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1-42 of 42
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Welsh-born stage veteran Dame Siân Phillips is forever identified on television as the tarantula mother/empress Livia in the classic BBC miniseries I, Claudius (1976) (for which she won a BAFTA-TV award), and as the Reverend Mother in the science fiction epic film Dune (1984). Her broad range of roles went from endearing to downright deadly.
She was born Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips on May 14, 1933, in Wales, to Sally (Thomas), a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker and policeman. Brought brought up bilingual in both English and Welsh, she performed on the Welsh radio station at age 11. She toured extensively for the Arts Council in Wales in original Welsh plays and in translations from the English classics before becoming an award-winning television actress in her late teens.
Siân attended the University of Wales and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), making her London debut in the title role of "Hedda Gabler" (1957). After a brief marriage, she met and married actor Peter O'Toole in 1959 and appeared frequently with him on stage, including "Ride a Cock Horse" (1965) and "Man and Superman" (1965), and in the movies Becket (1964), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) (which earned her a National Society of Film Critics award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for "Best Supporting Actress"), Murphy's War (1971) and Under Milk Wood (1971). They had two daughters, actresses Kate O'Toole and Pat O'Toole.
While her husky resonant voice served her well as an announcer, newsreader and narrator at different stages of her career, her severely chiseled looks and arch, regal bearing entitled her to perform some of the more notable classics, with critically-acclaimed turns in "Saint Joan", "The Taming of the Shrew" and "The Duchess of Malfi", being just a few. Siân's occasional patricians have also graced such well-mounted films as Young Cassidy (1965), Nijinsky (1980) and The Age of Innocence (1993).
After 20 years of marriage, Siân divorced O'Toole, known for his carousing and hard-living ways. She quickly remarried a much younger actor, Britisher Robin Sachs, but they too would divorce in 1991. Despite her personal turmoil, she continued to delve into her stage work, beginning a new phase of her career in musicals. Her participation in such productions as "Pal Joey" (her musical debut), "Gigi" and "A Little Night Music" ultimately led to her acclaimed one-woman cabaret show "Marlene", a tribute to legendary Marlene Dietrich, which opened to rave reviews in London in 1997. Two years later, she won a Tony Award nomination for this role on Broadway.
Over the years, Siân has distinguished herself regularly in such quality miniseries as Oresteia (1979), Crime and Punishment (1979), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979), Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981) (as Clementine Churchill), Smiley's People (1982) (as Lady Smiley), The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987) (as the Duchess of Windsor), A Killing on the Exchange (1987), The Snow Spider (1988), The Chestnut Soldier (1991), The Borrowers (1992) and its sequel The Return of the Borrowers (1993) (as Mrs. Driver) and Aristocrats (1999).
She has continued to work into the millennium with elderly roles on stage with "My Old Lady", "Calendar Girls", "Crossing Borders" (a cabaret show), "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", "The Importance of Being Earnest", "Playing for Time" and "Les Blancs", while in movies she appeared in The Gigolos (2006), Love Song (2012), Miss Dalí (2018), Be Happy! (2019), Dream Horse (2020) and was the narrator and grandmother in a rather radical retelling, animated version of A Christmas Carol (2020). Siân was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours for her services to drama. She was also awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the 2016 Queen's New Years Honours for her services to drama.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Alexander Vlahos was born on the 30th of July, 1988 in Swansea, South Wales. His first language is Welsh.
He studied Acting at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, graduating in 2009.
He his probably best known for his role as Mordred in the hit BBC fantasy show, 'Merlin' where he earned rave reviews for his portrayal as the young Druid destined to kill King Arthur.
His first job upon leaving drama school was 'Crash' (BBC Wales/Red Planet Pictures) playing the semi-regular role of Dylan.
He went on to appear in the medical drama 'Doctors' (BBC) in a week-long storyline, 'Master Of The Universe', where he played the lead role of Lewis Cutler. The episodes were nominated for 'Best Single Episode' & 'Spectacular Scene of the Year' at the ITV British Soap Awards 2010.
Following this, he appeared as Tom Evans alongside Sanjeev Bhaskar, Ayesha Dharker & Mark Williams in the multi-award winning BBC drama series 'The Indian Doctor'.
In January 2013, Vlahos was seen in his breakthrough lead role as Private Keenan in BBC drama 'Privates', focusing on one of the last group of conscripts to enter National Service before it ended in 1960.
