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For a while he worked on the management side of his father's sporting goods firm in Belfast, but by the mid fifties he was in the chorus of an amateur dramatic and operatic society. He'd fallen for a girl member so joined the society to get to know her. While he soon got over her, he'd become fascinated by acting. He sang in 'Annie Get Your Gun', played Judd in 'Oklahoma', then later joined the local repertory company. In 1959 moved to London where he quickly made a reputation as a character actor moving from theatre to films.- Actor
- Director
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An actor since the age of 14, Bernard Cribbins had become a major star on the London stage by his mid-20s, but it was another ten years before he became a national star by his success in film comedies and with a string of hit records. He appeared in several of the "Carry On" series, and also achieved a great degree of success doing voiceovers for cartoons and TV commercials.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in Arundel, Sussex, in 1948, Judy's father moved the family to London when she was 10 years old and enrolled her and sister Sally Geeson into the Corona Academy, Chiswick. Judy initially wanted to be a ballet dancer but had to change course when she suffered from terrible headaches as a result of some of the moves. Acting had always been a great interest, however, and she chose to pursue this, making her first TV appearance in Dixon of Dock Green (1955) aged 12. Her first major film role was as wayward teenager Pamela Dare opposite Sidney Poitier in To Sir, with Love (1967) at the age of 18.
After a very successful film run during the 1960s and 1970s, Judy took a trip to the US in October 1984, choosing to stay on for a while. By May 1985 she had met and married Kristoffer Tabori and moved to California. However, the marriage had broken down by 1989. Despite this, Judy chose to stay in the US, making her home in Los Angeles.- Actress
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Born Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills in London in 1946, she is the daughter of the great actor Sir John Mills and the well-known novelist-playwright Mary Hayley Bell. Her sister is the actress Juliet Mills. She grew up in her parents' home, an outgoing, funny child, and, because she spent so much time with her parents and their friends, very intelligent. When she went to boarding school at age nine, however, she became very shy around kids her own age. She found solace in theater productions at her school. She was noticed playing at her parent's home in 1958 by director J. Lee Thompson, who immediately cast her opposite her father in the thriller Tiger Bay (1959). Her debut performance turned heads around the world, from Germany, where she won an award at the Berlin Film Festival, to Hollywood, when Walt Disney came knocking at her door. He signed her to a five-year contract. For her first film for the studio, Pollyanna (1960), she won critical raves, box-office success, and a special Juvenile Academy Award. Her second Disney film, The Parent Trap (1961), in which she played twins, was even more popular. She continued to appear in routine Disney films like In Search of the Castaways (1962) and Summer Magic (1963), as well as films outside the studio like Whistle Down the Wind (1961), based on her mother's novel, and The Chalk Garden (1964), again co-starring with her father. Though Disney gave her a somewhat more adult role in the mystery film The Moon-Spinners (1964), she had begun to tire of her sunny, innocent Pollyanna image. After completing That Darn Cat! (1965), she left the studio for good. That Darn Cat! (1965) was still a success, as was her first post-Disney film, Columbia's The Trouble with Angels (1966). Then, she shocked her fans by appearing in the comedy The Family Way (1966) with her father. There was an even bigger surprise in store when she fell in love with the film's director, Roy Boulting, who was 33 years her senior. She lived with Boulting for five years after he divorced his wife. They married in 1971 and had a son, Crispian Mills, in 1973. By this time, he'd taken control of her career, and, as a result, she made many bad film choices that left critics and audiences cold. By 1975, her film career had pretty much tanked. She separated from Boulting that year and moved in with actor Leigh Lawson, with whom she had a son, Jason, in 1976. They split up in 1984. She appeared in three TV-movie sequels to The Parent Trap (1961) in the 1980s, and also appeared in the BBC miniseries The Flame Trees of Thika (1981) and the TV series Good Morning, Miss Bliss (1987), later re-titled Saved by the Bell (1989). She hasn't done much film work in several years, preferring to concentrate on her burgeoning career in theater. Her greatest success in theater, so far, has been the role of Anna in "The King and I", which she has played in many touring stage productions throughout the 1990s.- Actor
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Stuart Wilson was born in Guildford, Surrey in England, on December 25th, 1946. He went to thirteen different schools, as his father served in the Royal Air Force and travelled around the world. After the RAF, his father worked as an engineer in the copper mines in Rhodesia. Stuart moved to London in the mid-sixties and trained at RADA. After RADA, he began working in repertory in Liverpool and at the RSC. His career took off when he played "Johann Strauss, Jr." in the The Strauss Family (1972), in which his character aged from 14 to 74. He continued to have a successful television career, playing various roles, including "Vronsky" in Anna Karenina (1977) and "Major Jimmy Clarke" in The Jewel in the Crown (1984). In the late 1980s, Stuart moved to Hollywood, where he landed roles in The Age of Innocence (1993) with Martin Scorsese, Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) and Roman Polanski's Death and the Maiden (1994). Stuart Wilson occasionally returns to the London stage and, in 2002, played "Antony" in "Antony and Cleopatra" at the RSC.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Hugh Fraser was born on 23 October 1945 in England, UK. He is an actor, known for Poirot (1989), 101 Dalmatians (1996) and Jack the Ripper (1988). He has been married to Belinda Lang since 15 October 1988. They have one child.- Richard Pearson was born on 1 August 1918 in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for Pirates (1986), Macbeth (1971) and Middlemarch (1968). He was married to Patricia Dickson. He died on 2 August 2011 in Northwood, Hillingdon, London, England, UK.
- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
David Cassidy was born on April 12, 1950 in Manhattan, to Jack Cassidy, a very skilled actor and singer, and Evelyn Ward, an actress. By the time he was five, his parents were divorced and Jack had married actress Shirley Jones, an actress who in 1955 had just made Oklahoma! (1955). When David was about 10, his mother moved to California from New Jersey. A few years later, she married a director and, like Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones, the marriage ended in divorce. David was thrown out of schools and hardly made it through one year of college. When he was eighteen, he went east to New York to perform in a play called "The Fig Leafs are Falling." He did some other spots on TV, but in 1970 he got the opportunity to play Keith Partridge on the TV show The Partridge Family (1970). (He did not know until he got the part that his real life stepmother Shirley Jones was to play his mother Shirley.) The show ended in 1974, but not the close relationship he had with his "sister" Susan Dey, who played Laurie Partridge. In 1976, David's father Jack died when his apartment caught on fire. That year, David married Kay Lenz, but they later divorced. He married again to a horse trainer in 1984, but it did not last either. In 1990, he married Sue Shifrin. He had two children, a son named Beau, with Sue, and actress Katie Cassidy. In 1994, he wrote a book about his years being Keith Partridge, and performed updated songs from the Partridge Family years.
David died on November 21, 2017, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was sixty seven.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
A remarkably seasoned actor of stage, screen and television, Darren McGavin has notched in excess of 200 performances; however, he is most fondly remembered by cult TV fans as heroic newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak in the classic but short-lived horror TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974). In a long and varied career, McGavin has often turned up as authority figures including policemen, military officers, stern-faced business executives or father figures; however, he is equally adept at light-hearted comedic performances.
Darren McGavin was born William Lyle Richardson on May 7, 1922, in Spokane, Washington, to Grace Mitton (Bogart) and Reed D. Richardson. His mother was from Ontario, Canada. He received his dramatic arts training at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actors Studio, and debuted on screen in an uncredited role in A Song to Remember (1945). Several standard roles followed over the next decade before he landed the key role of Louie the drug pusher in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) and Capt. Russ Peters in The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955), both directed by Otto Preminger. Each of these performances showcased McGavin's versatility, and his virile looks scored him the role of Mickey Spillane's hard-boiled private eye in Mike Hammer (1958).
