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- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
In the 1940s and 50s, there were few greater classical actors in Britain than Alec Clunes. Born into a show business family, he began his career with Ben Greet's company and, later, he worked at the Old Vic Theatre. He played numerous Shakespearian roles and, in 1942, took over the Arts Theatre in London where he remained until 1950. Among the plays he presented were "The Lady's Not For Burning" by Christopher Fry, and he gave the actor-playwright Peter Ustinov his first break with his production of "The House of Regrets".
A matinée idol for much of his life in the theatre, his film career was brief but varied. He played "Hastings" to Laurence Olivier's Richard III (1955), but he was equally at home in stiff upper lip wartime classics such as One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942). In 1956, Clunes married Daphne Alcot and their son Martin was born six years later. Clunes's last work in the theatre included taking over from Rex Harrison in the role of "Henry Higgins" in the musical "My Fair Lady" (1959). His last stage appearance was in 1968. Off-stage, Clunes was an intellectual man, widely read with a deep knowledge of theatre tradition. A theatrical great, he was sometimes compared with Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud.- Actor
- Writer
Alec 'Funny Face' Pleon was one of the leading lights of British variety theatres from the 1930s to the 1970s. The son of a well-known music-hall act Daimler and Edie, he made his first stage appearance in 1923 at the Empire, Mile End Road in London's East End. His first West End appearance was at the Alhambra, Charing Cross Road. He toured South Africa and Australia and and was one of the stars of Strike a New Note at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London with the comedian Sid Field. Pleon's facial contortions earned him the nickname 'Funny Face' and he was also an expert yodeller. As well as film appearances he was often a guest star on TV nostalgia shows. One of his last UK pantomime appearances was in 1973 when he co-starred with the Blackpool comedian Roy Lester in Treasure Island.- Diminutive Scottish comedian and actor, Alex 'The size of it!' Munro was a headliner in British variety theatres for many years, eventually making his home in Llandudno in North Wales, where he ran his own show at the Happy Valley for 30 years. Born Alexander Horsburgh in Glasgow, he began, with his brother Archie and sister June, as an acrobatic act, "The Star Trio", soon changed to "The Horsburgh Brothers and Agnes". They were part of music hall great Florrie Forde's company with Bud Flanagan and 'Chesney Allen'. During World War Two, he toured with the RAF show "Contact" and had his own BBC radio series, "The Size of It". He also toured in Germany, Austria and Italy.
- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Camera and Electrical Department
One of the most famous theatrical impresarios in British light entertainment Alfred Black produced numerous post war revues and musicals in London's West End and the provinces. Together with his brother George they discovered the comedian Sid Field and brought him to London where he starred in shows such as Picadilly Hayride and Strike a New Note.
Alfred Black was born in Sunderland. The family were steeped in showbusiness, his grandfather was a travelling showman and his father, George, was to become one of London's most powerful producers, presenting shows at the London Palladium and controlling the Moss Empires variety circuit.
Alfred's brother George was two years his elder and both of them decided at an early age to go into showbusiness. During WW2 Alfred served in the Army Film and Photographic Unit and in 1942 he married the stage and screen actress Roma Beaumont.
George Black Senior died in 1943 after which the two brothers took over the family's flourishing entertainment empire. They presented many star name West End shows including Harvey, starring Sid Field and Wedding in Paris, starring Evelyn Laye.
In 1957 the brothers were among the successful consortium (which included the film producer Sidney Box) who invested in Tyne Tees Television. As one of the smallest of all ITV regions the company's ambitions were modest but among their successes were Saturday Showtime, starring the comedian Jimmy Logan, and The One O'Clock Show, starring Sheila Mathews. The latter had the highest viewing figures in the UK for a lunchtime show and boasted more than 150,000 viewers each day.
George Black died in 1970 aged 59 and Alfred continued to produce televison and variety shows with leading stars. In his retirement he and his wife Roma were noted for their lavish showbusiness parties which they held at their penthouse in North London, once the home of Peter Sellers. Roma Beaumont died in 2001.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Additional Crew
Alfred Shaughnessy was the chief writer and script editor of Upstairs Downstairs, the ITV drama series about the lives of an Edwardian London family and their loyal servants. Much praised and fondly remembered, the series which ran from 1971-5 was widely acclaimed for its shrewd social comment. The brainchild of one of the stars of the series Jean Marsh and fellow actress Eileen Atkins, Shaughnessy wrote a third of the scripts. Alfred Shaughnessy was born in London in 1916. The family house in Norfolk Square consisted of a butler, cook, footman and several housemaids. His aristocratic upbringing was given much of the credit for the historical accuracy of Upstairs Downstairs. Educated at Summerfields and Eton, he went on to attend the Royal Military College, Sandhurst with the intention of joining the Grenadier Guards. He later resigned on grounds of conscience. He wrote sketches for West End revues and then worked as a script editor with Michael Balcon at Ealing Studios. He also wrote numerous television dramas including The Cedar Tree. One of his earliest offerings was a musical biography of the music hall star Marie Lloyd, Our Marie (written with Christopher Barry) which was shown in 1953. Upstairs Downstairs was his greatest success, although LWT originally only screened six episodes in a late night slot. The series was later sold worldwide and led to a spin off, Thomas and Sarah. An American version set in twenties Boston, Beacon Hill, was also produced. Shaughnessy also wrote episodes of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett, and the pilot for Ladies in Charge. He wrote an autobiography Both Ends of the Candle (1975) and two novels.- Actress
The French actress and singer Alice Delysia was from the 1920s until her retirement in the late 1940s, one of the most exciting and alluring stars of the London stage. She first appeared in Paris at the Moulin Rouge and later at the Folies Bergere but it wasn't until 1914 that her provocative looks and glorious singing voice were spotted by the producer C.B.Cochran who took her to London to star in a series of revues. In one revue she sang the original Noel Coward song, Poor Little Rich Girl.
Her cabaret seasons at London's Cafe de Paris in the 1920s and 30s made her the toast of the town. Her songs were haunting and sometimes risque. As she descended the stairs of the Cafe de Paris singing I Like A Man, it was said that no artiste had more poise. Her gowns in shimmering blue and gold were designed by Norman Hartnell and her songs by the top composers of the day.
In the Second World War and by the middle-aged Delysia toured in troop shows across North Africa for over two years. The soldiers of the 8th Army dubbed her 'the greatest trouper of them all'.
In the 1950s she married and retired to Tenerife where she shunned the limelight but ocasionally received visits from old fans. On her husbands's death she moved to Brighton, in the south of England, where she was looked after by her old friend, the cabaret star and actor Douglas Byng.
Her funeral in South London was attended by some of the greatest names in British entertainment including Evelyn Laye, Dame Flora Robson and Florence Desmond, together with the designer Sir Norman Hartnell.- Producer
- Writer
- Production Manager
Anthony Havelock-Allan produced some of the best known and critically acclaimed films of British cinema, including In Which We Serve (1942), Brief Encounter (1945), Blithe Spirit (1945) and Great Expectations (1946). The films were commercial triumphs for Two Cities and Cineguild production companies, making Havelock-Allan one of the most influential producers in the British film industry. He is also remembered for two films he made starring his then-wife Valerie Hobson: the melodrama Blanche Fury (1948) and The Hideout (1948), which introduced Howard Keel to the screen.
Born at Blackwell Manor, Darlington, England, Havelock-Allan was educated at Charterhouse. Having turned down a career in the army he worked as a stockbroker and nightclub manager before becoming a casting director. In the early 1930s he spent two years producing "quota quickies", low-budget, quickly-made films--often in six days or less--made for Paramount-British in order to satisfy a British government requirement that a certain percentage of films shown in Britain had to be made in Britain. While these "quickies" were made for little money and varied greatly in quality, they did provide a valuable training ground for directors such as Michael Powell and such cameramen Ronald Neame (later to become a top director). Many of them also featured then unknown actors, such as Rex Harrison and Margaret Rutherford. In 1942 he produced one of the most famous of all flag-waving war films: Noël Coward's In Which We Serve (1942), co-directed by Coward with David Lean. The naval epic was a thinly disguised saga of the maritime exploits of Lord Louis Mountbatten and included definitive performances from Bernard Miles, Celia Johnson and John Mills. A year later he formed the creative partnership of Cineguild Productions with Noel Coward, David Lean and Ronald Neame, which made This Happy Breed (1944), Blithe Spirit (1945) and Brief Encounter (1945), an adaptation of Coward's play "Still Life". Cineguild broke up in 1949 and Havelock-Allan formed Constellation Films, an independent production company financed by the Rank Organisation. With that company he made Paul Gallico's Never Take No for an Answer (1951).
In 1960 Havelock-Allan and Lord Brabourne formed British Home Entertainment, which sought to introduce pay-TV into Britain. The company was sold in 1969 after the closure of a trial service. Havelock-Allan's later films included Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet (1968) and David Lean's Ryan's Daughter (1970).- Actor
- Soundtrack
One of Britain's great variety comedians Arthur English was known as 'The Prince of the Wide Boys', a cockney 'spiv' character outrageously dressed on stage and wearing a huge kipper tie.
Born in Aldershot, Hants English started his career at an early age appearing in amateur shows but did not become a professional performer until he was 30. He served in the Army during World War Two and after being demobbed worked as a painter and decorator.