Alexander returned to the stage playing Malcolm opposite Kenneth Branagh in the critically acclaimed 'Macbeth', performing at the Manchester International Festival (2013) and on Broadway (2014).- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Keith Allen was born on 2 September 1953 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He is an actor and director, known for The Others (2001), 24 Hour Party People (2002) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017).- Trystan Gravelle was born on 4 May 1981 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He is an actor, known for Anonymous (2011), Beast (2017) and Utopia (2013).
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Beautiful, swift and tough-tongued British character actress Rachel Roberts gained notice for her roles on the English stage, before she hit it largely in films. Born in Wales and married to actor Rex Harrison in 1962, Roberts made her film debut in a key role in J. Lee Thompson's Young and Willing (1954) a drama film about the life of women in prison. Around the early sixties, it wasn't uncommon to see a British actress in feature films, usually such an actress would remain on the British screen for such time, but Roberts continued going strong, she's hard to forget as the cankerous housewife in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960).
After her divorce from Rex Harrison in 1971, Roberts continued such supporting roles usually as tough authority women characters or villainous beauties in films including Doctors' Wives (1971), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Foul Play (1978), When a Stranger Calls (1979) and Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981). Although never far from the screen, she was occasionally seen on television, such as Mrs. Bonnie McClellan in the 1976 series The Tony Randall Show (1976). She probably achieved her greatest success as Richard Harris's love interest in the film This Sporting Life (1963) which earned her an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress. Rachel Roberts committed suicide in November of 1980 of a "barbiturate overdose" at her home in Studio City, California. Roberts was only 53 years old.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Hywel Bennett was born on 8 April 1944 in Garnant, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for Neverwhere (1996), Percy (1971) and Twisted Nerve (1968). He was married to Sandra Layne Fulford and Cathy McGowan. He died on 25 July 2017 in Deal, Kent, England, UK.- Fflyn Edwards was born on 7 March 2009 in Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He is an actor, known for The Crown (2016), 1899 (2022) and North Star (2023).
- Sara Gregory was born on 19 August 1986 in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. She is an actress, known for Alys (2011), Under Milk Wood (2015) and Torchwood (2006). She is married to Carwyn Jones. They have one child.
- Actress
- Script and Continuity Department
Sharon Morgan was born in 1950 in Llandyfaelog, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. She is an actress, known for Apostle (2018), Resistance (2011) and A Mind to Kill (1994).- Alex Beckett was born in Carmarthenshire, South Wales in 1982, and trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, London, graduating in 2003. He was an actor best known for his role as Barney Lumsden in BBC's award-winning Twenty Twelve (2011), and W1A (2014-2017). Alex also had an extensive theatre CV. He passed away on April 12 2018.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dorothy Squires was born on 25 March 1915 in Pontyberem, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. She was an actress, known for Stars in Your Eyes (1956), Tammy Tell Me True (1961) and Rectify (2013). She was married to Roger Moore. She died on 14 April 1998 in Llwynypia, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales, UK.- Andrew Fletcher was born in September 1977 in Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He is an actor, known for Save the Cinema: Behind the Curtain (2022).
- David Morrell was born on 27 October 1926 in Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1956), Department S (1969) and Moulded in Earth (1965). He died on 5 December 1974 in Paddington, London, England, UK.
- Steve Elias was born in Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He is known for Grandpa in My Pocket (2009), Mid Life Christmas (2009) and Save the Cinema (2022).
- Sarah Hendy was born Sarah Jane Hendy in 1978 between October and December that year Her mothers maiden name is Wilcox. Sarah Jane Hendy has been a presenter on Price Drop TV. She also presented on Freshly Squeezed on Vhannel 4, hosted the E4 Music Zone and appeared on Destination Three on BBC3 in 2005 with Radica Anikpe, Justin Lee Collins, Rufus Hound, Tom Price and Anita Rani
- Gareth Jewell was born on 7 June 1983 in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He is an actor, known for Alys (2011), Gwaith/Cartref (2011) and Baker Boys (2011).
- Terry James was born in Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He is known for Echoes of a Summer (1976), Freedom Road (1979) and The Late Late Show (1962).
- Huw Ceredig was born on 22 June 1942 in Brynaman, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for Twin Town (1997), Rebecca's Daughters (1992) and Emmerdale Farm (1972). He was married to Margaret Grey. He died on 16 August 2011 in Bridgend, Wales, UK.