McGavin stayed continually employed throughout the 1960s, appearing in such films as The Great Sioux Massacre (1965), The Outsider (1967), The Challengers (1970) and The Tribe (1970). In addition, he was regularly guest-starring in dozens of TV shows, including Gunsmoke (1955), Dr. Kildare (1961), Mission: Impossible (1966) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964). In 1971 he landed the role of cynical reporter Carl Kolchak in the low-budget horror thriller The Night Stalker (1972), about a vampire running amok in Las Vegas. The film was a monster ratings winner (pun intended!) and the highest-rated telemovie of 1972, and original scriptwriters were soon hard at work on a punchier sequel. The Night Strangler (1973) saw Kolchak in Seattle (after being booted out of Las Vegas by the police), and this time on the trail of a serial killer seeking the elixir of eternal youth. The second movie was equally successful, and spawned the short-lived TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974) with Simon Oakland as McGavin's long-suffering editor and a host of weekly guest stars including Jim Backus, Phil Silvers, Richard Kiel, Tom Skerritt, Scatman Crothers and Larry Storch.
"Kolchak" only lasted one season, but it became a bona-fide cult classic, and many years later its premise of "the unknown amongst us" inspired writer Chris Carter to create the phenomenally successful long-running TV series The X-Files (1993), which saw McGavin guest-star in several episodes.
McGavin remained busy throughout the rest of the 1970s and into the 1980s, appearing in Airport '77 (1977), as Gen. George S. Patton in the TV miniseries Ike: The War Years (1979), alongside Rock Hudson in the uneven sci-fi miniseries The Martian Chronicles (1980) and a few years later endeared himself to to a whole new generation of fans with his superb performance as the vitriolic, yet buffoonish, father in the delightful Christmas classic A Christmas Story (1983). The always versatile McGavin also popped up as a detective in Turk 182 (1985), assisted Arnold Schwarzenegger in cleaning up the mob in Raw Deal (1986) and was a doctor in the bizarre zombie/cop/zombie cop film Dead Heat (1988).
At this point it's worth mentioning that, along with his film and TV work, McGavin has also enjoyed an illustrious career on the stage, with appearances in dozens of critically acclaimed productions across the length and breadth of the US. He has appeared in stage presentations of "Death of a Salesman", "The Rainmaker", "The King and I" and "Blood Sweat & Stanley Poole", to name a few.
In 1990 the opportunity arose for McGavin to play another somewhat stern, yet comedic, father figure, this time as "Bill Brown" to Candice Bergen in the much loved sitcom Murphy Brown (1988). McGavin was again wonderful, and his entertaining performances resulted in an Emmy Award nomination in 1990. Several other film roles followed in the 1990s, in such films as Adam Sandler's hit Billy Madison (1995). He died on 25th February 2006 at the age of 83.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Van Johnson was the fresh-faced, well-mannered nice guy on screen you always wanted your daughter to marry! This fair, freckled and invariably friendly-looking MGM song-and-dance star of the 40s emerged a box office favorite (1944-1946) and second only to heartthrob Frank Sinatra during what gossip monger Hedda Hopper dubbed the "Bobby-soxer Blitz" era. Johnson's musical timing proved just as adroit as his legit career timing for he was able to court WWII stardom as a regimented MGM symbol of the war effort with an impressive parade of earnest soldiers. He may have been a second tier musical star behind the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, but his easy smile, wholesome, boy-next-door appeal and strawberry-blond good looks made him a solid box-office attraction while MGM's "big boys" were off to war.
Born Charles Van Dell Johnson in Newport, Rhode Island, on August 25, 1916, Van was the only child of Loretta (Snyder) and Charles E. Johnson. His paternal grandparents were Swedish, and his mother was of German, and a small amount of Irish, ancestry. Johnson endured a lonely and unhappy childhood as the sole offspring of an extremely aloof father (who was both a plumber and real estate agent by trade) and an absentee mother (she abandoned the family when he was three, the victim of alcoholism). A paternal grandmother helped in raising the young lad. Happier times were spent drifting into the fantasy world of movies, and he developed an ardent passion to entertain. Taking singing, dancing and violin lessons during his high school years, he disregarded his father's wish to become a lawyer and instead left home following graduation to try his luck in New York.
Early experiences included chorus lines in revues, at hotels and in various small shows around town. A couple of minor breaks occurred with his 40-week stint in the "New Faces of 1936" revue (making his Broadway debut) and in a vaudeville club act (based around star Mary Martin) called "Eight Young Men of Manhattan" that played the Rainbow Room. He served as understudy to the three male leads of Rodgers and Hart's popular musical "Too Many Girls" in October of 1939 and eventually replaced one of them (actor Richard Kollmar left the show to marry reporter Dorothy Kilgallen.) He also formed a lifelong and career-igniting friendship with one of the other leads, Desi Arnaz.
Johnson made an inauspicious film debut with Arnaz in Too Many Girls (1940) when the musical was eventually lensed in Hollywood, but he was cast in a scant chorus boy part. Following a stint on Broadway in "Pal Joey" in 1940, Warner Bros. signed Van to a six-month contract. He went on to co-star with Faye Emerson in Murder in the Big House (1942), but they dropped him quickly feeling that his acting chops were lacking. It was Arnaz's wife Lucille Ball, who had recently signed with MGM, who introduced Van to Billy Grady, MGM's casting head, and instigated a successful screen test.
With the studio's top male talent off to war, Van (along with Peter Lawford) served as an earnest substitute donning fatigues in such stalwart movies as Somewhere I'll Find You (1942) The War Against Mrs. Hadley (1942) and The Human Comedy (1943). In addition, he replaced actor/war pacifist Lew Ayres in the "Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie" film series after Ayres was unceremoniously dumped by the studio for his unpopular beliefs.
Stardom came, and at quite a price, for Van when he was cast yet again as a wholesome serviceman in A Guy Named Joe (1943). During the early part of filming, he was severely injured in a near-fatal car crash (he had a metal plate inserted in his skull, which instantly gave him a 4-F disqualification status for war service). Endangered of being replaced on the film, the two stars of the picture, Spencer Tracy (who became another lifelong friend) and Irene Dunne, insisted that the studio work around his convalescence or they would quit the film. The unusually kind gesture made Van a star following the film's popular release and resulting publicity. Van's career soared during the war years, making him and Lawford the resident heartthrobs not only in musicals (Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), Easy to Wed (1946)), but in airy comedies (Week-End at the Waldorf (1945)) and, of course, more war stories (Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)).
When the big stars such as Clark Gable, James Stewart and Robert Taylor returned to reclaim post-war stardom, Van willingly relinquished his "golden boy" pedestal, but he remained a high profile musical star opposite the likes of June Allyson, Esther Williams and Judy Garland. He continued to demonstrate his dramatic mettle in such well-regarded films as Command Decision (1948), State of the Union (1948), Battleground (1949), Brigadoon (1954) and The Caine Mutiny (1954) and remained a popular star for three more decades. When MGM's "golden age" phased out by the mid-1950s, Van's movie career took a sharp decline and the studio released him after he co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor in The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954).
While Van continued working as a freelancer in such as the English-made The End of the Affair (1955) with Deborah Kerr; Miracle in the Rain (1956) opposite Jane Wyman, The Bottom of the Bottle (1956) with Joseph Cotten, 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956) co-starring Vera Miles, Kelly and Me (1956) partnered with a dog, and Web of Evidence (1959), he again capitalized on his musical talents by reinventing himself as a nightclub performer and musical stage star on the regional and dinner theater circuits, including "The Music Man," "Damn Yankees," "Guys and Dolls," "Bells Are Ringing," "On a Clear Day...," "Forty Carats," "Bye Bye Birdie," "There's a Girl in My Soup" and "I Do! I Do!"
