Michael Sheard

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Michael Sheard

Michael Sheard (18 June 1938^[1] – 31 August 2005) was a Scottish actor who featured in a large number of films and television programmes.

Star Wars fans know him as Admiral Ozzel from The Empire Strikes Back, whereas those of Grange Hill will remember his performance as the terrifying deputy headmaster Mr Maurice Bronson. In 1983, he played Herr Grunwald, the German manager of a building site in the first series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. He portrayed Adolf Hitler five times, including in The Tomorrow People (1978) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). He also portrayed Heinrich Himmler twice.

In 1980 he had a major supporting role in Stephen Poliakoff's esteemed BBC television play Caught on a Train. He also appeared as the police seargant in the fifth episode of the comedy series Mind Your Language.

He made appearances in six stories in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, with the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Seventh Doctors. More recently he appeared with Eighth Doctor Paul McGann, in The Stones of Venice (a Doctor Who audio drama produced by Big Finish Productions).

He wrote several memoirs including Yes, Mr Bronson: Memoirs of a Bum Actor (ISBN 1-84024-007-5) published in 1997, Yes, Admiral (ISBN 1-84024-103-9) published in 1999, Yes, School's Out! (ISBN 90-76953-42-2) published 2001 and Yes, It's Photographic! published in 2004.

In February 2005 he played a small cameo role as the narrator in Star Wars fanfilms Order of the Sith: Vengeance and its sequel Downfall - Order of the Sith - alongside Jeremy Bulloch and David Prowse. These fanfilms were made in England in support of Save the Children.

He died 31 August 2005, aged 67, at his home on the Isle of Wight. He had been suffering from cancer. A few weeks previously (9 August 2005) he appeared via telephone on the Iain Lee show on LBC and talked about his many appearances in film and television.