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1-12 of 12
- Tony Award-winning English actor Michael Gough, best known for playing the butler Alfred Pennyworth in the first four Batman (1989, 1992, 1995 & 1997) movies and for playing the arch-criminal Dr. Clement Armstrong in The Avengers (1961) episode "The Cybernauts", was an accomplished performer on both stage and screen. He was nominated twice for Tony Awards, in 1979 for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Alan Ayckbourn's "Bedroom Farce" and in 1988 in the same category for Hugh Whitemore's "Breaking the Code", winning in 1979. Though he never achieved on the small screen and silver screen what he did in the theater, Gough's career in television and movies spanned sixty-plus years over eight decades. Michael Gough died at age 94 on March 17, 2011 at his home near Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.
- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Genteel-looking British actress Jenny Seagrove distinguished herself as a sensitive heroine during the 1980s in plush TV romances such as The Woman in White (1982), Diana (1984) and, in particular, the adaptations of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance (1984) wherein she played Emma Harte, and Hold the Dream (1986) as Paula Fairley. In later years she would be highly recognizable for her role as Jo Mills, QC in the British crime mystery series Judge John Deed (2001).
Jenny enjoyed a privileged childhood though it was marked with sadness. Born Jennifer Ann Seagrove on Independence Day, 1957 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, her father ran an import-export firm and her mother was a British aristocrat who suffered a debilitating stroke when Jenny was less than a year old. At age 9, Jenny attended a girls' boarding school in England and appeared in school plays.
Initially interested in a culinary career, she opted for acting instead and trained at the Bristol Old Vic. After leaving school, Seagrove met Indian-born Madhav Sharma, a little-known actor-director, but the marriage was not a happy one (1984-1988). She also had a long term relationship with director Michael Winner of "Death Wish" fame, whom she met on the set of the Agatha Christie mystery Appointment with Death (1988).
Jenny is known fondly respected for her superb theatre work in England. Playing the title role in "Jane Eyre" at Chichester Festival Theatre in 1986, she returned there to play Bett in "King Lear in New York" in 1992. Other roles have included Ilona in "The Guardsman" (1986); "Present Laughter" opposite Tom Conti (1993); Annie Sullivan in "The Miracle Worker" (1994); "Dead Guilty" with Hayley Mills (1995); "Hurlyburly" (1997); the Parisian thriller "Vertigo" (1998); "Brief Encounter" (2000); a female version of "The Odd Couple" (2001-02); the title role in W. Somerset Maugham; "The Constant Wife" (2003); David Hare's "The Secret Rapture" (2003); "The Night of the Iguana" (2005); "The Letter" (2007); "Absurd Person Singular" (2007); "Murder on Air" (2008); "The Country Girl" (2011); Noël Coward "Fallen Angels" (2014); and as distraught mother Chris MacNeil in "The Exorcist" (2017). Many of these plays were in association with her long-time partner, theatre impresario Bill Kenwright.
To date, Jenny's film career has not match her impressive stature on stage or TV. Nevertheless, she made her British film debut as "Anna" in the Jeremy Irons Polish political vehicle Moonlighting (1982) directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. She subsequently appeared as a quirky Scottish lass in the film Local Hero (1983) starring Burt Lancaster, and then was given the top female role as Sophie in the period adventure comedy Nate and Hayes (1983) (aka Nate and Hayes) starring Tommy Lee Jones and Michael O'Keefe as O'Keefe's fiancée.
She was part of an all-star suspect line-up in the Agatha Christie whodunnit Appointment with Death (1988) starring Peter Ustinov as sleuth Hercule Poirot and followed that with the Jeremy Irons starrer A Chorus of Disapproval (1989). In the United States, Jenny was seen in an unsympathetic light as the evil nanny in The Guardian (1990), directed by William Friedkin and appeared in the comedy caper Bullseye! (1990), filmed in England and Scotland.