Van delved heavily into TV from the late 1960's on and served as a guest on such shows as "Laugh-In," "The Name of the Game," "The Red Skelton Show," "Nanny and the Professor," "The Virginian," "The Doris Day Show," "Love, American Style," "Maude," "Quincy," "McMillan & Wife," "The Love Boat," "Fantasy Island" and "Murder, She Wrote." He earned an Emmy nomination for his participation in the mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), and co-starred or was featured in such TV movies as Call Her Mom (1972), Superdome (1978), Black Beauty (1978), Getting Married (1978) and Three Days to a Kill (1992).
In later years, he grew larger in girth but still continued to work. He earned respectable reviews after replacing Gene Barry as Georges in the smash gay musical "La Cage Aux Folles" in 1985. His last musical role was as Cap' Andy in "Show Boat" in 1991, and his last several movies were primarily filmed overseas in Italy and Australia. Occasional featured roles on film in later years included Concorde Affaire '79 (1979), The Kidnapping of the President (1980), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Killer Crocodile (1989), Delta Force Commando II: Priority Red One (1990) and Clowning Around (1992).
Van was married only once but it was the constant source of tabloid news. Typically in the closet as a high-ranking actor of the 1940s, he was extremely close friends with fellow MGM actor Keenan Wynn and his wife. Shockingly, Van wound up marrying Wynn's ex-wife, one-time stage actress Evie Wynn Johnson, immediately after the Wynn's divorced in 1947. Van and Eve went on to have one child, daughter Schuyler, in 1948, and were a popular Hollywood couple before separating after fifteen years of marriage. The marriage ended acrimoniously in 1968 and decades later Eve published a statement (after her death in 2004) confirming suspicions that MGM had engineered their marriage to cover up Johnson's homosexuality. In declining health, Van, who was estranged from his only child, died at age 92 on December 12, 2008, at a senior living facility in Nyack, New York.- Actor
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Peter Wilton Cushing was born on May 26, 1913 in Kenley, Surrey, England, to Nellie Maria (King) and George Edward Cushing, a quantity surveyor. He and his older brother David were raised first in Dulwich Village, a south London suburb, and then later back in Surrey. At an early age, Cushing was attracted to acting, inspired by his favorite aunt, who was a stage actress. While at school, Cushing pursued his acting interest in acting and also drawing, a talent he put to good use later in his first job as a government surveyor's assistant in Surrey. At this time, he also dabbled in local amateur theater until moving to London to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on scholarship. He then performed in repertory theater in Worthing, deciding in 1939 to head for Hollywood, where he made his film debut in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939). Other Hollywood films included A Chump at Oxford (1940) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Vigil in the Night (1940) and They Dare Not Love (1941). However, after a short stay, he returned to England by way of New York (making brief appearances on Broadway) and Canada. Back in his homeland, he contributed to the war effort during World War II by joining the Entertainment National Services Association.
After the war, he performed in the West End and had his big break appearing with Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948), in which Cushing's future partner-in-horror Christopher Lee had a bit part. Both actors also appeared in Moulin Rouge (1952) but did not meet until their later horror films. During the 1950s, Cushing became a familiar face on British television, appearing in numerous teleplays, such as 1984 (1954) and Beau Brummell (1954), until the end of the decade when he began his legendary association with Hammer Film Productions in its remakes of the 1930s Universal horror classics. His first Hammer roles included Dr. Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dr. Van Helsing in Horror of Dracula (1958), and Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959).
Cushing continued playing the roles of Drs. Frankenstein and Van Helsing, as well as taking on other horror characters, in Hammer films over the next 20 years. He also appeared in films for the other major horror producer of the time, Amicus Productions, including Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) and its later horror anthologies, a couple of Dr. Who films (1965, 1966), I, Monster (1971), and others. By the mid-1970s, these companies had stopped production, but Cushing, firmly established as a horror star, continued in the genre for some time thereafter.
Perhaps his best-known appearance outside of horror films was as Grand Moff Tarkin in George Lucas' phenomenally successful science fiction film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). Biggles: Adventures in Time (1986) was Cushing's last film before his retirement, during which he made a few television appearances, wrote two autobiographies and pursued his hobbies of bird watching and painting. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his contributions to the acting profession in Britain and worldwide. Peter Cushing died at age 81 of prostate cancer on August 11, 1994.- Actor
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Higgins was born May 9, 1947 in East Northamptonshire, England to parents who had emigrated from Ireland just before World War II in search of economic opportunity. His parents lived in London during the Blitz. Eventually, they left London for Northamptonshire so that his father could obtain work as a builder for American army bases. Young Anthony completed his studies at a state school and then intended to be a journalist. He worked as a butcher in Bedford and then as a "navvy," a builder's helper, in the small town of Grendon, near Northampton. At the age of 16, he obtained a job on a local paper but, by law, he had to be over 17 before he could work so he spent the time learning shorthand and typing. Then, a friend took him to a weekend drama course run by the distinguished Shavian actress, Margaretta Scott. She encouraged him to consider a career as an actor. He said, "It felt right so I decided to pursue it." Higgins won a scholarship to the Birmingham School of Speech and Dramatic Arts in 1964 and studied there for three years. He made his first professional appearance at the Birmingham Repertory Theater Company in Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale" as a walk-on while still at school. He then joined the company full time and was assigned principal roles nearly at once. His portrayal of Romeo, opposite Anna Calder-Marshall as Juliet, received rave reviews throughout England. He also played Cassio in "Othello," and Louis Debedat in "The Doctor's Dilemma." He then worked onstage in classics and contemporary plays in Chichester and London. However, it was a theatrical portrayal of Edmund Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's, "A Long Day's Journey Into Night" in Birmingham that led to Higgins' cinema debut for director John Huston under the name, Anthony Corlan, (his mother's maiden name), in "A Walk with Love and Death" (1969). The film takes place during Europe's 100 Years War and was shot in Vienna and the Vienna Woods. The film is notable for the debut of Huston's daughter, Angelica. Corlan plays Robert, a nobleman, wearing authentic looking armor. It was Huston who taught him how to ride horses. Higgins rides with style in many subsequent films. Later, he would own a racehorse in Ireland.
After appearing in "A Walk with Love and Death," the actor was in several television plays for the BBC, including an original drama, "The Blood of the Lamb," for "The Wednesday Play" and "Mary, Queen of Scots" for "Play of the Month." He then made two films for television, one an episode of "Journey to the Unknown" with Janice Rule, and the other, a segment of "Strange Report," with Anthony Quayle. His next feature film role was in "Something for Everyone," also known as "The Cook," (1970), after auditioning for director Hal Prince and producer John Flaxman in London. This was stage director Prince's first flirtation with film, with a script by Hugh Wheeler, author of "Sweeney Todd." Higgins plays a quiet, sheltered young German royal, Helmuth, with Angela Lansbury as his mother. Helmut is forced into an arranged marriage with Annaliese, played by German actress, Heidelinde Weis. He discovers the darker motives that lurk beneath Michael York's gleaming blonde appearance against brilliant cinematography in the shadow of King Ludwig's Castle, in Neuschwanstein, Germany. In 1972, Higgins acted in "Vampire Circus" as a circus performer who changes into a panther-vampire. The film has become a cult classic. It was banned in Britain (because of its bestiality). The actor has said that it is the last of the great vampire films produced under the Hammer banner. There is a badly edited version for sale in the United States; an uncut edition has been seen in Europe that is much clearer. "Flavia, the Moslem Nun," (1974), with Brazilian born Florinda Bolkan, gave Higgins an opportunity to work in Italy. The DVD is a great piece of cinema history rescued by high technology and enhanced by a recent interview with Ms. Bolkan, who became an international screen legend in her own time. The story is derived from actual events in the 1400s that culminated in "The Martyrdom of the 800" in Otranto. The exotic soundtrack is by Academy Award winning composer, Nicola Piovani ("Life is Beautiful"). If one can get past the explicit physical mutilation of animals and humans and the insults to the Catholic Church, the script can be seen as supportive of feminism. Director Gianfranco Mingozzi's vision is representative of the wild cinema of the sexual revolution of the 70s in which auteurs were bursting to break free from the establishment. "Flavia" has haunting performances by Bolkan, Maria Casares, (the princess in Cocteau's "Orpheus") and Higgins. He is dazzling as the Moslem commander with no name who initiates Flavia as a sexual being, encourages her to carry out a bloody revenge and then disillusions her. That Higgins does not speak much is of no consequence. He communicates some of his best acting with movements and facial expressions, particularly, with his eyes. He can say volumes with one mesmerizing gaze.
