | - |
| 27 | Obsession (1949) | American Sailor Promoting Book | 5 | |
| 28 | No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948) | Barney | 4 |

