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Ben Travers
Ben Travers (12 November 188618 December 1980) was an English writer. His output includes more than 20 plays, 30 screenplays, 5 novels, and 3 volumes of memoirs. He is best remembered for his long-running Aldwych farce, series of farces first staged in the 1920s and 1930s at the Aldwych Theatre. Many of these were made into films and later television productions. After working for some years in his family's wholesale grocery business, which he detested, Travers was given a job by the publisher John Lane (publisher), John Lane in 1911. After service as a pilot in the First World War, he began to write novels and plays. He turned his 1921 novel, ''The Dippers'', into a play that was first produced in the West End theatre, West End in 1922. His big break came in 1925, when the actor-manager Tom Walls bought the performing rights to his play ''A Cuckoo in the Nest'', which ran for more than a year at the Aldwych. He followed this success with eight more farces for Walls and his te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
The Air Force Cross (AFC) is a military decoration awarded to officers, and since 1993 other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, and formerly also to officers of the other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. It is granted for "an act or acts of exemplary gallantry while flying, though not in active operations against the enemy". A Medal bar, bar is added to the ribbon for holders who are awarded a further AFC. History The award was established on 3 June 1918, shortly after the formation of the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was originally awarded to RAF commissioned officers and Warrant Officers, but was later expanded to include Royal Navy and army aviation officers. While consistently awarded for service while "flying though not in active operations against the enemy", the AFC was originally awarded for "valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying" with many awards made for meritorious service over a period of time, rather than a specific act of bravery. These ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beckenham
Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and Eden Park, east of Penge, south of Lower Sydenham and Bellingham, and west of Bromley and Shortlands. Its population at the 2011 census counted 46,844 inhabitants. Beckenham was, until the coming of the railway in 1857, a small village, with most of its land being rural and private parkland. John Barwell Cator and his family began the leasing and selling of land for the building of villas which led to a rapid increase in population, between 1850 and 1900, from 2,000 to 26,000. Housing and population growth has continued at a lesser pace since 1900. The town, directly west of Bromley, has areas of commerce and industry, principally around the curved network of streets featuring its high street and is served in transport by three main railw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cannon Street
Cannon Street is a road in the City of London, the historic nucleus of London and its modern financial centre. It runs roughly parallel with the River Thames, about north of it, in the south of the City. It is the site of the ancient London Stone and gave its name to Cannon Street station, a mainline railway terminus and connected London Underground station. Etymology The area around Cannon Street was initially the place of residence of the candle-makers. The name first appears as ''Candelwrichstrete'' (i.e. "Candlewright Street") in 1190.Loius Zettersten, "City Street Names", (1926) The name was shortened over 60 times as a result of the local cockney dialect and settled on Cannon Street in the 17th century,Smith, A., ''Dictionary of City of London Street Names'', (1970), David & Charles and is therefore not related to the firearms. A Cannon Street in Birmingham, according to the archives of Birmingham Central Library, is named after the London street. Overview In the west ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Business Is Business
''Business is business'' (french: :fr:Les affaires sont les affaires, Les affaires sont les affaires) is a French comedy in three acts, by the novelist and playwright Octave Mirbeau, performed in April 1903 on the stage of Comédie-Française, in Paris, and worldwide acclaimed, especially in Russia, Germany and United States. An English-language adaption by Sydney Grundy was produced in London in 1905. An English translation, by Richard J. Hand, was published by Intellect Books in ''Two Plays: "Business is Business" and "Charity"'', January 2012, 147 pages (). Comedy of manners The work is a classical comedy of manners with characters, in the tradition of Molière, in which Mirbeau criticizes the French society of the Third Republic and the world of business as a legal kind of gangsterism. When the play was presented in Paris during the 1994-5 season (400 performances), it was commented that business and scandals are no different today than they were 100 years ago. Main charact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucien Guitry
Lucien Germain Guitry (13 December 1860 – 1 June 1925) was a French actor. Life In 1885, while living in Saint Petersburg, Guitry appeared at the French (or Mikhaylovsky) Theatre. His son, the future actor, writer and director Sacha Guitry, was born in Saint Petersburg and named in honour of Tsar Alexander III. Lucien met the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his brother Modest, and became good friends with them.Alexander Poznansky, ''Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man'', p. 452 It was at Guitry's instigation that Tchaikovsky wrote both his ''Hamlet'' Overture-Fantasy (Op. 67a) in 1888, and the Incidental Music to the Shakespeare play (Op. 67b) in 1891, for which he reused the overture-fantasy in shortened form as the overture. He became prominent on the French stage at the Renaissance theatre ('' Les Mauvais bergers'', by Octave Mirbeau), in 1897, then at Porte Saint-Martin theatre in 1900, and the Variétés in 1901. He was a member of the Comédie-Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Tosca
