|
An Alligator Named Daisy
''An Alligator Named Daisy'' is a 1955 British comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Donald Sinden, Jeannie Carson, James Robertson Justice, Diana Dors, Roland Culver and Stanley Holloway. Plot Returning from a cricket match in Ireland, Peter Weston (Sinden), an Englishman, is left with a pet alligator by another passenger who abandons it to him. Horrified, his first instinct is to get rid of it as soon as possible. However, he soon develops a bond with Moira (Carson), a young Irishwoman, which appears to be centred almost entirely around the animal. He soon discovers that Daisy is very tame and domesticated, and seems to be the way to Moira's heart. Once back in London, Weston struggles to keep Daisy under control – as she upsets his family, loses him his job at a department store and imperils his relationship with his fiancée Vanessa (Dors). He plans to get rid of Daisy, but the police and a pet shop refuse to take her so he abandons her in Regent's Park, late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Davies (screenwriter)
John Bernard Henry Leslie Davies (25 November 1913 – 22 June 1994) was an English screenwriter with 49 writing credits to his name as well as the 12 episodes of ''The Pickwick Papers'' 1985 TV series. He was an associate producer for two of those credits, ''Crooks Anonymous'' and ''Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines'', receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay on the latter. He was an assistant editor for the television film ''Dracula'' in 1974, and also an editor for ''Sheba, Baby'' in 1975. Three of his films were also books he wrote or co-wrote: ''Monte Carlo or Bust!'', ''Paper Tiger'', and ''North Sea Hijack''. Personal life Davies was married to Dorothy Holding from 12 June 1937 until his death on 22 June 1994. They had two children, John Howard Davies and his younger brother Legh. Filmography (As writer, except where indicated.) Films * ''Love at Second Sight'' (also known as ''The Girl Thief'') (1934) * '' Mister Cinders'' (uncredited) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Wattis
Richard Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, the elder of two sons born to Cameron Tom Wattis and Margaret Janet, née Preston. He attended King Edward's School and Bromsgrove School, after which he worked for the electrical engineering firm William Sanders & Co (Wednesbury) Ltd. His uncle, William Preston (1874–1941), was the managing director and was the Conservative MP for Walsall from 1924 to 1929. Career After leaving the family business, Wattis became an actor. His debut was with Croydon Repertory Theatre, and he made many stage appearances in the West End in London. His first appearance in a film was ''A Yank at Oxford'' (1938), but war service interrupted his career as an actor. He served as a second lieutenant in the Small Arms Section of Special Operations Executive at S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Janette Scott
Thora Janette Scott (born 14 December 1938) is an English retired actress. Life and career Scott was born on 14 December 1938 in Morecambe, Lancashire, England. She is the daughter of actors Jimmy Scott and Thora Hird and began her acting career as a child actress known as Janette Scott. Scott was briefly (along with Jennifer Gay) one of the so-called "Children's Announcers" providing continuity links for the BBC's children's TV programmes from the Lime Grove Studios in the early 1950s. She became a popular leading lady; one of her better known roles as April Smith in the film ''School for Scoundrels'' (1960), based on the "one-upmanship" books by Stephen Potter, in which Ian Carmichael and Terry-Thomas competed for her attention. Some scenes for ''School for Scoundrels'' were shot at a private members club before its current incarnation as a hotel. The hotel hosted a screening in 2016 with Janette Scott attending and answering questions about filming ''School for Scoundrels ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Woodbridge (actor)
George Authur Woodbridge (16 February 1907 – 31 March 1973) was an English actor who appeared in films, television, and theatre ranging from the 1930s to the 1970s. George became well known for his ruddy-cheeked complexion and West Country accent, this meant he often played publicans, policemen or yokels, most prominently in horror and comedy films alongside Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Personal life Woodbridge was born in Exeter, England,McFarlane, Brian (28 February 2014). ''The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition''. Oxford University Press. p. 839; where he was raised and lived most of his life. He died in London in 1973. Career Woodbridge became a Chief Steward in the Merchant Navy before becoming an actor, first appearing on the London stage in 1928. He made his film debut in 1940 in ''The Big Blockade'', he went on to appear in films such as ''Green for Danger'' (1946), '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), '' The Queen of Spades'' (1949), '' Stryker of the Yard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Death Index: 1916–2005 and Edith Florence Howard (née Morrison, 1888–1962), at the City Hospital in York, England, in 1917 (not 1922 as he later claimed). His mother worked at the Rowntree's chocolate factory. For his first two and a half years, Howerd lived in a terraced house at 53, Hartoft Street. He described it as "a poorish area of the city near the River Ouse". He later said he had only one memory of living in York and that was of falling down the stairs, an experience which left him with a life-long dread of heights. He returned to York on many occasions for family holidays, however, and later in life spoke of his fondness for the city. His family moved to Eltham, London when he was a young child, and he was educated at Shooter' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Edwards
James Keith O'Neill Edwards, DFC (23 March 19207 July 1988) was an English comedy writer and actor on radio and television, best known as Pa Glum in ''Take It from Here'' and as headmaster "Professor" James Edwards in ''Whack-O!''. Early life Edwards was born in Barnes, Surrey, the son of a professor of mathematics. He had four brothers and four sisters. He was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, at King's College School in Wimbledon and as a choral scholar at St John's College, Cambridge, where he sang in the college choir. Second World War Edwards served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, was commissioned in April 1942, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and ended the war as a flight lieutenant. He served with No. 271 Squadron RAF, based in Doncaster, who took part in the D-Day landings. His Dakota was shot down at Arnhem in 1944, resulting in facial injuries requiring plastic surgery, that he disguised with a large handlebar moustache that b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Hickson
