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- Actor
- Soundtrack
British character actor Freddie Jones came to the acting profession after ten years of working as a laboratory assistant and acting in amateur theater on the side. To kick off his mid-life career change, Jones attended Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Kent, England, on a scholarship. He then worked in repertory theater, later joining up with the Royal Shakespeare Company and gaining recognition as an actor of exceptional cleverness, intelligence and perception.
His theatrical film debut came in 1967 in Peter Brook's critically acclaimed, Marat/Sade (1967). Two years later, Jones made his mark on the acting world playing "Claudius" in the six-part television miniseries, The Caesars (1968). Based on this performance, he was named "The World's Best Television Actor of the Year" at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival in 1969. Also, around this time, Jones gave one of his most touching film performances, that of the "monster" in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), in which he displayed pathos reminiscent of Boris Karloff's monster.
Critical acclaim led him into more prominent roles in television, e.g., The Ghosts of Motley Hall (1976), Children of the Stones (1977), and Pennies from Heaven (1978), as well as in film, e.g., The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970), Antony and Cleopatra (1972), All Creatures Great and Small (1975) and Zulu Dawn (1979). He achieved international recognition as a film actor after appearing in such Hollywood films as Clint Eastwood's Firefox (1982) and David Lynch's The Elephant Man (1980), Dune (1984) and Wild at Heart (1990).
Arguably one of his most endearing roles was the frequently drunk reporter "Orlando" in Federico Fellini's The Ship Sails On (1983). His theatrical acting also went well as he was well suited for literary dramas, e.g., Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), Nicholas Nickleby (1977), Silas Marner (1985), Adam Bede (1992), David Copperfield (2000) and The Count of Monte Cristo (2002).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Gladys Cooper was the daughter of journalist William Frederick Cooper and his wife Mabel Barnett. As a child she was very striking and was used as a photographic model beginning at six years old. She wanted to become an actress and started on that road in 1905 after being discovered by Seymour Hicks to tour with his company in "Bluebell in Fairyland". She came to the London stage in 1906 in "The Belle of Mayfair", and in 1907 took a departure from the legitimate stage to become a member of Frank Curzon's famous Gaiety Girls chorus entertainments at The Gaiety theater. Her more concerted stage work began in 1911 in a production of Oscar Wilde's comedy "The Importance of Being Earnest" which was followed quickly with other roles. From the craze for post cards with photos of actors - that ensued between about 1890 and 1914 - Cooper became a popular subject of maidenly beauty with scenes as Juliet and many others. During World War I her popularity grew into something of pin-up fad for the British military.
In the meantime she sampled the early British silent film industry starting in 1913 with The Eleventh Commandment (1913). She had roles in a few other movies in 1916 and 1917. But in the latter year she joined Frank Curzon to co-manage the Playhouse Theatre. This was a decidedly new direction for a woman of the period. She took sole control from 1927 until other stage commitments in 1933. She was also doing plays, some producing of her own, and a few more films in the early 1920s. It was actually about this time that she achieved major stage actress success. She appeared in W. Somerset Maugham's "Home and Beauty" in London in 1919 and triumphed in her 1922 appearance in Arthur Wing Pinero's "The Second Mrs. Tanqueray". It was ironic that writer Aldous Huxley criticized her performance in "Home and Beauty" as "too impassive, too statuesque, playing all the time as if she were Galatea, newly unpetrified and still unused to the ways of the living world." On the other hand, Maugham himself applauded her for "turning herself from an indifferent actress (at the start of her career) to an extremely competent one". She also debuted the role of Leslie Crosbie (the Bette Davis role in the 1940 film) in Maugham's "The Letter" in 1927.
In 1934 Cooper made her first sound picture in the UK and came to Broadway with "The Shining Hour" which she had been doing in London. She and it were a success, and she followed it with several plays through 1938, including "Macbeth". About this time Hollywood scouts caught wind of her, and she began her 30 odd years in American film. That first film was also Alfred Hitchcock's first Hollywood directorial effort, Rebecca (1940). Hers was a small and light role as Laurence Olivier's gregarious sister, but she stood out all the same. Two years later she bit into the much more substantial role as Bette Davis' domineering and repressive mother in the classic Now, Voyager (1942) for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress - the first of three. Though aristocratic elderly ladies were roles she revisited in various guises, Cooper was busy through 1940s Hollywood.
She returned to London stage work from 1947 and stayed for some early episodic British TV into 1950 before once again returning to the US, but was busy on both sides of the Atlantic until her death. Through the 1950s and into the 1960s Cooper did a few films but was an especially familiar face on American TV in teleplays, a wide range of prime-time episodic shows, and popular weird/sci-fi series: several Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Twilight Zone, and Outer Limits. When Enid Bagnold's "The Chalk Garden" opened in London in 1955, Cooper debuted as Mrs. St. Maugham and brought it to Broadway in October of that year where it ran through March of 1956. Her last major film was My Fair Lady (1964) as Henry Higgins' mother. The year before she had played the part on TV. In the film, the portrait prop of a fine lady over Higgins' fireplace is that of Cooper painted in 1922. She wrote an autobiography (1931) followed by two biographies (1953 and 1979). In 1967 she was honored as a Dame Commander of the Order of British Empire (DBE) for her great accomplishments in furthering acting.- Writer
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Dahl was born in Wales in 1916. He served as a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He made a forced landing in the Libyan Desert and was severely injured. As a result, he spent five months in a Royal Navy hospital in Alexandria. Dahl is noted for how he relates suspenseful and sometimes horrific events in a simple tone.- Agatha was born as "Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller" in 1890 to Frederick Alvah Miller and Clara Boehmer. Agatha was of American and British descent, her father being American and her mother British. Her father was a relatively affluent stockbroker. Agatha received home education from early childhood to when she turned 12-years-old in 1902. Her parents taught her how to read, write, perform arithmetic, and play music. Her father died in 1901. Agatha was sent to a girl's school in Torquay, Devon, where she studied from 1902 to 1905. She continued her education in Paris, France from 1905 to 1910. She then returned to her surviving family in England.
As a young adult, Agatha aspired to be a writer and produced a number of unpublished short stories and novels. She submitted them to various publishers and literary magazines, but they were all rejected. Several of these unpublished works were later revised into more successful ones. While still in this point of her life, Agatha sought advise from professional writer Eden Phillpotts (1862-1960). Meanwhile she was searching for a suitable husband and in 1913 accepted a marriage proposal from military officer and pilot-in-training Archibald "Archie" Christie. They married in late 1914. Her married name became "Agatha Christie" and she used it for most of her literary works, including ones created decades following the end of her first marriage.