The actor flourished on stage, television and screen throughout the 70s. Notably, he starred as a Roman soldier looking for his vanished father in Caledonia, in BBC Scotland's miniseries, "Eagle of the Ninth" with Patrick Malahide in 1977. However, Higgins has said that he is most proud to have been a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company's original London cast of "Piaf," a biography of the French singer, Edith Piaf, written by Pam Gems, which starred Jane Lapotaire in 1979. The play was resurrected to rave reviews in London in 1994 but without any of the original players. Higgins won Best Actor of 1979 from Time Out magazine for his work with The Royal Shakespeare Company that year. He acted in mainly new work with the RSC but he also played Lucentio in "The Taming of the Shrew" opposite Zoe Wanamaker as his sweet Bianca. Older London stage audiences may discern that among his many stage to television appearances in the 80s was the role of Camille in "Danton's Death." The play by George Buechner ran at the National Theater in London for a year and was then produced for television by the BBC. Zoe Wanamaker played opposite him once more. As the actor matured in his thirties, his persona grew more interesting with more unusual works. Higgins' face is often recognized for his having played the artist in "The Draughtsman's Contract," (1982), opposite the brilliant Shakespearean actress, Janet Suzman. The film is suggestive of classical restoration drama with a mysterious plot, elegant landscape shots of England's County Kent and a Purcell-like soundtrack by Michael Nyman. Director Peter Greenaway has said that he cast Higgins in the lead because he best expressed a combination of arrogance and innocence. Higgins gives a subtle depiction of the outcast, the son of a tenant farmer, who turns out to be too trusting and is tragically deceived. After Draughtsman's initial release, many viewers wondered what the lead actor would do next but Higgins does not generally pursue publicity. Although he appeared at the Edinburgh Festival with the cast, he did not do many interviews. "Draughtsman" experienced resurgence in 1994 and the actor's face was plastered on larger than life posters across the high walls of London's underground tube stops. His face has often been well utilized to represent a variety of ethnic origins. It is an oval face with a long thin nose and high, almost oriental cheekbones. It is usually framed by dark, wavy hair, sometimes ending at his collar. His balanced brows can look calm but lying dormant behind his deeply inset, hazel eyes is a prospective fire. Behind the face lies great inventiveness that has not always been allowed to surface but when it does, the effect can be striking. Higgins seems to have unlocked a storeroom of intensity by taking on the role of Stephan, a hard-luck Polish immigrant to 1920s Paris in the Merchant-Ivory film, "Quartet" (1981). The film, based on the novel by Jean Rhys, is sharply directed by James Ivory and has a heart-felt script by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala ("Le Divorce"). Isabelle Adjani garnered a Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actress for her gut-wrenching performance as Stephan's defenseless wife. Stephan is an impetuous man, who takes the dishonest road to acquiring wealth, with a small amount of shiftiness and a large amount of charm. Higgins infuses the role with detailed mannerisms such as holding his cigarette by cupping the end with his fingers, as many Slavic men do.
Higgins' height (6' 2"), dark looks and air of moral strength have frequently rendered him romantic roles. He sometimes appears to be aloof but a warmth sneaks out. The tough guy who softens for a vulnerable female might be what he is all about. Thus, it seems only natural that an actor whom he greatly admires is Robert Mitchum. Indeed, in another era, Higgins himself might have fit nicely into film noir. Higgins stars in a dark mystery film, "Sweet Killing," (1993), which was filmed in Montreal and also features F. Murray Abraham. Female admiration of Higgins became universal with his winsome portrayal of Abdullah, in "Lace," (1984-5), a cleverly written television miniseries by Elliot Baker, based on the popular English novel by Shirley Conran. Angela Lansbury, Brooke Adams and Arielle Dombasle are outstanding. Most critics condemned Phoebe Cates for her unconvincing acting but unanimously praised Higgins' persuasive performance as an Arabian prince, who is the lynch pin of the plot. The film also captures glamorous scenery of the French Alps, Chamonix and other jet-set locales; it has wonderful women's fashions, particularly hats, by Barbara Lane; it is the ultimate "chick flick." Higgins, astonished to hear that it is frequently repeated on cable in the U.S., has reacted, "It was great fun to do, actually. It has no pretense to be Strindberg. It is glamorous trash. Still, we had great character actors in it like Anthony Quayle, an old friend, who is now dead; and the director, Billy Hale, and I hit it off in a big way." Far from charming in "Reilly, Ace of Spies," (1983), the actor plays a cold Communist assassin in the British miniseries with Sam Neill in the title role; Higgins' innocence seen in previous roles is totally obscured here. In 1986, he acted with Jeanne Moreau in Agatha Christie's mystery, "The Last Séance," for Granada TV. "Max, Mon Amour," a feature film for the daring director Nagisa Oshima ("Realm of the Senses") followed in 1986. It has an outrageous plot about a bored wife (Charlotte Rampling) with a chimpanzee as her lover. Higgins plays her British diplomat husband who invites the ape to live with them in Paris.
Higgins continued to work in France to play Napoleon's elder brother in "Napoleon and Josephine," with Armand Assante and Jacqueline Bisset in the title roles in 1987. It gave Higgins the opportunity to work again with Jane Lapotaire as mother Bonaparte. After Napoleon cuts up Europe for his family, Joseph satirically delivers a memorable aside, "Louis gets Holland and all I get is disease-ridden Naples." Lavishly photographed in Europe and North Africa, the television miniseries has subtle humor; it airs occasionally on cable in the U.S. A tendency of Higgins' style has been to hold something back, compelling the viewer to wonder what else he has stored up, adding mystery to his character. In "Darlings of the Gods," an Australian television film, (1991), he may have held back a bit much in the lead as Laurence Olivier, opposite Mel Martin as Vivien Leigh, to the disappointment of some critics. Still, the film aired around the world, received good ratings and repeated several times. In spin offs of the Sherlock Holmes legend, Higgins is the only actor besides Orson Welles to have played both Moriarty ("Young Sherlock Holmes" 1985) and Holmes ("Sherlock Holmes Returns" 1993). Both works display his skills in fencing and oration of long monologues; both versions proved popular in several countries, among them Germany. Higgins is fluent in German. German artist and photographer, Heide Lausen, whom he met while working on "Something for Everyone" in Germany, widows him. He has one daughter, who was born in 1974 and raised in Bavaria. He is often recognized for having played a stereotypical Nazi villain in Stephen Spielberg's, "Raiders of the Lost Ark," (1981). However, of the television film, "One Against the Wind," also known as "Mary Lindell," (1991), starring Judy Davis, Higgins has said that he enjoyed playing a non-typical German SS officer, who had been classically educated in England, because it was not a hackneyed image. "The Bridge," (1992), based on the Whitbread award winning novel by Maggie Hemingway, is an engaging film that takes place in the 19th century with actress Saskia Reeves struggling against sociological constraints. Here, his power simmers rather than explodes, as he plays a husband, who makes a shrewd move to eliminate his wife's lover. In a scene with his daughters at the breakfast table, one can sense that his character might do anything to prevent his family from breaking apart.
