Brian Deacon

Brian Deacon
Born	(1949-02-13) 13 February 1949 (age 76) Oxford, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1971–present
Spouses	Rula Lenska ​ ​ (m. 1977;div. 1987)​ Nathalie Bloch-Lainé ​ ​ (m. 1998)​
Children	1

Brian Deacon (born 13 February 1949) is an English actor and voice actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Jesus Christ in the 1979 film Jesus . ^{[1] [2]}

Life and career

Deacon was born in Oxford, where he later trained at the Oxford Youth Theatre. ^[3] He made his West End debut in The Rivals at the New Wimbledon Theatre in 1972. His other notable credits included

He is known for playing Jesus Christ in the 1979 film Jesus (also known as The Jesus Movie). ^{[1] [2]} Deacon was chosen for the part out of a field of 900 actors screen tested by producer John Heyman. ^[4] The film is claimed by its distributor, the Jesus Film Project (subsidiary of the evangelical organization Cru), to be the most-viewed film in history.

Deacon has also portrayed Heumac in The Feathered Serpent (1976, 1978) and Frank Miles in the 1978 TV series Lillie , and appeared with his brother, Eric, in the Peter Greenaway film A Zed & Two Noughts (1985), as Oswald Deuce. ^{[1] [5]} Between 1992 and 1993, he played the role of the Honourable Neil Kincaid in British soap opera Emmerdale , the lover of established character Kim Tate (Claire King). ^[6]

Deacon's voice acting work includes the video games Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II, Total War Saga: Troy , Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth , and The Dark Eye series.

Personal life

He has been married twice, firstly to Rula Lenska (1977–1987), with whom he had a daughter, Lara Parker Deacon. ^[7] In 1998, he married the French actress and producer Nathalie Bloch-Lainé. ^{[3] [8]}

Though he is well known for his portrayal of Jesus, Deacon describes himself as irreligious and a "lapsed Catholic" in a 2016 interview, saying: "I never completely abandoned [faith] or anything like that. I looked at comparative religions and still have my own spiritual belief system, which is very much my own and not one I would impose on others." ^[9]

Filmography

• The Guardians , episode "The Logical Approach" (1971)
• The Triple Echo (1972)
• Love and Mr Lewisham (1972) TV series
• Thirty-Minute Theatre , episode "Scarborough" (1972)
• ITV Sunday Night Theatre , episode "First Sight" (1972)
• Full House, TV series episode (25 November 1972)
• Public Eye , episode "It's a Woman's Privilege" (1973)
• Vampyres (1974)
• The Kiss (1974)
• Good Girl, (1974) TV series ^[10]
• Churchill's People , episode "The Lost Island" (1975)
• The Emigrants , episodes "Chances for the Children" (1976), "Endeavour" (1976), "13,000 Miles Away" (1976) e "A Dream of Freedom" (1976)
• Centre Play, 1st episode "Risking It" (1977)
• The Feathered Serpent (1976–1978) TV series
• Lillie , episodes "Mrs. Langtry" (1978), "The Jersey Lily" (1978), "The New Helen" (1978), "Bertie" (1978), "Let Them Say" (1978), "The Sailor Prince" (1978) e "Going on the Stage" (1978)
• Jesus (1979)
• The New Media Bible: Book of Genesis (1980)
• Leap in the Dark , episode "Watching Me, Watching You" (1980)
• Nelly's Version (1983) TV film
• The First Part of King Henry VI (1983) TV film
• The Second Part of King Henry VI (1983) TV film
• The Third Part of King Henry VI (1983) TV film
• Richard III (1983) TV film
• Separate Tables (1983) TV film
• Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense , episode "And the Wall Came Tumbling Down" (1984)
• Mr. Palfrey of Westminster , episode "Freedom from Longing" (1985)
• Bleak House (1985) TV series
• A Zed & Two Noughts (1985)
• Screen Two , episode "Inappropriate Behaviour" (1987)
• Emmerdale , episode 1.1724 1.1725 (1992)
• Bugs , episode "Down Among the Dead Men" (1995)
• The Story of Jesus for Children (2000) Home Video only
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords (2004) video game (voice)
• Doctors , episodes "Face Value" (2001) and "Amends" (2009)
• Ceville (2009) video game (voice)
• The Projectionist (2012)
• The Night of the Rabbit (2013) video game (voice)
• Mistaken (2013)

References

1. "Brian Deacon". BFI. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017.
2. "Partner | Jesus Film Project". www.jesusfilm.org.
3. "Brian Deacon". TVGuide.com.
4. "The JESUS Film Project | Casting "Jesus"". Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
5. "BFI Screenonline: Zed and Two Noughts, A (1985)". www.screenonline.org.uk.
6. "Emmerdale[05/01/93] (1993)". BFI. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017.
7. "Rula's ruling the roost from now on". The Irish News. 14 October 2013.
8. Nathalie Bloch My Heritage
9. "Brian Deacon - The Face of Jesus". Hope 103.2. 23 March 2016. Archived from the original on 27 June 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
10. Good Girl at IMDb

External links

• Brian Deacon at IMDb
• Brian Deacon at the TCM Movie Database