During World War I, Archie Christie was send to fight in the war and Agatha joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment, a British voluntary unit providing field nursing services. She performed unpaid work as a volunteer nurse from 1914 to 1916. Then she was promoted to "apothecaries' assistant" (dispenser), a position which earned her a small salary until the end of the war. She ended her service in September, 1918.
Agatha wrote "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", her debut novel ,in 1916, but was unable to find a publisher for it until 1920. The novel introduced her famous character Hercule Poirot and his supporting characters Inspector Japp and Arthur Hastings. The novel is set in World War I and is one of the few of her works which are connected to a specific time period.
Following the end of World War I and their retirement from military life, Agatha and Archie Christie moved to London and settled into civilian life. Their only child Rosalind Margaret Clarissa Christie (1919-2004) was born early in the marriage. Agatha's debut novel was first published in 1920 and turned out to be a hit. It was soon followed by the successful novels "The Secret Adversary" (1922) and "Murder on the Links" (1923) and various short stories. Agatha soon became a celebrated writer.
In 1926, Archie Christie announced to Agatha that he had a mistress and that he wanted a divorce. Agatha took it hard and mysteriously disappeared for a period of 10 days. After an extensive manhunt and much publicity, she was found living under a false name in Yorkshire. She had assumed the last name of Archie's mistress and claimed to have no memory of how she ended up there. The doctors who attended to her determined that she had amnesia. Despite various theories by multiple sources, these 10 days are the most mysterious chapter in Agatha's life.
Agatha and Archie divorced in 1928, though she kept the last name Christie. She gained sole custody of her daughter Rosalind. In 1930, Agatha married her second (and last) husband Max Mallowan, a professional archaeologist. They would remain married until her death in 1976.Christie often used places that she was familiar with as settings for her novels and short stories. Her various travels with Max introduced her to locations of the Middle East, and provided inspiration for a number of novels.
In 1934, Agatha and Max settled in Winterbrook, Oxfordshire, which served as their main residence until their respective deaths. During World War II, she served in the pharmacy at the University College Hospital, where she gained additional training about substances used for poisoning cases. She incorporated such knowledge for realistic details in her stories.
She became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1956 and a Dame Commander of the same order in 1971. Her husband was knighted in 1968. They are among the relatively few couples where both members have been honored for their work. Agatha continued writing until 1974, though her health problems affected her writing style. Her memory was problematic for several years and she had trouble remembering the details of her own work, even while she was writing it. Recent researches on her medical condition suggest that she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease or other dementia. She died of natural causes in early 1976. - Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Elizabeth Spriggs was born on 18 September 1929 in Buxton, Derbyshire, England, UK. She was an actress and writer, known for Sense and Sensibility (1995), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) and Paradise Road (1997). She was married to Murray Manson, Marshall Jones and Kenneth Spriggs. She died on 2 July 2008 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Some of Hordern's finest work was not in films or television but on radio: His performance as Gandalf in the BBC's radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings was arguably the definitive portrayal of that character (contrast Hordern's Gandalf with that of Ian McKellen in the 3-part film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings directed by Peter Jackson).- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in Finchley, north London, in the United Kingdom, to Lesley Angold (Harrison), a dancer, and Kyriacos Panayiotou, a restaurateur. His father was a Greek Cypriot, and his mother was of English background. He first discovered fame as a musician when he and school friend, Andrew Ridgeley, formed the pop group Wham!. Success came fast and furious with their first album, 'Fantastic' (1983) hitting the UK number one spot. Wham! survived for five years and during that time the group notched up four number one singles and two number one albums. Most of their other releases made top three. George also contributed to the Band Aid Single 'Do They Know It's Christmas' (1984), and scored two further solo number one hits with 'Careless Whisper' and 'A Different Corner'.
Following the break-up of Wham!, George went on to have a hugely successful career as a solo artist, his debut album 'Faith' (1987) - and the single of the same name - both achieving instant and international success. The album has since been certified Diamond.
Over the last four decades George has notched up 8 number one albums in the and 13 number one singles in the UK (including Wham!, Band Aid, and the 'Five Live' EP). In the U.S. he has achieved 2 number one albums and 10 number one singles, with numerous other number one hits throughout the rest of the world.
He has performed duets with artists including Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Queen, and Lisa Stansfield, and actively participates in charitable causes, Live Aid and the Freddie Mercury concert for AIDS being just two of the more prominent examples. According to a BBC documentary, George donated more than five million pounds towards various charities. Whilst with Wham!, he donated all the proceeds of 'Last Christmas' (1984) to charity. The single reached number two in the UK and George also performed simultaneously on the number one charity record 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'.
George released the single 'December Song' in 2008 as a free download: his hope was that purchasers would donate money to charity.
He remained in contact with his Wham! partner and long-time friend Andrew Ridgeley until his death in 2016.- Talented and diverse Northern Ireland born character actor whose career has embraced British institutions from Raffles to Dr Who.
After apprenticing in provincial theatre this commanding, actor appeared in two contrasting war films in 1968 - The Charge of the Light Brigade and Carry On up the Khyber. His next two roles were equally diverse - appearing in the unusual John Huston directed A Walk with Love and Death, then with cheeky Cockney Tommy Steele in Where's Jack? By this stage his career had gathered some momentum and in 1971 he worked with several luminaries - Peter O'Toole in Murphy's War, Michael Caine and Omar Sharif in The Last Valley and Richard Burton in Villain. In 1973 it was the hard-bitten crime drama The Offence with Sean Connery and he also worked with Joss Ackland and James Cossins in Hitler: The Last Ten Days. That year he also featured in bona fide classic The Wicker Man.
If film work wasn't hugely successful in the next few year, he kept himself working with a variety of roles in television in a diverse range of shows - Emmerdale Farm, Raffles, Return of the Saint. 1980 and 1981 saw roles in a couple of fantasy-spectaculars, Flash Gordon and special-effects bonanza Dragonslayer. It was 1991 before he returned to cinemas in any significant way, though, in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, then in 1997 in another fantasy adventure Kull the Conqueror. Meanwhile he appeared in popular soap opera Eastenders as 'Barnsey' Barnes for 2 years between 1988-90.
