I have some sad news to report today. Actor Bernard Hill passed away at the age of 79. His death was confirmed by his agent, Lou Coulson.
Hill is known for playing Captain Edward Smith in James Cameron’s Titanic and notably for playing Theoden King of Rohan in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. He also played Luther Plunkitt in Clint Eastwood’s True Crime.
He played many other roles, including Yosser Hughes in the BBC show Boys from the Blackstuff. Hill was due to return to TV on the second series of The Responder with Martin Freeman on BBC.
According to the BBC, Hill was supposed to appear at Comic Con Liverpool on Saturday but was canceled.
We’re heartbroken to hear the news of Bernard Hill’s passing. A great loss. Thinking of his family at this very sad time, and wishing them a lot of strength.
Hill is known for playing Captain Edward Smith in James Cameron’s Titanic and notably for playing Theoden King of Rohan in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. He also played Luther Plunkitt in Clint Eastwood’s True Crime.
He played many other roles, including Yosser Hughes in the BBC show Boys from the Blackstuff. Hill was due to return to TV on the second series of The Responder with Martin Freeman on BBC.
According to the BBC, Hill was supposed to appear at Comic Con Liverpool on Saturday but was canceled.
We’re heartbroken to hear the news of Bernard Hill’s passing. A great loss. Thinking of his family at this very sad time, and wishing them a lot of strength.
- 5/5/2024
- by Kambrea Pratt
- Pirates & Princesses
Bernard Hill has sadly passed away.
The actor best known for roles in Titanic and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has died at the age of 79.
Keep reading to find out more…
His agent Lou Coulson confirmed to BBC News that he died in the early hours of Sunday (May 5). His family is expected to make a statement.
Singer and actress Barbara Dickson confirmed the news on social media: “It’s with great sadness that I note the death of Bernard Hill. We worked together in John Paul George Ringo and Bert, Willy Russell marvellous show 1974-1975. A really marvellous actor. It was a privilege to have crossed paths with him. Rip Benny x,” she wrote.
Bernard is best known for his roles as Théoden, King of Rohan, in the Lotr trilogy, and the part of Captain Edward Smith in Titanic.
He also played the character of Yosser Hughes...
The actor best known for roles in Titanic and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has died at the age of 79.
Keep reading to find out more…
His agent Lou Coulson confirmed to BBC News that he died in the early hours of Sunday (May 5). His family is expected to make a statement.
Singer and actress Barbara Dickson confirmed the news on social media: “It’s with great sadness that I note the death of Bernard Hill. We worked together in John Paul George Ringo and Bert, Willy Russell marvellous show 1974-1975. A really marvellous actor. It was a privilege to have crossed paths with him. Rip Benny x,” she wrote.
Bernard is best known for his roles as Théoden, King of Rohan, in the Lotr trilogy, and the part of Captain Edward Smith in Titanic.
He also played the character of Yosser Hughes...
- 5/5/2024
- by Just Jared
- Just Jared
Melanie C and Emma Bunton have released a video of them recording new single 'I Know Him So Well'. The Spice Girls bandmates covered the Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson duet for Mel C's latest album Stages. The track will be released on November 11 as a two-track CD and digital bundle. Melanie C revealed on Twitter that she was wearing one of fellow Spice Girl Victoria (more)...
- 10/17/2012
- by By Colin Daniels
- Digital Spy
When we heard two Spice Girls were covering something from the musical Chess, we assumed Victoria Beckham would be barking out the lines of the Arbiter and Geri Halliwell would do the talk-singing part at the beginning of "One Night in Bangkok." Oddly, we were wrong. For Melanie C's upcoming album Stages, she and Emma Bunton sing the pop-crossover "I Know Him So Well." It's a more traditional take than Whitney and Cissy Houston's, not quite as balls-out as Idina Menzel and Kerry Ellis in the Chess concert, or as smog-filled as the video with Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson. It is, however, two Spice Girls singing Chess.
- 10/15/2012
- by Margaret Lyons
- Vulture
Bangshowbiz today reports that the spoof track performed by Susan Boyle and Peter Kay for Comic Relief is set to become a global hit as it’s currently topping the iTunes chart.
The track was of course a spoof of the original Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson hit, and saw Peter Kay singing as his alter ego Geraldine McQueen and Britain’s Got Talent finalist Susan Boyle in curly wig.
Fans in Australia, the Us, Canada and Asia have reportedly “swamped” Comic Relief headquarters with calls asking where they can buy the track and video.
Speaking to Bang about making the video, Susan said, “I felt honoured when Peter asked me to take part in this video.
“His vision was clear from the start and I wanted to be involved.
“The video encapsulated the ethos of Comic Relief, having fun while raising money.”
The Comic Relief TV event on Friday...
