Caractacus Pott
Caractacus Pott (Caractacus Potts in the film adaptation) is one of the main characters in Ian Fleming's novel ''Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang'' and its film adaptation. The film version of the story makes several changes to his character. Caractacus Pott of the book In the original 1964 book, ''Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car'', Pott is a Royal Navy Commander and eccentric inventor who lives with his wife Mimsie and their twin eight-year-old children, Jeremy and Jemima, on their hilltop farm. He and his family are mentioned in the sequel books before appearing in the final one: ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: Over the Moon'', where they assist the Tooting family in stopping Tiny Jack. Caractacus Potts of the film The filmmakers, including screenwriter Roald Dahl, altered many of the book's details for the 1968 film musical version of ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'', in which Caractacus is portrayed by Dick Van Dyke. The name Pott was changed to Potts and the character of Mimsie was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 musical-fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes with a screenplay co-written by Roald Dahl and Hughes, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel '' Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car'' (1964). The film stars Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Adrian Hall, Heather Ripley, Lionel Jeffries, Benny Hill, James Robertson Justice, Robert Helpmann, Barbara Windsor and Gert Fröbe. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli. John Stears supervised the special effects. Irwin Kostal supervised and conducted the music, while the musical numbers, written by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman, were staged by Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood. The song "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" was nominated for an Academy Award. Plot The film opens with a sequence of European Grand Prix races won by the same car over an instrumental version of the main theme (" Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"), concluding with the eponymous car crashing and burning in 1909. Years later, widowed invent ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Jason Donovan
Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records. His debut album ''Ten Good Reasons'' was the highest-selling album in the UK in 1989, with sales of over 1.5 million. He has had four UK No. 1 singles, one of which was "Especially for You", his 1988 duet with fellow ''Neighbours'' co-star Kylie Minogue. He has also appeared in several stage musicals, most prominently in the lead role of ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' in the early 1990s. Early life Jason Donovan was born on 1 June 1968 in the Melbourne suburb Malvern, Victoria. He is the son of Australian actress Sue McIntosh (née Menlove) and British-born veteran stage and television actor Terence Donovan (who also appeared in ''Neighbours'') who has English and Irish heritage. Following his parents ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
David Hobson (tenor)
David Hobson (born 18 November 1960) is an Australian opera tenor and composer. Career Born in Ballarat, Australia, Hobson sang with church and school choirs and local music groups as a child, but he was still vocally untrained when he performed as lead singer and bass guitarist with rock bands while studying at the University of Melbourne. However, despite the lack of a demonstration tape of ''Macbeth'' (see below) he was invited to join the Victoria State Opera, understudying the role of Frederic in the VSO's Joseph Papp (Broadway) version of ''The Pirates of Penzance'' in 1986. This led to his becoming a member of the company's Young Artists Programme, and making his debut as Rodolfo in a Victorian country tour production of ''La bohème'' in 1987. In 1988 he made his debut with The Australian Opera (now Opera Australia) when he created the role of Lawrence in the world premiere of Brian Howard's opera ''Whitsunday''. He is the composer of ''Macbeth'' (a 1985 music theatre ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Raúl Esparza
Raúl Eduardo Esparza (born October 24, 1970) is an American stage, screen, and voice actor. Considered one of Broadway's leading men since the 2000s, he is best known for his Tony Award-nominated performance as Bobby in the 2006 Broadway revival of ''Company'' and for his television role as New York Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Rafael Barba in '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', where he had a recurring role in Season 14 and was promoted to a series regular in Seasons 15 to 19. He made his Broadway debut in 2000 as Riff Raff in the revival of ''The Rocky Horror Show.'' Subsequently, he starred as Jonathan in the original Off-Broadway production of '' Tick, Tick... Boom!'' and Caractacus Potts in the original Broadway production of ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' in 2005. He received Tony nominations for his roles as Philip Salon in the Boy George musical ''Taboo'' in 2004; Bobby in the musical comedy ''Company'' in 2006; Lenny in Harold Pinter's play ''The Homecoming'' in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Lee Mead
Lee Stephen Mead (born 14 July 1981) is an English musical theatre, television actor and occasional singer, best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of '' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' through the BBC TV casting show '' Any Dream Will Do''. As well as subsequent West End roles in ''Wicked, Legally Blonde: The Musical'' and The West End Men, Mead has pursued a music career, releasing four solo albums and undertaking concert tours in the UK and Japan. In 2014, he joined the cast of the BBC One drama ''Casualty'', playing the role of Ben 'Lofty' Chiltern, while continuing to tour the UK with his band between filming commitments. He returned to the stage in May 2016 as Caractacus Potts in the UK Tour of '' Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''. In 2017, he returned to the role of Lofty, but in Casualty's sister series, the BBC One drama ''Holby City''. On 9 November 2019 Lee sang Morning Has Broken at the Annual Remembrance Day celebration service ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Jason Manford
Jason John Manford (born 26 May 1981) is an English comedian, presenter, actor and singer. Manford was a team captain on the Channel 4 panel show ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' from 2007 until 2010 and has presented numerous television shows for the BBC and ITV including ''Comedy Rocks'' (2010–2011), ''The One Show'' (2010), ''Show Me the Funny'' (2011), '' A Question of Sport: Super Saturday'' (2014), ''Bigheads'' (2017) "Starstruck" (2022) and '' Children In Need'' (2022) Manford has starred in numerous stage musicals in the West End and across the UK such as ''Sweeney Todd'', ''The Producers'', ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'', ''Guys and Dolls'' and ''Curtains''. Early life Jason John Manford was born in Salford on 26 May 1981, the son of Sharon (née Ryan) and courtroom stenographer and trade union Shop Steward in the NHS Ian Manford. His maternal grandmother, Nora (née Peate), was an Irish Catholic from Dublin.Interview, ''The Graham Norton Show'', 28 June 2010. Manford and his f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Jon Robyns
Jon Robyns (born 8 December 1982) is a British stage actor, who is best known for playing the roles of Princeton and Rod in Avenue Q the musical and Jean Valjean in Les Misérables in London's West End. Early life Robyns was born in Manchester and grew up in Liverpool, England. Moving to Bristol at the age of 10 he became involved with several local theatre and youth music groups. Performing in such varied shows as Purcell's ''Dido and Aeneas'' and Handel's ''Messiah'' to Kander and Ebb's classic musical Cabaret. He worked on new material with Playbox Theatre Company performing NEWS and performed two new operas with MusicBox Youth Opera; Fox at the manger and Brundibar. In 1999 Robyns moved to Cardiff becoming involved with Welsh National Youth Opera. With WNYO he performed ''The Beggar's Opera'', ''The Elixir of Love'' and ''Dido and Aeneas'' (again). Robyns was also part of Black Mountain Male Voice Choir – the official Choir of the 1999 Rugby World Cup, singing at Wales g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Darren Bennett (actor) (born 1977), professional Latin ballroom dancer
{{hndis, Bennett, Darren ...