A family role that Higgins took on enthusiastically was that of Johann Strauss, Sr. in "The Strauss Dynasty," (1991). The award winning television miniseries, which was filmed in Austria and Hungary over eight months, contains a cast of hundreds. The scope covers the entire Strauss family and the music and politics of their time. The twelve-hour program aired successfully in Europe and Australia in the 90s. The actor shows great range in this role, growing from young adored "Waltz King" conductor of Vienna to world weary, exhausted composer. The series shines with many international stars, enlightening history and music by the Strausses. Higgins grew up in a large musical and creative family of five brothers and one sister in Northamptonshire. Before Higgins was born, his father sang with a band in Cork in the 1930s. His mother was the local church organist and would sometimes accompany him on piano. Later, his father went to New York and studied opera but he returned to Ireland after six years. Anthony plays flugelhorn; he had an instrument especially crafted for him in Germany. He has said that his mother taught him to read even before he went to school. He is a voracious reader; he writes, having used an old manual typewriter prior to the computer era. He also has a penchant for classical music, jazz and fine art; when in New York, he likes to visit the Frick Museum and the Pierpont Morgan Library. He has always had a passion for athletics, having played rugby in his youth, then cricket and now it is golf. The actor's search for cutting-edge productions led him to "Nostradamus" (1994), an eccentric version of the 16th century visionary filmed in Romania. Tcheky Karyo plays the title role and Higgins brings up the ranks as King Henry II of France. Diana Quick (Higgins' mistress in "Max, Mon Amour") plays Diane de Poitier alongside Amanda Plummer as his quirky queen, Catherine de Medici. Higgins plays Henry as extremely effective politically and a great athlete. Higgins' research found that jousting was his other great love as evidenced from the time, effort and money that went into his armor, which is embossed with exquisite scenes from classical history and still exists as an extraordinary artifact.
One of Higgins' best moments onscreen is as Korah, a Hebrew in "Moses" (1996), a television miniseries that aired internationally with Ben Kingsley in the title role. After initial skepticism, Korah silently communicates religious rapture as manna slowly falls from heaven on his ecstatic face, revealing a believer in the end. In the middle 1990s, it seems that there was a chic rush for heterosexual male stars to play roles as HIV-stricken patients, i.e., witness Jeremy Irons in "Stealing Beauty." Higgins brings an understated dignity to the role of a Cuban choreographer in the AIDS-related film, "Alive and Kicking," also known as "Indian Summer" (1996). The film stars Jason Flemyng as his student and has a hopeful conclusion by author Martin Sherman ("Bent"). Higgins returned to the stage in November 1996 with the title role in "Max Klapper - A Life in Pictures." He received excellent notices as a post WWII German film director opposite Emily Lloyd as the actress whom he regards as his creation. The event marked the reopening as a live theater of the Electric Cinema in London, where, curiously, during WWII the theater's manager was suspected of sending messages to German Zeppelins from the roof. Higgins fervently plays Marcel, a Hungarian archaeologist in the Irish feature film, "The Fifth Province," (1997), with Ian Richardson, with whom he previously appeared in "Danton's Death" on British television. Higgins has been particularly commended for the scene where he digs furiously for treasure that was buried by the high kings of Ireland. The script is by the Irish Times-Aer Lingus prize winning, hilarious novelist, Nina Fitzpatrick (Fables of the Irish Intelligentsia). The film sometimes surfaces on Sky TV. In the late 90s, Higgins continued to appear on British television in various roles and slipped into the snakeskins of seriously degenerated criminals in the television crime dramas, "The Governor I," "Supply and Demand I," and "Trial and Retribution III" (now available on DVD in Region 2). All were written by Lynda LaPlante ("Prime Suspect"), who was, coincidentally, an extra in "The Draughtsman's Contract." However, the actor becomes orderly again in 2001, as he plays a talent agent of dubious trust in "The Last Minute," directed by Stephen Norrington ("League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"). The theme is the unworthiness of fame in trendy London. The hero, labeled as "the next big thing," rebels against the agent and descends into hell before finding out how to value his life.
One key to understanding Higgins' personality might be to recognize that his true love is the horn. In 2000, he commissioned British trumpeter Guy Barker, ("Great Expectations" 1998), to write a jazz soundtrack for a short film that Higgins wrote and directed, starring himself and British actress, Frances Barber, "Blood Count." It has been playing at European Film Festivals. In March 2003, Higgins lent his deep, but mellifluous, voice to narrate "Sounds in Black and White," Barker's homage concert to film noir, with the 60 piece London Metropolitan Orchestra at the Barbican Theater in London. In 2004, American television viewers can look forward to seeing him in an "Inspector Lynley Series II" episode on PBS' "Mystery Theater." A large part of Higgins' charisma is due to his voice, mannerisms and unique style that remain unruffled as he ages. He is not on the celebrity A list, the B list or even the Z list but he is high on many viewers' lists of interesting actors to watch because of his magnetism, intensity and unpredictability. The first decade of the new millennium has presented several new interesting British actors on the screen. However, many do not seem to have a strong classical stage training, which is Higgins' rock, and they often throw their lines away. Although not all of his roles have grandeur, people invariably comment about Higgins what he has said of Robert Mitchum, "Even in terrible movies, he is always good." Higgins' light may have reached millions of viewers but he never sold out for money. Some have called him a "career actor" but he has yet to receive the recognition of which his talent is worthy. Where is he? He is building a legacy as a character actor. Film history will show that he is a noteworthy one.- Andrew Ray was born on 31 May 1939 in Southgate, Middlesex, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Mudlark (1950), Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957) and Our Mutual Friend (1976). He was married to Susan Burnet. He died on 20 August 2003 in London, England, UK.
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Beautiful, auburn-haired Virginia Gayle Hunnicutt was born in Fort Worth, Texas, the daughter of Sam Lloyd Hunnicutt, an army colonel, and his wife Mary (née Dickerson). Already in her teens, Gayle was determined to become a serious actress. She attended Texas Christian University in her home town and then won a scholarship to study theatre arts at the University of California. One of her visiting lecturers was the noted French film director Jean Renoir who further encouraged her acting ambitions. Gayle made her first appearances on the stage in college productions and at the Cahuenga Playhouse while supporting her studies financially, working at an advertising agency. Also at the same time, she began to shed her Texan drawl by attending a speech clinic.
Having been 'discovered' by a Warner Brothers talent scout, Gayle was offered a small part in an episode of the TV navy comedy Mister Roberts (1965) and then had a minor role in the Roger Corman-produced and directed outlaw biker counterculture classic The Wild Angels (1966). After that, she attracted attention as a featured guest star on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) (as a con artist) and in Get Smart (1965) (as Octavia, an alluring KAOS agent). The actor George Peppard was sufficiently impressed by her to persuade director John Guillermin to co-star her as the femme fatale in his private eye thriller P.J. (1967). Another glamour part was to follow as leading lady to James Garner in the neo film noir Marlowe (1969), in which Gayle played a TV star involved with a mob boss.
In 1968, she married the English actor and producer David Hemmings after a whirlwind romance. They appeared together in Fragment of Fear (1970) and he subsequently directed her in Running Scared (1972). Her turbulent union with Hemmings ended in divorce after seven years. Gayle, nonetheless, remained based in London. Having lost all trace of her Texas accent, she could effectively pass for being British. She appeared on the stage in several noted productions, including in the title role of Hedda Gabler at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury and as Peter Pan at the Shaftesbury. On the big screen, she co-starred as the wife of a physicist (Roddy McDowall) investigating The Legend of Hell House (1973). Her most significant impact, however, was to be on British television with her strongest showing as Charlotte Stant in The Golden Bowl (1972) (adapted from the 1904 novel by Henry James) and as the Tsarina Alexandra in the excellent miniseries Fall of Eagles (1974). In the French miniseries Fantômas (1980), she featured as the exotic mistress of the eponymous master criminal (portrayed in this version by Austrian actor Helmut Berger). In similar vein, she essayed Irene Adler -- nemesis of the great detective -- in the premier episode of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984) and took on the mantle of femme fatale once more opposite Powers Boothe in an episode of Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (1983).
