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1-50 of 74
- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Elegant, quintessentially British Valerie Hobson was the daughter of a British army officer. She studied dancing at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and appeared onstage for the first time at age 16, but she contracted a case of scarlet fever and decided to give up dancing for acting. She journeyed to Hollywood, but became disillusioned with the studio system and returned to Britain, where she was often cast in aristocratic roles.
She married producer Anthony Havelock-Allan and subsequently appeared in many of his films. They divorced in 1952. She then married politician -- and future notorious sex-and-espionage-scandal figure -- John Profumo and gave up her acting career. She stood strongly by Profumo during that distasteful period. In her later years she was devoted to charity work. She died in 1998, aged 81.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Delightful character actress who held her own against such acting heavyweights as Charles Laughton, Boris Karloff, Tyrone Power, Barbara Stanwyck, and Sydney Greenstreet. Often cast by studio heads as comic relief thanks to her thick Irish accent and rubber-faced expressions, most notably in Universal's horror classics, Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and The Invisible Man (1933). Her final role was as the devoted housekeeper in Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution (1957), a role she originated on stage. Her hilarious testimony during the trial is one of the film's highlights.- Sam was a very well known, un-sung, British Actor from 1946 to his death in 1982. He was originally born in Northern Ireland but came over to London England as a boy with his mother and her brothers, setting up home in Bayswater, then Shepherd's Bush, then Chiswick. He was sent to Dunstable school. Before the Second World war he worked at Alvis Cars and Whiteley's Department Store in the bedding department but also entered Talent Contests as a stand up and impressionist. He got a job with the Oscar Rabin Band at the Hammersmith Palais as part of his 'Hot Shots' introducing the band's numbers, and telling a few gags and tap dancing in a few numbers. In 1939 at the start of the war, he was called up as he'd been very briefly in the Territorial Army. According to his autobiography, "Quick Mum He's on Now" he made over 240 films, many of the titles as yet unloaded to IMDb. The autobiography, recently discovered by his son Jonathan (also on IMDb) in his mother's loft after her death, was never published during his lifetime, but is a witty informative follow up to his successful "For You the War is Over" written about his incarceration in a German prison camp from 1939 to 45 , and selling over 40,000 in paperback. He similarly made thousands of TV appearances once more uncredited. Jonathan intends to publish the book next year.
- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
The distinctively white-haired, bushy-browed Northern Irish novelist, playwright and character actor, Joseph Tomelty was born the eldest of seven children in the small fishing village of Portaferry, County Down. He initially followed in his father's footsteps as a house painter. Early on, life on the stage might have seemed inconceivable because of a noticeable stutter. He thus began his working career employed as a painter at Belfast's Harland and Wolff Shipyards, also attending Belfast Technical College. After being inspired by a performance of "Juno and the Paycock" by the Abbey Theatre Company, he became involved with the St. Peter's Players in 1937, making his first mark on the stage. The following year, he wrote a comedic radio play ("Barnum is Right") and in 1940 became a founding member of the Belfast Group Theatre. While acting as the company's General Manager from 1942 to 1951, he later reflected that his tasks also routinely included those of "booking clerk, ticket collector, cloak room attendant, sweeper up, scene painter, programme seller, chucker out and actor" (Drama, March 1953).
In addition to eight plays (of which his "All Souls' Night", a play about greed, ambition and the effects of poverty, is regarded as a classic of Irish literature) and two novels, the versatile Tomelty wrote and acted in "The McCooey's", a weekly radio serial about working class life, broadcast by BBC Northern Ireland between 1948 and 1954. He also sidelined as a busy character actor in British and American films, including such prestige productions as Odd Man Out (1947), Hobson's Choice (1954), Moby Dick (1956) and A Night to Remember (1958). Tomelty's writing career came to an end after he sustained injuries in a car crash in England while filming Bhowani Junction (1956), though he continued to appear in occasional films until 1964 and remained a fixture in Northern Irish theatre.- Moyna MacGill was born on 10 December 1895 in Belfast, Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. She was an actress, known for The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), The Twilight Zone (1959) and Miriam Rozella (1924). She was married to Edgar Isaac Lansbury and Reginald Denham. She died on 25 November 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- C.S. Lewis was born in 1898 and brought up in a very strict, religious household. While he was quite young, his mother died of cancer but the "stiff upper lip" in favour at the time meant he wasn't allowed to grieve. He became an Oxford don and led a sheltered life. He seriously questioned his religious beliefs and finally left the church. The death of his mother is reflected in "The Magician's Nephew". When an American fan Joy Gresham, came to visit him, they found they enjoyed each others company and she stayed. She was dying of cancer and he was afraid to express his emotions until she convinced him that it was OK to "allow" himself to love her even though it would shortly lead to heartbreak when she died. This was a great writer who dared to examine his emotions and beliefs and record them for the rest of us. Most famous for his childrens book (The Narnian Chronicles) he also wrote a very interesting Science Fiction Trilogy and some of the most intriguing Christian literature. He finally resolved his crisis of faith after tearing apart and fully examining the Christian (and other) religion and re-embraced Christianity.