In 1949 he auditioned at the famous Windmill Theatre in London and he was put under contract for several seasons as a principal comic. His catchphrases became legendary: "They're laughin' at me Mum", "Sharpen up there, the quick stuff's coming" and his famous exit line "Play the music - open the cage!".
On radio he starred in BBC's Variety Bandbox alongside comics such as Reg Dixon and Mrs Shufflewick (Rex Jameson) and he also appeared in numerous summer shows, pantomimes and clubs throughout the UK.
English turned to straight acting in the early 1970s both on stage, screen and on television. He starred in a variety of comic cockney parts on television in the Comedy Playhouse series and Hugh and I (1962). In 1987 he joined fellow veterans Irene Handl and Charlie Chester in Never Say Die (1987), a comedy series set in an old people's home. His greatest success on tv was as the janitor Mr Harman in the cult series Are You Being Served? (1972).- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
An enigmatic and much loved comedy actor Arthur Mullard carved a unique niche for himself in a host of British comedy films and tv shows. The sterotype Cockney he was born in Islington, North London where he was known by locals as 'The Dook of Islington'.
He left school at 14 to work as a butcher's boy. At 18 he joined the Army and became his regiment's boxing champion. After leaving the Forces he became a professional boxer for a brief period.
After World War Two he took up acting, mainly as a stuntman working at Pinewood and Ealing Studios in their heyday. He then graduated to small parts in classic comedy films and on television he began to be in great demand as a straight man to a range of comics including Frankie Howerd, Spike Milligan, Tony Hancock, Tommy Cooper and Arthur Askey. In 1962 he scored a critical success in Sparrows Can't Sing with Barbara Windsor.
He achieved stardom on television in the series Romany Jones (1973). Mullard and Queenie Watts played Wally and Lily Briggs, a colourful couple who lived in a caravan and were experts at swindling the social services. The series was followed by Yus, My Dear (1976) which attracted more than 8 million viewers. He was regularly cast as a guest star on many other tv shows and once quipped "If the tv bosses are stuck they'll say 'Let's put Arfur on, but not too much or he'll steal the bleedin' show!'"- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Arthur Tracy was one of the most famous of all recording stars of the 1930s and '40s. With his suave style and sentimental ballads he captured the hearts of housewives in both America and Great Britain. His voice was both a baritone and a tenor, which he described as "bari-tenor", and he claimed that the biggest influence on his singing was Enrico Caruso.
Born in the Ukraine, he emigrated to America at the age of six with his parents. The family was poor and he received little education and no musical training. Once asked how he became known as "The Street Singer", he said it was because he had sung in the streets of Philadelphia for pennies. One of his most enduring hits was the song "Pennies from Heaven".
As a teenager he began singing in operettas and quickly became a headliner in vaudeville, appearing with such stars as Will Rogers and W.C. Fields. Columbia Records put him under contract and a stream of hits followed, such as "Roses of Picardy" and "It's A Sin To Tell A Lie".
On radio he co-starred with Groucho Marx, Jack Benny and Bing Crosby, and in Hollywood he made a special guest appearance in The Big Broadcast (1932). He went to London where he topped the bill at the London Palladium, and while in Britain made several films including Backstage (1937) alongside Anna Neagle, followed by The Street Singer (1936) with Margaret Lockwood, and Follow Your Star (1938) with Lilli Palmer.
He returned to America in 1940 but gradually his style of singing had become passé and he was forced into semi-retirement. During the 1960s he made something of a comeback and record companies in both America and Britain started to re-release most of his material. In 1996 he was awarded a gold CD to mark the huge sales of his records over 60 years.- Arthur Worsley was known in showbusiness circles as 'The Godfather of Ventriloquism.' A brilliant ventriloquist he topped the bills in the heydays of British variety both on stage and in numerous television shows. Unlike other vent acts who relied on cross-talk with their comic 'dummy' Worsley remained silent and let his dummy, provide the irascible patter. On stage Worsley was a faceless character with few expressions and it was his dummy, Charlie Brown, who dominated the act with his forceful personality. He would criticise Worsley's appearance and jibe him with remarks such as 'Turn me round son!' and 'Look at me when I'm talking to you!'
Worsley began performing as a ventriloquist at the age of 11 when he began appearing in variety shows in Manchester billed as 'The World's youngest ventriloquist.' By the age of 14 he had turned professional.
By the 1940s, under the management of Lew and Leslie Grade, Worsley was one of the highest paid performers in Britain. He appeared in ten variety seasons at the London Palladium sharing the bill with stars such as Max Miller, Vera Lynn and Gracie Fields and he was a favourite in cabaret at London's top hotels.
In the 1950s and 1960s he toured Australia, Canada and while in New York became an unexpected hit on television talk shows. An appearance on the top rating Ed Sullivan Show prompted the host to remark "Arthur Worsley is setting the pace - he must be the best vent in the world."
The comedian Barry Cryer persuaded Worsley to appear in several episodes of the British tv comedy show Joker's Wild. Soon after he retired to Blackpool. Fans often wrote to him simply addressing the envelope 'to The World's Greatest Ventriloquist, Blackpool.' The letters were always delivered to Worsley's home. - Avril Angers was one of Britain's finest comedy actresses. Once dubbed Britain's answer to Lucille Ball she was a great exponent of revue, musicals, cabaret and TV and film comedy. Born in Liverpool, Angers' long and successful career in show-business began in variety. Her father was the comedian Harry Angers and her mother was Lillian Errol, a member of the original Fol-de-Rols concert party. She was 14 when she made her debut at a concert party in Brighton and the same age when she played Cinderella with Wee Georgie Wood and Clarkson Rose at Birmingham. She followed in her mother's footsteps and became a Fol-de-Rol. During the Second World War she was one of the hardest working members of ENSA, touring the remotest parts of West Africa. She was awarded the Africa Star for her work and during the forties and fifties was rarely off the London stage or the cinema screen. As an actress she played a variety of roles from Billie Fawn in Born Yesterday to Marigold in the classic film The Green Man (1956), opposite Alistair Sim. Her success in acting led her to becoming one of the first women to have a television series with a proper storyline, Dear Dotty, in 1954. She also partnered TV comedians such as Arthur Askey, Dick Emery and a young Bob Monkhouse. One of the first stand-up comediennes she regularly appeared in cabaret. She won critical appraise for her role as Liz Piper in Roy Boulting's film The Family Way (1966) and was cast opposite Richard Burton and Rex Harrison in the off-beat gay comedy Staircase (1969). In 1964 she stole the notices in the hit London production of Little Me, in which she appeared with Bruce Forsyth, and she headlined in numerous West End comedies and thrillers. Her last public appearance was in October 2005 when she was a guest of honour at the Max Wall Society in London. Her close friend, the variety artiste and strong woman Joan Rhodes, said: "Avril was one of the funniest and most gifted people in show-business. She was very unassuming and comediennes such as Victoria Wood adored working with her."
- A popular British film actor, Basil Hoskins also had a distinguished career on the London stage appearing opposite such stars as Vivien Leigh (in "Duel of Angels" [1958]) and Alec Guinness (in Terence Rattigan's "Ross" [1960]) and had a long run in the musical "Applause" opposite Lauren Bacall (1971).
British television viewers knew him best for his role starting in 1963 as Dr. Rex Lane Russell in Emergency-Ward 10 (1957), Britain's first twice-weekly, long-running drama series, focusing on the staff and patients in a general hospital.
Hoskins studied acting at RADA and later joined the Nottingham Playhouse Company. He spent five seasons with the Shakespeare Memorial Company at Stratford playing leading roles, including Lucias to Laurence Olivier's Titus Andronicus. During the 1950s he toured Australia with the Old Vic Company with Katharine Hepburn.
He also appeared in many stage musicals, including "A Little Night Music" and the London revival of "Call Me Madam" (1983) with TV star Noele Gordon.
He appeared in numerous TV drama series, and his best known films were Ice Cold in Alex (1958) and North West Frontier (1959). - Writer
- Director
- Script and Continuity Department
Brian Finch was one of Britain's leading TV scriptwriters and notably wrote over 150 episodes of the soap Coronation Street. In 1999 he won critical acclaim for his dramatisation of Michelle Magorian's Goodnight Mister Tom, the wartime story of a crusty widower and a boy evacuee, starring John Thaw.
Wigan born Finch was the son of a miner. He was educated at Thornleigh College, Bolton and then began a career in journalism as a reporter on a local newspaper. He did his National Service in the RAF and on being demobbed, joined the Manchester Evening News. He later went to work at the BBC as a press officer and in 1966 wrote his first play, Rodney, for the BBC Wednesday Play series.
He joined Granada TV's Coronation Street and became one of its most respected and entertaining writers. He contributed to many other TV series including Hunter's Walk, The Brothers and Fallen Hero. He also performed in episodes of Hetty Wainthrop Investigates.
At his funeral his son Paul, also a writer, said that his father was proud of his humble beginnings and had never forgotten where he had come from. He revealed that his father first learned his mother was pregnant with Paul when Paul McCartney handed him a phone while he "was having an argument in a lift" with John Lennon in the sixties. Paul said: "Dad was the son of a miner. He was as comfortable standing at a bar in Wigan talking about Wigan rugby league as he was at some BBC cheese and wine party."- Actor Brian Hall was best known for his role as Terry the cook in the BBC comedy series Fawlty Towers (1975). He began acting while still in his teens in amateur shows where his burly frame made him ideal casting for villains and heavies.
