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A Severed Head
''A Severed Head'' is a satirical, sometimes farcical 1961 novel by Iris Murdoch. It was Murdoch's fifth published novel. Primary themes include marriage, adultery, and incest within a group of civilised and educated people. Set in and around London, it depicts a power struggle between grown-up middle-class people who are lucky to be free of real problems. ''A Severed Head'' was a harbinger of the sexual revolution that was to hit Britain in the 1960s and 1970s. Plot Martin Lynch-Gibbon is a well-to-do 41-year-old wine merchant whose childless marriage to an older woman called Antonia has been one of convenience rather than love. It never occurs to him that his ongoing secret affair with Georgie, a young academic in her twenties, could be immoral. Martin is shocked when his wife tells him that she has been having an affair with Palmer Anderson, her psychoanalyst and a friend of the couple. Antonia informs Martin that she wants to divorce him and marry Anderson. Martin move ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iris Murdoch
Dame Jean Iris Murdoch ( ; 15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her first published novel, '' Under the Net'' (1954), was selected in 1998 as one of Modern Library's 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Her 1978 novel ''The Sea, the Sea'' won the Booker Prize. In 1987, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to literature. In 2008, ''The Times'' ranked Murdoch twelfth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". Her other books include '' The Bell'' (1958), '' A Severed Head'' (1961), ''The Red and the Green'' (1965), ''The Nice and the Good'' (1968), ''The Black Prince'' (1973), ''Henry and Cato'' (1976), '' The Philosopher's Pupil'' (1983), '' The Good Apprentice'' (1985), ''The Book and the Brotherhood'' (1987), '' The Message to the Planet'' (1989), and '' T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hedonism
Hedonism refers to a family of theories, all of which have in common that pleasure plays a central role in them. ''Psychological'' or ''motivational hedonism'' claims that human behavior is determined by desires to increase pleasure and to decrease pain. ''Normative'' or ''ethical hedonism'', on the other hand, is not about how we actually act but how we ought to act: we should pursue pleasure and avoid pain. ''Axiological hedonism'', which is sometimes treated as a part of ethical hedonism, is the thesis that only pleasure has intrinsic value. Applied to well-being or what is good for someone, it is the thesis that pleasure and suffering are the only components of well-being. These technical definitions of hedonism within philosophy, which are usually seen as respectable schools of thought, have to be distinguished from how the term is used in everyday language, sometimes referred to as "folk hedonism". In this sense, it has a negative connotation, linked to the egoistic pursuit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), as well as the life president of Chelsea FC. He joined the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and served in the film unit, going on several bombing raids over Europe and filming the action from the rear gunner's position. He was the older brother of broadcaster Sir David Attenborough and motor executive John Attenborough. He was married to actress Sheila Sim from 1945 until his death. As an actor, he is best remembered for his film roles in '' Brighton Rock'' (1948), ''I'm All Right Jack'' (1959), '' The Great Escape'' (1963), ''The Sand Pebbles'' (1966), ''Doctor Dolittle'' (1967), '' 10 Rillington Place'' (1971), '' Jurassic Park'' (1993), and ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1994). In 1952 he appeared on the West En ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lee Remick
Lee Ann Remick (December 14, 1935 – July 2, 1991) was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film ''Days of Wine and Roses (film), Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962), and for the 1966 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her Broadway theatre performance in ''Wait Until Dark''. Remick made her film debut in ''A Face in the Crowd (film), A Face in the Crowd'' (1957). Her other notable film roles include ''Anatomy of a Murder'' (1959), ''Wild River (film), Wild River'' (1960), ''No Way to Treat a Lady (film), No Way to Treat a Lady'' (1968), ''The Detective (1968 film), The Detective'' (1968), ''The Omen'' (1976), and ''The Europeans (1979 film), The Europeans'' (1979). She won Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama, Golden Globe Awards for the TV film ''The Blue Knight (film), The Blue Knight'' (1973), and for playing the title role in the miniseries ''Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claire Bloom
Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles in plays such as ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' ''A Doll's House'', and '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', and has starred in nearly sixty films. After a childhood spent in England (and in the US for two-and-a-half years during the Second World War), Bloom studied drama in London. She debuted on the London stage when she was sixteen and took roles in various Shakespeare plays. They included ''Hamlet,'' in which she played Ophelia alongside Richard Burton. For her Juliet in ''Romeo and Juliet'', critic Kenneth Tynan stated it was "the best Juliet I've ever seen". After she starred as Blanche DuBois in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'', its playwright, Tennessee Williams, stated, "I declare myself absolutely wild about Claire Bloom". In 1952, Bloom was cast by Hollywood film star Charlie Chaplin to co-star alongside him in ''Limelight''. During her film career, she has starred alongsi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Severed Head (film)
