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Bryan Pringle
Bryan Pringle (19 January 1935 – 15 May 2002) was an English character actor who appeared for several decades in television, film and theatre productions. Life and career Born in Glascote, Tamworth, Staffordshire, he was brought up in the Lancashire town of Bolton. After boarding at St Bees School, Cumberland, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, winning the 1954 Bancroft Gold Medal and leaving in 1955. Three years later he married character actress Anne Jameson; together they had two children. She died in 1999. Theatre work Pringle started as a member of the Old Vic company between 1955 and 1957, appearing with Coral Browne, John Neville, Claire Bloom and others in several Shakespeare plays and touring with four of them - ''Romeo and Juliet'', '' Richard II'', ''Troilus and Cressida'' and ''Macbeth'' - in the USA. He then moved to Nottingham Playhouse, where he appeared in the Willis Hall drama ''Boys It's All Hell'' and was the only cast member t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Early Bird
''The Early Bird'' is a 1965 British comedy film directed by Robert Asher (director), Robert Asher and starring Norman Wisdom. It also features Edward Chapman (actor), Edward Chapman, Bryan Pringle, Richard Vernon, John Le Mesurier and Jerry Desmonde. It was the first Norman Wisdom film to be shot in colour. The title is taken from the expression "the early bird catches the worm". Synopsis Wisdom's character works for Grimsdale's Dairy as a milkman, in competition with Consolidated Dairies, an ever-growing rival company under the management of Walter Hunter (played by Jerry Desmonde). Much of the humour centres on classic slapstick comedy, with Norman encountering various comedic escapades. These include being dragged around Mr Hunter's garden by an errant lawnmower and using the fire brigade's high pressure hosepipes to blast firemen off their ladders, after being called to a suspected fire at Consolidated Dairies' HQ. Cast * Norman Wisdom as Norman Pitkin * Edward Chapman (a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard II (play)
''The Life and Death of King Richard the Second'', commonly called ''Richard II'', is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written around 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England (ruled 1377–1399) and chronicles his downfall and the machinations of his nobles. It is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays about Richard's successors: ''Henry IV, Part 1''; '' Henry IV, Part 2''; and ''Henry V''. Although the First Folio (1623) includes the play among the histories, the earlier Quarto edition of 1597 calls it ''The tragedie of King Richard the second''. Characters * King Richard II * John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster – Richard's uncle * Duke of York – Richard's uncle * Duke of Aumerle – York's son * Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk * Queen – Richard's wife (an unnamed composite of his first wife, Anne of Bohemia, and his second, Isabella of Valois, who was still a chil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke Of York's Theatre
The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by the architect Walter Emden, it opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, and was renamed to Trafalgar Theatre in 1894. The following year, it became the Duke of York's to honour the future King George V. The theatre's opening show was comic opera ''The Wedding Eve'' by Frédéric Toulmouche. One of the earliest musical comedies, ''Go-Bang'', was a success at the theatre in 1894. In 1900, Jerome K. Jerome's ''Miss Hobbs'' was staged as well as David Belasco's ''Madame Butterfly'', which was seen by Puccini, who later turned it into the famous opera. This was also the theatre where J. M. Barrie's ''Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' debuted on 27 December 1904. Many famous British actors have appeared here, includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beverley Cross
Alan Beverley Cross (13 April 1931 – 20 March 1998) was an English playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Early life Born in London into a theatrical family, and educated at the Nautical College Pangbourne, Cross started off by writing children's plays in the 1950s. He achieved instant success with his first play, ''One More River'', which dealt with a mutiny in which a crew puts its first officer on trial for manslaughter. The play premiered in 1958 at the New Shakespeare Theatre Liverpool, starring Robert Shaw, directed by Sam Wanamaker, and in 1959, still with Robert Shaw, directed by Guy Hamilton at the Duke of York's Theatre in London. Career Cross' second play, ''Strip the Willow'', was to make a star out of his future wife, Maggie Smith, though the play never received a London production. In 1962, he translated Marc Camoletti's French farce '' Boeing Boeing'', which had a lengthy run in the West End. In 1964, he directed the play in Sydney. Another su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Hamilton
Mervyn Ian Guy Hamilton, DSC (16 September 1922 – 20 April 2016) was an English film director. He directed 22 films from the 1950s to the 1980s, including four James Bond films. Early life Hamilton was born in Paris on 16 September 1922, where his English parents were living, and attended school in England. His first exposure to the film industry came in 1938, when he was a clapperboard boy at the Victorine Studios in Nice. At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Hamilton escaped from France by the MV ''Saltersgate'', a collier bound for French North Africa; one of the other 500 refugees aboard was W. Somerset Maugham. Having travelled from Oran to Gibraltar before arriving in London, he worked in the film library at Paramount News before being commissioned in the Royal Navy; he served in the 15th Motor Torpedo Boat 718 Flotilla, a unit that ferried agents into France and brought downed British pilots back to England. During this service, he was left behind for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Theatre (London)