After leaving school he worked as a taxi driver before he was spotted by theatrical agent Richard Ireson who persuaded him that his talent lay in theatre.
He went on to appear in stage plays at The Royal Court Theatre in London, notably in Peter Gill's production of Crete and Sergeant Pepper and at the Royal Shakespeare Company he starred in Afore Night Comes, directed by Ron Daniels.
With John Chapman he co-wrote Made It Mad (based on the famous James Cagney line in the film White Heat) which was staged at the Royal Court as well as Bit of Business, co-written and directed with John Burgess at the National Theatre.
He had a highly successful TV career, notably in series such as Softly Softly (1966) (as the corrupt police officer Sergeant Ted Drake).
He played a bodyguard to Bob Hoskins in the cult gangster classic film The Long Good Friday (1980), the same year he was cast as a villain in McVicar (1980).
He struck up a close friendship with the actor John Cleese when they appeared in the BBC comedy series Fawlty Towers. Some years after the series had finished Cleese sent Hall a personally signed autographed picture as a joke. Hall wrote back and demanded a signed Rolls-Royce car instead. Three day later, one arrived in the post - it was a children's toy.
In 1994 he was diagnosed as having cancer. - Actor
- Additional Crew
Actor Brook Williams appeared in several London stage shows and numerous films. He was the younger son of the famous actor and playwright Emlyn Williams and the brother of the novelist Alan Williams.
Born in 1938, he was educated at Stowe School. As a child, he was befriended by the actor Richard Burton. In later years, he became Burton's personal assistant, advisor and collaborator.
After serving in the RAF, he worked in repertory theatre and made his West End debut in 1958. In 1960, he appeared with Sir Donald Sinden in Terence Rattigan's ill-fated musical version of his play "French Without Tears, Joie de Vivre". He won critical acclaim for his role in his father's classic play, "The Corn is Green" (1964) and he later toured South Africa in Peter Shaffer's "Five Finger Exercise".
He appeared with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in The V.I.P.S and went on to act in more than 100 films in cameo roles. Among his credits were The Sea Wolves (1980), Absolution (1978), The Medusa Touch (1978), The Heroes of Telemark (1965) and Richard Burton's last film, Wagner (1983).
When Burton died in 1984, aged 58, Williams read at his funeral in Switzerland. "Burton as a lifelong friend was the concern, for a while the central occupation, of Brook Williams, the actor whose help was unstinted", said broadcaster and writer Melvyn Bragg. "It is easy to see why Rich found him to be such fine company and the quality of Brook's friendship speaks very highly for the man who greatly valued male friendships".
Brook Williams's marriage to Liz Holloway was dissolved after ten years.- Writer
- Music Department
- Script and Continuity Department
Christopher Fry was one of the most celebrated playwrights of the 20th century whose dazzling verbal invention led many to regard him as the Shakespeare of his time for his poetry and wit. Plays such as "The Lady's Not For Burning", "Venus Observed" and "The Dark Is Light Enough" have deservedly become modern classics. Laurence Olivier observed that Fry was a "dialogue sorcerer" and the critic Harold Hobson described him as "a master jeweler of words".
The list of actors and directors associated with Fry's work reads like a Who's Who of show-business: Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Michael Redgrave, Edith Evans, Vivien Leigh, Alec Clunes and Peter Brook. Fry continued to write plays into his nineties.
In the original West End production of "The Lady's Not For Burning", two unknown actors appeared in supporting roles - Richard Burton and Claire Bloom. In 1958, Fry co-scripted the film Ben-Hur (1959). He had already written the screenplay for The Beggar's Opera (1953) for Peter Brook. On Ben-Hur (1959), he was asked to write the scenes from the crucifixion onwards but ended up rewriting most of the film. Only the MGM scriptwriter Karl Tunberg is actually credited, but besides Fry, Gore Vidal was also involved.
Christopher Fry died on 30th June 2005, aged 97.- Cora Goffin was one of Britain's most famous pantomime princpal boys and musical comedy stars. At the height of her fame during the 1920s and 30s she was a household name and her picture adorned chocolate boxes, cigarette cards and magazine covers.
Married to the powerful impresario Emile Littler she starred in many of his stage shows. Her costumes were created by the leading designers of the day and her legs were insured for £20,000.
Born in London, the daughter of the actress Cora Poole, she began performing at an early age at afternoon tea parties given by London society hostesses. In 1912, at the age of 10, she made her professional debut as a child dancer at the London Palladium with the Russian Ballet. After one performance, the legendary ballerina Anna Pavlova told her "Little girl, one day you will be a great star."
After her father's death Cora Goffin toured on variety bills billed as 'Little Cora Goffi - the Child Phenomenon'. She went on to appear in leading roles in Shakespeare in London's West End but her most memorable role as a child star was Little Lord Fauntleroy.
After her marriage in 1933 to Emile Littler she starred in several stage shows and films but retired from acting in 1940. Littler was knighted for his services to entertainment in 1974 and shortly afterwards the couple moved to Ditchling, Sussex in the south of England. A much admired hostess Cora numbered among her many close friends stars such as Elsie Randolph, Alice Delysia, Vera Lynn and Douglas Byng. - Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Cyril Fletcher enjoyed something of a renaissance in his long comedy career in 1972 when TV producer and presenter Esther Rantzen asked him to join the consumer program That's Life and recite some of his 'Odd Odes'. He proved such a success with the audience that he became a fixture of the show for eight years. Fletcher had been composing and performing his comic odes as a child and throughout his career as a first class comedian and pantomime 'dame' they were a staple part of his act. He was part of British variety's heyday both as a producer and performer and once said of the genre: "Variety as a cradle for stardom was unsurpassed. It is an exciting and exacting science."
Cyril Trevellian Fletcher was born in 1913. He began writing comic poetry when he was still at school and at an early age had ambitions to become a classical actor. His first job was as an insurance clerk but a chance meeting with the producer Greatorex Newman led to him appearing in the Fols De Rols Concert Party in 1936 at Hastings, Sussex.
Fletcher went on to appear at the Holborn Empire in London and was soon given his own radio series with the BBC. He topped bills in variety all over Britain and was one of the first comedians to appear on television at the BBC's new Alexandra Palace in the first pantomime ever televised, Dick Whittington.
After World War Two he and his wife Betty Astell presented summer shows and pantomimes throughout Britain.
On television Fletcher was a regular on What's My Line? and TV's first religious program Sunday Story but it was his lugubrious voice and cozy presence on That's Life that made him a household name in later years. Gardening was one of his great loves and for 14 years he was presenter of ATV's Gardening Time and in 1990 Cyril Fletcher's Lifestyle Garden.
He and his wife eventually retired to Guernsey in the Channel Islands but he still occasionally delighted audiences with his one man show After Dinner with Cyril Fletcher. He wrote an autobiography, Nice One, Cyril.- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Few British comedians were as successful in the 1950s and early 60s as Dave King. A hit recording singer, he was one of the few British comics to top the bill at the London Palladium as well as having top rating TV shows in both Britain and America. Although his success was relatively short as a comedian, he later became a respected TV and film actor.
After doing National Service in the RAF, King joined "Morton Fraser and his Harmonica Gang", an eccentric variety act based on America's Borrah Minevitch and His Harmonica Rascals.
By the mid-50s, King had turned solo and, with his laid-back style and Perry Como-like singing voice, he began making appearances on TV variety shows. In 1955, he was given his own show by the BBC. An innovative comedian with brilliant timing, his show was scripted by top writers and was considered groundbreaking in its day.
He recording hits included "Memories Are Made of This" (1956) and he followed this with numerous cover versions of Dean Martin and Perry Como songs.
In 1958, he was poached from the BBC by ITV who gave him his own show and, a year later, he hosted the famous Kraft Music Hall Show in America, replacing Milton Berle. In 1961, he appeared on The Bing Crosby Show (1961) in Britain and, a year later, made a cameo appearance as himself in the film, The Road to Hong Kong (1962).
King's fame in America was short-lived and, by the late 60s, he returned to Britain where he began an acting career. Throughout the 1970s, he gave a series of highly-polished and gritty performances in several TV dramas, where he was usually cast as a villain. In 1978, he was cast against type in Dennis Potter's Pennies from Heaven (1978).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Dennis Kirkland was one of Britain's top television comedy producers and directors and best-known for his long association with Benny Hill. He worked with Hill for more than 18 years, first as a floor manager, then as a director and producer. He was, finally, Hill's best friend and confidant and wrote a revealing memoir of the comedian.
Born in North Shields, Northumberland, he originally wanted to become an actor but decided to go into television and worked initially as a props man at Tyne Tees Television. Later, he worked at the Royal Opera House and the Windmill Theatre in London, before joining ATV as a floor manager.
He joined Thames TV as a floor manager in 1968 and quickly worked his way up from children's programmes to become a leading comedy director and producer. He took over the reins of the Benny Hill Show in the eighties when the comedian was at the height of his creative powers. Hill's saucy seaside humour and cleverly written sketches made the show an international hit. The series was screened in more than 100 countries and by 1985 not a single day passed without The Benny Hill Show being screened somewhere in America.