''A Severed Head'' is a 1970 British comedy-drama film directed by Dick Clement, and starring Claire Bloom, Lee Remick, Richard Attenborough, and Ian Holm. It is based on the 1961 A Severed Head, novel of the same name by Iris Murdoch. Opening credits The highly unique credits features accurate dolls of each cast member in turn, rotating against a black background. Plot The story is set in and around London. Antonia is the pampered wife of an upper class wine merchant Martin Lynch-Gibbon. She tells her husband that she is in love with their best friend psychiatrist Palmer Anderson. Palmer and Antonia wish to deal with the situation in a civilized manner by remaining friends with Martin. Meanwhile, Martin tries to keep his mistress, Georgie Hands, a secret. Palmer's sister Honor Klein is met at a railway station by Martin instead of Palmer. Honor, who once taught Georgie at Oxford University, tells Palmer and Antonia about the affair between her former student and Martin. Hon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter (January 31, 1941 – March 24, 2021) was an American actress who appeared in over 170 film, stage and television productions. In film, she was best known for her role as a psychotic and obsessed fan of a local disc jockey in the 1971 Clint Eastwood film, ''Play Misty for Me''. On television, she was most recently known for her role of Lucille Bluth on the sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–06, 2013–19), and providing the voice of Malory Archer on the FX animated series ''Archer'' (2009–21). Walter received various awards over the course of her television career including a Primetime Emmy Award for ''Amy Prentiss'' (1975). She also received two Golden Globe Award nominations and three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. For her starring role opposite Eastwood in ''Play Misty for Me'', Walter received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. After studying acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Thea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robin Bailey
William Henry Mettam "Robin" Bailey (5 October 1919 – 14 January 1999) was an English actor. He was born in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. Often cast in upper class and tradition-bound roles such as Mr Justice Graves in Thames Television's ''Rumpole of the Bailey'', Bailey is also known for his portrayal of Uncle Mort in '' I Didn't Know You Cared'', the BBC's adaptation of Peter Tinniswood's stories about an extended Yorkshire family. The television series ran from 1975 to 1979. Bailey continued to play Uncle Mort in a series of radio programmes. Bailey also collaborated with Tinniswood on the television and radio series ''Tales from a Long Room'', playing the Brigadier, an eccentric cricket-lover with a fund of extraordinary tales about the game and its players. Early life and education Bailey was born at Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, the son of china and glass merchant George Henry Bailey and Thirza Ann (née Mettam). He was educated at the Henry Mellish Grammar School, Nottin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheila Burrell
Sheila Mary Burrell (9 May 1922 – 19 July 2011) was a British actress. A cousin of Laurence Olivier, she was born in Blackheath, London, the daughter of a salesman. She attended St John's, Bexhill-on-Sea and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, London. Her first marriage to actor Laurence Payne was dissolved and she then married David Sim, a portrait and theatre photographer. She is primarily remembered in the United States for her performance as Lady Rochford in three episodes of the television series Six Wives of Henry VIII. Theatre career Burrell made her first appearance on the stage in 1942, playing Patsy in ''The Patsy'', entertaining the troops, and made her first appearance in London at the Prince of Wales Theatre on 20 April 1944, as Rose in '' The Rest Is Silence''. Subsequent theatre credits include: *Chanticleer, June 1944, Sonja in ''Happily Ever After?'' *Liverpool, 1944, Katherine in ''The Taming of the Shrew'' *Arts, October 1944, Judy in '' The Bread-W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royale Theatre
The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (formerly the Royale Theatre and the John Golden Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 242 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in a Spanish style and was built for real-estate developer Irwin S. Chanin. It has 1,100 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks. The facade is designed in a Spanish style with golden brick, terracotta, and stone and is divided into two sections. The western portion of the facade contains the theater's entrance, with five double-height arched windows and a curved pediment above. The eastern portion is the stage house and is topped by a loggia. The auditorium contains Spanish-style detailing, a large balcony, and an expansive vaulted ceiling. The auditorium's interior features murals by Willy Pogany as w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Criterion Theatre
The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a seating capacity of 588. Building the theatre In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began development of the site of the White Bear, a seventeenth-century posting inn. The inn was located on sloping ground stretching between Jermyn Street and Piccadilly Circus, known as Regent Circus. A competition was held for the design of a concert hall complex, with Thomas Verity winning out of 15 entries. He was commissioned to design a large restaurant, dining rooms, ballroom, and galleried concert hall in the basement. The frontage, which was the façade of the restaurant, showed a French Renaissance influence using Portland stone. After the building work began, it was decided to change the concert hall into a theatre. The composers' names, which line the tiled staircases, were retained and can still be seen. The redesign placed the large Criterio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bristol Old Vic
Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a financially independent organisation in the 1990s. Bristol Old Vic runs a Young Company for those aged 7–25. The Theatre Royal, the oldest continually-operating theatre in the English-speaking world, was built between 1764 and 1766 on King Street in Bristol. The Coopers' Hall, built 1743–44, was incorporated as the theatre's foyer during 1970–72. Together, they are designated a Grade I listed building by Historic England. Daniel Day-Lewis called it "the most beautiful theatre in England." In 2012, the theatre complex completed the first phase of a £19 million refurbishment, increasing the seating capacity and providing up to ten flexible performance spaces. Besides the main Theatre Royal auditorium, the complex includes the Studio th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