Gayle's second husband (from 1978) was the author, political journalist and BBC broadcaster Simon Jenkins. This union, like her first, produced one son. She divorced Jenkins in 2009. By then, Gayle had already been retired from screen acting for ten years. In 2004, she published a selection of letters her father wrote to her mother while stationed with the 112th Cavalry in the South Pacific, entitled 'Dearest Virginia'. Gayle Hunnicutt passed away on 31 August 2023, aged 80.- Bosco Hogan was born in March 1949 in Drogheda, Ireland. He is an actor, known for The Professor and the Madman (2019), Count Dracula (1977) and The Last Duel (2021).
- Phyllis Hannah Bickle was born in Chelsea in 1915 and studied dancing at the Margaret Morris school of dance, until an injury forced her to give up dancing and turn instead to acting. Her 70 year film career began with a bit part in The Arcadians (1927) when she was just 12 years old. Along with over 40 movies, she had a successful stage career, spanning 1925 ('Crossings' with Ellen Terry) to 1994 ('Bed') - appearing in such works as 'Blithe Spirit', 'The Heiress' and 'Peter Pan', as the title role of the boy who never grew up.
Phyllis' film breakthrough came in 1941 in the adaptation of the HG Wells story, The Remarkable Mr. Kipps (1941) in which she was cast as the servant girl, a part which had originally been turned down by Margaret Lockwood. In her next film, she was starring opposite international star Robert Donat, a far cry from the music hall comedians (George Formby, Arthur Askey) she had been acting with only a few years earlier. The Man in Grey (1943) truly catapulted her to stardom and from then on there was no looking back. Phyllis Calvert became one of the names most associated with the Gainsborough costume melodramas of the 1940s, usually as the sweet heroine, or the steadfast non-nonsense leader.
After a small trip to Hollywood in the late 1940s, Phyllis returned to England and earned her one BAFTA nomination for the role of the mother of a deaf girl in Crash of Silence (1952) but after that her film career slowed down, with family taking precedence. While shooting Indiscreet (1958), Phyllis was struck a cruel blow when her husband of 16 years, Peter Murray-Hill, passed away. Her stage career picked up markedly in the 1960s when she began taking more and more roles to better raise their two children solely. She gracefully slid into a niche of character roles, usually the kindly mother or aunt, and in 1970, had her own TV series, Kate (1970). In the 1980s she concentrated more on television, only appearing twice on stage. Her final play was in 1994, film in 1997, and TV appearance in 2000. - Actress
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There is one strange, mesmerizing film scene that easily sums up the disturbing fascination Eleanor Bron brought to her characters on stage, TV and in the cinema. This is the classic fig-eating scene which she shares with Alan Bates in the Oscar-winning drama Women in Love (1969). It is not to be missed. A dark, cold-eyed beauty, the unsmiling Eleanor would typically be cast as unapproachable, unsympathetic and intensely neurotic second leads/supports in classy film drama and costumers. And yet, there was another distinct side to her as well. In direct contrast to all the murkiness usually associated with her, Eleanor was a talented writer and performer of TV series comedy!
Eleanor was born in Stanmore, London in 1938 of Eastern European Jewish descent. The family's surname was Bronstein, but abbreviated to Bron by father Sidney, an established music publisher (Bron's Orchestral Service). She was educated at the North London Collegiate School and Newnham College, Cambridge. Older brother Gerry Bron later became a record producer (his Bronze Records label handled such rock groups as Uriah Heep) while another brother became a professor of medicine.
Eleanor started her career off in comedy sharing the same stage with Peter Cook (of "Beyond the Fringe" fame) in a Cambridge Footlights revue entitled "The Last Laugh" in 1959. This led to a plethora of comedy offers, writing and performing satires and spoofs on both radio and TV from the late 60s on, including "Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life," "World in Ferment," "Where Was Spring", "Beyond a Joke" and "After That, This" -- often in tandem with writer John Fortune or actor/writer John Bird
Eleanor made her film debut in the prominent role of the high priestess Ahme in the Beatles' second feature film Help! (1965). In fact, she is often credited to having inspired the name of the Beatles' #1 pop song hit "Eleanor Rigby". She showed just as much promise as a doctor who comes into contact with Michael Caine's worldly lover Alfie (1966), and as part of a vacationing foursome alongside Albert Finney, Audrey Hepburn and William Daniels, who played her screen husband, in the tearjerker Two for the Road (1967). Here Eleanor shows off her "other woman" formidableness that would reappear time and again. That same year she reteamed with comedian Peter Cook, who by now was partnered successfully with Dudley Moore, in Bedazzled (1967), and was third-billed as pregnant Sandy Dennis' friend and confidante in A Touch of Love (1969) [aka "Thank You All Very Much"].
Following her excellence as Alan Bates' supercilious wife in Women in Love (1969), and after a co-starring role in the satirical farce The National Health (1973), a biting comment on England's national health program, Eleanor was little seen in film, at least for the rest of the decade. TV took a good share of her time. Her features grew more severe as time passed and her characters more gargoyle-like. Unforgettable as Joanna Lumley's horror of a mother in episodes of the vitriolic comedy Absolutely Fabulous (1992), a softer core was occasionally glimpsed, as with her Virgin Mary in The Day Christ Died (1980), and her remote but touching Edith Frank in The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank (1988). Back to feature films she proved as repelling as ever playing the arrogant Lady Wexmire (again opposite Peter Cook) in Black Beauty (1994) and the harsh, witchy-like Miss Minchin in A Little Princess (1995). Her film output in later years would include The House of Mirth (2000), The Heart of Me (2002), Love's Brother (2004) and the tennis comedy/drama Wimbledon (2004).
Throughout her career, Eleanor would maintain close ties with the classical and contemporary stage, giving vivid appearances in such plays as "The Doctor's Dilemma" (1966), "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1967), "Major Barbara" (1969), "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg" (1970), "Hedda Gabler" (1970), "Luv" (1971), the West End musical "The Card" (1973), "Two for the Seesaw" (1974), "The Merchant of Venice" (1975), "Private Lives" (1976), "Uncle Vanya" (1977), "The Cherry Orchard" (1978), "The Real Inspector Hound" (1985), "The Duchess of Malfi" (1985), "The Miser" (1991) and "A Delicate Balance" (1997). More recently she appeared in the musical "Twopence to Cross the Mersey" (2005) and the plays "The Clean House" (2006), "In Extremis" (2007) and "All About My Mother" (2007), and has also performed her own one-woman shows "On My Own" and "Desdemona: If You Had Only Spoken". In the 1980s she appeared frequently in Secret Policeman's Balls live benefit shows, working in tandem with her favorite, Peter Cook, and other top comic entertainers as Rowan Atkinson. She also appeared in the film version of The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (1982).
Eleanor is the author of several books -- Life and Other Punctures is an account of bicycling in France and Holland; "The Pillow Book of Eleanor Bron, or An Actress Despairs" is a collection of notes and remembrances; and "Double Take" (1996) is a romantic novel. Long married to well-known architect Cedric Price, she became his widow in 2003. They had no children.- Like the character he played in the BBC series To Serve Them All My Days (1980), John Duttine hails from a mining town, but in Yorkshire rather than Wales. He was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, but raised in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, along with his 4 brothers, and his nephew Joe Duttine. He attended Buttershaw High School in Buttershaw, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. When he realised in his teens that "acting was the only thing I did well," he switched to drama, training at the Drama Centre in London. His first job after drama school was playing three characters in "Hamlet" for the Citizens Theatre Company in Glasgow, Scotland. On joining the Glasgow Repertory Company, he did most of the familiar repertory stints including Antony in "Antony and Cleopatra," Danton in "Danton's Death," and Danforth in "The Crucible."