In 1988, however, the Broadcasting Standards Council denounced the show as being "increasingly offensive" and the following year Hill was called into the office of Thames TV's new head of light entertainment, John Howard Davies, and sacked. Whatever the reason, the board of Thames TV was unaware of the decision and attempted to entice Hill back. Kirkland was furious and persuaded Hill to go to Central TV to make a new series of programmes.
Sadly, this was never to materialise. During the Easter weekend of 1992, Hill died alone at his flat near Teddington Studios. He was found two days later by Kirkland. On the day that Hill died there was a contract in the post to him from Central TV.
Kirkland remained bitter towards Thames TV, not least because the company went on to make a fortune through their archive sales of Hill's show. He continued working in television both in the UK and Ireland until ill health forced him to retire in 2005.- Dennis Selinger was one of Britain's most powerful theatrical agents who numbered among his clients such stars as David Niven, Peter Sellers, Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Bob Hoskins and Ben Kingsley.
Selinger was born in Brighton in 1921, the youngest child of an entrepreneur, and his eldest sister became a kind of surrogate mother to him. She married the theater agent Monty Lyons and Selinger went to work in the Lyons office at the age of 14. When Lyons retired Selinger formed a new agency with Lew and Leslie Grade which eventually became ICM (International Creative Management).
During World War Two he served as a gunner in Burma and it was there that he spotted the young Peter Sellers who he encouraged to try a career in show business. He took Sellers on as a client when he opened his first office in London. Peter Sellers remained with Selinger throughout his whole career.
Selinger was noted for looking after his clients in a personal way and was always willing to help them both in their professional and private lives. His name was a byword for expertise within show business.
Among the many American performers that he represented at ICM were Bette Davis, Marlon Brando, Harold Lloyd and Barbra Streisand.
He married Deborah Winchester in 1988 but the couple later divorced. - Producer
- Casting Director
- Music Department
For over fifty years Dennis Van Thal's name as a film producer, casting and theatrical agent was linked to some of the biggest names in cinema and theatre. At various periods of their career he represented such luminaries as Sir Alec Guinness, Franco Zefferelli, Sir Dirk Bogarde, Roger Moore, Michael Balcon and Fred Zinnemann and many others.
Born in London to Dutch parents Van Thal began his career in showbusiness working as a musical director and arranger for for the impresario Andre Charlot during the 1920s. Whilst working on several Charlot revues in London he met and befriended Noel Coward and Beatrice Lillie.
Van Thal was drawn to the British film industry in the 1930s and he became as casting director at Denham Studios for Sir Alexander Korda. Among the films that he cast were The Four Feathers, The Fallen Idol, The Third Man and The Thief of Bagdad.
During World War Two he served in the Navy and afterwards returned to Denham. In 1957 he turned producer and was invited by Sir Michael Balcon to join him at Ealing Studios. During this period Van That came into contact with cameramen such as Freddie Young and Oswald Morris, both of whom he later represented.
In 1959 he met Jean Diamond, a casting director for MGM British, and together they set up the now world famous theatrical agency London Management. They began representing the cream of British and world cinema and numbered among their clients directors such as Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
In the late 1960s the film mogul Sir Lew Grade of the Grade Organisation merged with London Management briefly and a separate branch of the firm was called London International. Van Thal continued to work until well into his 80s and in 1998 entered Denville Hall, Middlesex, the actors retirement home where he died in 1998.- A stalwart from the great days of radio comedy, actor Dick Bentley is best remembered as the gormless Ron in the Denis Norden and Frank Muir's fifties series Take It From Here.
Bentley was born in Australia and during his teens played the saxophone in local dance bands. He came to Britain in 1939 and appeared briefly in the BBC radio series You've Asked For It.
During the Second World War he returned to Australia where he entertained the troops. He also appeared in troop shows throughout the South Pacific and in New Guinea.
After the War he returned to London and appeared in radio's The Navy Mixture before teaming up with Joy Nichols and the comedian Jimmy Edwards in Take It From Here.
He also had his own weekly radio series Gently, Bentley and subsequently appeared in a number of Royal Command Performances. His film appearance included an excellent cameo in The Sundowners (1960), with Robert Mitchum and an amusing role in Barry Humphries' The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972).
He was also a noted singer of light popular songs and made a number of LPs.
From the early 1970s he lived in retirement in London. In his last interview he said: "I'd sooner be remembered as a funny man than that people remembered the funny things I say. I don't want to be a second-hand Tommy Handley. I want to be a first class Bentley." - Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
One of the great British stage actors of his era Donald Wolfit was noted for his magnificent portrayals of King Lear and Tamburlaine. Yet no actor of his generation was surrounded by more controversy. He was temperamental and difficult to deal with, enraged by criticism and tyrannical with the companies he led.
Although his talent was never in any doubt, critics often condemned his companies' poor supporting players and tasteless costumes. Even in death he had his critics.
Wolfit appeared in numerous theatre seasons at the Old Vic and Stratford-upon-Avon but preferred the life of a touring player and as the star of a vagabond troupe. He also appeared in many films and television plays. One of his most barnstorming performances was in the title role of the film Svengali (1954) in which, with his hypnotic real-life stare, he puts Hildegard Knef into a permanent trance.
The money from his film work helped to finance many of his stage productions. Wolfit is best remembered today as the inspiration for the film The Dresser (1983), in which Albert Finney plays a barnstorming actor-manager.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Doris Speed was one of Britain's best-loved soap actresses, fondly remembered for her portrayal of Annie Walker, the snooty landlady of the Rovers Return pub in ITV's Coronation Street (1960). She played the role for 23 years and was dubbed by the press as 'The Queen Mother of Soap.'
Born in Manchester, her father George was a singer and her mother Ada a repertory actress. She toured with both her parents as a child. She later left the stage to work as a clerk in the giant Guinness brewery in Manchester and remained with the company for several years.
'Coronation Street' creator Tony Warren became a close friend of Speed and wrote the part of Annie Walker specifically for her. She joined the series when it was first aired in 1960 and appeared in 1,746 episodes. Hugely popular with viewers she received more fan mail than any other member of the cast.
Offstage she was a shy and retiring person but a keen theatre-goer. She once said "I would love to have done more theatre work because that is how I started. There are so many roles I would love to have played. But I owe my life to 'Coronation Street' and I don't regret a minute of it."
She was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to television in 1977 and received The Pye Television Award two years later. She was also an honorary member of the Licensed Victuallers' Association. Doris made her final television appearance in 1993, when she gave an interview on Classic Coronation Street (1993), alongside her former screen son, Kenneth Farrington.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dorothy Hyson was one of the British cinema and theatre's most gifted players. Noted for her great beauty and striking looks, the songwriters Rogers and Hart dedicated their song, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", to her. Her second husband, the actor Anthony Quayle, described her as "the Most Beautiful Creature I Have Ever Seen".
She was born in Chicago in 1914, the only child of the musical comedy star, Dorothy Dickson and her husband, Carl Heison (who changed his name to Hyson). She made her London stage debut at the age of 12 at the Savoy Theatre in J.M. Barrie's "Quality Street" and, the following year, acted in Daisy Ashford's "The Young Visitors" (Strand Theatre), prompting the leading critic of the day, James Agate, to write: "I think in Dorothy Hyson we may have the comedienne of the future". In 1933, Ivor Novello, impressed by her charm and beauty, offered her the role of Gladys Cooper's daughter in his play, "Flies in the Sun". Later successes included Maxwell Anderson's comedy, "Saturday's Children and Touch Wood", in which she co-starred with Flora Robson.
In March 1935, she appeared with Laurence Olivier in the play, "The Ringmaster", directed in London's West End by Raymond Massey. At the age of 20, she married the British film actor Robert Douglas.
She was rarely off the West End stage throughout the thirties and forties and, in June 1947, married Anthony Quayle. In later years, Quayle said of his wife, "Without her, I could have been nothing - and done nothing. With her love and help, our two lives joined together and I could lift the world up and carry it aloft".
Hyson was a renowned hostess in London and numbered among her close friends, H.M. Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Noël Coward and John Gielgud. On her retirement from acting, she said: "I always tried my best at being an actress - but when I met Anthony Quayle all I wanted to do was to be his wife and look after him. My acting didn't matter anymore. He always came first for me".
Her son is the designer Christopher Quayle. Her two daughters are Rosanna Astley and the actress Jenny Quayle.- Actor
- Writer
Douglas Byng was one of the most redoubtable entertainers of the 20th century whose long career spanned theatre, pantomime, cabaret, film and television. Billed as 'Bawdy - But British' he was a prolific comic songwriter and a master of the double-entendre, often appearing in drag or as a noted pantomime Dame. Noël Coward once described his act as 'the most refined vulgarity in London'.
Byng never really retired from the stage and was working even at the age of 90. A born raconteur, he was suddenly rediscovered when he made a guest appearance on the BBC's Parkinson (1971) Show in 1977 with Carol Channing.
