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Buster Merryfield
Harry "Buster" Merryfield (27 November 1920England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007 – 23 June 1999) was an English actor best known for starring as Uncle Albert in the BBC comedy ''Only Fools and Horses''. Early life Merryfield was born and raised in Battersea, London, England. His father, also called Harry Merryfield, was a fitter, and his mother Lily (née Stone), was a part-time waitress. His sister Irene died when she was eight years old. He was given the name "Buster" by his grandfather, as he weighed nine pounds at birth, and it stuck throughout his entire life, not least because he refused to divulge his real name to anyone during his lifetime and it only became open knowledge after his death. He always prided himself on his fitness, following a strict fitness regime of daily press-ups and swimming sessions. In contrast to Albert's pipe-smoking and rum-drinking character, Merryfield was a teetotal non-smoker his entire life. His efforts to stay fit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uncle Albert
Albert Gladstone Trotter, better known as Uncle Albert (19 November 1920 – 2001), was a fictional character in the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', portrayed by Buster Merryfield. He was introduced during the fourth series as a replacement for the character of Grandad due to the sudden death of Lennard Pearce in 1984. Fictional character biography Albert was born on 19 November 1920 on Tobacco Road in Wapping, London, close to the Docks, where he lived with his brothers Edward, George, and Jack. Albert joined the Royal Navy in 1937, aged 17, and two years later was called to action following the outbreak of the Second World War. He spent the rest of his life recounting tales from the war. He was awarded seven medals - although this was largely because he had an extraordinarily unfortunate time. He served on seven ships that were either torpedoed or divebombed over a period of four years, including two during Peacetime. Albert undertook basic parachute training on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thames Ditton
Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred 12.2 miles (19.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross in central London. Thames Ditton is just outside Greater London but within the Greater London Urban Area as defined by the Office for National Statistics. Its clustered village centre and shopping area on a winding High Street is surrounded by housing, schools and sports areas. Its riverside faces the Thames Path and Hampton Court Palace Gardens and golf course in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its most commercial area is spread throughout its conservation area and contains restaurants, cafés, shops and businesses. Its railway station, one of two on the Hampton Court branch line, is from the riverside end of the village centre and the village of Weston Green that hived off from it in 1939. Thames Ditton joins Long Ditto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth
The Pavilion Theatre and Ballroom is a concert hall in Bournemouth. It opened in 1929 and has been redesigned several times since. History The area around Bournemouth Gardens was granted permission by the owners in 1859 to incorporate a public pleasure ground. Discussions for a fixed entertainment venue took place during the 1880s, and as part of the 1892 Bournemouth Improvement Act, the council were granted £20,000 for constructing a pavilion in the gardens, which could accommodate a municipal orchestra. These plans were continually blocked by local residents who felt that licensed premises for drinking were immoral. A fixed plan for a venue in the gardens was approved in 1908, but saw further delays and was consequently postponed until after World War I. By the 1920s, the orchestra felt that the Bournemouth Winter Gardens was no longer a suitable venue and requested a more accommodating hall be built. In 1923, a competition was held to design the concert room, chaired by E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beauty And The Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Her lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and published by French novelist Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756 in ''Magasin des enfants'' (''Children's Collection'') to produce the version most commonly retold. Later, Andrew Lang retold the story in ''Andrew Lang's Fairy Books#The Blue Fairy Book (1889), Blue Fairy Book'', a part of the ''Fairy Book'' series, in 1889. The fairy tale was influenced by Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek stories such as "Cupid and Psyche" from ''The Golden Ass'', written by Apuleius, Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis in the second century AD, and ''The Pig King'', an Italian fairytale published by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in ''The Facetious Nights of Straparola'' ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year season. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing. It employs gender-crossing actors and combines topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale.Reid-Walsh, Jacqueline. "Pantomime", ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature'', Jack Zipes (ed.), Oxford University Press (2006), Pantomime is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is encouraged and expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers. Pantomime has a long theatrical history in Western culture dating back to the era of classical theatre. It developed partly from the 16th century c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Jason
Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector Jack Frost in ''A Touch of Frost,'' Granville in ''Open All Hours'' and ''Still Open All Hours,'' and Pop Larkin in '' The Darling Buds of May'', as well as voicing Mr. Toad in ''The Wind in the Willows'', the BFG in the 1989 film and the title characters of '' Danger Mouse'' and ''Count Duckula''. His most recent appearance in the role of Del Boy was in 2014; he retired his role as Frost in 2010. He voices Captain Skipper, the uncle of Pip in the preschool focused series ''Pip Ahoy!'' In September 2006, Jason topped the poll to find TV's 50 Greatest Stars, as part of ITV's 50th anniversary celebrations. He was knighted in 2005 for services to acting and comedy. Jason has won four British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), (1988, 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Comedy Awards
