Michael Sheard

Michael Sheard (born Michael Lawson Perkins; 18 June 1938 – 31 August 2005) was a Scottish character actor who featured in many films and television programmes, and was known for playing villains. His most prominent television role was as strict deputy headmaster Maurice Bronson in the children's series Grange Hill, which he played between 1985 and 1989. He appeared as Admiral Ozzel in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Early life Sheard was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, the son of Donald Marriot Perkins, a church minister. He was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and took his mother's maiden name as his stage name. During his national service Sheard was a Royal Air Force aircraftman. Career Sheard had a lengthy affiliation with science fiction, and appeared in six televised stories of the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, appearing with the First Doctor in The Ark (1966), the Third Doctor in The Mind of Evil (1971), the Fourth Doctor in both Pyramids of Mars (1975) (for which he later recorded a DVD commentary) and The Invisible Enemy (1977), the Fifth Doctor in Castrovalva (1982) and the Seventh Doctor in Remembrance of the Daleks (1988). He also worked with the Eighth Doctor in The Stones of Venice, a Doctor Who audio drama produced by Big Finish Productions. He was a regular guest at both Doctor Who and Star Wars conventions over the years in the U.S. and the UK. Further to this, he had guest roles in Colditz (1972), On the Buses (1973), Cloud Burst (1974), Space: 1999 and the BBC's adaptation of the Lord Peter Wimsey story The Five Red Herrings (1975) and as Dr. Arnold Anderson in Crown Court (1976).