Eric Porter

Eric Porter was a Royal Shakespeare Company best known for leading roles in various tragedies. Macbeth and Lear were favorites. He had a brief encounter with stardom after his role as Soames Forsyte in the BBC's production of The Forsyte Saga, based on the novels by John Galsworthy. Later in his life, he appeared again on American television as Professor Moriarty in the Granada Television production of Arthur Conan-Doyle's Holmes stories. He died of cancer in 1995.

"While attending Wimbleton Technical School, 17-year-old Eric Porter made his theatrical debut at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge. Porter served with the RAF for two years, then began his acting career in earnest, performing in scores of Shakespearean and Chekhovian productions (his two favorite roles were King Lear and Uncle Vanya). In 1959, he won the London Evening Standard award for his performance in Ibsen's Romersholm. He spent most of the 1960s and 1970s with the Royal Shakespeare Company, after inking a long-term contract. Porter came to films relatively late, making his first appearance in 1964's Fall of the Roman Empire. He gained worldwide fame as Soames Forsyte in the incredibly successful BBC TV miniseries The Forsyte Saga. Eric Porter's subsequent TV roles included Karenin in Anna Karenina (1977), Fagin in a 1985 miniseries version of Oliver Twist and Professor Moriarty in Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes adaptations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide "

Eric Porter said this about the role of Moriarty: "[Moriarty] is such an incredibly complex figure--in his way every bit as obsessed and driven as Holmes--that even on the brief canvas of his appearance in The Final Problem there are still endless opportunities for an actor to pursue. I have always felt some of the performances of the earlier Moriartys lacked any real depth. He was just played as an unregenerate villain without any attempt to show the real motivations of ego and pride that drove him to the confrontation with Holmes to prove which of them was the better man. I found acting with Jeremy Brett a splendid challenge, too, for he was so deeply involved with Holmes that he understood every nerve and fibre of the man. I like to think I gave a good account of Moriarty--though like Jeremy I could hardly bear to watch the two stunt men going over the cliffs." (Quote from The Television Sherlock Holmes by Peter Haining.) [Cited in The Brettish Empire.]

Unsorted linkage:
Lear in 1968
Images from the 1968 Lear
Another mention of the 1968 Lear
Hands of the ripper