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Entered BBC as a General Trainee in 1962, resigned in 1978 over censorship of programmes he directed in Northern Ireland. Founder member of Teliesyn cooperative. Produced/directed "The Dragon Has Two Tongues" for HTV/C4 and "Excalibur - the Search for Arthur" for BBC and many other documentaries and drama/documentaries. Three times winner of BAFTA Cymru Best Documentary, Jury Award at Celtic Film Festival and a Prix Europa. Author of "Dreaming A City" book, "The Dragon and the Eagle/Y Ddraig a'r Eryr" app and co-author with Iola Baines of "Picturing Our Past/Fframio'n Gorfennol" app.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Ronnie Williams was born on 29 March 1939 in Cefneithin, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Hawkmoor (1978), Ryan and Ronnie (1971) and Twin Town (1997). He died on 28 December 1997 in Cardigan, Wales, UK.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Editor
Robert Fresco was born in 1943 in Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He is a cinematographer and editor, known for Firebird 2015 AD (1981), Musicians in Exile (1990) and Prom Night (1980). He has been married to Shannon Wray since 1996. They have two children.- Huw Thomas was born on 14 September 1927 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, South Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for New Scotland Yard (1972), The Plane Makers (1963) and That's My Boy (1963). He was married to Anne. He died on 12 March 2009 in Kensington, London, England, UK.
- Eleanor Daniels was born on 28 December 1892 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. She was an actress, known for If Winter Comes (1923). She died on 18 March 1994 in Connecticut, USA.
- William Halford Barrington-Coupe (born 1931 in Wales, died 19 October 2014 in Royston, England) was a Welsh record producer and music impresario.
Married in 1956 to concert pianist Joyce Hatto, he was jailed for a year in 1966 for "blatant and impertinent frauds". He attained further notoriety in 2007 when he confessed that a large number of piano CDs that he had sold on his Concert Artist/Fidelio Recordings label were not in fact performed by his wife but were copies, in some cases digitally manipulated, of commercially available recordings by other pianists.
In the early 1950s Barrington-Coupe worked in London as a classical musicians' agent. A directory from 1953-1954 showed him with two exclusive artists on his books. A 1955 article in Billboard magazine refers to Barrington-Coupe, as President of Concert Artists, licensing Mozart recordings by the "London Mozart Ensemble".
The Saga Films and Records Company, of which he was an employee, collapsed in 1960, with the Official Receiver declaring that Barrington-Coupe was chiefly responsible for the company's demise.
Following the Saga collapse in late 1960, he created the Lyrique record label with Marcel Rodd, who had a record-pressing factory, and began to release records by artists under different pseudonyms, a not uncommon practice of the era. "The repertoire was from the variety of master tapes now in Rodd's tape library," wrote Ted Perry, one of Barrington-Coupe's former colleagues in an unpublished autobiography. "It was also, possibly, from some of Coupe's own tapes since he always seemed to have a lot of recorded material of unknown, not to say dubious, provenance."
Recordings of classical works issued on his Delta label were believed to have been copied from radio broadcasts from behind the Iron Curtain, mixed to disguise the sources. Private Eye has claimed that on one recording of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony, he made the mistake of inserting a number of bars backwards.
A recording issued featuring the Danzig Philharmonic was in stereo, when it was known that that orchestra had ceased to exist a decade or more before stereo recording was common. He also made up artists' names: "Wilhelm Havagesse" was the falsely-named conductor of the "Zurich Municipal Orchestra" in a recording of Scheherazade released on Barrington-Coupe's Fidelio label in 1962 (ATL 4006).
Charles Haynes, who worked with Barrington-Coupe at Delta, recounted that "quite often they used to 'monkey around', hence conductors Havagesse and Homer Lott and the soprano Herda Wobbel", lamenting that the practice stopped when "the Trades Descriptions Act threatened the continuing existence of these fine artists: 'End of the Road for Musician Havagesse' proclaimed the Daily Telegraph's headline."
Barrington-Coupe set up a further label, on 25 February 1960, with Major Wilfred Alonzo Banks's financial backing: Triumph Records. This time his collaborator was Joe Meek, a record producer who became best known for "Telstar", the 1962 hit by the Tornados. The two men later fell out and Meek left the company, which subsequently went into liquidation. Meek was followed by David Gooch, who produced a number of extended-play and long-playing records on a new label, Dial Records. This association was terminated when Barrington-Coupe had obvious financial difficulties. Desperate to make ends meet, he began importing radios from Hong Kong, which he sold in London markets and by mail order, but became the subject of legal action when he failed to pay purchase tax.
On 17 May 1966, after what was then the longest-running and most expensive trial at the Old Bailey, costing the British taxpayer £150,000, Barrington-Coupe and four other defendants were found guilty of failing to pay £84,000 in purchase tax (over £1 million in 2007 currency). Barrington-Coupe was fined £3,600 and jailed for 12 months. His company, W.H. Barrington-Coupe Ltd, was fined £4,000 and finally wound up in 1971. Summing up, Judge Alan King-Hamilton said: "These were blatant and impertinent frauds, carried out in my opinion rather clumsily. But such was your conceit that you thought yourself smart enough to get away with it."