Often portrayed as a hardman or heavy onscreen, offscreen Hallam likes gardening! - Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Coming from a musical family - her mother was a concert soprano - Constance Cummings made her show business debut in 1926 in regional stock theater, and by 1928 had appeared in her first Broadway play. Her success in the theater resulted in an invitation to Hollywood, where she went 1931. Although she played in more than 20 films, she was never really comfortble in Hollywood nor satisfied with the parts she was getting, and in 1934 she left for England, UK. She continued her stage and film career there. but few of those films ever made it back to the U.S.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Moira was born the daughter of Harold Charles King, a civil engineer, in Dunfermline, Scotland. She was educated at Dunfermline High School, Ndola in Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia) and Bearsden Academy, Scotland. She received her professional training at the Mayfair School and The Nicholas Legat Studio. She made her debut in the International Ballet with 1941 and then danced at Sadler's Wells in 1942. From 1942 to 1952 she danced all the major classic roles and a full repertoire of revivals and new ballets. Her first role as prima ballerina was "Sleeping Beauty" at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1946 which was followed by 'Coppelia' and. 'Swan Lake'. She toured the United States with the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1949 and in 1950/51. She toured as Sally Bowles in "I am a Camera" in 1955 and appeared at the Bristol Old Vic as "Major Barbara" in 1956. Although these performances were the start of her secondary career as an actress, she continued her primary career as a ballerina. She has appeared on TV as a ballerina and as an actress- Celia Johnson was an English actress, once nominated for an Academy Award. Johnson was born in the town of Richmond, Surrey in 1908. Richmond was incorporated into Greater London in 1965, as part of an administrative reform. Celia's parents were John Robert Johnson and Ethel Griffiths. Neither of them was involved in show business.
In 1916, 8-year-old Johnson made her theatrical debut, at a performance of the play "King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid". It was a charity performance, to help raise funds for then-ongoing World War I. Nobody intended for her to become a professional actress, but she liked the stage experience.
Johnson attended St Paul's Girls' School in West London, from 1919 to 1926. She graduated at the age of 18. During her school years, Johnson often had acting parts in school plays, and played music in the school's orchestra. Her music teacher at the school was Gustav Holst (1874-1934), a relatively well-known classical composer.
In the late 1920s, Johnson studied acting at both the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and the Comédie-Française in Paris. One of her teachers was French actor Pierre Fresnay (1897-1975). One of her classmates in London was Margaretta Scott (1912-2005)
In 1928, Johnson made her professional debut, cast in a performance of the play "Major Barbara" (1905) by George Bernard Shaw. In 1929, she first performed in London, and in 1931 she first performed in New York City. She made a name for herself as a theatrical actress throughout the 1930s, and married journalist Peter Fleming (1907-1971).
Johnson's career and personal life were derailed by World War II. A hit role as the second Mrs. Winter in a 1940 theatrical adaptation of "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier, was cut short. The theatre where Johnson was performing was damaged through London's bombing by the Luftwaffe. Johnson's widowed sister and sister-in-law moved in with her, bringing their kids with. Having to care for 7 kids (both her own children and her nephews), left Johnson with no time to spare for theatrical tours.
Seeking a way to supplement her income during the War, Johnson started appearing in theatrical films. She started with small parts, but got her first major hit with the family drama "The Happy Breed" (1944), which followed the ups-and-downs in the life of a (fictional) family over a period of several decades. For this role, Johnson received a National Board of Review Award for Best Actress.
In 1945, Johnson was starring in another hit film, the romantic drama "Brief Encounter". It featured her in the role of Laura Jesson, a housewife trapped in a dull and monotonous marriage. Laura falls in love with a new man in her life, Dr. Alec Harvey, and he falls in love with her. With circumstances keep this relationship platonic, until Harvey leaves the country to work abroad. Laura contemplates suicide, but is forced to return to her monotonous life. The role gained Johnson a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
For most of the late 1940s, Johnson was in semi-retirement. She had given birth to two daughters and felt that she needed to devote more time to her family. From the 1950s to her death, Johnson was primarily appearing in theatrical plays and television roles. Her film roles were few, but critically well-received.
In 1982, the 76-year-old Johnson was busy with another theatrical tour. During a day-off from the tour, Johnson returned to her home in Nettlebed, Oxfordshire. She invited friends over to play bridge, but suffered a stroke during the game. She died a few hours later, while still in her home. She left an estate worth £150,557. She was survived by three children.
Johnson's fame as a theatrical actress faded away following her death, as there were few filmed versions of her performances. However, her film roles became available on the home video market, and they have helped introduce Johnson to new generations of fans. - Actor
- Writer
- Music Department
Ronnie Barker's remarkable versatility as a performer can be traced back to his time in repertory theatre, where he was able to play a wide range of roles and develop his talent for accents, voices and verbal dexterity. It was during this time that he met Glenn Melvyn, who taught him how to stammer (something he would later use to great effect in the sitcom Open All Hours (1976)). Melvyn also gave Ronnie his break into television by offering him a role in I'm Not Bothered (1956). During the 1960s, Ronnie became well-established in radio, providing multiple voices for "The Navy Lark" and working with comedy great Jon Pertwee. He also became a regular face on television, appearing in The Frost Report (1966) (perhaps most memorably in a sketch about Britain's class system, with John Cleese and Ronnie Corbett) and playing character roles on The Saint (1962) and The Avengers (1961).
In 1971, Ronnie teamed up with Ronnie Corbett again, this time for a BBC sketch series called The Two Ronnies (1971). This series proved enormously popular, continuing until the late 1980s. In addition to "The Two Ronnies", Barker starred on the popular BBC sitcoms Porridge (1974) (as a cockney prisoner) and Open All Hours (1976) (as a stammering Northern shopkeeper). In fact, only Leonard Rossiter could be said to have rivaled him during this time for the crown of British television's most popular comedy star. In 1982, he revived silent comedy in By the Sea (1982). Despite his extrovert performances on television, Barker remained a quiet, retiring individual in his personal life, much preferring to spend time with his family rather than mix with the celebrity crowd. This humility, combined with memories of his extraordinary abilities, meant that he continued to be greatly respected by his fellow professionals. In a BAFTA special shown by the BBC in 2004, stars as diverse as Gene Wilder, Peter Kay and Peter Hall paid tribute to his contribution to comedy and British television in general. Ronnie Barker died on 3 October 2005 after suffering from heart problems.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
An English film and television actor best known for his appearance as Duncan in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner.
Sparrow began his career as a stand-up comic before moving to acting with a period with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His first film role was in 1964, in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, with Christopher Lee. Subsequent films, interspersed between countless TV appearances, included the 1969 sex fantasy Zeta One, Young Sherlock Holmes, and the acclaimed 1988 film The Accidental Tourist starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis.