In 1986, he made his final stage appearance when he performed his one-man show at the Royal National Theatre in London. In one of the most successful careers in British show-business, he had appeared on stage for 72 years.- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Production Manager
Film producer Michael Smedley-Aston worked with MGM's British organisation at Denham Studios in the thirties and forties and later with both the Rank Organisation, 20th Century Fox and United Artists. During his long career he was involved with more than 40 films and with several companies, including the government controlled British Lion Corporation.
He was also responsible for giving a host of British actors their early breaks, including Oliver Reed in Life is a Circus (1957) and Michael Caine in The Wrong Arm of the Law (1961), as well as up and coming actors such as Peter Sellers, Lionel Jeffries and Glenda Jackson. He also brought the German actor Klaus Kinski to England for the first time.
Born in 1912 in Edgbaston he was educated at Marlborough College. He began his career at Elstree Studios, where he worked with Alfred Hitchcock and was assistant director on such films as Dance Band, Royal Cavalcade and Drake of England (all 1935). In 1939 he worked on the classic film Goodbye Mr Chips, starring Robert Donat.
During the Second World War he served in the RAF in Canada and on being demobbed he worked for the Rank Organisation, notably on the production of David Lean's classic film Great Expectations.
As a close associate of directors Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, Smedley-Aston was involved withe the famous takeover bid of the British Lion Film Corporation. The original company ran into trouble after accepting a National Film Finance Corporation Loan in 1949. Alexander Korda, manager of British Lion, was unable to pay the loan back and, as a result,Smedley-Aston, Launder and Gilliat were brought in to oversee the newly formed British Lion Films Ltd in 1955.
Under the new management the company produced several classic films including Private's Progress (1956), I'm Alright Jack (1959) and The Family Way (1966).
During the fifties Smedley-Aston also worked for United Artists as a producer on such films as Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955), the musical comedy starring Jane Russell and Jeanne Crain. As an independent producer he was responsible for approving a screen test for Sean Connery for his first leading role in Another Time, Another Place (1958).
He worked on the hugely successful St Trinian's films of the fifties and was associate producer of The Happiest Days of Your Life(1950), starring Alistair Sim and Margaret Rutherford. He also produced films such as Theatre of Death (1966) with Christopher Lee and Evelyn Laye and Ooh, You Are Awful (1972), a comedy vehicle for Dick Emery.
He also produced many television series including The Third Man which was filmed both in the UK and in Hollywood. He retired from film producing in 1980 but continued to be involved with film finance.- A distinguished stage actor, Ernest Clark was best known to British television viewers for his role as the crusty "Sir Geoffrey Loftus" in the long running "Doctor" comedy series during the 1970s.
Born in Maida Vale, Clark was the son of a master builder and was educated at Marylebone Grammar School. His first job was as a reporter on a local newspaper and he was also a keen amateur actor.
He made his first professional appearance at the Festival Theatre, Cambridge in 1937 and, throughout the 1930s and 40s, was rarely off the West End stage. In New York in 1950, he garnered rave reviews for his appearance in T.S. Eliot's "The Cocktail Party".
A prolific screen character actor, he was usually cast in cold, tight-lipped roles in British war films.
He was vice-president of Equity, the British actor's union, from 1964-69 and president from 1970-73. An articulate, outspoken and often witty commentator for the acting profession, he always argued on the side of regulated entry into what he described as "an overcrowded industry".
Clark's first two marriages were dissolved. His third wife was 'Julia Lockwood', the daughter of the British film star Margaret Lockwood. - Writer
- Producer
Francis Durbridge was one of Britain's most popular crime novelists and playwrights. Born in Hull, he was educated at Bradford and read English at Birmingham University. His first play, "Promotion", was broadcast by the BBC in 1933. Encouraged by its success he was asked to contribute further plays. "Send For Paul Temple" proved so popular that the BBC received 7,000 letters asking for more. "The Adventures of Paul Temple" ran for over 30 years.
In 1969 BBC Television, having just started broadcasting in color, commissioned Durbridge to write a 26-part series of Paul Temple starring Francis Matthews.
It was not until 1971 that Durbridge wrote his first thriller directly for the theatre. The play, "Suddenly at Home" (the title was taken from the death notice column of The Times newspaper) starred Gerald Harper and Penelope Keith and was a huge success in London's West End.
Durbridge also wrote "Murder With Love" (1976), "House Guest" (1980) and "Fatal Encounter" (1996). Critics were apt to dismiss his plays, but the public did not. Durbridge himself said: "My thrillers are not so much who dunnits as will-he-get-away-with-its."- Distinguished character actor and one time matinée idol Geoffrey Toone appeared in some of London's most famous stage productions of the 20th century. A stalwart of the Old Vic Theatre since the early 1930s, he worked with stars such as Ralph Richardson and Roger Livesey, and went on to appear in John Gielgud's magisterial 1934 production of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet (1935) with Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, and the wartime production of Lady Windemere's Fan (1945) designed by Cecil Beaton.
Toone's striking looks as a young actor made him a favourite with pre-war audiences. One critic who commented on Toone's "sculpted features" said the actor "could have stepped out of a Sargent painting."
In his later career, Toone's powerful stage presence and keen intelligence saw him emerge as a leading character actor, and he became one of television's busiest performers. He was often cast as an aristocrat or military type in series such as The Avengers (1961) and Jeeves and Wooster (1990) and became something of a household name when he played the vengeful Nazi Von Gelb in the cult ITV children's spy series Freewheelers (1968).
Toone had a prolific film career, which included such roles as Sir Edward Ramsay in The King and I (1956), Harold Hubbard in The Entertainer (1960) and several horror films including The Terror of the Tongs (1961) and Dr. Crippen (1963).
His later career was mainly spent working in television both in Britain and in America. He retired to Denville Hall, the actor's rest home in Northwood, Middlesex where he died on June 1, 2005, at 94.
For many years he had shared a house with the actor Frank Middlemass. - Comedian George Roper was best known for his television appearances on ITV's long running series The Comedians, first shown in the UK in the early 1970s. Roper's jokes were clean, inoffensive and usually centres around 'wellies' (wellington boots). His fascination for 'wellies' stemmed from a brief spell working as a builder's labourer.
Born in Liverpool, Roper was the son of a window cleaner. On leaving school he joined the Merchant Navy, working as a galley boy and then a steward.
He joined the RAF as a drill instructor and while stationed in Holland began entertaining troops at a forces concert party. After leaving the RAF he worked in various manual jobs and singing and telling jokes in clubs at night. The music hall comedian Sandy Powell encouraged him to become a professional entertainer.
He moved to Manchester in the 1960s and whilst working in cabaret was spotted by Johnny Hamp, creator of The Comedians. Hamp booked him for the first series in 1971.
When The Comedians finished in the 1980s Roper was still in demand in clubs and summer shows and for some years appeared in cabaret in Benidorm, Spain. - Producer
- Writer
- Director
One of Britain's foremost television producers, Gerard Glaister was responsible for a string of top rating hit series including Dr Finlay's Casebook, Secret Army, Colditz, The Expert and Howard's Way.
His biggest success was the road haulage family drama The Brothers (1972-76), which he both devised and produced. Starring Jean Anderson, Patrick O'Connell and Richard Easton, the boardroom and bedroom battles of this squabbling family became a firm Friday then Sunday, night favourite and was later sold to several countries.
Howard's Way (1985-90) was described as Britain's answer to Dynasty and was set on the River Hamble. Starring Maurice Colbourne and Jan Harvey, the plots usually involved dodgy business deals, gaudy lifestyles and flashy women.
Glaister was born in 1915, the son of a Royal Navy surgeon. He studied acting at RADA and made his West End acting debut in 1939 before serving in the RAF.
During the war he was the skipper of a Blenheim bomber and then became a photo reconnaisance pilot in the Western Desert, where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
After being demobbed he worked in repertory before joining the BBC as a director in 1957.
He worked for nine years on BBC's Dr Finlay's Casebook, the Scottish medical drama which starred Bill Simpson and Andrew Cruickshank. In 1968 he produced the BBC2 detective series, The Xpert, which featured Marius Goring as a pathologist helping police with their investigations.
After the enormous success of The Brothers, Glaister co-devised with Brian Degas one of the BBC's biggest hits of the seventies, Colditz (1972-4), the true life drama series about prisoners of war attempting to escape from Colditz castle. The show revived the flagging career of Robert Wagner, who played Canadian airman Phil Carrington, and also featured a host of leading British character actors including Jack Hedley, Edward Hardwicke, Bernard Hepton, Geoffrey Tooone and Jeremy Kemp. The series was based on the book by Major Pat Reid, a survivor of Colditz, who also acted as technical advisor.
With Wilfred Greatorex, Glaister went on to create another wartime hit. Secret Army (1977-79) was a series about the activities of Lifeline, an underground resistance movement in Belgium during the Second World War.
Glaister produced more than 30 television series and in his later career he both produced and devised the air freight company series Buccaneer (1980) and Trainer (1991), a BBC weekly drama in which a young trainer tries to succeed in the competitive world of horse racing. Shortly after Trainer finished Glaister retired from television.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Graham Greene was one of the greatest novelists of the 20th century and his influence on the cinema and theatre was enormous. He wrote five plays and almost all of his novels, including "Brighton Rock", "The Ministry of Fear" and "The End of the Affair", have been brought to the screen. A superb storyteller, he also wrote the screenplays for such classics as The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Third Man (1949).