In later years, Jenny was given several starring film roles. She played the title missionary in Miss Beatty's Children (1992); co-starred with Anthony Edwards in the romantic comedy Don't Go Breaking My Heart (1999); played an eccentric widow who forms a bond with a teenage runaway in Zoe (2001); and played a woman who hid an escaped Russian POW during World War II in Another Mother's Son (2017).- Actress
- Writer
Sweet-faced, gentle-voiced veteran British actress Dulcie Gray's demure career is often linked with that of her late actor/husband Michael Denison, with whom she appeared frequently on stage, TV and in films in over a hundred projects for nearly four decades.
She was born Dulcie Winifred Catherine Bailey in British Malaya (now Malaysia), on November 20, 1915, the daughter of a lawyer. She was sent off to boarding school in England at quite an early age. Originally interested in art and dance until the lure of the theatre, she worked at one time as a governess. Dulcie attended the Webber Douglas Drama School where she met future husband Denison, whom she married in 1939. Making her professional stage debut that same year in "Hay Fever," she gained repertory theatre experience between the years 1940 and 1941.
Dulcie made an insignificant film debut in an uncredited part in the Welwyn Studio comedy Banana Ridge (1942), but stayed focused on theatre, particularly in Shakespeare's plays -- "Twelfth Night" (as Maria), "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (as Hermia) and "The Taming of the Shrew" (as Bianca). She won London stage stardom after making her West End debut as "Alexandra" in a production of "The Little Foxes" starring Richard Attenborough.
Dulcie earned a great stage success as waitress "Rose" in "Brighton Rock" (1943), which led to a film contract with Gainsborough Studios. Although she lost out playing the waitress role when "Brighton Rock" was transferred to film, she went on to grace a host of lady-like melodramas for the studio. She began with small roles in both Two Thousand Women (1944) and Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945) supporting leading ladies Phyllis Calvert and Patricia Roc. She then went on to support Margaret Lockwood in A Place of One's Own (1945) before sharing the lead with Calvert and Anne Crawford in the meller They Were Sisters (1945) in which she played the passive sibling at the mercy of a cruel, sadistic husband James Mason.
Dulcie continued to rise gracefully in the film ranks with features such as the crime drama Wanted for Murder (1946) opposite Eric Portman and Derek Farr; the social drama A Man About the House (1947) as a concerned sister to Margaret Johnston; and the psychological drama Mine Own Executioner (1947) opposite Burgess Meredith. She also shared the screen with husband Michael in such vehicles as My Brother Jonathan (1948), The Glass Mountain (1949), The Franchise Affair (1951), Angels One Five (1952) and There Was a Young Lady (1953), usually to generous reviews.
In between times, the actress would remain royal to the stage, appearing in scores of plays, including "Dear Ruth" (title role), "Tea and Sympathy," "South Sea Bubble" and "The Seagull," With Michael she appeared in a host of theatre vehicles such as "Queen Elizabeth Slept Here," "The Four Poster," "Private Lives," "Alice Through the Looking Glass," "Let Them Eat Cake," "Candida," "Heartbreak House," "The Royal Gambit," "An Ideal Husband," "The Wild Duck," "The Clandestine Marriage," "The First Mrs. Fraser" and "The Clandestine Marriage."
In the mid 1950's, Dulcie began to focus on TV with roles in such anthologies as "BBC Sunday Night Theatre," "Somerset Maugham Hour" and "London Theatre." Like her husband, the theatre was her first love and true calling and she would remain committed to the stage for most of her career, making relatively few films in her later life. Dulcie later turned to writing, authoring 24 mystery books, most of which involved intrepid sleuth Inspector Cardiff.
She earned TV success back in England with Howards' Way (1985) (in which Michael had a recurring role) - a major hit in the late '80s. The couple was awarded Commander of the British Empire in 1983. Late in life, they made their Broadway debut together in "An Ideal Husband" in 1996. Following Michael's death from cancer two years later in 1998, Dulcie continued in the theatre playing delightfully sweet old ladies in such enjoyable fare as "The Ladykillers" (1999) and "The Lady Vanishes."
