Skip to main content
Eric Porter

Eric Porter

Actor · 1928 – 1995 · Shepard's Bush, London, UK

A highly respected Shakespearean for five decades until his death of colon cancer in 1995, classical actor Eric Porter's claim to international fame would, ironically, be outside of that realm, with one superb portrayal in one superb miniseries, The Forsyte Saga(1967), in which he won the BAFTA award. The son of Richard John Porter and Phoebe Elizabeth Spall, Porter first attended Wimbledon Technical College before stepping onto the stage as a walk-on in a production of William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" in February 1945 at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge. He continued in repertory until joining the National Service with the RAF during the war years. Early post-war credits would include touring with Sir Donald Wolfit and Sir Barry Jackson in their prestigious companies. Favorite roles in his repertoire would eventually include "Macbeth", "King Lear" and "Uncle Vanya". He won London's Evening Standard Award for "Rosmersholm" in 1959. Joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960, he became a prime, esteemed resident for decades. Porter made his film debut in mid-career with The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) at age 36, but it was the BBC that made him an international favorite as the ever-proper but intensely emotional and unhinged "Soames Forsyte". Taboos were broken on that series with a violent rape scene that had people talking for months. Along with the newly acquired fame came leads in lesser films such as The Lost Continent(1968) and Hands of the Ripper (1971), adding class to both those atmospheric horrors. On the plus side, Porter engaged himself frequently in quality TV miniseries fare includingAnna Karenina (1977), The Jewel in the Crown (1984) and Oliver Twist (1985) (as Fagin), while transferring many classics to TV as well, with "Cyrano de Bergerac", "Man and Superman" and "Macbeth" being but a few.

Movies22

  • Movie7.5

    The Day of the Jackal

    1973 · 711 votes

  • Movie6.5
  • Movie6.9

    The Heroes of Telemark

    1965 · 188 votes

  • Movie7.3

    Little Lord Fauntleroy

    1980 · 323 votes

  • Movie6.2

    Hands of the Ripper

    1971 · 81 votes

  • Movie6.8

    The Thirty Nine Steps

    1978 · 44 votes

  • Movie6.9

    Nicholas and Alexandra

    1971 · 81 votes

  • Movie5.3

    Kaleidoscope

    1966 · 14 votes

  • Movie6.2
  • Movie6.7
  • Movie8.7

    The Wars of the Roses

    1965 · 3 votes

  • Movie5.1

    Hennessy

    1975 · 12 votes

  • Movie5.7

    Antony and Cleopatra

    1972 · 24 votes

  • Movie5.6

    The Lost Continent

    1968 · 57 votes

  • Movie9.0
  • Movie9.0

    Separate Tables

    1970 · 1 votes

  • Movie
  • Movie9.0
  • Movie9.0
  • Movie6.2

    Hamlet

    1980 · 15 votes

  • Movie5.5

    Oliver Twist

    1985 · 2 votes

  • Movie7.5

    The Belstone Fox

    1973 · 12 votes

Series19

  • TV6.6

    Play for Today

    1970 · 10 votes

  • TV5.2

    BBC Play of the Month

    1965 · 8 votes

  • TV8.2

    Sherlock Holmes

    1984 · 270 votes

  • TV7.2

    Theatre 625

    1964 · 5 votes

  • TV7.0

    Playhouse

    1974 · 1 votes

  • TV6.3

    Performance

    1991 · 2 votes

  • TV6.8

    The World of Hammer

    1994 · 4 votes

  • TV8.5

    The Forsyte Saga

    1967 · 8 votes

  • TV6.5

    The Jewel in the Crown

    1984 · 25 votes

  • TV8.2

    Civilisation

    1969 · 23 votes

  • TV
  • TV6.3
  • TV7.0

    Anna Karenina

    1977 · 7 votes

  • TV
  • TV8.4
  • TV6.3

    Oliver Twist

    1985 · 10 votes

  • TV
  • TV

    Solo

    1970

  • TV9.0

    The Final Solution

    1975 · 1 votes