By the mid-1970s, he had shifted mainly to television and film. Then in 1979-80 came the opportunity to play the hero of To Serve Them All My Days (1980), arguably one of the more demanding roles in his filmography. His main fear about playing David Powlett-Jones was the Welsh accent: "I was rather worried that I wouldn't hit the right note. I would be angry as hell if I heard a Yorkshire accent that was wrong." Clearly, John got the accent and just about everything else about this performance exactly right. As the New York Times noted upon the series' first American broadcast in 1982, "Mr. Duttine is, even in this talented company, exceptional."
Following that triumph, for which he won the TV Times magazine's Best Actor award, John appeared in numerous programmes and series for British television throughout the 1980s, drawing particular acclaim for The Day of the Triffids (1981), a sci-fi BBC series which has become a cult sci-fi favourite, and The Outsider (1983), a 6-part ITV series about a newspaper editor set in John's native Yorkshire. He also returned to the stage occasionally, and in 1989 was reunited with Charles Kay, his nemesis (Alcock) of To Serve Them All My Days (1980), for the original cast of "The Woman in Black."
In the early 1990s, John's life appeared to hit a rough patch. His relationship with long-time girlfriend Carolyn Hutchinson broke up (they had a son, Oscar, in 1981). John began a relationship with Mel Martin, with whom he had co-starred in the ITV film Talking to Strange Men (1992), and starred in the comedic BBC series Ain't Misbehavin (1994). In 1997, he and Mel bought an 18th century farmhouse with eight acres on land in Cornwall, England. In 1992 he played guest character Paul Melthorn in the long running, ITV drama series Heartbeat (1992), before playing the permanent character sergeant George Miller between 2005 to 2009.
Some other regular roles include playing DI Eric Temple in the BBC series Out of the Blue (1995), Michael Hawkins in the ITV series Touching Evil (1997), Mark Waters in the ITV series The Jury (2002), Gavin Street in the Channel 4 series The Courtroom (2004), Douglas Taylor in the BBC series WPC 56 (2013), and Eric Benton in the ITV series Paranoid (2016).
Today John continues to appear regularly in guest-starring roles on British television, as well as on stage. During 2003, he toured in the well-received "Art" with co-stars Les Dennis and Christopher Cazenove. John also does voice-over work for adverts and documentaries, as well as radio plays for the BBC, putting his versatile voice to very effective use. - Susan Penhaligon was born on 3 July 1949 in Manila, Philippines. She is an actress, known for A Fine Romance (1981), Count Dracula (1977) and Patrick (1978). She was previously married to Duncan Preston, David Munro and Nicholas Loukes.
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After forty years of hard work on stage and both television and film, there are not many other actresses who deserved the success, recognition and stardom which Brenda Blethyn has now achieved.
Born in 1946 in Ramsgate, Kent, England, she started her career at British Rail in the 1960s. Saving money during her time there, she took a risk and enrolled herself at the at The Guildford School of Acting in Guildford, Surrey, England and then left her British Rail years behind. Her risk had paid off, by the mid-1970s she was working on stage, eventually joining the National Theatre Company in 1975.
It was the 1980s, however that saw Brenda move onto the small screen when she appeared in a BBC2 Playhouse presentation called Grown-Ups (1980), playing the character Gloria. Other work in television quickly followed and this kept her working throughout the 1980s.
She still remained relatively unknown with the viewing public during the 1980s, despite her consistent work and superb acting abilities. It was not until the dawn of the 90s that her career took off. In 1990, she played the supporting cast member role of Mrs Jenkins in film based on the Roald Dahl novel The Witches (1990), with Anjelica Huston, Jane Horrocks and Mai Zetterling. Film work now became the order of the day in the early 90s, appearing in both A River Runs Through It (1992) and the television film The Bullion Boys (1993). It was then back to a TV series in 1994, with Outside Edge (1994), working on this production for its two-year run.
It is without a doubt that 1997 will be remembered as her biggest year to date. She was cast by her old friend Mike Leigh in the film Secrets & Lies (1996) as Cynthia Rose Purley, opposite highly talented Marianne Jean-Baptiste. The film received storming reviews and Blethyn won a BAFTA Film Award and subsequently received an Academy Award nomination for her role, along with Jean-Baptiste.
Although Brenda came home from the Oscars empty handed, her profile in Hollywood and Britain soared as a result of the nomination and her appearance on The 69th Annual Academy Awards (1997).
Film roles then came thick and fast following Secrets & Lies (1996). Brenda was nothing short of superb in Little Voice (1998). A second Academy Award nomination followed but once again she was the bridesmaid rather than the bride at the Oscars. Since 1996, she has found a new home in film and she has worked consistently in the medium.- Ray Lonnen was born on 18 May 1940 in Bournemouth, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Holly (1972), Harry's Game (1982) and Doctor Who (1963). He was married to Lynn Dalby, Jean Conyers and Tara Ward. He died on 11 July 2014 in the UK.
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Dick Smothers was born on 20 November 1938 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Casino (1995), The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967) and The Informant! (2009). He was previously married to Denby Franklin, Lorraine Wallace and Linda Miller.- Actress
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Few actresses have the distinction of being recognized and revered worldwide for multiple iconic roles in groundbreaking television shows. Sharon Gless is one of them.
Generations of TV viewers know and love the remarkable characters brought to life by this standout multi Emmy and Golden Globe winning actress: Christine Cagney (Cagney & Lacey), Debbie Novotny (Queer As Folk) and Madeline Westen (Burn Notice), among many others. With over four decades of indelible television, film, and stage roles to her credit, Gless continues to enchant her longtime followers and captivate new fans with every appearance.
In 1972, the head of Talent at Universal Studios perceived a take-notice quality in Sharon Gless and signed her as a contract player, a coveted breakthrough opportunity for any young actress. Gless remained under contract for the next decade, until the studio ended all talent contracts in 1982, earmarking her as the last contract player in the history of Hollywood.
During her contract years with Universal, Gless appeared in top-rated television series including: The Rockford Files, The Bob Newhart Show, Kojack, Adam-12, and Faraday and Company. After reoccurring guest-star spots on Marcus Welby, M.D., Gless was offered the role of Kathleen Faverty, a medical professional and James Brolin's first love interest. Robert Young appreciated the young rising star's talent and she was cast in two television movies to play his daughter. When the Marcus Welby, M.D. storyline changed, Gless' career advanced when she was chosen to play Maggie Philbin, the only female main character on Switch, an action series starring Robert Wagner and Eddie Albert, for all three seasons from 1975 to 1978.
L.A. Law creator, Steven Bocho, had earlier developed a situation comedy, Turnabout, (1979), in which a married couple, through magic, switch bodies. Loving the cross-gender acting challenge, Gless played Penny, who has embodied her husband, Sam. Noting her naturally husky and sultry voice and precise comic timing, Gless was next cast to play Carole Lombard in a successful TV movie directed by John Erman, The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980). It was during a screening of The Scarlett O'Hara War that television producer Barney Rosensweig discovered Gless and entreated her to star in his upcoming TV project, Cagney and Lacey. By the start of production, Gless had already been cast in the popular series, House Calls, as Jane Jeffries, making her unavailable for Cagney & Lacey's 2-hour pilot movie and first episodes.
