Was Charles Laughton the definitive Henry the 8th as well

Richard Burton was nominated for an Oscar playing Henry VIII in Anne of the Thousand Days 1969.

Eric Bana was a rather weak Henry VIII in The Other Boleyn Girl 2008 though.

He was certainly iconic but I think I'd give Robert Shaw in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS the edge for big screen, although obviously Henry not the central character in that. 


Thought Burton was on good form for his effort and also agree Bana unmemorable - not much "fire and music" there!

But maybe another Australian deserves the title, and for TV?

Keith Michell is very well thought of in UK, having played the role 4 times! (EDIT 6 if we count stage appearances)(EDIT 5 - poster claudius has viewed ELIZABETH R and says Keith not in it)

Smash hit TV series SIX WIVES OF HENRY V111 in 1970 for telly - an hour and a half -and a wife - each episode (Dorothy Tutin, Rosalie Crutchley among them).. 9 hrs in total

Which was telescoped down to two hours and remade for the big screen in 1972 as HENRY V111 AND HIS SIX WIVES, with more famous actresses as the wives (Charlotte Rampling, Jane Asher). I saw it aged 11 and still have the souvenir magazine!

In between those two he had an unbilled cameo as Henry in the TV series ELIZABETH R with Glenda Jackson

and after a long gap he popped up again as Henry in a 1996 TV version of THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER

Here he is

with Ms Rampling as Anne Boleyn

Every time I picture Henry VIII, Laughton comes to mind. Just like Captain Bligh. And Quasimodo.

I also picture Laughton when thinking of Henry VIII.


For me, he IS Henry, just as Errol Flynn IS Robin Hood and Connery IS Bond … the other performers, good as they may be, are merely actors playing at being those characters.

Claudius - I'll confess I am going by imdb credits - and we all know how accurate they can be - did not see series (or not as adult anyway - I saw some of it as ten year old at time - it was huge). No mention in wikipedia or the Guardian and Times obits I have just googled.

Episode 1 The Lion's Cub - as Henry died when Elizabeth in early teens it would have to be early on in the series... imdb says "unbilled" - maybe it was a fleeting image with no dialogue ? (like Vanessa as Anne Boleyn in the original A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS - although even then she got guest star billing),

But you;d think the obituary writers would have picked up on it....

He also played Henry on stage in 1966 and 1991

Well I'll believe you rather than imdb for sure! But someone must have thought they'd seen him and got him credited.

I checked trivia on imdb and no joy although I discovered Glenda had her teeth blackened for the role  - and you can get HENRY and ELIZABETH both series in double pack dvd set so that has gone on my Santa list. 

Thanks