His career enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s, with Sparrow playing key roles in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves as the blinded retainer Duncan, 1993's The Secret Garden as gruff gardener Ben Weatherstaff, and the 1995 American coming-of-age film Now and Then as tragic drifter 'Crazy Pete'. In 1998 he starred in Tony Harrison's film Prometheus.
Sparrow's even more prolific TV appearances included regular roles in the soap opera Emmerdale Farm, as two different characters, and the comedy Paris, and guest spots on Hugh and I, Adam Adamant Lives!, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Z-Cars, All Creatures Great and Small, Alas Smith and Jones, Rumpole of the Bailey, Ernie in Birds Of A Feather, and The Bill among many others.
Sparrow is also well known for playing Maurice, a peasant who was threatened to be shipped to the Americas, in the 1998 Cinderella remake Ever After.
One of his more notable guest appearances was in the 1989 episode Danger UXD of the sitcom Only Fools and Horses, which had 16.1 million viewers, as porn shop owner Dirty Barry.
In the 1990s the appeared in the sitcoms One Foot in the Grave (1990) and The Thin Blue Line (1995). His last appearance was in 2000 in an episode of the BBC's medical drama series Doctors.- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
A blessing or a curse? Every silver lining has a cloud, yet sadly Andrew Roy Gibb had to find that out the hard way. Born the fifth and final child to parents Barbara (17 November 1920-12 August 2016) and Hugh Gibb (15 January 1916-6 March 1992) Andy grew up with his three older siblings dominating the music charts, collectively known as The Bee Gees. Performing at clubs from the age of 13, it was suspected that Andy was to join The Bee Gees, yet Andy always wanted to be his own personality.
Victimised at the many schools he went to by other students who were convinced he had a superiority complex due to his famous brothers, Andy escaped into his music. But it all came too fast and too soon. Andy was performing and making music by the time he was 20 years old, and it was virtually impossible to break away from his brothers shadows when older brother Barry wrote 90% of his songs, and the Bee Gees sang back up vocals on half of his songs. Andy got it all too fast, and his life was intermingled with years of depression that he tried to stay away with booze, drugs and women. While they all may have provided temporary relief, Andy was plagued by depression and the fact that no matter what he did, he could never escape his heritage. Toward the end of his life, Andy vowed to change and reform. He planned to clean up his act and reform. he was dabbling in stage musicals and TV, and he had a new album planned for release. On his 30th birthday he promised the people most dear to him: He was a changed man. Sadly Andy's heart and Andy's body were two very different things, and five days after his 30th birthday his body finally succumbed to the seemingly endless years of alcohol abuse. Andy may have been dead for almost two decades, but his music lives on. Andy Gibb was a legendary music figure, and when listening to some of his hit songs, such as '(Our Love) Don't throw it all away', 'man on fire' and 'I just want to be your everything' you don't hear death, you hear life.- Peter Woodthorpe was educated at Archbishop Holgate's Grammar School in York and attended Magdalene College, Cambridge. He undertook National Service in the Royal Navy and made his debut as a professional actor in the theatre in 1955. His extensive and distinguished stage career included work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, at the Royal Court and on Broadway. An immensely talented character actor, he was made an Associate Member of RADA.
- Actor
- Writer
Terence Longdon appeared in four early black and white Carry Ons. His main roles were in the first two films in the series. In 1958, he had a significant supporting turn as Miles Heywood, an upper crust chap who although doing National Service and coming from a military background, did not want to make his career the army. This came as a great disappointment to Eric Barker! Terence then graduated to the role of romantic lead in Carry On Nurse, mainly due to the absence of Bob Monkhouse from this film. In Nurse, Terence played journalist Ted York, holed up in the men's ward at Haven Hospital. Originally he was set the task of writing about what the NHS was really like, however that is soon forgotten when he falls for the charms of Shirley Eaton's Nurse Dorothy Denton.
Longdon missed Carry On Teacher, the next film in the series, but returned to Pinewood for a cameo role as a dodgy confidence trickster who nearly cons Police Constable Kenneth Williams out of his Post Office savings in Carry On Constable. This one scene is a marked change for Terence and this role together with his part in the next film jar slightly. It feels like he is simply being included as a familiar face while being given little to do. In Carry On Regardless, Terence is limited to just a few scenes as one of Sid James' Helping Hands. He barely gets a look in as Kenneths Williams and Connor get the majority of the screen time.
And that was it for Terence and the Carry Ons. Terence recorded audio commentaries for two of his Carry Ons in 2006 and according to him, he was asked to become a series regular after Regardless but turned it down as he wanted to do other things. That would explain why he did not appear in any other series entries. So what else did Terence Longdon get up to in his career?
Terence made his first screen appearance in 1951, playing the role of Metellus in a television play entitled Androcles and the Lion. This was followed by several other roles in the 1950s and early 1960s. He appeared in the following films: Simon and Laura (starring Kay Kendall); Helen Of Troy (with Nora Swinburne and Stanley Baker); Jumping For Joy (with Frankie Howerd); Doctor At Large (with Dirk Bogarde); Another Time, Another Place (with Sean Connery, Lana Turner and a certain Sidney James); What A Wopper (again with Sid James) and perhaps most famously in Ben Hur, playing Drusus.
On television, Terence starred in a children's series called Garry Halliday between 1959 and 1962, playing a Biggles type character who was always off on thrilling missions. He also took roles in such series as The Army Game, Danger Man, Ivanhoe and Emergency Ward 10.
Later in the 1960s, Terence Longdon returned to the theatre and played in several long theatrical runs, both in the West End and further afield. He even spent six months on a tour of the United States with the Old Vic. This meant screen roles became few and far between, although he did appear in an episode of The New Avengers in 1977 alongside Joanna Lumley, Martin Shaw and Lewis Collins. He also popped in films such as The Wild Geese and The Sea Wolves, both in the late 1970s.
On stage, Terence worked in the West End with the likes of Peter Cushing, Stanley Baker, John Gielgud and he even understudied the great Paul Schofield. In the early 1950s he spent three years at Stratford, playing roles that included Cassio in Othello, Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part 1 and Oliver in As You Like It. He later completed over 1000 performances in the West End in the comedy The Secretary Bird.
In 1982 he turned up in the cobbled streets of Weatherfield, playing Wilf Stockwell, a client at Mike Baldwin's denim factory. This brought Wilf into contact with the legendary Elsie Tanner and the pair became rather friendly, much to the dismay of Wilf's wife Dot, played by Barbara Young. Terence then made only rare appearances on the small screen, most notably alongside Victoria Wood in her As Seen On TV series in the late 1980s and also in an episode of The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Terence Longdon more or less retired from acting in 2003.