Gless stepped in to the role of New York Police Detective Christine Cagney in 1982 and Cagney and Lacey made television history as the first hour-long drama to feature two females in the leading roles, who brought public awareness to serious cultural issues for women: date rape, breast cancer, addiction, sexism in the workplace, career choices, abortion, and moral dilemma. Over 30 million American viewers watched the show every week and Gless garnered two Emmy awards for Best Lead Actress in a Drama and six total nominations, along with a Golden Globe award and six nominations during the show's highly-rated run. After the show ended, Gless won an additional Golden Globe for her starring role in the drama series, The Trials of Rosie O'Neill, and two more Emmy nominations.
In popular demand, Gless, also costarred in a feature film with Michael Douglas, The Star Chamber, as well as telefilms: Honor Thy Mother, Hobson's Choice, Hard Hat & Legs, Separated by Murder, and the heartbreaker, Letting Go, with John Ritter.
From 1994 to 1996, Gless reunited with TV partner Tyne Daly for a quartet of critically acclaimed Cagney & Lacey television movies.
In 2000, Gless took a daring chance with a role that opened to viewers the underground lives of gay and lesbians in America, playing the outrageous and bold, yet tender, character Debbie Novotny in Queer as Folk. Her portrayal of a devoted mother to a gay son and confidant to his gay friends in this unexpected Showtime smash series, touched countless hearts and changed the definition of family for millions of viewers. In five seasons, Gless accomplished with her brilliant interpretation of Debbie what had previously taken decades in acceptance of gay and lesbian family members.
Now known for her ability to portray characters with multi-layered, startling and complex emotions, U.S.A. network cast her in their radical series, Burn Notice, (2007- 2013) as a chain-smoking persuasive woman, Madeline Westen, who helps her son establish a new life, by using an unpredictable mixture of heart and heat. Gless earned her 10th Emmy nomination for work in this series. Her 11th Emmy nomination was for Guest Actress in a Drama series, portraying Colleen Rose, an ambitious Hollywood agent harboring chilling secrets on FX's Nip / Tuck in 2008.
Recently, Gless also appeared in two independent features, Once Fallen, with Ed Harris and Amy Madigan, and Hannah Free, in the title role of Hannah.
In 2016, Gless became an intriguing surprise character, much talked about on social media, in four episodes of The Exorcist on Fox TV, sharing the screen with Geena Davis.
Throughout her TV and film career, Gless has also acted on stage to rave reviews in various productions, debuting with Oscar-winner Kim Hunter in Watch on the Rhine at Stage West in Massachusetts. She then starred in London's famed West End as Annie Wilkes in the adaptation of Misery alongside Bill Paterson, for an extended run. Her comedy chops were applauded in Neil Simon's Chapter Two with Tom Conti, and she returned to the West End to star in Jane Prowse's A Round-Heeled Woman in 2011-12 to standing ovations. Gless has also led the cast of Claudia Allen's Cahoots at Victory Gardens in Chicago and appeared in Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues at Madison Square Garden.
Gless has a star on the renowned Hollywood Walk of Fame, an award for Excellence in the Arts from DePaul University in Chicago, and has recorded radio plays, including 'Night, Mother, which earned her the International Sony Award.
Always the happiest when acting in a series or on screen, Gless also finds great fulfillment in lending her indomitable voice to issues involving human rights and LGBTQ causes and was honored by Norman Lear's People for the American Way for her unwavering dedication to helping others. 2017 finds Gless joining stars like Chita Rivera, Kelli O'Hara, and Ben Vereen in "Concert for America: Stand up, Sing Out," on Broadway and in Chicago, benefiting Planned Parenthood, NAACP, and the Sierra Club, and others.- Actor
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Despite many a powerful performance, this actor's actor never quite achieved the stardom he deserved. Ultimately, Richard Basehart became best-known to television audiences as Admiral Harriman Nelson, commander of the glass-nosed nuclear submarine 'S.S.R.N Seaview' in Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964), shown on ABC from 1964 to 1968. Basehart's distinctively deep, resonant voice also provided narrations in feature films, TV mini-series and for documentaries.
Born in Zanesville, Ohio, on August 14 1914, Basehart was one of four siblings born to a struggling and soon-to-be widowed editor of a local newspaper. Upon leaving college, he worked briefly as a radio announcer and then attempted to follow in his father's journalistic footsteps as a reporter. Controversy over one of his stories led to his departure from the paper and cleared the path to pursue acting as a career. In 1932, Basehart made his theatrical bow with the Wright Players Stock Company in his home town and subsequently spent five years playing varied and interesting roles at the Hedgerow Theatre in Philadelphia. From 1938, he began to work in New York on and off-Broadway. Seven years later he received the New York Drama Critics Circle Best Newcomer Award for "The Hasty Heart", a drama by John Patrick, in which Basehart played a dying Scottish soldier. In 1945, he received his first film offers. When he heard director Bretaigne Windust was seeking an authentic Scot for the lead role in The Hasty Heart, Basehart not only effected an authentic enough burr to win the part, but won also the 1945 New York Critic's Award as the most promising actor of the year. His accent was so good that a visiting leader of a Scottish clan told the actor he knew his clan.
Basehart made his debut on the big screen with Repeat Performance (1947) at Eagle-Lion, a minor film noir with Joan Leslie, followed at Warner Brothers with the Gothic Barbara Stanwyck thriller Cry Wolf (1947). His third picture finally got him critical plaudits for playing a sociopathic killer, relentlessly hunted through drainage tunnels in He Walked by Night (1948), a procedural police drama shot in a semi-documentary style. Variety gave a positive review, commenting "With this role, Basehart establishes himself as one of Hollywood's most talented finds in recent years. He heavily overshadows the rest of the cast..."
It was the first of many charismatic performances in which Basehart would excel at tormented or introverted characters, portraying angst, foreboding or mental anguish. His gallery of characters came to include the notorious Robespierre, chief architect of the Reign of Terror (1949), set during the French Revolution. He was one of the feuding Hatfields in Roseanna McCoy (1949) and in Fourteen Hours (1951) (based on a real 1938 Manhattan suicide) had a tour de force turn as a man perched on the high ledge of an office building threatening to jump. For much of the film's duration, the camera was firmly focused on the actor's face. Basehart later recalled "It was an actor's dream, in which I hogged the camera lens, and the role called on me to act mostly with my eyes, lips and face muscles". The New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther called his performance 'startling and poignant'.
Eschewing conventional movie stardom, Basehart meticulously selected and varied his roles, avoiding, as he put it, "stereotyping at the expense of not amassing an impressive bank account.'' In the wake of the sudden death of his first wife, Basehart left the U.S. for Italy. In March 1951, he got married a second time (to the actress Valentina Cortese) and appeared in a succession of European movies, playing the ill-fated clown Il Matto in Federico Fellini's classic The Road (1954); against type, essayed a swashbuckling nobleman reclaiming his titles and estate in Cartouche (1955), and (again for Fellini), played a member of a gang of grifters in The Swindle (1955). He was also ideally cast as the mild-mannered Ishmael in John Huston's excellent version of Moby Dick (1956) and as Ivan, one of The Brothers Karamazov (1958).
By 1960, Basehart's second marriage had ended in divorce and the actor returned to America where he found movie opportunities few and far between. The small screen to some extent reinvigorated his career with numerous series guest appearances and his lengthy stint in the popular Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. He also received critical praise for his role as Henry Wirtz, commandant of the Confederacy's most infamous prison camp, in the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning television drama The Andersonville Trial (1970).
Not only an active human rights campaigner, Basehart was also strongly opposed to the experimental use of animals. With his third wife Diana Lotery he set up the animal welfare charity, Actors and Others for Animals, in 1971. He died after suffering a series of strokes in Los Angeles on September 17 1984 at the age of 70.