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Mike Farley
was born in Chelmsford, Essex
in 1967 and raised in the village of Mountnessing. His historical
interests were stirred from an early age by his parents and nurtured at
school. His working career has taken in stints as a professional actor
and comedian appearing at some of London's most prestigious theatres and
clubs, as well as a number of appearances at the Edinburgh Festival
Fringe (1987-89). Mike was also lucky enough to work at various times
with such luminaries as Richard O'Brien, Judie Tzuke, Tony Robinson, as
well as the late lamented legend, Ed Bishop! He plays a variety of
musical instruments and can incorporate this into the Tudor days. He is
married to the lovely Amanda and they have a son who was born in 2002.
Mike very much likes "Time Team", "Doctor Who", XTC, cricket and red
wine. He is not very fond of celery, which he believes is the work of
the Devil. He has recently written a comic Sci-fi novel called "Team
Spirit". He is also a keen supporter of Manchester City and Yeovil Town
football clubs. Mike's ambition is to get everyone as excited about
history as he is.
Since becoming a
full time professional Henry the VIIIth in June 2004, Mike has appeared
on BBC 1's "Rolf on Art" & "The ONE Show", ITV West Country, HTV West,
BBC Radio 2's "Steve Wright in the Afternoon", BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC
Radio 7's "Big Toe Radio Show", BBC Bristol, Ivel FM, BBC Somerset
Sound and Orchard FM plus
he has had coverage in national
newspapers like The Observer, Sunday Mirror and the Daily Mail, and
major regional papers like The Western Gazette, the Kent Messenger, The
Metro, The Somerset County Gazette and even in news publications as far
away as Arizona in the USA and Delhi in India! Mike has also made Henry
appearances for museums, castles, fetes, Rotary Clubs, and other
organisations. He is now the regular "Henry in Residence" for the
beautiful Leeds Castle in Kent, the lovely Sudeley Castle in
Gloucestershire and the delightful Barrington Court in Somerset. Mike
has also appeared for English Heritage at the Education Show at the NEC
in Birmingham.
Perhaps the
highlight for Mike so far, was when he appeared at Leeds Castle with the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Carl Davis, as
narrator for the annual Picnic Proms Concert for Children in front of
6,000 people.
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