Brian Blessed celebrates his 90th birthday with tributes from colleagues

Colleagues praise his resilience

Emma Thompson wrote that Blessed has survived falls from helicopters and mountains while staying healthy. She noted he began cold exposure practices long before modern motivational speakers popularized them.

Thompson recalls a freezing dressing room

During filming of Henry V at Shepperton, Thompson visited Blessed in his open-windowed dressing room where it was very cold. He bundled her into heated corridors after noticing she had frozen lips and jaw.

Jacobi remembers their early work

Derek Jacobi stated they first worked together at Birmingham Rep in 1960 doing a different play each month. He described Blessed as the star of the show when he was still in his 20s.