Terence was born Hubert Tuelly Longdon in Newark-On-Trent, Nottinghamshire, in May 1922. He originally planned to sit exams to enter the Civil Service, however the Second World War broke out and he joined the Fleet Air Arm. It was while in the Air Force that he first became involved in amateur dramatics and encouraged by this experience, he enrolled at RADA after the war ended. Stage work at the Lyceum in Sheffield soon followed.
Terence Longdon married the actress Barbara Jefford in 1953. This union ended in divorce in 1960. He much later married again, this time to Gillian Conyers, in 2004. They were married until his death from cancer in April 2011 at the age of 88.- Ann Lynn was born on 7 November 1933 in Fulham, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Just Good Friends (1983), A Shot in the Dark (1964) and Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973). She was married to Anthony Newley. She died on 30 August 2020 in Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- 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.
- D'Amico was born in Germany to an American father and a British mother. Raised in the U.K. He first performed on London stage in a 1977 revival of Oliver!, moved briefly to Los Angeles in the early 80s, later returning to the British stage. Mostly known for playing Americans on British TV.
- Producer
- Director
- Actor
John Howard Davies was born on 9 March 1939 in Paddington, London, England, UK. He was a producer and director, known for Oliver Twist (1948), Fawlty Towers (1975) and Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969). He was married to Linda Patricia, Dale Mackenzie Tillotson and Leonie Taylor. He died on 22 August 2011 in Blewbury, Oxfordshire, England, UK.- Norman Rodway was born on 7 February 1929 in Dalkey, Ireland. He was an actor, known for Chimes at Midnight (1965), The Empty Mirror (1996) and Out (1978). He was married to Jane Rodway, Sarah Fitzgerald, Mary Selway and Pauline Delaney. He died on 13 March 2001 in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- Music Artist
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dusty Springfield has been acknowledged around the world as the best female soul singer that Britain ever produced. With her oddly erotic, throaty voice, she racked up a string of hits from the 1960s onwards. Born in London to Irish parents, Dusty grew up in and around London. Her early work included an all-girl trio, "The Lana Sisters" and, then, with her brother Tom Springfield (Dion O'Brien), The Springfields. Inspired by Phil Spector's "wall of sound", Dusty recorded her first pop song "I Only Want to Be with You" in 1963. It reached No. 4 in the charts and was the first song played on the new BBC TV pop show Top of the Pops (1964). The sixties brought a steady succession of top-ten hits and a lifestyle to match. However, Dusty used to campaign to get the little-known American soul singers a better audience in the United Kingdom which led to her own show The Sound of Motown (1965). In 1970, she moved to America and, although she attempted a few come-back tours, they never really worked. However, time in the studio did produce the seminal album, "Dusty in Memphis". A downward spiral of drugs and drink followed for most of the latter seventies but then she overcame these problems and, helped by lifelong fans "The Pet Shop Boys", came back with songs such as "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" and the album "Reputation". Cancer was diagnosed in 1994 and, although it was kept at bay for quite a while, it finally got her.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dubbed "the funniest woman in the world", comedienne Beatrice Lillie was born the daughter of a Canadian government official and grew up in Toronto. She sang in a family trio act with her mother, Lucy, and her piano-playing older sister, Muriel. Times were hard and the ambitious mother eventually took the girls to England to test the waters. In 1914, Bea made her solo debut in London's West End and was an immediate hit with audiences. A valuable marquee player as a droll revue and stage artiste, she skillfully interwove sketches, songs and monologues with parody and witty satire. In 1924, she returned to America and was an instant success on Broadway, thus becoming the toast of two continents. For the next decade, she worked with the top stage headliners of her day, including Gertrude Lawrence, Bert Lahr and Jack Haley. Noël Coward and Cole Porter wrote songs and even shows for her. A top radio and comedy recording artist to boot, Bea's success in films was surprisingly limited, although she did achieve some recognition in such productions as Exit Smiling (1926) and Doctor Rhythm (1938). During the Second World War, Bea became a favourite performer with the troops and, in her post-war years, toured with her own show "An Evening with Beatrice Lillie". Her rather eccentric persona worked beautifully on Broadway and, in 1958, she replaced Rosalind Russell in "Auntie Mame". In 1964, she took on the role of "Madame Arcati" in the musical version of "Blithe Spirit", entitled "High Spirits". This was to be her last staged musical. Sadly, her style grew passé and outdated in the Vietnam era, and she quickly faded from view after a movie appearance in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). At this point, she had already begun to show early signs of Alzheimer's disease, although she managed to publish her biography in 1973. A year later, Bea suffered the first of two strokes and lived the next decade and a half in virtual seclusion. She died in 1989 at age 94.- Character actor and familiar face on stage and screen, who starred in films by Ken Loach and Woody Allen. Best known for his performance opposite Helen Mirren in the original Prime Suspect (1991) series. He always brought a truth and integrity to his roles and was an imposing, strong and rugged figure, with a soul and belief in his craft. An absolute legend and a superior talent.
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Roy Boulting was born on 21 December 1913 in Bray, Berkshire, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for Seven Days to Noon (1950), A French Mistress (1960) and The Family Way (1966). He was married to Sandra Payne, Hayley Mills, Enid Munnik, Jean Capon and Marian Angela Warnock. He died on 5 November 2001 in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, England, UK.- Writer
- Producer
- Actress
P.D. James was born on 3 August 1920 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK. She was a writer and producer, known for Children of Men (2006), Death in Holy Orders (2003) and Dalgliesh (2021). She was married to Ernest Connor Bantry White. She died on 27 November 2014 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.- Writer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, UK as Norman Colin Dexter, he was an English writer, best known for the Inspector Morse series of novels. His parents were Alfred and Dorothy Dexter, his father run a small taxi company. He had a brother, John, and a sister, Avril. He attended St. John's Infants School, Bluecoat Junior School, and then - gaining a scholarship - Stamford School. After graduation, Dexter served in the Royal Corps of Signals as his national service. He then studied Classics at Christ's College, Cambridge, which he graduated in 1953, followed by receiving a master's degree in 1958. He worked a teacher in various schools from 1954 to 1966, when an onset of deafness forced him to change jobs. He then worked as a senior assistant secretary at the University of Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations until his retirement in 1988. In 1972 Dexter published his first mystery fiction book, entitled Last Bus to Woodstock. The book introduced the character of inspector Morse, who appeared in further 12 novels written by Dexter. In 1987 the first episode of a screen adaptation of the novels, Inspector Morse (1987), was aired. The show run for 7 seasons followed by 5 special episodes, the last one of which aired in 2000. It was followed by a spin-off entitled Inspector Lewis (2006) and a prequel entitled Endeavour (2012). Dexter was involved in the making of all these shows and had small cameos in most episodes. His writings received a number of awards from the Crime Writers' Association and in 2000 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to literature. He was married to Dorothy Cooper from 1956 until his death; they had daughter, Sally, and a son, Jeremy. Dexter died on 21 March 2017 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Known best as the record producer for The Beatles, George Martin had a long and varied musical career, and continues to enjoy a rare reputation as one of popular music's true "nice guys."