New Theatre or New Theater may refer to: United Kingdom * Hull New Theatre, a theatre in Kingston-upon-Hull, England * Lisle's Tennis Court, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, a former theatre known as the New Theatre in its first incarnation from 1695 * New Theatre, Cardiff, one of the main theatres in Cardiff, Wales * New Theatre Oxford, the main commercial theatre in Oxford, England * Noël Coward Theatre, London, known as the New Theatre from 1903 to 1972 * Nottingham New Theatre, the University of Nottingham's student-run theatre company and playhouse in Nottingham, England * Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, formerly the New Theatre United States New York City * Century Theatre (Central Park West) (1909–1931), formerly New Theatre * New Theatre (off-Broadway) (1964–1974) * Park Theatre (Manhattan) (1798–1848), formerly New Theatre * Theatre on Nassau Street (1732–1758) Other states * Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formerly New Theatre * Hol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Shaw (British Actor)
Robert Archibald Shaw (9 August 1927 – 28 August 1978) was an English actor, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Beginning his career in theatre, Shaw joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre after the Second World War and appeared in productions of ''Macbeth'', ''Henry VIII'', ''Cymbeline'', and other Shakespeare plays. With the Old Vic company (1951–52), he continued primarily in Shakespearean roles. In 1959 he starred in a West End production of '' The Long and the Short and the Tall''. Shaw was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his role as Henry VIII in the drama film '' A Man for All Seasons'' (1966). His other film roles included the mobster Doyle Lonnegan in ''The Sting'' (1973) and the shark hunter Quint in ''Jaws'' (1975). He also played roles in '' From Russia with Love'' (1963), ''Battle of Britain'' (1969), ''Young Winston'' (1972), '' The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'' (1974), ''Robin and Marian'' (1976), and '' Black Sunday'' and '' T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic and with the English Stage Company. In 1959 he made his West End debut in '' The Long and the Short and the Tall'', and played the title role in ''Hamlet'' in the National Theatre's first production in 1963. Excelling on the London stage, O'Toole was known for his "hellraiser" lifestyle off it. Making his film debut in 1959, O'Toole achieved international recognition playing T. E. Lawrence in ''Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962) for which he received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was nominated for this award another seven times – for playing King Henry II in both ''Becket'' (1964) and ''The Lion in Winter'' (1968), ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1969), '' The Ruling Class'' (1972), ''The Stunt Man'' (1980), ''My Fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. In 1956 it was acquired by and remains the home of the English Stage Company, which is known for its contributions to contemporary theatre and won the Europe Prize Theatrical Realities in 1999. History The first theatre The first theatre on Lower George Street, off Sloane Square, was the converted Nonconformist Ranelagh Chapel, opened as a theatre in 1870 under the name The New Chelsea Theatre. Marie Litton became its manager in 1871, hiring Walter Emden to remodel the interior, and it was renamed the Court Theatre. Several of W. S. Gilbert's early plays were staged here, including ''Randall's Thumb'', ''Creatures of Impulse'' (with music by Alberto Randegger), ''Great Expectations'' (adapted from the Dickens novel), and ''On Gu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Long And The Short And The Tall (play)
''The Long and the Short and the Tall'' is a play written by British playwright Willis Hall. Set in the Second World War, the play premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London in January 1959; it was directed by Lindsay Anderson and starred Peter O'Toole and Robert Shaw. It was Anderson's first major production for the Royal Court, transferring to London's West End in April 1959. The play's name comes from the lyrics of the 1917 song "Bless 'Em All". A film adaptation was released in 1961. Directed by Leslie Norman, it stars Laurence Harvey, Richard Harris, Richard Todd and David McCallum. A TV drama followed in 1979 which starred Michael Kitchen, Mark McManus and Richard Morant. Plot The play is set in British Malaya in 1942, during the Battle of Malaya. The characters are a patrol of British Army soldiers; the play's events take place in an abandoned hut in the middle of the Malayan jungle. Tension rises as the patrol's radio malfunctions and a Japanese soldier stumbles up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading-light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered for his 1968 film '' if....'', which won the ''Palme d'Or'' at Cannes Film Festival in 1969 and marked Malcolm McDowell's cinematic debut. He is also notable, though not a professional actor, for playing a minor role in the Academy Award-winning 1981 film ''Chariots of Fire''. McDowell produced a 2007 documentary about his experiences with Anderson, '' Never Apologize''. Early life Lindsay Gordon Anderson was born in Bangalore, South India, where his father had been stationed with the Royal Engineers, on 17 April 1923. His father Captain (later Major General) Alexander Vass Anderson was a British Army officer who had been born in North India, and his mother Estelle Bell Gasson was born in Queenstown, South Africa, the daughter of a wool merch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willis Hall
Willis Edward Hall (6 April 1929 – 7 March 2005) was an English playwright and radio, television and film writer who drew on his working-class roots in Leeds for much of his writing. Willis formed an extremely prolific partnership with his life-long friend Keith Waterhouse producing over 250 works. He wrote plays such as ''Billy Liar'', The Long and the Short and the Tall (play), ''The Long and the Short and the Tall'', and ''Celebration''; the screenplays for Whistle Down the Wind (film), ''Whistle Down the Wind'', A Kind of Loving (film), ''A Kind of Loving'' and Alfred Hitchcock's ''Torn Curtain''; and television programmes including Budgie (TV series), ''Budgie'', Worzel Gummidge (TV series), ''Worzel Gummidge'' and Minder (TV series), ''Minder''. His passion for musical theatre led to a string of hits, including ''Wind in the Willows'', The Card (musical), ''The Card'', and George Stiles (composer), George Stiles' and Anthony Drewe's ''Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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