Bernard Miles

His strong accent was typical of rustic dialects associated with the counties of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. His pleasant rolling bass-baritone voice made him a regular presence on the stage and in films for more than fifty years. In addition to his acting, he was a voice-over artist and published author.

Bernard Miles studied at Pembroke College and Bishopshalt School. The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are London. Positions recorded include member of the House of Lords. Distinctions recorded are Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Knight Bachelor.

• Name — The Lord Miles • Office — Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal • Term Start — 7 February 1979 • Term End — 14 June 1991 Life peerage • Birth Name — Bernard James Miles • Born — 27 September 1907 • Birthplace — Uxbridge, Middlesex, England • Died — 14 June 1991 • Place of death — Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, England • Children — 3, including John Miles • Honorific Prefix — The Right Honourable

Miles was educated at Uxbridge County School, Pembroke College, Oxford, and the Northampton Institute (later City University of London) in London. He lived for a while in New Road, Hillingdon Heath.

In 1946 his comedy about the Home Guard Let Tyrants Tremble! was staged at the Scala Theatre in the West End, with Miles in the cast. By the 1950s, he had started to work in television. In 1951 he played Long John Silver in a British TV version of Treasure Island. A decade later he reprised the role for a performance of Treasure Island at the Mermaid Theatre in the winter of 1961–62, where the cast included Spike Milligan as Ben Gunn. Miles was always keen to promote up-and-coming talent. Impressed with the writing of English playwright John Antrobus, he introduced him to Spike Milligan, which led to the production of the one-act play The Bed Sitting Room. It was later expanded and staged by Miles at Mermaid Theatre on 31 January 1963, with critical and commercial success. Miles was also known for his comic monologues, often delivered with a rural dialect, which were issued on record albums.

Miles married the actress Josephine Wilson, with whom he had two daughters and one son, the racing driver John Miles, in 1931. She co-founded and was involved actively with Miles in the Mermaid Theatre, initially at their home Duff House, St John's Wood. She predeceased him on 7 November 1990. Miles was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1953 New Year Honours, was knighted in the 1969 Birthday Honours, and was created a life peer as Baron Miles, of Blackfriars in the City of London, on 7 February 1979. He was only the second British actor to receive a peerage, after Laurence Olivier.

Miles survived his wife by six months and died in June 1991. He had been born in the same year, and died on the same day, as the actress Peggy Ashcroft.

• Nathaniel Titlark (1956–1957, Woodsman, 10 Episodes, BBCTV. Lost) (with Maureen Pryor as Jessie Titlark) – Nathaniel Titlark • Long-running ITV commercial advertisement (1960s) Himself, drinking and recommending Mackeson as a beverage that 'Looks good, tastes good and, by golly, does you good'. Popularly believed to have been the main financial support for the Mermaid Theatre, for many years. • Barbara Hepworth (1961, BBC TV documentary) - Narrator

Bernard Miles is recorded as having received Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Knight Bachelor. Identity and origins. The authorities additionally record the headings Bernard Miles, Baron Miles and Bernard James Miles. His recorded language was English. He married Josephine Wilson. One child is recorded: John Miles.