Martin was born into a working-class family in Drayton Park, England, on 3 January 1926. His classical music training didn't actually begin until his 20s; the only formal musical education Martin had as a child was eight piano lessons from an aunt. He kept up with the piano on his own, though, and by his teens led a small combo called The Four Tune-Tellers, along with his being able to play several classical pieces by ear. He'd also begun composing his own songs, with an eye toward someday writing film scores.
By this time World War II was underway, and at 17 Martin enlisted in the Fleet Air Arm, serving as an aircraft observer. While in the service, he both acquired a mentor in Sidney Harrison, who critiqued his early scores and encouraged him to follow a career in music, and appeared on a BBC radio show, playing an original piece. Returning to civilian life in early 1947, Martin found himself at a career crossroads, without much formal education or training. Sidney Harrison encouraged him to enter the Guildhall School of Music in London, where Harrison taught, and arranged an audition. Martin passed, and studied for three years at the Guildhall, paying for this with a veteran's grant, and studying oboe as a second instrument.
After graduation and a stint with the BBC Music Library, Martin was offered a job with EMI's Parlophone record label, as assistant to its chief Oscar Preuss. Preuss both signed the label's artists and produced most of their recordings, and it was these jobs that Martin gradually took over as Preuss retired, leaving Martin in charge of the label at age 29--the youngest label-head in England in the pre-rock era. Parlophone featured mostly classical and regional music, which Martin conducted and produced; he augmented these later with both highly-successful comedy records (including Peter Ustinov's "Mock Mozart" and several Goon Show recordings with Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, who became close friends) and rock-n-roll when it reached Britain. Despite his triumphs, George Martin nearly went down in music history as "The Man Who Turned Down Tommy Steele," passing up his chance to produce Britain's first genuine rock star to instead sign up Steele's backing group, the Vipers. This mistake was luckily overshadowed by another signing of Martin's, a few years later...
Martin and Beatles' manager Brian Epstein learned of each other when Epstein decided to have acetate test-records made of a Beatles audition tape, during his make-or-break final visit to London to try to get the band a recording contract. Nearly every label in England had turned the band down, and while Martin wasn't bowled over by their demo, he was impressed enough to give them a studio audition. Martin came away from this satisfied with everything he'd heard, except for Pete Best's drumming, and when he offered the band a singles contract in the fall of 1962, it was with the understanding that Best would not play on the records. This was reason enough for the band to want to replace him completely, and Ringo Starr took his place, shortly before the Beatles recorded their first Parlophone single, "Love Me Do".
Martin's first collaboration with The Beatles wasn't a big hit, but their second single with him, "Please Please Me", made an immediate impact, and propelled the band to national stardom in Britain. The hits continued, and Martin's own name began to appear on the recordings he produced (both for The Beatles, and for other artists) a few months later, as the record-producer's role became more widely recognized in the industry. It was Martin's friendship with music publisher Dick James that resulted in the creation of Northern Songs as the Beatles' publishing company; however, Martin never profited directly from this, or even from their early hits--he turned down the chance to become a Northern Songs partner, and as an EMI staff producer, he was paid no royalties. In fact, EMI's antiquated pay-scale was one of the many factors that caused Martin and several other EMI staffers to resign in the mid-Sixties, and establish their own company AIR (Associated Independent Recording). EMI now had to hire Martin back as an independent producer for their artists, and he began receiving producer's royalties on AIR's behalf.
The story of George Martin's relationship with the Beatles has been told again and again, but perhaps best by the man himself, in both radio and television specials, and his own book "All You Need is Ears", which reads both as pop-history and a kind of record-producer's textbook. He has graciously answered questions about the band (sometimes as the only clean-n-sober participant at recording sessions) and his own experiences again and again, proving to be an ideal, well-balanced spokesman. Many of the Beatles' more elaborate productions, especially in their later "studio years," were shaped by George Martin, who arranged their songwriting into final scores and recordings.
Throughout the Beatles' career and beyond, Martin continued to record and produce other artists, including Shirley Bassey, Bernard Cribbins, Flanders and Swann, and later America and Seatrain. He was also able to realize his earlier dream of scoring movies, beginning with his original orchestral score for Yellow Submarine (1968),which he also produced for film and record. In the late 1970s, Martin was approached by RSO's Robert Stigwood to produce the soundtrack for the Bee Gees's Beatles homage Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978); despite his initial misgivings, he signed onto the project knowing nobody else had his insider's knowledge of their music... and the payment to come would erase a lot of earlier financial shortings from his EMI days.
While George Martin supervised parts of "The Beatles Anthology" in 1994 and 1995, the task of producing the new recordings included with the compilation was given to Jeff Lynne; Martin explained to the press, "I don't produce anymore, because I'm too old." Martin recently celebrated his retirement from the music business, with both a knighthood and the release of "In My Life", an all-star tribute album to the band who gave him his biggest success.- Roland Culver was born on 21 August 1900 in Crouch End, Middlesex, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Thunderball (1965), Dead of Night (1945) and To Each His Own (1946). He was married to Nan Hopkins and Daphne Rye. He died on 1 March 1984 in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- Miranda Forbes was born on 11 August 1946 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Poirot (1989), Jane Eyre (1996) and Press Gang (1989). She died on 14 June 2001 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Carl Davis was born on 28 October 1936 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for The General (1926), City Lights (1931) and The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981). He was married to Jean Boht. He died on 3 August 2023 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Gerald James was born on 26 November 1917 in Brecon, Powys, Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Sapphire & Steel (1979) and Hope and Glory (1987). He died on 10 June 2006 in Oxfordshire, England, UK.- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Jules Furthman was a magazine and newspaper writer when he began writing for films in 1915. When the U.S. entered WWI Furthman used the name "Stephen Fox" for his screenplays because he thought his name sounded too German, but he reverted to his real name after the war. Furthman became one of the most prolific, and well-known, screenwriters of his time, and was responsible for the screenplays of some of Hollywood's most highly regarded films, such as Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), To Have and Have Not (1944) and Nightmare Alley (1947).- Diana King was born on 2 August 1918 in Buckinghamshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Pride and Prejudice (1967), The Scarf (1959) and Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982). She was married to John Harvey. She died on 31 July 1986 in Nettlebed, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Martyn Read was born on 11 November 1944 in Reading, Berkshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Kavanagh QC (1995), The Darling Buds of May (1991) and The Sweeney (1975). He died on 25 September 2022 in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, UK.- Roger was the son of George Hume, former general manager of the William Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford. Started off as an ASM, and crewed on films. Extensive theatre experience, including his own one-man shows "Old Herbaceous", "Winston" and "Please Sir". Also frequent appearances on radio, notably as Bert Fry in "The Archers". Married at Chesterfield to Anne Preus in February 1968. Two sons, Oliver (born 1970) and Dan (born 1972).