The track was of course a spoof of the original Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson hit, and saw Peter Kay singing as his alter ego Geraldine McQueen and Britain’s Got Talent finalist Susan Boyle in curly wig.
Fans in Australia, the Us, Canada and Asia have reportedly “swamped” Comic Relief headquarters with calls asking where they can buy the track and video.
Speaking to Bang about making the video, Susan said, “I felt honoured when Peter asked me to take part in this video.
“His vision was clear from the start and I wanted to be involved.
“The video encapsulated the ethos of Comic Relief, having fun while raising money.”
The Comic Relief TV event on Friday...
- 3/21/2011
- by Sarah
- Unreality
After a slightly disappointing Downton Abbey sketch and a very mediocre Take That performance, tonight’s Comic Relief was lifted by the hilariously funny duet between Peter Kay and Susan Boyle.
The famous pair collaborated on the Chess song ‘I Know Him So Well’, originally a hit for Subo’s idol Elaine Paige and her pal Barbara Dickson.
The funniest things about the video was Susan’s Huge eighties style hair, her equally large forehead and the fact that, at times, it was hard to tell which singer was the man in drag!
Watch the full video below and let us know what you think.
View the original post Comic Relief: Susan Boyle and Peter Kay (Geraldine McQueen) sing I Know Him So Well (Video) on Unreality TV...
The famous pair collaborated on the Chess song ‘I Know Him So Well’, originally a hit for Subo’s idol Elaine Paige and her pal Barbara Dickson.
The funniest things about the video was Susan’s Huge eighties style hair, her equally large forehead and the fact that, at times, it was hard to tell which singer was the man in drag!
Watch the full video below and let us know what you think.
View the original post Comic Relief: Susan Boyle and Peter Kay (Geraldine McQueen) sing I Know Him So Well (Video) on Unreality TV...
- 3/18/2011
- by Lisa McGarry
- Unreality
Peter Kay and Susan Boyle have recorded a duet in aid of Comic Relief.
The TV funnyman will appear as his well known character Geraldine McQueen in a collaboration with the Britain’s Got Talent star on a cover of Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson’s ‘I Know Him So Well’.
The video for the song has already been recorded and will be shown during the BBC Comic Relief show tomorrow night.
Kay told The Bolton News:
“I just thought it would be a laugh and so I wrote to Susan Boyle and she was really up for it. She was great on the day and worked very hard. We filmed at studios in Salford and carried on from 8am to 1am the next morning.
“We stuck very closely to the original and when you see the Paige and Dickson version, you can see how similar they are. We have...
The TV funnyman will appear as his well known character Geraldine McQueen in a collaboration with the Britain’s Got Talent star on a cover of Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson’s ‘I Know Him So Well’.
The video for the song has already been recorded and will be shown during the BBC Comic Relief show tomorrow night.
Kay told The Bolton News:
“I just thought it would be a laugh and so I wrote to Susan Boyle and she was really up for it. She was great on the day and worked very hard. We filmed at studios in Salford and carried on from 8am to 1am the next morning.
“We stuck very closely to the original and when you see the Paige and Dickson version, you can see how similar they are. We have...
- 3/17/2011
- by Lisa McGarry
- Unreality
Peter Kay has revealed that he and Susan Boyle have teamed up for a special Comic Relief single. The comedian has reprised his character Geraldine McQueen - winner of Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice - to duet with Boyle on a cover of Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson's 'I Know Him So Well'. A video for the track will premiere during the BBC telethon tomorrow night. "I just thought it would be a laugh and so I wrote to Susan Boyle and she was really up for it," Kay told The Bolton News. "She was great on the day and worked very hard. We filmed at studios in Salford (more)...
- 3/17/2011
- by By Ryan Love
- Digital Spy
Two friends who met at a bus stop sing a Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige classic on tonight's episode of Britain's Got Talent. Ruth, 16, and Chantelle, 18, perform the track 'I Know Him So Well' under the name Different Dreams. "We've become best friends, I met her one day at a bus stop and slowly we became best friends," Chantelle tells Ant & Dec. "We always rehearse at my house, my mum's deaf so she's (more)...
- 5/1/2010
- by By Alex Fletcher
- Digital Spy
Two best friends are hoping to put the North-East on the Britain’s Got Talent map tomorrow night.
The girls tell Ant & Dec:
“I’m Ruth (16yrs old) and I’m Chantelle (age 18yrs old) and together we’re Different Dreams”
“We’ve become best friends, I met her one day at a bus stop and slowly we became best friends”
“We always rehearse at my house, my Mums deaf so she’s not bothered by it, we like to sing all the classics – Barbara Streisand, Gloria Gaynor and my personal favourite Elaine Paige” says Chantelle
They walk out on stage to meet the judges
Simon – We are you called Different Dreams?