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Albert Sharpe was born on 15 April 1885 in Belfast, Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. He was an actor, known for Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), Royal Wedding (1951) and Brigadoon (1954). He was married to Margaret Waterson. He died on 13 February 1970 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.- Actor
- Soundtrack
One of twelve children, Jackie Wright started out as a body builder in the car trade, even working for a time in America upholstering Cadillacs. After the Depression he drifted back to his native Belfast and travelled the country as a music-hall trombonist and supporting comic. By the 1960s, Jackie had drifted into television work as an extra on shows such as Z Cars (1962), and it was in that capacity that he was discovered by Benny Hill who first had him on as a supporting player on his last BBC shows in 1968, and then after Hill moved to Thames where Jackie was a constant recipient of head tappings from Benny. In addition, Wright also appeared with such comics as Dick Emery and Jim Davidson, and on Frankie Howerd's short-lived Whoops Baghdad! (1973) as well as in the movie Three for All (1975). After Benny's show made it to U.S. syndication in 1979, Jackie became a cult favorite in the States, to such an extent that a fan club sprung up in America and 'the little bald guy' received offers to star in his own show. But after 1983, ill health forced him to leave the show, although previously unaired footage of him in sketches filmed in previous years was incorporated into new Benny Hill shows up to 1985. Wright died in his home in Belfast in 1989 after a long illness, but his legacy as one of the most famous stooges in British TV will live on for years to come.- J.G. Devlin was born on 8 October 1907 in Belfast, Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. He was an actor, known for Far and Away (1992), Bread (1986) and Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959). He was married to Veen. He died on 17 October 1991 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
- Evie Garratt was born on 10 October 1919 in Belfast, Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. She was an actress, known for Revolver (2005), Suzie Gold (2004) and Feardotcom (2002). She died on 17 April 2015 in Hampstead, London, England, UK.
- Diane Craig was born on 9 June 1949 in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, UK [now North Down District, Northern Ireland, UK]. She is an actress, known for The Mango Tree (1977), Ned Kelly (1970) and Prisoner (1979). She has been married to Garry McDonald since 13 April 1971. They have two children.
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Hailing from East Belfast, Northern Ireland, Hans Moore Hawthorn Hurst was a linen worker before joining the army during World War I. He was a private in the Royal Irish Rifles, and survived the slaughter at the disastrous Gallipoli landing in Turkey. He changed his name to Brian Desmond Hurst. On his return home he became disturbed by the continuing troubles in Belfast and left for Canada to train as an artist. He became part of the artistic "bohemian" movement and moved in those circles in Paris and New York. He eventually wound up in Hollywood, where he studied the craft of filmmaking under the tutelage of famed director John Ford. The two became extremely close--Hurst even appeared as an extra in Ford's Hangman's House (1928) along with another of Ford's good friends, John Wayne--and often referred to each other as "cousin", although they were not related by blood, and remained the best of friends up until Ford's death in 1973.
Hurst returned to Europe soon afterward, and made what is generally considered to be Ireland's first sound film, Norah O'Neale (1934). Two years later he made a film that caused the authorities in his native Northern Ireland to forbid it from being shown there: River of Unrest (1936), a story of the 1921 Irish rebellion against British rule. Hurst ran into censorship troubles again with his adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's Bucket of Blood (1934), which was banned in many areas of Great Britain for being "too horrible" for public exhibition. These incidents didn't deter Hurst from making controversial films, however. He turned out the dark The Fugitive (1939) in 1939, regarded as one of the first British "noir" films.
During the war Hurst made such films as Suicide Squadron (1941), a well-regarded story of an American newswoman in England who falls in love with an exiled Polish pianist who wants to return to his country to fight the Nazis (the film also popularized the musical number "Warsaw Concerto"). After the war he made what he regarded as his favorite film, Theirs Is the Glory (1946), about the disastrous British-American wartime operation at Arnhem in Holland, which became Britain's biggest-grossing film for almost a decade. He returned to his Irish roots in two other films, Hungry Hill (1947) and John Millington Synge's The Playboy of the Western World (1962) (which was also his final picture). However, the film he is most famous for is A Christmas Carol (1951), considered by critics and audiences alike to be the definitive version of Charles Dickens' classic novel "A Christmas Carol".