- Michael Sellers was born on 2 April 1954 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for I Like Money (1961), I Told You I Was Ill: The Life and Legacy of Spike Milligan (2005) and Somebody's Daughter, Somebody's Son (2004). He was married to Allison Sellers and Carolyn Athay. He died on 24 July 2006 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- Heather Canning was born on 5 January 1933 in Epsom, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Mystery and Imagination (1966), Miss Julie (1974) and Power Without Glory (1976). She was married to Leon Lissek. She died on 30 May 1996 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- Writer
- Art Department
Mervyn Peake was born on 9 July 1911 in Kiang-Hsi Province, China. He was a writer, known for Gormenghast (2000), Gormenghast and Mr Pye (1986). He was married to Maeve Gilmore. He died on 17 November 1968 in Burcot, Oxfordshire, England, UK.- 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.
- John Harvey was born on 27 September 1911 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for X the Unknown (1956), Doctor Who (1963) and The Borderers (1968). He was married to Diana King. He died on 19 July 1982 in Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Additional Crew
In 1944, at the age of eighteen, Holmes joined the army, fighting with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders regiment in Burma. He rapidly earned a commission, and as such became the youngest commissioned officer in the entire British army during the Second World War. The fact that he lied about his age to get into the army was discovered at his commissioning, but apparently the only reaction was by a general who praised him, adding that he had done the same thing himself. Soon after the end of the war, Holmes returned to England and left the army, deciding to join the police. He trained at Hendon Police College, graduating the top of his year and joining the Metropolitan Police in London, serving at Bow Street Police Station.
It was whilst serving as a Police officer that Holmes first began to develop an interest in writing as a career. When giving evidence in court for prosecutions against offenders, he would often note the excitement and frantic work of the journalists reporting on the cases, and decided that he would like to do similar work. To this end, he taught himself shorthand in his spare time and eventually resigned from the Police force. He quickly found work writing for both local and national newspapers, initially in London and later in the Midlands. He also filed reports for the Press Association, which could be syndicated to a variety of sources, such as local or foreign newspapers. In the late 1950s he worked for a time writing and editing short stories for magazines, before receiving his first break in television when he contributed an episode to the famous medical series Emergency-Ward 10 (1957).
His work as a sports reporter took him to the Midlands, where he became the final editor of "John Bull Magazine," at the same time submitting material to Grenada TV for Knight Errant Limited (1959). Other early TV work included The Saint (1962) Ghost Squad (1961), Public Eye (1965), Undermind (1965) (his first science fiction) and Intrigue (1966) His first work for Doctor Who (1963) was a commission to write "The Space Trap," later retitled "The Krotons." Subsequently he went on to become one of the series' most popular writers, responsible for more than a dozen televised stories. He also had a successful period as Doctor Who (1963)'s script editor between 1974 and 1977. He scripted much TV drama during the seventies and eighties, including a The Wednesday Play (1964) and episodes of Doomwatch (1970), Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1962), Dead of Night (1972), The Regiment (1972), Warship (1973), Spy Trap (1972)" and Dixon of Dock Green (1955)," and he adapted the BBC's 1981 science-fiction thriller serial The Nightmare Man (1981)," from David Wiltshire's novel. He was working on further Doctor Who (1963) episodes when he died, after a short illness, on 24 May 1986.- Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet, GCB, OBE, AFC (13 April 1892 - 5 April 1984), commonly known as "Bomber" Harris by the press and often within the RAF as "Butch" Harris,[a] was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) RAF Bomber Command during the height of the Anglo-American strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Heathcote Williams was born on 15 November 1941 in Helsby, Cheshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Basic Instinct 2 (2006), City of Ember (2008) and The Legend of 1900 (1998). He died on 1 July 2017 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.- Hana Maria Pravda was born on 29 January 1916 in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]. She was an actress, known for The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), Department S (1969) and Thursday Theatre (1964). She was married to George Pravda and Alexandr "Sasha" Munk. She died on 28 May 2008 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- 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.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Britain's most iconic and prolific composer of music for TV action/adventure in the 1950's and 60's was born in Cheshire, the son of a builder. He dropped out of school to work for a gas oven manufacturer at the tender age of fourteen. Music was in his blood and jazz was a particularly strong influence. Equally adept at playing and at composing/arranging, Edwin Astley began playing clarinet and saxophone for the Royal Army Service Corps while in his teens. After World War II, he joined a dance band, before long, fronting his own orchestra. Some time later, he moved to London to join a prominent music publishing firm as arranger for singers Vera Lynn and Ann Shelton. By 1953, Astley had also started in the film business (hired by the ever budget-conscious Danziger brothers), initially as a writer of incidental music.
Popularly, he first attracted attention with his nine-note fanfare introducing The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955) (though the actual theme song was written by American Carl Sigman). This inaugurated Astley's advancement to composer of scores for A-grade feature films (The Mouse That Roared (1959), The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960), The Phantom of the Opera (1962), etc.), always preferring to work freelance, never under contract. In between writing operatic pieces and music for son et lumière performances, Astley tended to reserve his best work for television, beginning with the classic jazzy harpsichord theme for Danger Man (1960). This was followed by similarly evocative, syncopated themes for The Saint (1962), The Baron (1966), The Champions (1968) and Department S (1969) -- instantly recognizable music which all but defined television in the swinging sixties.