A colorful and larger-than-life figure, Greene traveled widely throughout the world, from the jungles of Liberia to the Mexican desert to the Far East and the Soviet Union. In World War Two was a member of MI-6 (the British intelligence service) working with the double-agent Kim Philby, and he numbered among his friends such diverse personalities as Evelyn Waugh, Noël Coward and Panamanian dictator Gen. Omar Torrijos. A notorious womanizer, he married only once but had a string of extra-marital affairs and confessed he was "a bad husband and a fickle lover." During the 1920s and 1930s he confessed that he had had relationships with over 50 prostitutes.
Born in Hertforshire, England, in 1904, the son of the headmaster of Berkhamstead School, Greene was educated at Berkhamstead and later Oxford. At Oxford he published more than 60 poems and stories and soon after graduation converted to Roman Catholicism. "I had to find a religion to measure my evil against" he said. His first novel, "The Man Within", came out in 1929, to public and critical acclaim. "Stamboul Train" (1934), a topical political thriller, was the first to reach the screen (as Orient Express (1934)) and a string of other taut suspense dramas followed: "This Gun For Hire" (1942), "The Ministry of Fear" (1943) and "The Confidential Agent" (1945). It was his novel "Brighton Rock", however, which depicted Pinkie, a teenage gangster with demonic spirituality, that eventually became a milestone in British cinema. Originally a successful stage play starring Richard Attenborough as Pinkie, Greene co-wrote the 1947 screenplay Brighton Rock (1948)) with Terence Rattigan.
Greene's collaboration with director _Carol Reed' produced three distinctive films: The Fallen Idol (1948), starring Ralph Richardson, The Third Man (1949) and Our Man in Havana (1959). One of the peaks in British filmmaking, "The Third Man", starring Orson Welles as Harry Lime, was a skillful tale of deception and drug trafficking. Greene developed the screenplay from a single sentence: "I had paid my last farewell to Harry a week ago, when his coffin was lowered into the frozen February ground, so that it was with incredulity that I saw him pass by, without a sign of recognition, amongst a host of strangers in the Strand". The character of Harry Lime later inspired an American radio series starring Orson Welles, short stories published by the News of the World and the TV series The Third Man (1959), starring Michael Rennie. In Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (1994). Kate Winslet fantasizes about Harry.
As well as writing novels, Greene reviewed films for "The Spectator", then for the short-lived "Night and Day", which folded after he was accused of a "gross outrage" on 'Shirley Temple (I)'--then nine years old--in his review of Wee Willie Winkie (1937). He wrote that "her admirers--middle-aged men and clergymen--respond to her dubious coquetry, to the sight of her well-shaped and desirable little body, packed with enormous vitality". In the view of the prosecuting counsel it was "one of the most horrible libels one could well imagine."
Greene was an intelligent and sophisticated playwright. His first play written directly for the stage was "The Living Room" (1953), a powerful drama of suicide and despair which starred Dorothy Tutin. It was followed by "The Potting Shed" (1957), a drama about an atheist's pact with God, and "The Complaisant Lover" (1959), a comedy of manners in which a husband and lover knowingly share a wife's favors, which starred Michael Redgrave. Many of his played were televised.
Greene's work continues to fascinate actors, filmmakers and cinema goers throughout the world. In 1973 Maggie Smith and Alec McCowen starred in "Travels With My Aunt" (Smith's role had originally been offered to Katharine Hepburn), Nicol Williamson and Ann Todd starred in The Human Factor (1979) and Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore starred in a remake of The End of the Affair (1999).
Greene said of his writing: "When I describe a scene . . . I capture it with the moving eye of the cine-camera rather than with the photographer's eye--which leaves it frozen. In this precise domain I think the cinema has influenced me."
Towards the end of his life Greene lived in Vevey, Switzerland, with his companion Yvonne Cloetta. He died there peacefully on April 13, 1991.- Actor
- Writer
- Music Department
Harry Secombe was one of Britain's best loved comic entertainers. Born in Swansea, South Wales he began singing as a child in local church choirs. His first job was as a clerk although he had considered a career in opera. During World War Two he served in the Army in North Africa and Italy. He met the comedian Spike Milligan while on duty in the Western desert and their common bond was a unique brand of humour. Secombe appeared in many troop concerts where he was known for his trademark high pitched laugh and blowing raspberries. After the war he appeared as a comic at London's famous Windmill Theatre and in 1945 became one of the stalwarts of the hugely successful radio series Educating Archie. His greatest popularity began in 1951 with the birth of radio's Crazy People, later to be renamed The Goon Show. One of the most famous radio comedy programmes of all time it helped launch the careers of Secombe, Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine.
Whilst the Goon Show was in its prime the comedy team made several films associated with the series including Down Among the Z Men (1952) and in 1955 Secombe had his own TV show, The Harry Secombe Show. His other popular TV shows, often written by Marty Feldman and Barry Cryer, included Secombe and Friends (1966) and Have a Harry Christmas (1977). On stage he had a long running success with Leslie Bricusse's Pickwick (1963) and he revived the show in the 1980s.
His most notable film work began with Davy (1957) in which he played a music hall performer who auditions for an opera at Convent Garden. It was meant as a star vehicle for him but was not a box office success. International audiences became familiar with him when he played Mr Bumble, the beadle in Oliver! (1968) and films such as The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971) and Starstruck (1972).
Knighted in 1981 and much slimmed down after a serious attack of peritonitis, he continued to appear in concerts and on television as well as writing several volumes of autobiography. He toured Australia and in 1983 became the host of Highway, a weekly TV religious programme. This was Secombe toned down, far from his rollicking past and with no jokes, but it gave him a chance to sing seriously. The show ran for nearly ten years.
Ill health continually dogged the comedian in his final years and he battled with cancer and a severe stroke. He continued to appear on television, notably narrating D Day - The Official Story (1994) and presenting Top Ten Comedy Records (2000).- Writer
- Actor
Actor and playwright Hugh Hastings wrote one of the British theatre's most successful post-war comedies, Seagulls Over Sorrento, which opened in London in 1950 and ran for 1551 performances. The play subsequently became staple fare for repertory companies throughout the world and was filmed in 1954 with Gene Kelly in the leading role.
Seagulls Over Sorrento was a British service comedy that had an all-male cast. Five naval ratings volunteer for a special posting on a naval experimental base on a remote island off Scapa Flow. The work of the base is so secret that they themselves are not told what it is, but they are warned that it is highly dangerous.
The London impresario Binkie Beaumont staged the original play and cast the production himself. The cockney actor Ronald Shiner played the lead alongside Bernard Lee, William Hartnell, Nigel Stock, John Gregson and David Langton. A Broadway production opened in 1955 with Rod Steiger and Leslie Neilson and in the same year a young Harold Pinter appeared in a repertory production in Colchester. John Osborne recalled in his autobiography that he wrote Look Back In Anger while appearing on Morecambe Pier in Seagulls Over Sorrento in 1955.
Hastings wrote several other plays and a less than successful musical version of Seagulls Over Sorrento entitled Scapa! (1962) and in the early 1970s teamed up with Dad's Army actor Bill Pertwee to appear in cabaret.
For several years Hastings had been cast as one of the back row platoon in BBC's Dad's Army.- Composer
- Actor
- Writer
Eccentric entertainer, poet, playwright and recording artist Ivor Cutler was a master of off-beat humor championed by such diverse fans as Bertrand Russell, disc jockey John Peel, Billy Connolly, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The Beatles cast him as the bus conductor in their Magical Mystery Tour (1967). On stage Cutler was described as having "the demeanor and voice of the weariest human being ever to be cursed with existence" and looking like "one of the more sinister characters in Dickens." A regular broadcaster with the BBC, Cutler's books and radio series included such titles as "Cockadoodle Don't", "Life in a Scotch Sitting Room Volume 2", "Many Flies Have Feathers", "Jammy Smears" and "Gruts". In 1980 he was awarded the Pye Radio Award for Humour and in 1994 "A Stuggy Pren" was produced for BBC Radio 3.
Born in 1923 in Glasgow, Cutler was educated at Shawlands Academy and was evacuated during the war. In 1940 he became an apprentice fitter with Rolls-Royce, helping to make Spitfires. He trained to become an RAF navigator but was dismissed for being "too dreamy and absent-minded." He served the rest of the war as a storeman with an engineering company.
He went on to become a teacher at AS Neill's famous progressive school Summerhill in Suffolk and continued teaching for more than 30 years. From 1954-1980 he taught drama and poetry to primary school children. In his 70s he reflected, "In a way I am still carrying on with the kids. And those who come to my gigs probably see life as a child would. It's those who have been busy making themselves into grown-ups, avoiding being a child - they're the ones who don't enjoy it."
He began performing in 1957 and was spotted in the 1960s by 'Ned Sherrin', who booked him to appear on television. He appeared on "The Acker Bilk Show", "Late Night Line-Up" and other programs, and in 1967 appeared in "The Magical Mystery Tour" playing Buster Bloodvessel, the bus conductor who announces to his passengers, "I am concerned for you to enjoy yourselves within the limits of British decency." In 1967 his record, "Ludo", was produced by the Beatles producer George Martin.