Chantelle – Well, we are different people but the dream is the same and we’re best friends
They start to sing I Know Him So Well by Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige but will the judges like their rendition?...
The girls tell Ant & Dec:
“I’m Ruth (16yrs old) and I’m Chantelle (age 18yrs old) and together we’re Different Dreams”
“We’ve become best friends, I met her one day at a bus stop and slowly we became best friends”
“We always rehearse at my house, my Mums deaf so she’s not bothered by it, we like to sing all the classics – Barbara Streisand, Gloria Gaynor and my personal favourite Elaine Paige” says Chantelle
They walk out on stage to meet the judges
Simon – We are you called Different Dreams?
Chantelle – Well, we are different people but the dream is the same and we’re best friends
They start to sing I Know Him So Well by Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige but will the judges like their rendition?...
- 4/30/2010
- by Lisa McGarry
- Unreality
The First Lady of British musical theatre, Elaine Paige will tour Australia and New Zealand in a new concert tour, beginning in October.
The famed performer will film a new concert DVD during one of the tour's Australian performances.
The legendary star of the West End and Broadway, Elaine Paige is an actress, recording artist and producer, who has made a major contribution to the modern musical which ensures her own chapter in the entertainment world and justifies the title "The First Lady of British Musical Theatre". She will be recreating many of her starring roles in the biggest musicals of the modern era in a celebration of a life on the Stage.
Performance Schedule:
Saturday 24th October
Hamer Hall, Melbourne
Bookings: Ticketmaster 136 100 or The Arts Centre 1300 182 183 or www.theartscentre.com.au
Sunday 25th October
Festival Theatre, Adelaide
Bookings: Bass 131 246 or www.bass.net.au
Tuesday 27th October
Brisbane Convection Centre
Bookings: Ticketek 132 849 or www.
The famed performer will film a new concert DVD during one of the tour's Australian performances.
The legendary star of the West End and Broadway, Elaine Paige is an actress, recording artist and producer, who has made a major contribution to the modern musical which ensures her own chapter in the entertainment world and justifies the title "The First Lady of British Musical Theatre". She will be recreating many of her starring roles in the biggest musicals of the modern era in a celebration of a life on the Stage.
Performance Schedule:
Saturday 24th October
Hamer Hall, Melbourne
Bookings: Ticketmaster 136 100 or The Arts Centre 1300 182 183 or www.theartscentre.com.au
Sunday 25th October
Festival Theatre, Adelaide
Bookings: Bass 131 246 or www.bass.net.au
Tuesday 27th October
Brisbane Convection Centre
Bookings: Ticketek 132 849 or www.
- 10/31/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Almost exactly a year after the release of his first easy listening album, Another Side, openly gay Torchwood star John Barrowman has returned with a new album titled Music Music Music. Released today in the UK via Sony BMG, it has some similarities with his debut effort: again, it consists mostly of covers of classic pop and musical theater songs, with a little country added for good measure. But there’s one new development that may be pleasing to his AfterElton.com fans: Barrowman has considerably upped the gay content.
The first indication of this came back in September, when the video for the album’s one original song, "What About Us" hit the Web. Although artists from Christina Aguilera to t.A.T.u. have made use of same-sex kissing in their videos, “What About Us” breaks new ground with its matter-of-fact portrayal of a gay male couple living...
The first indication of this came back in September, when the video for the album’s one original song, "What About Us" hit the Web. Although artists from Christina Aguilera to t.A.T.u. have made use of same-sex kissing in their videos, “What About Us” breaks new ground with its matter-of-fact portrayal of a gay male couple living...
- 11/24/2008
- by dennis
- The Backlot
The London musical theater scene deserves a sharp, insightful documentary. "West End Story", unfortunately, is not that film. While shining the limelight on a few stars (Petula Clark, Lucie Arnaz), a number of success stories (Frances Ruffelle, Barbara Dickson) and one aspirant (a singer-actor still waiting tables), the movie is more than a bit of a jumble. At full feature length, there's a lot going on but in several disjointed directions.
Divided into sections with chapter titles such as "Getting There" and "Staying There", the docu opens with an abbreviated (read: hurried) history of the English-speaking theater from Shakespeare's Globe onward. The emphasis of the film is on the late 20th century Anglocentric musical theater, the apparently effortless transference of musicals from London to Broadway and, most importantly, the life of the musical theater actor. In fact, "West End Story" does succeed in examining the devotion and dedication of a cross section of actors, from small-town Kansan Brent Barrett to Jerome Pradon, the hardworking lead in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Whistle Down the Wind".
