Michael York

Born: 27 March 1942 Where: Buckinghamshire, England

Born Michael Johnson he began his acting career as a teenager in a 1956 production of The Yellow Jacket. Three years later, he made his West End debut with a one-line role in a production of Hamlet.

Michael went to Oxford University where he studied English, and spent his summers working with Michael Croft's Youth Theatre. After graduating, the actor joined Scotland's Dundee Repertory Theatre where he debuted in Arms and the Man, and adopted the stage name of Michael York.

His career gained a boost when he was invited to join The National Theatre in January 1965, and was immediately cast by Franco Zeffirelli in Much Ado About Nothing.

Michael made his screen debut in Zeffirelli's The Taming of the Shrew in 1967, and a year later garnered a lot of attention for his vibrant portrayal of Tybalt in Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet.

He went on to star opposite Liza Minnelli in Cabaret, then played a dashing D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers, reprising this role for several sequels.

He co-starred in the Agatha Christie adaptation Murder on the Orient Express, had the lead role in sci-fi thriller Logan's Run, and in 1979, made his debut as a producer with The Riddle of the Sands.

In the early 80s, Michael attempted his first stage musical, the ill-fated The Little Prince which closed on Broadway during previews, before becoming a regular presence on the small screen.

A new generation of fans came to know Michael as Basil Exposition, the head of British intelligence, in the Mike Myers hit spoof Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and its two sequels, The Spy Who Shagged Me and Goldmember.

He enjoyed success in the drama The Omega Man as well as in its 2001 sequel Meggido: The Omega Code 2, before playing the headmaster of a boys' reform school in Borstal Boy, based on the life of Irish writer Brendan Behan.