Darren Bennett may refer to: *Darren Bennett (football player) (born 1965), former Australian rules football player and American football punter in the NFL *Darren Bennett (dancer) Darren Lee Bennett (born 14 February 1977) is an English professional dancer. With his wife Lilia Kopylova he has a successful career in professional Latin dancing, competing nationally and internationally. Darren's favourite dances are the Sam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Aled Jones
Aled Jones, (born 29 December 1970) is a Welsh singer and radio and television presenter. As a teenage chorister, he reached widespread fame during the mid-1980s. Since then he has worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and radio (for Classic FM). In September 2012, Jones joined ITV Breakfast where he presented '' Daybreak'' (2012–2014), alongside Lorraine Kelly and Kate Garraway. For the BBC, he has presented '' Songs of Praise'' (2004–), ''Cash in the Attic'' (2010–2012), ''Escape to the Country'' (2010–2013) and ''Going Back Giving Back'' (2016–present). Early singing career Jones was born in St. David's Hospital in Bangor, Caernarfonshire, the only child of Nest Rowlands, a teacher, and Derek John Jones, a draughtsman for a shipbuilder. He was raised in the small Welsh-speaking community of Llandegfan on Anglesey, and attended Ysgol David Hughes (a secondary school). Jones joined the choir of Bangor Cathedral at age nine and was lead soloist within two ye ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Matt Baker (presenter)
Matthew James Baker (born 23 December 1977) is a British television presenter. He co-presented the children's television show ''Blue Peter'' from 1999 until 2006, BBC One's ''Countryfile'' since 2009 and ''The One Show'' from 2011 to 2020, with Alex Jones. Early life Baker was born on 23 December 1977 at Easington in County Durham where his father ran a newsagent's shop, and his parents had a smallholding in the village. He has one sister and two half-sisters. Matt attended Easington Village School, then, when he was aged 10, his parents bought a farm west of Durham, which they moved into and renovated. From the age of 5 Baker was a keen dancer and began competing as a gymnast whilst at school. He continued his education at Belmont Comprehensive School in Durham and was a budding gymnast, but was forced to give up after being diagnosed with anaemia aged 14. He took A-levels in Drama, Biology and Sports Science at Durham Sixth Form Centre. In the late 1990s, as a drama stude ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Kevin Kennedy (actor)
Kevin Kennedy (born Kevin Patrick Williams, 4 September 1961) is an English actor and musician, best known for playing the character Curly Watts for 20 years in ITV's long-running television soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Early life Kennedy was born in Wythenshawe, Manchester. He attended St. Paul's Catholic High School and was a keen member of Manchester Youth Theatre. Kennedy later studied drama at Manchester Polytechnic. Career Kennedy was in the band the ''Paris Valentinos'' with Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke. Between 1983 and 2003, Kennedy played the character of Norman "Curly" Watts in the TV soap ''Coronation Street''. Among other jobs, the character started as a paperboy, then became a dustman, and was later an assistant manager at a supermarket. The character had two marriages, producing two children; one from each wife. After a short break from acting whilst recovering from an alcohol addiction in 2000, he released a single, "Bulldog Nation", with his band the Bun ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Craig McLachlan
Craig Dougall McLachlan (born 1 September 1965) is an Australian actor, musician, singer and composer. He has been involved in film, television, the music industry and music theatre for over 30 years. He is best known for appearing in the soap operas ''Neighbours'' and ''Home and Away'' and the BBC One spy drama '' Bugs''. He has portrayed the title character in ''The Doctor Blake Mysteries'', for which he was nominated for the Logie Award for Most Popular Actor; he has previously won the award in this category three times. Career Television Craig McLachlan first appeared on Australian television in a guest role on ''The Young Doctors''. He was cast as Henry Ramsay, brother of Kylie Minogue's character Charlene, in Channel 10's ''Neighbours''. After appearing in more than 800 episodes and winning the Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television (1990) and Silver Logie, he was contracted to Seven Network's ''Home and Away'', playing schoolteacher Gra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |