Michael Praed

The 1984-1986 British ITV series "Robin of Sherwood," retitled "Robin Hood" for its subsequent American run on PBS, remains arguably the most unusual small or big screen depiction of the folk hero. For one thing, he was portrayed by not one but two U.K. actors: Michael Praed and Sean Connery's son Jason. For another, the tone of the show was hyper-realistic, predating by a good 25 years the work that Ridley Scott eventually attempted with Russell Crowe in the lead. Alongside his visibility with genre fans in the 1980's, Praed also scored his most prominent American role on the Aaron Spelling nighttime soap opera "Dynasty," gracing 26 episodes as Prince Michael of Moldavia. More recently, Praed has been the narrator, since 2003, of the BBC history series "Timewatch," which profiles various historical figures. Like so many accomplished British actors, Praed perfected his technique on the stage and continues to work in parallel in productions such as "The Sound of Music." He chose the stage name of "Praed" out of a phone book after discovering he could not retain the moniker of Michael Prince.