After he was released from prison, Barrington-Coupe was reunited with Hatto. While she began to earn a modest reputation for her recitals of Liszt and Chopin, Barrington-Coupe maintained a lower profile. In the 1970s, the couple disappeared from the public eye, becoming virtual recluses in their detached modern home in Royston, Hertfordshire.
It was not until 2002 that they were heard of again. During the previous 13 years they had apparently recorded another 103 CDs of Hatto's playing, which Barrington-Coupe began issuing on his Concert Artist label. In 2007, these CDs were found to be fraudulent copies of recordings of other artists issued by other labels. Barrington-Coupe initially denied any wrongdoing but subsequently admitted the fraud in a letter to Robert von Bahr, the head of the Swedish BIS record label that had originally issued some of the recordings plagiarised by Concert Artist.
Bahr immediately shared the contents of the letter with Gramophone magazine, telling journalist Jessica Duchen afterwards that he "had given a lot of thought" to suing Barrington-Coupe for damages, but was inclined not to do so, on the assumption that the hoax recordings were "a desperate attempt to build a shrine to a dying wife".
A biopic called Loving Miss Hatto was screened on BBC television on 23 December 2012. The screenplay is by Victoria Wood and the film was made by Left Bank Pictures and filmed in Ireland. Joyce Hatto was portrayed by Maimie McCoy and Francesca Annis. Rory Kinnear and Alfred Molina played her husband. - John Meurig Thomas was born on 15 December 1932 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He was married to Margaret Edwards and Ragai, Jehane. He died on 13 November 2020 in the UK.
- Art Department
Winston Depper was born in June 1941 in Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He is known for Lifeforce (1985), Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Nightbreed (1990).- Transportation Department
Howard Pugh was born in 1939 in Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He is known for Murder by Decree (1979), Agatha (1979) and Half Moon Street (1986).- Reginald Barlow was born on 18 September 1914 in Ffairfachs, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for The Chronicles of Ben (1948) and Old Mother Riley Overseas (1943). He died in December 1979 in East Sussex, England, UK.
- Alan Watkins was born on 3 April 1933 in Tycroes, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He was a writer, known for BBC 3 (1965), Election 74 (1974) and Question Time (1979). He died on 8 May 2010 in London, England, UK.
- Denzil Davies was born on 9 October 1938 in Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He was married to Ann Carlton and Mary Ann Finlay. He died on 10 October 2018 in the UK.
- Frederick Elwyn Jones was born on 24 October 1909 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He was married to Pearl Binder. He died on 4 December 1989 in Kemp Town, Brighton, Sussex, England, UK.
- Helen Prothero-Lewis was born on 15 June 1853 in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. She was a writer, known for As God Made Her (1920), The Silver Bridge (1920) and Love and a Whirlwind (1922). She died on 7 August 1946 in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK.
- Megan Lloyd George was born on 22 April 1902 in Criccieth, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. She died on 14 May 1966 in Criccieth, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK.
- Tom O'Brien was born on 17 August 1900 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, South Wales, UK. He died on 5 May 1970 in London, England, UK.
- Composer
- Soundtrack
William Mathias was born on 1 November 1934 in Whitland, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. William was a composer, known for Ally Was Screaming (2014), Forward to First Principles (1966) and Britannia: A Bridge (1973). William died on 29 July 1992 in Menai Bridge, Anglesey, Wales, UK.- Ray Williams was born on 27 November 1927 in Felinfoel, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He died on 5 January 2014 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK.
- Philip Williams was born on 21 June 1967 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK.
- Neville Griffiths was born on 15 October 1923 in Tumble, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for Omnibus (1952). He died on 21 October 2010 in Woodmancote, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, UK.
- Delme Thomas was born on 12 September 1942 in Bancyfelin, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK.
- Music Department
Dill Jones was born on 19 August 1923 in Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He is known for Relax, Look, and Listen (1956) and September Song (1961). He died on 22 June 1984 in New York, USA.- Barry John was born on 6 January 1945 in Cefneithin, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He is an actor, known for Old Scores (1991), Gwaed ar y Ser (1975) and It's a Knockout (1966).
- Trevor Anthony was born on 28 October 1912 in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for A Christmas Carol (1962), The Mizzen Cross Trees (1937) and Derby Day (1937). He died on 1 August 1984 in Brent, Middlesex, England, UK.