''La Tosca'' is a five-Act (drama), act drama by the Nineteenth-century theatre, 19th-century Theatre of France, French playwright Victorien Sardou. It was first performed on 24 November 1887 at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin in Paris, with Sarah Bernhardt in the title role. Despite negative reviews from the Paris critics at the opening night, it became one of Sardou's most successful plays and was toured by Bernhardt throughout the world in the years following its premiere. The play itself had dropped from the standard theatrical repertoire by the mid-1920s, but its operatic adaptation, Giacomo Puccini's ''Tosca'', has achieved enduring popularity. There have been several other adaptations of the play including two for the Japanese theatre and an English Victorian burlesque, burlesque, ''Tra-La-La Tosca'' (all of which premiered in the 1890s) as well as several film versions. ''La Tosca'' is set in Rome on 17 June 1800 following the French victory in the Battle of Mareng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including '' La Dame Aux Camelias'' by Alexandre Dumas ''fils''; ''Ruy Blas'' by Victor Hugo, ''Fédora'' and ''La Tosca'' by Victorien Sardou, and '' L'Aiglon'' by Edmond Rostand. She also played male roles, including Shakespeare's Hamlet. Rostand called her "the queen of the pose and the princess of the gesture", while Hugo praised her "golden voice". She made several theatrical tours around the world, and was one of the first prominent actresses to make sound recordings and to act in motion pictures. She is also linked with the success of artist Alphonse Mucha, whose work she helped to publicize. Mucha would become one of the most sought-after artists of this period for his Art Nouveau style. Biography Early life Henriette-Rosine Bernard was born at 5 rue de L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth largest by area (after Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne), and the third most populous city in the area of former East Germany, after Berlin and Leipzig. Dresden's urban area comprises the towns of Freital, Pirna, Radebeul, Meissen, Coswig, Radeberg and Heidenau and has around 790,000 inhabitants. The Dresden metropolitan area has approximately 1.34 million inhabitants. Dresden is the second largest city on the River Elbe after Hamburg. Most of the city's population lives in the Elbe Valley, but a large, albeit very sparsely populated area of the city east of the Elbe lies in the West Lusatian Hill Country and Uplands (the westernmost part of the Sudetes) and thus in Lusatia. Many boroughs west of the Elbe lie in the foreland of the Ore Mounta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ranjitsinhji
Colonel H. H. Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II, Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, (10 September 1872 – 2 April 1933), often known as Ranji or K. S. Ranjitsinhji, was the ruler of the Indian princely state of Nawanagar from 1907 to 1933, as Maharaja Jam Saheb, and a noted Test cricketer who played for the English cricket team. He also played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, and county cricket for Sussex. Ranji has widely been regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of his era. Neville Cardus described him as "the Midsummer night's dream of cricket". Unorthodox in technique and with fast reactions, he brought a new style to batting and revolutionised the game. Previously, batsmen had generally pushed forward; Ranji took advantage of the improving quality of pitches in his era and played more on the back foot, both in defence and attack. He is particularly associated with one shot, the leg glance, which he invented or popularised. The first-class cricket tournament ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley Jackson
Sir Francis Stanley Jackson Jackson's obituary in the 1948 ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack''. This gives his full name as ''Francis'' Stanley Jackson, whereas Cricinfo and CricketArchive both give his full name as ''Frank'' Stanley Jackson. This article uses the name given by ''Wisden''. (21 November 1870 – 9 March 1947), known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. He played in 20 test cricket, Test matches for the England cricket team between 1893 and 1905. Early life Jackson was born in Leeds. His father was William Jackson, 1st Baron Allerton. During Stanley's time at Harrow School his fagging, fag was fellow parliamentarian and future Prime Minister Winston Churchill. He went up to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1889. Cricket career Jackson played for Cambridge University Cricket Club, Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire and Engl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
W G Grace
William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equalling 44 seasons, from 1865 to 1908, during which he captained England, Gloucestershire, the Gentlemen, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the United South of England Eleven (USEE), and several other teams. Right-handed as both batsman and bowler, Grace dominated the sport during his career. His technical innovations and enormous influence left a lasting legacy. An outstanding all-rounder, he excelled at all the essential skills of batting, bowling and fielding, but it is for his batting that he is most renowned. He is held to have invented modern batsmanship. Usually opening the innings, he was particularly admired for his mastery of all strokes, and his level of expertise was said by contemporary reviewers to be unique. He generally cap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
