Portrait of Michael Gough

Birthday profile

Michael Gough

Michael Gough, Malaysian-English actor (died 2011)

Born
November 23, 1916
Died
March 17, 2011
Zodiac sign
Sagittarius
Birth year
1916

About Michael Gough

Francis Michael Gough ( GOF; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer horror films, with his first role as Sir Arthur Holmwood in Dracula (1958), and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in the four Batman films directed by Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher (1989—1997). He also appeared in Burton's Sleepy Hollow (1999), and voiced Elder Gutknecht in Corpse Bride (2005) and the Dodo in Alice in Wonderland (2010). Gough appeared extensively on British television. In 1957 he received a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor. In Doctor Who he played the titular villain in The Celestial Toymaker (1966) and Councillor Hedin in Arc of Infinity (1983), and in The Avengers episode "The Cybernauts" (1965) he played the automation-obsessed wheelchair user Dr. Armstrong. At the National Theatre in London, Gough excelled as a comedian, playing a resigned and rueful parent in Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce (1977). When the comedy transferred to Broadway in 1978 he won a Tony Award. One of Gough's most well-received West End roles was as Baron von Epp in the 1983 revival of John Osborne's A Patriot for Me. He is known for his roles in the Hammer horror films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthur Holmwood in Dracula, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth from 1989 to 1997 in the four Batman films directed by Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Michael Gough timeline

  1. He is known for his roles in the Hammer horror films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthur Holmwood in Dracula, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth from 1989 to 1997 in the four Batman films directed by Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher.
  2. When the comedy transferred to Broadway in 1978 he won a Tony Award.

The world when Michael Gough was born

Michael Gough was born in 1916. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1916

  • Best-selling book"Seventeen" – Booth Tarkington

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentGeorgia Tech defeats Cumberland 222-0, most lopsided football game ever
  • Top headlineBattle of the Somme — 1 million casualties
  • Technology milestoneTanks first used in warfare
  • Notable inventionMilitary tanks
  • World population~1.76B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWoodrow Wilson
  • U.S. population99.6M

1916 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Michael Gough's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19162026
Population99.6M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.