The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards (1990–2014) The awards were shown live on ITV in December from 1990 to 2006, after which the broadcast of the British Comedy Awards 2007 was suspended by ITV due to allegations of irregularities and deception in the awarding of the 2005 People's Choice Award and then ongoing related investigations about the 2007 British television phone-in scandal resulting in Ofcom's subsequently fining ITV a record £5.675 million for its misuse of premium-rate telephone lines. After Michael Parkinson presented the inaugural ceremony at the London Palladium in December 1990, the majority of subsequent shows were presented by Jonathan Ross, staged at London Studios, and produced by Michael Hurll Television (MHTV), whose parent company is Unique Commu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shroud For A Nightingale
''Shroud for a Nightingale'' is a 1971 detective novel written by PD James in her Adam Dalgliesh series. Chief Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard is called in to investigate the death of two student nurses at the hospital nursing school of Nightingale House. Plot summary Student nurses Heather Pearce and Josephine Fallon have died of mysterious circumstances in the hospital nursing school of Nightingale House. As Scotland Yard’s Chief Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh uncovers sexual secrets and blackmail within the closed community of the hospital, he finds himself in mortal danger. Reception In a 1972 book review, Newgate Callandar of ''The New York Times'' wrote "James works in the old tradition. She takes all the time in the world to establish her plot, her people and her locale. False clues are liberally seeded. The author goes into the background of the characters. Some are literate in the best British tradition." Adaptation The novel was adapted as a televisi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lennard Pearce
Lennard Pearce (9 February 1915 – 15 December 1984) was an English actor who worked in theatre and television. He was perhaps best known as Grandad in the BBC television series ''Only Fools and Horses'', in which he starred from 1981 until his death in December 1984. Early life Pearce was born on February 9, 1915, in Paddington. He trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Career Theatre As a young actor in the 1930s, Pearce joined a performance tour in Germany. According to Nicholas Lyndhurst, one theatrical performance was attended by senior members of the Nazi Party. At the end of the show, party officials came backstage to congratulate the cast, and Pearce shook hands with Adolf Hitler. Lyndhurst claimed that Pearce said that he regretted not taking the opportunity to kill Hitler. During World War II, Pearce performed for the Entertainments National Service Association. In the early 1960s, he understudied for Stanley Holloway as Alfred P. Dool ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grandad (Only Fools And Horses)
Edward Kitchener "Ted" Trotter, better known simply as Grandad (9 July 1909 – 1985), is a fictional character who was one of the original leads of the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses''. He appeared in the show's first three series, played by Lennard Pearce. The character is grandfather to Del Boy and Rodney Trotter. Pearce's death in December 1984 was written into the series with the death of Grandad. His place was taken by Uncle Albert (Buster Merryfield). The character was portrayed by Phil Daniels in the prequel series ''Rock & Chips''. Backstory Born in Peckham Rye, London, in 1909, Grandad stated that his earliest memories were of watching the soldiers marching off to World War I and witnessing their return after the Armistice in 1918. He later spoke of the horror of these experiences with his description of the wartime government policy ("They promised us homes fit for heroes, they gave us heroes fit for homes!"). In 1924, after leaving school. Grandad got a job as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Citadel (1983 Miniseries)
''The Citadel'' is a 1983 BBC television adaptation written by Don Shaw from A. J. Cronin's 1937 novel ''The Citadel''. It was produced by Ken Riddington. The drama was directed by Peter Jefferies and Mike Vardy. The BBC dramatisation stars Ben Cross as Dr. Andrew Manson and Clare Higgins as Christine Manson. It was broadcast in the United States from November 1983 until January 1984 by PBS television as part of ''Masterpiece Theatre''. Cast *Ben Cross as Dr. Andrew Manson * David Gwillim as David Hope *Clare Higgins as Christine Barlow *Tenniel Evans as Dr. Page * Gareth Thomas as Dr. Philip Denny *Michael Cochrane as Freddie Hamson *Cynthia Grenville as Blodwen Page *Colin Baker as Richard Vaughan *Jane How as Mrs. Vaughan *Tim Wylton as Ben Chenkin *Don Fellows as Richard Stillman *Beryl Nesbitt as Annie Hughes * John Nettleton as Charles Ivory * Raymond Bowers as Dr. Llewellyn *Dilys Price as Mrs. Llewellyn *David Pugh as Joe Morgan *Dyfed Thomas as Dai Jenkins *Jack Walt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equus (play)
''Equus'' is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious fascination with horses. Shaffer was inspired to write ''Equus'' when he heard of a crime involving a 17-year-old who blinded six horses in a small town in Suffolk. He set out to construct a fictional account of what might have caused the incident, without knowing any of the details of the crime. The play's action is something of a detective story, involving the attempts of the child psychiatrist Dr. Martin Dysart to understand the cause of the boy's (Alan Strang) actions while wrestling with his own sense of purpose. The original stage production ran at the National Theatre in London between 1973 and 1975, directed by John Dexter. Alec McCowen played Dysart, and Peter Firth played Alan Strang. Later came the Broadway productions that starred Anthony Hopkins as Dysart (later played by Richard Burton, Leonard Nimoy, and An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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