Cutler dressed distinctively both on and off stage, wearing plus fours and colorful hats with badges. His favorite method of communication was by sticky labels that he had especially printed, often with "Cutlerisms" attached: "Never knowingly understood", "True happiness is knowing you're a hypocrite" and "Add 15 inches to your stride and save 4% of insects".
He wrote more than 300 songs and in 2000 he was signed to Oasis' former record label, Creation. He last appeared on stage at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in January 2004. The event was filmed and shown in a documentary about his own life, Ivor Cutler: Looking for Truth with a Pin (2005). he was a member of the Noise Abatement Society and the Voluntary Euthanasia Society. In 1990 he said,"When I do die I shall be glad to get away from the loud pop music and cars but I shall miss, insofar as when one is dead one can miss anything, the beautiful kindnesses of those people to whom courtesy comes naturally."- Producer
- Director
Jack Barton was the producer of the UK soap opera, Crossroads (1964), during the 1970s. Barton was noted for tackling controversial subjects and during his tenure the soap covered subjects such as rape, racism, bigamy, test-tube pregnancies, physical handicap and Downs Syndrome.
Born in Manchester Fred Bernard 'Jack' Barton had an interest in showbusiness from an early age. At 15 he joined Bertram Mills' Circus and at 17 moved to London where he studied tap dancing. Later he toured with stars such as Jessie Matthews and Sonnie Hale in musical comedies.
During WW2 he served in the RAF and on being demobbed he moved to Scotland where he worked as a producer in variety shows.
In 1955 he joined the newley formed ATV in Birmingham as a producer on shows such as Lunch Box, hosted by Noele Gordon. Crossroads, a new soap that featured everyday events at a Midland hotel, was launched by ATV in 1964 and Barton became one of the regular directors of the show. Under his auspices celebrities queued up to appear in Crossroads: Max Wall, Ken Dodd and Larry Grayson were just a few who were guest stars.
One of the show's biggest storylines, directed by Barton, featured the 1975 wedding of Meg Richardson (Noele Gordon) to Hugh Mortimer (John Bentley) which brought the city of Birmingham to a standstill.
The programmes heavy workload was cut to four episodes a week in 1967, and then, on the instructions of the IBA, which was concerned about the shows quality, to three episodes a week in 1980. In 1984 Barton finally left the series and was replaced by the Australian Phillip Bowman. When the plug was finally pulled on the show in 1988, after 4,500 programmes there was a public outcry but Central Television refused to reconsider. It was revived as a new daily serial by ITV in 2001 but was axed in 2003.- A distinguished stage and film actress Jane Baxter was one of the most glamorous performers on the London stage. Winston Churchill, an ardent fan, once described her as, "that charming lady who grace personifies all that is best in British womanhood". Her stage career spanned half a century and she is best remembered for her role in "Dial M For Murder", in which she co-starred with Michael Redgrave. Redgrave said that she was "every undergraduate's ideal of an English rose".
Born Fedora Kathleen Alice Forde in Germany, she came to London as a child and studied acting at the Italia Conti Stage School. She made her West End debut at the age of 13 in the musical comedy "Love's Prisoner". On the advice of the playwright J.M. Barrie, she changed her name to Jane Baxter and, in 1938, played the lead in the hit comedy "A Damsel in Distress".
Several other West End shows followed as well as films such as We Live Again (1934), with Fredric March and The Clairvoyant (1935), with Claude Rains and, in 1935, she joined the repertory company at the Liverpool Playhouse where the leading actor was Michael Redgrave. He viewed her arrival "with some alarm", expecting "a spoilt and temperamental film star". Instead, he found "a delightful actress". Baxter eventually became godmother to Redgrave's daughter, the future actress Vanessa Redgrave.
She had success again in London in 1937 with "George and Margaret", which ran for two years and, on Broadway, she co-starred with John Gielgud and Margaret Rutherford in "The Importance of Being Earnest", in which she played "Cicely Cardew".
She continued to make films and appear on stage throughout the 1960s and her final London stage role was in John Mortimer's "A Voyage Round My Father", in which she starred opposite Michael Redgrave. Her last stage role was at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley in 1978 in the thriller "Assault", in which she appeared with Richard Todd. In 1992, she made a guest appearance - to a standing ovation - at the London Palladium in "A Tribute to Evelyn Laye". In her will, she requested that there be no memorial service for her but just a gathering of friends at her local church in Wimbledon, South London. Film director Bryan Forbes gave the address. - Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
An internationally known French singer Jean Sablon was a throwback to the days of music hall and vaudeville. Despite being openly gay he was a housewife's pin-up and especially famous for songs such as "Aimer je t'aime", "Sur le Pont d'Avignon" and "Les Arbres de Paris". He topped bills in London and on Broadway and throughout the 1960s and 70s made several television specials in Britain.
Born in Nogent-sur-Marne near Paris he was the son of a popular songwriter. He began his career in musical comedy but shot to fame when he was spotted by the legendary performer Mistinguett who chose him as her partner at the Casino de Paris.
He moved to the USA in 1933 where he became a hit on many radio shows. George Gershwin and Cole Porter wrote songs for him and he appeared in the Broadway musical Streets of Paris with screen comics Abbott and Costello and the singing star Carmen Miranda.
His biggest song success was "Vous qui passez sans me voir" written for him by Charles Trenet. He helped to popularize swing music in France by teaming up on several occasions with Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt. He gave one of many farewell concerts at the age of 75 at the Lincoln Center in New York and another two years later in Rio de Janerio.- Jill Summers was best known to British TV viewers for her role as the gravel-voiced battleaxe Phyllis Pearce in ITV's Coronation Street but before winning fame in the soap she had a long career as a singer in revue and variety.
Born in Eccles, Lancashire, the daughter of actress Marie Santoni, her father worked in a circus as a tightrope walker. Summers had four sisters and a brother and at the age of six she toured with them, singing and dancing in small scale revues where she was singled out by producers as a budding comedienne. In her early twenties she formed a song and comedy act with her brother Tom.
She toured with ENSA during World War Two entertaining the troops and after the war returned to variety where she worked as a solo act on bills with such stars as Tommy Trinder, Max Wall, Dick Emery and Arthur Askey.
As variety theatres began to close in the 1950s she appeared in summer seasons and pantomimes but in 1972 was offered the role of Bessie Procter, Hilda Ogden's (Jean Alexander) lady friend in Coronation Street. Ten years later she first appeared as Phyllis Pearce expecting the role to last only two weeks. She appeared in more than 500 episodes of the soap although poor health in later years kept her appearances to a minimum. Serious health worries first surfaced when she collapsed with angina on the set of This Is Your Life when host Michael Aspel handed her the famous red book.
Commenting on her role as Phyllis Pearce she said, "Phyllis just grew on me and grew as a character. I love the part." - Producer
- Production Manager
- Additional Crew
A director of Thames Television, Euston Films and Thorn EMI, John Brabourne's entrepreneurial skills were crucial to creating some major successes in the British cinema. In the sixties he produced two celebrated Shakespeare adaptations, the film of Othello (1965) starring Laurence Olivier and Maggie Smith and Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 Romeo and Juliet (1968). He also produced a film version of August Strindberg's The Dance of Death (1969), starring Olivier.
John Ulick Knatchbull, the seventh Baron Brabourne, was born in 1924 and educated at Eton and Brasenose College, Oxford. He succeeded the title when his brother, Norton, was killed in action in 1943. During the war John Brabourne served as an officer in the Coldstream Guards in France. He married Patricia Mountbatten, daughter of Lord Louis Mountbatten, in 1946.
Brabourne began his film career as a production manager on such movies as Pursuit of the Graf Spee (1956) (1956) and he later co-produced the wartime drama Sink the Bismarck! (1960) with Richard Goodwin.
Three years later he and Goodwin set up a consortium to introduce Pay-TV, a cable service whose subscribers would buy films, opera and the arts on meter. The scheme eventually failed and Brabourne and his partners decided to wind up the operation with £1 million losses. "We were years ahead of our time," he said.
Brabourne went on to produce a series of box office hits including Up the Junction (1968), The Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971), Murder on the Orient Express (1974) starring Albert Finney, Death on the Nile (1978) with Peter Ustinov, The Mirror Crack'd (1980) with Elizabeth Taylor, Evil Under the Sun (1982) (1982) again with Ustinov, and Little Dorrit (1987) starring Alec Guinness.
He always described himself as a "creative producer". "I've always been very involved with the directors," he said. "I set out to become a director myself but changed my mind. The things that interested me were the story, which is number one for me, the script, which is certainly number two, and the third really important factor is the editing. I found that, although I like to work with actors, I don't really have a feeling for directing."
He was also a governor of the British Film Institute and was appointed a CBE in 1983 for his services to the film industry.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Writer
An influential figure in the world of British television comedy during the 1960s and 70s, actor and comedian John Junkin wrote scripts for such shows as The Army Game, The World of Beachcomber, Queenie's Castle, plus scripts for many comedians, including Ted Ray, Jim Davidson, Bob Monkhouse and Mike Yarwood.
As an actor he became familiar to TV soap viewers when he starred in East Enders (2001), playing Ernie, a mysterious stranger who suddenly appears at the Queen Vic.