Pradon, a Frenchman living in London, provides viewers with a look at the daily regimen of the working musical theater performer. We see him with a vocal coach, trying to perfect his enunciation in a foreign language, warming up his pipes in the confines of his small dressing room and putting on makeup and a tattoo -- a nightly ritual for months on end. We also see him socializing, post-performance, with mates in a West End pub and even enduring an unorthodox chiropractic therapy. The access to his life is revealing. As the film unspools, Pradon and many other actors reflect on the lack of much personal life during the frequently long runs of these Lloyd Webber/Cameron Mackintosh-era behemoths ("Cats", "Les Miserables" and the like). These poignant discussions of sacrifice provide some of the film's best moments.
Yet, even during the Pradon sequences, there is little connection made between an actor's interview and its correlation to his or her work onstage. The snippets of performance we do glimpse of "Whistle Down the Wind" oddly do not feature Pradon, instead highlighting the young female lead. Possibly it may have proved too difficult or costly to obtain permission to use as much performance footage as originally intended. But there are scant clips of nearly all of the interview subjects' musicals, including Clark (a stage performer since childhood) and Jerry Herman. The composer of such classics as "Hello, Dolly!" and "Mame" discusses both those legendary successes in his interview. Hearing from various producer and choreographer types involved with a musical called "La Cava" has the distinct feeling of being some sort of favor for the opportunity to showcase performance snippets of their large-scale show.
"West End Story" is nothing if not well-intentioned. Actors and showbiz aficionados should enjoy it (especially "Miss Saigon" actor Simon Bowman's story of being approached by several Vietnam War veterans). The problem is, it feels more like a primer your high school drama teacher might have shown to warn theater hopefuls of the perils of the London and Broadway stage. The film simply wants to cover too much: a middle-aged composer who has spent 25 years trying to launch his dream musical or a talent agent and a casting director who detail the harsh realities of the business. Had it been pared down, more tightly written -- and fact-checked -- and opted to concentrate solely on the actors' lives, it might have richly deserved its own ovation.
WEST END STORY
Lynmar Prods. and PM Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-narrator: Paul Cross
Producers: Paul Cross, Marianne Quinn
Executive producer: Linda Steinhoff
Editors: Bryon Jost, Steve Wellington
Running time -- 101 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Divided into sections with chapter titles such as "Getting There" and "Staying There", the docu opens with an abbreviated (read: hurried) history of the English-speaking theater from Shakespeare's Globe onward. The emphasis of the film is on the late 20th century Anglocentric musical theater, the apparently effortless transference of musicals from London to Broadway and, most importantly, the life of the musical theater actor. In fact, "West End Story" does succeed in examining the devotion and dedication of a cross section of actors, from small-town Kansan Brent Barrett to Jerome Pradon, the hardworking lead in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Whistle Down the Wind".
Pradon, a Frenchman living in London, provides viewers with a look at the daily regimen of the working musical theater performer. We see him with a vocal coach, trying to perfect his enunciation in a foreign language, warming up his pipes in the confines of his small dressing room and putting on makeup and a tattoo -- a nightly ritual for months on end. We also see him socializing, post-performance, with mates in a West End pub and even enduring an unorthodox chiropractic therapy. The access to his life is revealing. As the film unspools, Pradon and many other actors reflect on the lack of much personal life during the frequently long runs of these Lloyd Webber/Cameron Mackintosh-era behemoths ("Cats", "Les Miserables" and the like). These poignant discussions of sacrifice provide some of the film's best moments.
Yet, even during the Pradon sequences, there is little connection made between an actor's interview and its correlation to his or her work onstage. The snippets of performance we do glimpse of "Whistle Down the Wind" oddly do not feature Pradon, instead highlighting the young female lead. Possibly it may have proved too difficult or costly to obtain permission to use as much performance footage as originally intended. But there are scant clips of nearly all of the interview subjects' musicals, including Clark (a stage performer since childhood) and Jerry Herman. The composer of such classics as "Hello, Dolly!" and "Mame" discusses both those legendary successes in his interview. Hearing from various producer and choreographer types involved with a musical called "La Cava" has the distinct feeling of being some sort of favor for the opportunity to showcase performance snippets of their large-scale show.
"West End Story" is nothing if not well-intentioned. Actors and showbiz aficionados should enjoy it (especially "Miss Saigon" actor Simon Bowman's story of being approached by several Vietnam War veterans). The problem is, it feels more like a primer your high school drama teacher might have shown to warn theater hopefuls of the perils of the London and Broadway stage. The film simply wants to cover too much: a middle-aged composer who has spent 25 years trying to launch his dream musical or a talent agent and a casting director who detail the harsh realities of the business. Had it been pared down, more tightly written -- and fact-checked -- and opted to concentrate solely on the actors' lives, it might have richly deserved its own ovation.
WEST END STORY
Lynmar Prods. and PM Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-narrator: Paul Cross
Producers: Paul Cross, Marianne Quinn
Executive producer: Linda Steinhoff
Editors: Bryon Jost, Steve Wellington
Running time -- 101 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/22/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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