Joan Bogle Hickson, OBE (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series ''Miss Marple''. She also narrated a number of ''Miss Marple'' stories on audiobooks. Biography Born in Kingsthorpe, Northampton, Hickson was a daughter of Edith Mary (née Bogle) and Alfred Harold Hickson, a shoe manufacturer. After boarding at Oldfield School in Swanage, Dorset, she went on to train at RADA in London. She made her stage debut in 1927, then worked for several years throughout the United Kingdom, achieving success playing comedic, often eccentric characters in the West End of London. She played the role of the cockney maid Ida in the original production of '' See How They Run'' at the Q Theatre in 1944, and then at the Comedy Theatre in January 1945. She made her first film appearance in 1934. The numerous supporting roles she played during her career included s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margaret Rutherford
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford, (11 May 1892 – 22 May 1972) was an English actress of stage, television and film. She came to national attention following World War II in the film adaptations of Noël Coward's '' Blithe Spirit'', and Oscar Wilde's ''The Importance of Being Earnest''. She won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her role as the Duchess of Brighton in '' The V.I.P.s'' (1963). In the early 1960s, she starred as Agatha Christie's character Miss Marple in a series of four George Pollock films. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1961 and a Dame Commander (DBE) in 1967. Early life Rutherford's early life was overshadowed by tragedies involving both of her parents. Her father, journalist and poet William Rutherford Benn, married Florence Nicholson on 16 December 1882 in Wandsworth, South London. One month after the marriage, he suffered a nervous breakdown and was admitted to Bethnal House Lunatic Asylum. Released ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Moon
George Moon (19 March 1909 – 17 December 1981) was an English Theatre, stage, film actor, film and television actor. During the late 1950s he appeared as Ginger Smart in the television series ''Shadow Squad'' and its sequel ''Skyport''. Moon's largest television role came in 1977 when he played Tipping the butler in the short lived television series Lord Tramp alongside Hugh Lloyd and Joan Sims. His daughter is the actress Georgina Moon. Selected filmography * ''Diggers (1931 film), Diggers'' (1931) - Joe Mulga * ''A Co-respondent's Course'' (1931) * ''Diggers in Blighty'' (1933) - Joe Mulga * ''Lightning Conductor (film), Lightning Conductor'' (1938) - George * ''Me and My Pal (1939 film), Me and My Pal'' (1939) - Hal Thommson * ''Time Flies (1944 film), Time Flies'' (1944) - Bill Barton * ''What Do We Do Now?'' (1945) - Wesley - (with Leslie Fuller) * ''An Alligator Named Daisy'' (1955) - Al * ''It's a Wonderful World (1956 film), It's a Wonderful World'' (1956) - Ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Victor
Charles Victor (10 February 1896 – 23 December 1965) was a British actor who appeared in many film and television roles between 1931 and 1965. He was born Charles Victor Harvey. Born in Southport, Lancashire, England, Victor was a fourth-generation English music hall entertainer. He left school when he was 15 to team with his father in a song-and-dance act for five years. After leaving that act, he briefly worked with his brother in an automobile agency before going into English musical comedy. In 1929, he joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, which was headed by Barry Jackson, and stayed with it for 10 years. Victor appeared in just over 100 films between 1938 and 1966. The size and importance of his roles varied greatly. For example, in 1957 he played the lead role, with top billing, in the comedy ''There's Always a Thursday'', whilst in the same year he had a bit part in the biopic '' After the Ball''. Late in life, Victor toured internationally in the role of Al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilfrid Lawson (actor)
Wilfrid Lawson (born Wilfrid Lawson Worsnop; 14 January 1900 – 10 October 1966) was an English character actor of screen and stage. Life and career Lawson was born Wilfrid Lawson Worsnop in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire. He was educated at Hanson Boys' Grammar School, Bradford, and entered the theatre in his late teens, appearing on both the British and American stage throughout his career. He made his film début in ''East Lynne on the Western Front'' (1931) and appeared in supporting roles until he took the lead in ''The Terror'' (1938). In arguably his most celebrated film role, he played dustman-turned-lecturer Alfred P. Doolittle in the film version of George Bernard Shaw's ''Pygmalion'' (1938), alongside Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller. He also had memorable leading roles in ''Pastor Hall'' (1940), as a German village clergyman who denounces the new Nazi regime in 1934; '' Tower of Terror'' (1941) as the wild-eyed maniacal lighthouse keeper Wolfe Kristen; and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Shepley
Arthur Michael Shepley-Smith (29 September 1907 – 28 September 1961), known professionally as Michael Shepley, was a British actor, appearing in theatre, film and some television between 1929 and 1961. He was born in Plymouth, Devon. Shepley made his screen début in the 1931 Twickenham Studios film '' Black Coffee''. He went on to appear in more than sixty films, the last of which was ''Don't Bother to Knock'' in 1961, the year of his death. Filmography * '' Black Coffee'' (1931) - Raynor * '' A Shot in the Dark'' (1933) - Vivien Waugh * '' Bella Donna'' (1934) - Dr, Baring-Hartley * '' Tangled Evidence'' (1934) - Gilbert Morfield * ''Lord Edgware Dies'' (1934) - Captain Roland Marsh * ''Are You a Mason?'' (1934) - Ernest Monison * ''The Green Pack'' (1934) - Mark Elliott * '' Open All Night'' (1934) - Hilary * '' The Rocks of Valpre'' (1935) - Trevor Mordaunt * '' Lazybones'' (1935) - Hildebrand Pope * ''The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes'' (1935) - Cecil Barker * ''The Lad' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