Junkin was born in Ealing, West London. Educated locally, he worked as a teacher in the East End of London but said he hated the job. "I loved the kids," he recalled. "But hated the adults and bores of the Education Authority."
In 1960 he joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in Stratford East and was in the original cast of Littlewood's production of Sparrers Can't Sing with Barbara Windsor.
Throughout the sixties and seventies he was one of the busiest men on television, both as a performer and scriptwriter. The comedian Marty Feldman won the Golden Rose Award with a Junkin script in 1972 and with Barry Cryer and others, Junkin contributed to many of the Morecambe and Wise specials for the BBC. He also wrote, with Bill Tidy, The Fosdyke Saga, and The Grumbleweeds for radio.
He had a prolific career in the cinema playing a variety of straight and comic roles and described himself as easy to cast: "I look like the bloke next door," he said. "I always seem to be wearing one of those sheepskin coats."
In the latter part of his career, Junkin became disillusioned with show business, particularly television. He fell out with a producer - he never revealed which one - over the writing of a game show for which he had devised the format. Litigation cost him £70,000 and he was also in debt to the tax man to the tune of £120,000. He did, however, return to scriptwriting and contributed to The Crazy World of Joe Pasquale (1998) and The Impressionable Jon Culshaw (2004) and he was much in demand as an after dinner speaker.
Close friend, former Radio 1 disc jockey Dave Lee Travis, said: If you were in conversation with John, you were always in a state of hilarity. He had no airs and graces."- Director
- Producer
- Actor
Keith Beckett was one of Britain's leading light entertainment television producers and for over thirty years succeeded in attracting a host of star name to both Thames TV and London Weekend Television (LWT).
Born in 1929 he originally trained as a classical dancer and went on to appear in lead roles with the Festival Ballet. Comedy, however, was his first love and he gave up dancing to become a variety artiste. One of Beckett's early mentors was the variety producer Alfred Black.
Beckett's first work in television was at Tyne Tees TV where he produced The One O'Clock Show (hosted by Sheila Mathews) but it was as the producer of the talent show Opportunity Knocks! that he made his mark. The programme, which was the television successor to stage shows such as both Bryan Michie's and Carrol Levis's Discoveries, proved enormously popular with audiences and remained top of the TV ratings for over twenty years. Hosted by Hughie Green and featuring a variety of light entertainment acts (some good, some awful) it became one of TV's most enduring programmes.
When Opportunity Knocks! was axed by Thames TV, Green was said to have been devastated but Beckett went on to direct some of television's biggest variety specials. He produced six one-hour specials with Bruce Forsyth as well as one-off shows with Janet Brown, Mike Yarwood, Shirley Bassey and Freddie Starr.
He also produced Hollywood or Bust, Name That Tune and he was a guest producer for several of the Benny Hill shows, for which he had a particular affection.
An inspiration to many younger performers working in television, Beckett was an acknowledged master of the variety medium.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
One of Britain's most respected comedy scriptwriters Ken Hoare won a string of awards for his Stanley Baxter television shows. The shows were televised in Britain every Christmas and attracted record viewing figures. Born in Torquay, Devon, Hoare was a keen theatregoer as a child and as a teenager used to hang around stage doors in the hope of seeing his comedy idols.
In 1956 he wrote his first television play, 'The Outing', which was broadcast by Associated-Rediffusion. At the same time he was writing comedy material for many comedians of the era. In the 1960s he teamed up with Mike Sharland to write the BBC comedy series, _"Beggar My Neighbour" (1967)_, which starred June Whitfield, Pat Coombs and Peter Jones.
He also wrote Mr. Digby Darling (1969) for Yorkshire Television which starred Peter Jones and Sheila Hancock, His and Hers (1971) starring Ronald Lewis and Turnbull's Finest Half Hour (1972). His finest achievement was The Stanley Baxter series. Television companies allowed him carte blanche in terms of time and expense. Sets and costumes for the shows were lavish and each production took over a year to film. Stanley Baxter's Picture Annual, The Stanley Baxter Picture Show, Stanley Baxter's Xmas Box and Baxter's Christmas Hamper became essential Christmas viewing for millions. Hoare won six Writers Guilds Awards and a BAFTA award for the series. In the 1970s he ran his own small cinema in Suffolk, England.- With his flat cap, droll line in delivery and catch-phrase "I won't take me coat off - I'm not stopping!" Ken Platt was one of the last links with music hall and variety in Great Britain. Born in Leigh, Lancashire, Platt decided to become a comedian at the age of just 15. He bought a ukelele and performed at local concert parties where he was billed as 'the Pocket George Formby', in homage to his idol.
He joined the Army in 1942 and was posted to North Africa where he appeared in a concert party, The Forest Mummers. Demobbed five years later he tried his hand at showbusiness with little succes and so, disillusioned bought a grocery store in his home town.
A chance audition with the BBC in 1950 led to him being eventually asked to be resident comedian on the BBC's popular radio show Variety Fanfare. It was on radio that Platt was in his true element with his immaculate timing, brilliant ad-libbing.
Variety Fanfare ran for two years and made Platt a household name. He was a guest comedian on numerous radio variety shows and later topped the bill in pantomimes and summer seasons throughout Great Britain. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he was a regular guest star on television programmes such as Big Night Out, Spot the Tune and The Liver Birds. He evoked considerable nostalgia by a memorable appearance on BBC's The Good Old Days using much of his material from his days on steam radio. - A distinguished stage and screen actor, Lyndon Brook was the son of the silent British film star Clive Brook, and the actress, Mildred Evelyn. His elder sister, Faith Brook, is one of Britain's best known stage and TV actresses. Brook was best-known to cinema-goers of the 1950s and 60s for his quiet sympathetic roles in films such as The Purple Plain (1954) and Reach for the Sky (1956) and he was also a successful writer of dramas and light comedies. Born in Los Angeles, where his father worked for much of his career, he was educated in England at Stowe and Cambridge. At Cambridge, he founded his own drama group, in which he both acted and directed. He began appearing on the London stage in the 1940s before gaining wider recognition in the cinema during the 1950s. One of his most memorable roles was as "Johnny Sanderson" in Reach for the Sky (1956), the biographical drama based on the life of RAF hero Douglas Bader. Brook also narrated the film which went on to become one of the cinema's most successful World War Two dramas. In 1951, he met his future wife, the actress Elizabeth Kentish, whilst they were appearing on the London stage, in a play with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. His later notable film appearances included Song Without End (1960), in which he played "Wagner" to Dirk Bogarde's "Liszt", Pope Joan (1972), with Liv Ullmann, The Hireling (1973) and Defense of the Realm (1985). He made numerous television appearances but one of his most memorable roles was as "King George VI" in Churchill and the Generals (1979). Brook's most successful play was "Mixed Doubles" (1969), which has been performed all over the world.
- Actor
- Writer
A well-known media figure for half a century, Malcolm Muggeridge appeared in documentaries, chat shows, and elsewhere on British television screens. Journalist, author, radio and TV personality, soldier-spy and Christian apologist, Muggeridge became a household name during the 1960s and 70s.
Lampooned by impressionists such as Mike Yarwood and Stanley Baxter, Muggeridge became one of television's genuine originals. Never afraid to court criticism or ridicule, he regularly criticized politicians on TV and once took a swipe at the British Royal family, which earned him a two-year ban from the BBC. Such was his popularity that he even appeared as himself in several British film comedies including I'm All Right Jack (1959) with Peter Sellers.
Colleague and fellow broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby commented "[Malcolm] never really took himself seriously at all. He delighted in mockery and asperity for their own sake. He had a great turn of phrase and he loved to perform. Thus his ambivalent relationship with television."
Dubbed 'St Mugg' by satirists, his documentaries such as The Thirties, Something Beautiful For God (about Mother Teresa) and Twilight of Empire were watched by millions.
In 2000 actor Peter Stockbridge appeared as Muggeridge in a one man show, Mugg Shots, which toured America and Britain.- Actress
- Writer
Britain's clown queen of comedy during the 1980s, Marti Caine's brand of humour combined an appealing dizziness with an endearing vunerability. Often compared to America's Phyllis Diller, she paved the way for women working in British light entertainment, both in nightclubs and in television.
Born Lynn Shepherd in Sheffield, Caine attended several schools in Yorkshire before working as a model, croupier and petrol pump attendant. At 18, she made her first professional appearance as a comedienne in a club in Rotheram and spent the next 15 years playing the Northern working men's club circuit.
She became an overnight household name at the age of 30 on the TV talent show, New Faces (1973). Viewers loved her gawky figure and glamorous looks and she went on to star in her own BBC2 TV show, The Marti Caine Show (1979), throughout the eighties.
In 1982, Caine spent 18 months starring in a stage show in South Africa which caused uproar from anti-apartheid demonstrators and, for a time, she was blacklisted by the United Nations.
During the latter part of her career, she combined TV work with stage shows in Britain and, for 3 years from 1986, was a judge on Central TV's New Faces (1973). She was popular in pantomime and made the part of the "Red Queen" in "Snow White and The 7 Dwarfs" her own, playing in Cambridge, Bath, Bournemouth and London.
A gifted and talented comedienne, Caine was an incisive and intelligent performer who often surprised her critics with her depth as an actress.