Michael Pennington was an actor of astonishing range, a wise writer and witty company

"He co-founded, with Michael Bogdanov, the English Shakespeare Company. He toured the world with one-man shows on Shakespeare and Chekhov. He directed here and abroad and wrote 10 books full of practical wisdom. On top of all that, he was witty and delightful company. His acting career falls into distinctive phases. He spent much of the 1960s and 70s with the Royal Shakespeare Company, where many performances stand out."

"His Berowne in Love's Labour's Lost in 1978 was a man hooked on the sublime rhetoric of love. And for the same director, John Barton, in 1980, he was a brilliant Hamlet: sharp brained, sweet-souled and mellifluous of voice in the Gielgud tradition. He later moved to the National Theatre, where in Venice Preserv'd he and Ian McKellen recaptured a heroic style of acting, and where in Strider: The Story of a Horse he endowed the equine protagonist with a pedigree dignity through a light-stepping walk on the balls of his feet."

"Like many intelligent actors Pennington yearned to be something more than a hired hand, which led him to work alongside Bogdanov in forming and running the English Shakespeare Company. He played a huge variety of parts, from Henry V and Coriolanus to Buckingham and Jack Cade. He also helped forge the style of a company that he once described as both progressive and nostalgic: progressive in that each production was grounded in current political argument, but nostalgic in that the company itself were touring rogues and vagabonds, once dubbed a rock'n'roll Shakespeare outfit."

Michael Pennington was a well-graced actor with a resonant voice, handsome presence, and ease on stage. He co-founded the English Shakespeare Company with Michael Bogdanov, toured the world with one-man shows on Shakespeare and Chekhov, directed productions at home and abroad, and wrote 10 books of practical wisdom. His acting career included major phases: work with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s and 70s, including Berowne in Love’s Labour’s Lost and a celebrated Hamlet. Later he moved to the National Theatre, performing in Venice Preserv’d and Strider: The Story of a Horse, where he gave the horse dignified movement. He also played a wide range of roles from Henry V and Coriolanus to Buckingham and Jack Cade, helping shape a style that was both progressive and nostalgic.

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