👑15 Beautiful Stars in Henry VIII's Tudor Court Before the Tudors🌹| Do You Remember Them?

Step back into the candlelit court of King Henry VIII — not in a single telling, but across three of the most celebrated dramatisations ever made: the sweeping 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, the BBC's landmark The Six Wives of Henry VIII in 1970, and ITV's lavish Henry VIII in 2003.

Long before The Tudors became a global sensation in 2007, these were the productions that brought Henry, his queens and his court roaring to life — and the actors who wore the crown, the gable hood and the headsman's shadow remain unforgettable, though you may know many of them from somewhere else entirely.

Richard Burton's towering Henry VIII, the legendary Welshman fresh from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Oscar-nominated for the crown. Geneviève Bujold's luminous Anne Boleyn beside him, an Academy Award nominee at twenty-seven, who would later unnerve audiences opposite Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers and lives quietly in Malibu today.

Anthony Quayle's worldly Cardinal Wolsey, who had already marched through the desert as Colonel Brighton in Lawrence of Arabia. Irene Papas's proud Catherine of Aragon, the great Greek tragedienne immortalised in Zorba the Greek. John Colicos's scheming Thomas Cromwell, later the original Baltar to a generation of Battlestar Galactica fans.

Keith Michell's definitive Henry VIII, the Australian actor whose performance so many still picture first, later turning sleuth on Murder, She Wrote. Annette Crosbie's dignified Catherine of Aragon, a BAFTA winner for the role and, two decades on, the long-suffering Margaret Meldrew of One Foot in the Grave — still with us at ninety-two.

Dorothy Tutin's heartbreaking Anne Boleyn, a giant of the British stage who once charmed cinema as Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest. Anne Stallybrass's gentle Jane Seymour, soon to sail into the nation's hearts in The Onedin Line. Angela Pleasence's fragile, childlike Catherine Howard — daughter of the great Donald Pleasence — who would one day play Elizabeth I herself in Doctor Who.

David Suchet's formidable Cardinal Wolsey, forever the world's definitive Hercule Poirot. Sean Bean's defiant Robert Aske, leading the Pilgrimage of Grace with the same fire he brought to Sharpe. Emily Blunt's youthful Catherine Howard, one of her very first roles, three years before The Devil Wears Prada made her a star.

Helena Bonham Carter's spirited Anne Boleyn, four years before she cast her spell as Bellatrix Lestrange. And Ray Winstone's thunderous Henry VIII, the East End hard man of Sexy Beast crowned king at last.

Some are still beloved screen presences, some have stepped away from the camera, and eight, sadly, we have lost. Join us for a tender then-and-now journey through three unforgettable visions of the Tudor court — and the remarkable lives these actors led far beyond it.

Chapter Index
00:00 Richard Burton — Henry VIII
00:17 Geneviève Bujold — Anne Boleyn
00:37 Anthony Quayle — Cardinal Wolsey
00:57 Irene Papas — Catherine of Aragon
01:17 John Colicos — Thomas Cromwell
01:37 Annette Crosbie — Catherine of Aragon
01:57 Dorothy Tutin — Anne Boleyn
02:17 Keith Michell — Henry VIII
02:37 Anne Stallybrass — Jane Seymour
02:57 Angela Pleasence — Catherine Howard
03:17 David Suchet — Cardinal Wolsey
03:37 Sean Bean — Robert Aske
03:57 Emily Blunt — Catherine Howard
04:17 Helena Bonham Carter — Anne Boleyn
04:37 Ray Winstone — Henry VIII
05:00 Outro

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