Sir Michael Hordern; British Stage, Film, Television Actor

Actor Sir Michael Hordern, whose roles in a career spanning more than half a century ranged from mad King Lear to the voice of Paddington Bear in the television cartoon, has died. He was 83.

Hordern died May 2 of kidney disease at Churchill Hospital in Oxford, a hospital spokeswoman said.

One of Britain’s best-loved actors, Hordern came to the professional stage relatively late. He never went to the theater as a child, he once recalled, and it was only after several years as an amateur actor that he gave up his job as a salesman and went on the stage as a professional at age 25.

His genial countenance, wavering between scholarly distraction and ecclesiastical dignity, coupled with a robustly eccentric sense of humor, delighted audiences.

Hordern’s first professional stage appearance was as Lodovico in Shakespeare’s “Othello” in London in 1937.

After World War II service with the British Navy, he worked for three years for BBC radio. Radio producers found his mellow voice ideal.

A performance in Anton Chekhov’s “Ivanov” at the Arts Theater in London brought Hordern his first major critical acclaim. His success snowballed with a gallery of roles as distressed gentlefolk and authoritarian figures heading toward insanity.

He played some of the theater’s wordiest parts, from Prospero in “The Tempest” and the title role in “King Lear” to distracted George in Tom Stoppard’s “Jumpers.”

Hordern also appeared in more than 60 films, but the stage took up the largest proportion of his time and his movie parts were mostly supporting roles.

He also did television work, and his highly distinctive tones became familiar to viewers through the many commercial voice-overs he did.

His wife, the actress Grace Eveline Mortimer, whom he married in 1943, died in 1986. He is survived by their daughter.