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Dilys Laye
Dilys Laye (born Dilys Lay; 11 March 1934 – 13 February 2009) was an English actress and screenwriter, best known for her comedy roles. Early life Laye was born in Muswell Hill, London, the daughter of Edward Lay and his wife Margaret ('' née'' Hewitt). Her father left the family when she was aged eight to work as a musician in South Africa and never came back. During World War II Laye and her brother were evacuated to Devon, where they were unhappy and endured physical abuse. Laye returned home to a new stepfather and a mother who was keen to transfer her thwarted ambitions to her daughter. After education at St Dominic's Sixth Form College, Middlesex and training at the Aida Foster School, Laye made her stage debut aged 14 as a boy in a play called ''The Burning Bush'' at the New Lindsey Theatre and her film debut a year later as a younger version of Jean Kent in ''Trottie True''. Career From 1950, Laye appeared in numerous West End revues, including ''And So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carry On Camping
''Carry On Camping'' is a 1969 British comedy film, the 17th release in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Terry Scott, Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor, Bernard Bresslaw, Dilys Laye and Peter Butterworth. Plot Sid Boggle (Sid James) and his friend Bernie Lugg (Bernard Bresslaw) are partners in a plumbing business. They take their girlfriends, prudish Joan Fussey ( Joan Sims) and meek Anthea Meeks (Dilys Laye), to the cinema to see a film about a nudist camp called Paradise. Sid has the idea of the group holidaying there, reasoning that in that environment their heretofore chaste girlfriends will relax their strict moral standards. Sid easily gains Bernie's co-operation in the scheme, which they attempt to keep secret from the girls. They travel to the campsite named Paradise. After paying the membership fees to the owner, money-grabbing farmer Josh Fiddler (Peter Butterworth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Boy Friend (musical)
''The Boy Friend'' (sometimes misrepresented ''The Boyfriend'') is a musical by Sandy Wilson. Its original 1954 London production ran for 2,078 performances, briefly making it the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history (after ''Chu Chin Chow'' and ''Oklahoma!'') until they were all surpassed by ''Salad Days''. ''The Boy Friend'' marked Julie Andrews' American stage debut. Set in the carefree world of the French Riviera in the Roaring Twenties, ''The Boy Friend'' is a comic pastiche of 1920s shows, in particular early Rodgers and Hart musicals such as ''The Girl Friend''. Its relatively small cast and low cost of production makes it a continuing popular choice for amateur and student groups. Sandy Wilson wrote a sequel to ''The Boy Friend''. Set ten years later, and, appropriately, a pastiche of 1930s musicals, in particular those of Cole Porter, it was titled ''Divorce Me, Darling!'' and ran for 91 performances at London's old Globe Theatre in 1965. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Sims
Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 27 June 2001) was an English actress, best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' franchise, appearing in 24 of the films (the most for any actress). On television, she is known for playing Gran in ''Till Death Us Do Part'' (1967–1975), Madge Kettlewell in ''Sykes'' (1972–1978), Mrs Wembley, the cook with a liking for sherry, in '' On the Up'' (1990–1992), and Madge Hardcastle in '' As Time Goes By'' (1994–1998). Early life and education Sims was born on 9 May 1930, the only child of John Henry Sims (1888-1964), Station Master of Laindon railway station in Essex, and his wife Gladys Marie Sims, '' née'' Ladbrook (1896-1981). Sims's early interest in being an actress came from living at the railway station. She would often put on performances for waiting passengers. She decided that she wanted to pursue show business during her teens, and soon became a familiar face in a growing number of amateur productions locally. One o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carry On (film Series)
The ''Carry On'' series of 31 British comedy films were released between 1958 and 1978, produced by Peter Rogers with director Gerald Thomas. The humour of ''Carry On'' was in the British comic tradition of music hall and bawdy seaside postcards. In between the films, Rogers and Thomas produced four Christmas television specials (1969–1973), a 1975 television series of thirteen episodes, and three West End stage shows that later toured the regions. The series drew on regular ensemble that included Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth, Hattie Jacques, Terry Scott, Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor, Jack Douglas, and Jim Dale. A 31st film was released in 1992, though featuring only four of the "irregular" cast members. The ''Carry On'' series contains the largest number of films of any British film series, and is the second longest running, albeit with a fourteen-year gap (1978–1992) between the 30th and 31st entries ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Littlewood
Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of Modern Theatre". Her production of ''Oh, What a Lovely War!'' in 1963 was one of her more influential pieces. Littlewood and her company lived and slept in the Theatre Royal while it was restored. Productions of ''The Alchemist'' and '' Richard II'', the latter starring Harry H. Corbett in the title role, established the reputation of the company. She also conceived and developed the concept of the Fun Palace in collaboration with architect Cedric Price, an experimental model of a participatory social environment that, although never realized, has become an important influence in the architecture of the 20th and 21st centuries. ''Miss Littlewood'', a musical written about Littlewood by Sam Kenyon, was performed by the Royal Shakespeare ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian Carmichael
Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including ''Private's Progress'' (1956) and ''I'm All Right Jack'' (1959). In the 1960s, he played Bertie Wooster opposite Dennis Price's Jeeves in ''The World of Wooster'' (1965-67). Beginning in the 1970s, he portrayed Dorothy L. Sayers's gentleman detective, Lord Peter Wimsey, on television and radio. In his later career, he starred in the ITV medical drama ''The Royal'' as TJ Middleditch, a role he originally played in parent show '' Heartbeat''. Early life Carmichael was born in Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The son of an optician, he was educated at Scarborough College in North Yorkshire and Bromsgrove School in Worcestershire, before training as an actor at RADA. He made his stage debut as a robot at the People's Pala ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Follow A Star
''Follow a Star'' is a 1959 British black and white comedy musical film directed by Robert Asher and starring Norman Wisdom. Plot Norman Truscott works as a dry cleaner, but dreams of being a stage performer. To this end, he takes elocution and singing lessons with Miss Dobson, so far with little success. He is also in love with Judy, Miss Dobson's colleague, who teaches piano. Norman goes to the theatre to see singing star Vernon Carew and causes chaos when he tries to join in the performance. But Carew realises that Norman's untrained voice is better that his own voice, which is fading rapidly, as is his popularity. On the pretext of offering Norman singing lessons, he secretly records Norman singing in the bath, and passes the recordings off as his own - miming to the recording on television. They are a success and Carew is a star again. Miss Dobson realises what's happened and smuggles herself and Norman backstage during Carew's performance. She sees the record being playe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Wisdom
Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010) was an English actor, comedian, musician and singer best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring a hapless onscreen character often called Norman Pitkin. He was awarded the 1953 BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles following the release of ''Trouble in Store'', his first film in a lead role. Wisdom gained celebrity status in lands as far apart as South America, Iran and many Eastern Bloc countries, particularly in Albania where his films were the only ones with Western actors permitted to be shown by dictator Enver Hoxha. Charlie Chaplin once referred to Wisdom as his "favourite clown". Wisdom later forged a career on Broadway in New York City and as a television actor, winning critical acclaim for his dramatic role of a dying cancer patient in the television play ''Going Gently'' in 1981. He toured Australia and South Africa. After the 1986 Chernobyl dis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doctor At Large (film)
''Doctor at Large'' is a 1957 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas, the third of the seven films in the ''Doctor'' series. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Muriel Pavlow, Donald Sinden and James Robertson Justice. It is based on the 1955 novel of the same title by Richard Gordon. Main cast * Dirk Bogarde as Dr. Simon Sparrow * Muriel Pavlow as Joy Gibson * Donald Sinden as Benskin * James Robertson Justice as Sir Lancelot Spratt * Shirley Eaton as Nurse Nan McPherson * Derek Farr as Dr. Potter-Shine * Michael Medwin as Dr. Charles Bingham * Martin Benson as Maharajah * John Chandos as O'Malley * Edward Chapman as Wilkins * George Coulouris as Pascoe * Judith Furse as Mrs. Digby * Gladys Henson as Mrs. Wilkins * Anne Heywood as Emerald * Ernest Jay as Charles Hopcroft * Lionel Jeffries as Dr. Hatchet * Mervyn Johns as Smith * Geoffrey Keen as Second Examiner * Dilys Laye as Mrs. Jasmine Hatchet * Harry Locke as Porter * Terence Longdon as George - House Surgeon * A. E. Matth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the Rank Organisation, he later acted in art house films, evolving from "heartthrob to icon of edginess". In a second career, he wrote seven best-selling volumes of memoirs, six novels, and a volume of collected journalism, mainly from articles in ''The Daily Telegraph''. During five years of active military duty during World War Two, he reached the rank of major and was awarded seven medals. His poetry has been published in war anthologies; a painting by Bogarde, also from the war, hangs in the British Museum, with many more in the Imperial War Museum. Having come to prominence in films including ''The Blue Lamp'' in the early 1950s, Bogarde starred in the successful ''Doctor'' film series (1954–1963). He twice won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Murder At St Trinian's
''Blue Murder at St Trinian's'' is a 1957 British comedy film, directed by Frank Launder, co-written by Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and starring Terry-Thomas, George Cole, Joyce Grenfell, Lionel Jeffries and Richard Wattis; the film also includes a brief cameo of Alastair Sim, who reprising his lead role in the 1954 film, '' The Belles of St. Trinian's''. Inspired by the '' St Trinian's School'' comic strips by British cartoonist Ronald Searle, the film is the second entry in the ''St. Trinian's'' film series, with its plot seeing the students of the fictional school making plans to secure a place on a European tour, all while subsequently aiding a criminal who is secretly seeking to escape the country with stolen jewels. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise given to the evolution of the comedy following the first film. It was later succeeded by a sequel, '' The Pure Hell of St Trinian's'', in 1960. Plot At St. Trinian's, the students run wil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Garner
James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including '' The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's ''The Americanization of Emily'' (1964) with Julie Andrews; ''Cash McCall'' (1960) with Natalie Wood; ''The Wheeler Dealers'' (1963) with Lee Remick; ''Darby's Rangers'' (1958) with Stuart Whitman; Roald Dahl's '' 36 Hours'' (1965) with Eva Marie Saint; Raymond Chandler's ''Marlowe'' (1969) with Bruce Lee; ''Support Your Local Sheriff!'' (1969) with Walter Brennan; Blake Edwards's ''Victor/Victoria'' (1982) with Julie Andrews; and ''Murphy's Romance'' (1985) with Sally Field, for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He also starred in several television series, including popular roles such as Bret Maverick in the ABC 1950s Western series ''Maverick'' and as Jim Rockford in the NBC 1970s private detective show, ''The Rockford Files'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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