Among his other successes was Malta Story (1953), about the defiant resistance of the military and civilian populations on the island of Malta against relentless Nazi bombing during the war, and Simba (1955), about the Mau-Mau rebellion against British colonial rule in Kenya. He retired in 1963 after "Playboy of the Western World", and died in London in 1986.- Austin Trevor was born on 8 October 1897 in Belfast, Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. He was an actor, known for Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), Lord Edgware Dies (1934) and The Red Shoes (1948). He was married to Violet Clowes. He died on 21 January 1978 in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, UK.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Robert McKenzie was born on 22 September 1880 in Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland [now Ballymena District, Northern Ireland], UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Beginner's Luck (1935), The White Outlaw (1929) and A Naughty Nurse (1928). He was married to Eva McKenzie. He died on 8 July 1949 in Manunuck, Rhode Island, USA.- Bee Duffell was born on 17 April 1914 in Belfast, Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. She was an actress, known for Fahrenheit 451 (1966), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and Sara Crewe (1957). She died on 21 December 1974 in Surrey, England, UK.
- Writer
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
Benjamin Glazer was born on 7 May 1887 in Belfast, Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. He was a writer and producer, known for 7th Heaven (1927), Arise, My Love (1940) and Paris Calling (1941). He was married to Sharon Lynn. He died on 18 March 1956 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Eileen Percy was born in Belfast, Ireland on August 21, 1900. She got an early start in films when she landed the role of Ethel Forsythe in 1917's Down to Earth (1917). She was barely 17 years old. Eileen was kept busy as the twenties rolled in with roles in The Third Eye (1920), Why Trust Your Husband (1921), Let's Go (1923), and Tongues of Flame (1924). (Her sister Thelma, briefly, appeared in four films in 1920 and 1921). Eileen was one of those stars whose voice didn't translate well into sound. She made only a few sound pictures with a bit part in The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood (1932). Afterwards she retired from the silver screen. On July 29, 1973, Eileen died of cancer in Beverly Hills, California. She was 72 years old.
- Larry Burns was born on 1 July 1911 in Belfast, Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. He was an actor, known for Scott of the Antarctic (1948), Dentist in the Chair (1960) and Meet Mr. Callaghan (1954). He died on 27 December 1983 in London, England, UK.
- Actor
- Writer
Allan McClelland was born on 31 December 1917 in Dunmurry, Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. He was an actor and writer, known for The Avengers (1961), The Looking Glass War (1970) and Maigret (1959). He was married to Charlotte F. Cox. He died on 24 January 1989 in Fulham, London, England, UK.- Soundtrack
Irish poet Joseph Medlicott Scriven was born on September 10, 1819 at Ballymoney Lodge in County Down, Northern Ireland. His parents were Captain John Scriven and Jane Medlicott. Joseph graduated with a B.A. degree from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and embraced the teachings of the Plymouth Brethren. In 1845 his fiancée drowned on the night before they were to be married. A grief-stricken Scriven moved to Canada where he settled in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada and worked as a private tutor for local families. Joseph fell in love with a local woman who suddenly fell ill with pneumonia and subsequently died. Known by people in the Port Hope area as an eccentric, Scriven was nonetheless a born philanthropist and devoutly religious man who freely gave away what little money and clothing he had to impoverished people in great need. In 1855 he wrote a poem called "Pray Without Ceasing" to comfort his ailing mother. This poem was later set to music by attorney and songwriter Charles Crozat Coverse and retitled "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" has since gone on to become a well-regarded classic gospel hymn that's been covered by many artists throughout the world. Joseph died at age 66 on August 10, 1886 in Pope Hope, Ontario, Canada.- Thelma Percy was born in Belfast, Ireland. She was the sister of Eileen Percy, but never achieved the success her older sister did. While her sister appeared in 61 films, Thelma had only four. In 1920, she was in THE BEGGAR PRINCE, THE VANISHING DAGGER, and WOLF TRACKS. She was in SEVEN YEARS BAD LUCK in her last appearance the next year.
- Whitford Kane was born on 30 January 1881 in Larne, County Antrim, Ireland [now Larne District, Northern Ireland, UK]. He was an actor, known for Hide-Out (1934), The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944) and The Judge Steps Out (1948). He died on 17 December 1956 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Will Leighton was born on 9 March 1908 in Belfast, Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. He was an actor, known for An American Werewolf in London (1981), Broome Stages (1966) and First Night (1963). He was married to Carmen Hill. He died on 3 May 2001 in Surrey, England, UK.
- Barry Macollum was born on 6 April 1889 in Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. He was an actor, known for The Trouble with Harry (1955), Suspense (1949) and Murder in Greenwich Village (1937). He died on 22 February 1971 in West Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Megan Latimer was born on 26 July 1909 in Belfast, Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. She was an actress, known for BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950), Juniper Hall (1956) and Top Secret (1961). She died on 27 December 1988 in Hendon, Middlesex, England, UK.