Britain's film industry declined in the decade which followed and Astley retired to Goring-on-Thames, a village in Oxfordshire. There, he spent his remaining years growing vegetables, building a summer house and a recording studio in his garage, boating on the Thames, playing golf and travelling. Until his death in 1998, he continued to dabble in composition, working with his son on arrangements of The Who and The Rolling Stones, as well as providing music (commissioned by such employers as Pan Am, BOAC and the British Stock Exchange) for documentaries, travelogues and educational subjects.- Hugh Millais was born on 23 December 1929 in Blackwater Valley, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor, known for McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), The Dogs of War (1980) and The Wicked Lady (1983). He was married to Anne Sheffield and Suzy Falconnel. He died on 4 July 2009 in Kirtlington, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Edwin Newman was born on 25 January 1919 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Pelican Brief (1993), My Fellow Americans (1996) and Spies Like Us (1985). He was married to Rigel Grell. He died on 13 August 2010 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.- H.H. Asquith, considered the founder of the British welfare state, was the prime minister of the United Kingdom who led the British Empire into the monumental debacle that was World War I.
The son of a cloth merchant, Henry Herbert Asquith was born in Morley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England and attended Balliol College, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. After graduation he became a barrister and was called to the bar in 1876. He married Helen Kelsall Melland, the daughter of a Manchester physician, in 1877. By the early 1880s he had become financially well-off from his law practice, enough so to consider politics (members of Parliament were not paid a real salary until the 1970s). He was first elected to Parliament in 1886, standing as the Liberal candidate for East Fife, Scotland.
His first wife gave him four sons and one daughter before dying from typhoid in 1891. He remarried in 1894, taking Margot Tennant, the daughter of Sir Charles Tennant, 1st Baronet, as his second wife. She bore several children, but only a son and daughter survived into adulthood. Asquith was called Herbert by his family, but his second wife called him Henry, and those who called him by his Christian name made the switch. However, in public he was addressed only as H.H. Asquith.
In 1892 he became Home Secretary during William Gladstone's last government (as Home Secretary Asquith signed the arrest order for Oscar Wilde, who was eventually incarcerated for lewd behavior). Three years after the Liberals went out of power in 1895, he was offered the party leadership but turned it down. After the Liberals' landslide victory in the 1906 general election, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer under Campbell Bannerman, a post in which he proved a stalwart proponent of free trade. Bannerman resigned the premiership due to illness in April 1908 and Asquith succeeded him, becoming the first member of the professional middle class to serve as Prime Minister.
His first government launched a guns-and-butter legislative programme, building up the British Navy in an arms race with Germany while introducing social welfare programmes. Asquith can be considered the father of the British welfare state, as his government introduced government pensions in 1908. The programme was fiercely resisted by the Tories, which provoked a constitutional crisis in 1909 when the Conservative majority in the House of Lords rejected the government's "People's Budget." Traditionally finance was the province of the House of Commons, and the resulting constitutional crisis forced a general election in January 1910. Though the Liberals were returned to government with a majority, their numbers in the Commons were much reduced, and the crisis continued.
King Edward VII consented to filling the House of Lords with freshly-minted Liberal peers, who would override the Lords' veto, if Asquith agreed to hold another general election, after which he would act if the impasse continued. However, Edward VII died in May 1910, before the second general election. Asquith had to use his considerable powers of persuasion to get Edward's successor, King George V, to agree to the plan. The new king was hesitant, as packing the Lords would undermine the power of the hereditary aristocracy. Before the December 1910 general election (the last held for eight years), Asquith's persuasion paid off, and George V agreed to pack the House of Lords. The Liberals won their second election of 1910, though the balance of power in the government rested with peers from Ireland, who demanded a Home Rule bill as the price of support for Asquith's third government.
The Parliament Act of 1911 circumscribed the legislative power of the House of Lords, as the upper chamber of Parliament was limited to delaying, but not defeating outright, any bill passed by the House of Commons. Asquith paid off the Irish block with the Third Irish Home Rule Bill, which achieved Royal Assent in late 1914, though implementation of the law was suspended for the duration of World War I, which the UK had become involved in due to a spider web of treaties. The Irish question remained a tinderbox, and while civil war in Ireland over the fate of Ulster was averted in 1914 by the outbreak of the war in Europe, simmering tensions would lead to the Easter Rebellion of 1916, which would prove to be one of the factors that contributed to Asquith's loss of power. The other was the war.
In May 1915 the Cabinet split over a scandal involving the dearth of munitions available at the front. Asquith ultimately was held responsible for the shortcomings in British war production. The "Shell Crisis" underscored the need for the British economy to be put on a wartime footing. Responding to the discord, Asquith formed a new government, creating a national coalition that included members of the Opposition (though an election should have been held in 1915, elections were suspended for the duration of the war). David Lloyd George, the most dynamic of the Liberal ministers from the old cabinet, was made minister of munitions.
The new coalition government did nothing to bolster Asquith's premiership. Both Liberals and Tories criticized his performance over the conduct of the war and assigned him some of the blame for the failed offensives at the Somme (in which Asquith's eldest son Raymond died) and Gallipoli (which led to the resignation of Winston Churchill, then a Liberal MP, as First Sea Lord). He was also blamed for his handling of the armed Easter Rebellion of Irish Catholics in Dublin in April 1916 and the resulting civil war. The Machiavellian Lloyd George undermined Asquith by splitting the Liberal Party into pro- and anti-Asquith factions. The result was that Asquith resigned as prime minister on December 5, 1916, and was succeeded by Lloyd George.
After resigning, Asquith continued in his post as Liberal Party leader, even after losing his seat in the 1918 elections. He returned to the House of Commons in a 1920 by-election and played a key role in helping the Labour Party form a minority in 1924, which gave Ramsay MacDonald his first--though short-lived--premiership.
The minority Labour government fell in 1924, and in the subsequent election won by the Tories, Asquith lost his seat in the Commons. He was raised to the hereditary peerage as Viscount Asquith, of Morley in the West Riding of the County of York, and Earl of Oxford and Asquith in 1925. Asquith moved over to the House of Lords and finally resigned the Liberal Party leadership in 1926. He died in 1928.
Violet Bonham Carter (maiden name Violet Asquith), Asquith's only daughter by his first wife, was a successful writer who was made a Life Peeress in her own right (she is the grandmother of Oscar-nominated actress Helena Bonham Carter). His son Cyril became a Law Lord, and two other sons married well, one being the poet Herbert Asquith. His two children by Margot were Elizabeth (later Princess Antoine Bibesco), a writer, and Anthony Asquith, a well-regarded film director.