Dulcie would be the subject of the TV tribute program This Is Your Life (1955) on two separate occasions, in 1973 and 1995. She was a guest for other subjects four other times. She passed away from bronchial pneumonia just a few days before her 96th birthday on November 15, 2011.- Peter Arne was for a short time the perfect villain in British film. After a couple of roles in war movies (The Purple Plain (1954) and The Cockleshell Heroes (1955)) and a Tarzan movie (Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957)) he became a villain in Strangers' Meeting (1957). From than on he continued to play sinister types in The Moonraker (1958), Intent to Kill (1958), Breakout (1959), Conspiracy of Hearts (1960), The Hellfire Club (1961) and The Secret of Monte Cristo (1961). He was very convincing as a Cromwell officer, an Italian camp commander or a Nazi officer. Several times he had sword fights as a devious count. In 1962 he was a pirate sidekick of Christopher Lee in The Pirates of Blood River (1962), but a new kid on the block by the name of Oliver Reed challenged him and killed him halfway through the picture. It seemed like a symbolic fight because for a while Oliver Reed played the roles in Hammer Pictures that Peter Arne could have played and Arne moved to TV roles. His days as a leading actor were over and he continued work in TV and in bit parts in features. Sometimes directors he worked with before brought him back for a little role. In 1972 he got a nice break with "The Stallion", a TV movie in which he starred with a horse. He was also in a couple of Blake Edwards movies. He became an antique dealer with his sister as a sideline. He was murdered at the age of 63 shortly after being cast in Doctor Who (1963).
- Iris Russell was born on 22 February 1922 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya [now Malaysia]. She was an actress, known for The Avengers (1961), Timeslip (1970) and Bleak House (1959). She was married to William Gordon Chapman. She died on 13 February 2014 in Headington, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- Diana Wong was born on 20 October 1916 in Malaya [now Malaysia]. She was an actress, known for Death in High Heels (1947), A Legend in China (1951) and Arena (1975). She was married to Roy Plomley. She died on 14 October 2012 in Surrey, England, UK.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Jins Shamsuddin was born on 5 November 1935 in Taiping Perak, British Malaya, (now Malaysia). He was an actor and director, known for Esok Untuk Siapa (1982), Tiada Esok Bagimu (1980) and Bukit Kepong (1981). He died on 1 March 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.- Franklyn Bellamy was born on 7 March 1886 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya [now Malaysia]. He was an actor, known for A Christmas Carol (1914), The Little Damozel (1933) and Murder on the Second Floor (1932). He was married to Dorothy Tetley. He died on 15 February 1961 in Bodmin, Cornwall, England, UK.
- Ghazali Shafie was born on 22 March 1922 in Kuala Lipis, Pahang, Federated Malay States, British Malaya (now Kuala Lipis, Lipis District, Pahang, Malaysia). Ghazali died on 24 January 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Abu Bakar Juah was born on 20 April 1948 in Taiping, Perak, Federation of Malaya [now Malaysia]. He was an actor, known for Matinya Seorang Patriot (1984), Puteri (1987) and Senjakala (2011). He was married to Rusidah Mohd Yassin. He died on 15 August 2020 in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Anne Deveson was born on 19 June 1930 in Kuala Lumpur, British Malaya [now Malaysia]. She was a writer and producer, known for Do I Have to Kill My Child? (1976), Spinning Out (1991) and Achieving (1979). She was married to Ellis Manning Blain. She died on 12 December 2016 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.- Tunku Abdul Rahman was born on 8 February 1903 in Alor Setar, Kedah, British Malaya [now Malaysia]. He was married to Sharifah Rodziah binti Saiyid Alwi Barakbah. He died on 6 December 1990 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.