Dick Lester
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Dick Lester
Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for directing the Beatles' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and ''Help!'' (1965), and the superhero films ''Superman II'' (1980) and ''Superman III'' (1983). His other notable films as director include '' The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film'' (1959), '' The Knack ...and How to Get It'' (1965), '' A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' (1966), ''How I Won the War'' (1967), '' Petulia'' (1968), '' The Three Musketeers'' (1973) and its two sequels, ''Robin and Marian'' (1976), and '' Butch and Sundance: The Early Days'' (1979). He is an Honorary Associate of London Film School. According to the British Film Institute, "if any single director can encapsulate the popular image of Britain in the Swinging Sixties, then it is probably Richard Lester. With his use of flamboyant cinematic devices and liking for zany humour, he captured the ...
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Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1854, the city has been coextensive with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the Delaware Valley, the nation's seventh-largest and one of world's largest metropolitan regions, with 6.245 million residents . The city's population at the 2020 census was 1,603,797, and over 56 million people live within of Philadelphia. Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Quaker. The city served as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony during the British colonial era and went on to play a historic and vital role as the central meeting place for the nation's founding fathers whose plans and actions in Philadelphia ultimately inspired the American Revolution and the nation's inde ...
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British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, distribution, and education. It is sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and partially funded under the British Film Institute Act 1949. Purpose It was established in 1933 to encourage the development of the arts of film, television and the moving image throughout the United Kingdom, to promote their use as a record of contemporary life and manners, to promote education about film, television and the moving image generally, and their impact on society, to promote access to and appreciation of the widest possible range of British and world cinema and to establish, care for and develop collections reflecting the moving image history and heritage of the United Kingdom. BFI activities Archive The BFI maint ...
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A Show Called Fred
''A Show Called Fred'' is a sketch comedy series best known for being an early television work by Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, then both regular performers on the BBC Home Service as two-thirds of the cast of ''The Goon Show''. Directed by Richard Lester, it starred Sellers, Milligan, Valentine Dyall, Kenneth Connor and Graham Stark – principal contributors it shared with '' The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d'', a comedy show which had finished only a month before. Its five 30 minute episodes were made by Associated-Rediffusion for ITV and broadcast only in the London area. It was predominantly a sketch comedy, attempting to translate the audio antics of ''The Goon Show'' into visual antics in bizarre and often surreal comedy sketches. Jazz harmonica player Max Geldray had a music segment in the show, reprising his role from ''The Goon Show'', and Canadian star Patti Lewis had a singing spot. Performers including Mario Fabrizi, Ernest Clark, Patricia Driscoll, Jon Jon Keefe, Jenni ...
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The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d
''The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d'' was the first real attempt to translate the humour of ''The Goon Show'' to television. It was made by Associated-Rediffusion during 1956 and was broadcast only in the London area. It combined elements of a sitcom and sketch comedy with Peter Sellers as the editor of a tatty Victorian newspaper, ''The Idiot Weekly''. The headlines of the paper were used as links to comedy sketches. Although written mainly by Spike Milligan, there were many contributions from members of Associated London Scripts, the writers' co-operative, including Dave Freeman and Terry Nation. Eric Sykes was credited as the script editor. The series was produced and directed by Richard Lester. It was followed by ''A Show Called Fred'' and ''Son of Fred''. The title was revived by Spike Milligan for his Australian radio series ''The Idiot Weekly ''The Idiot Weekly'' (1958–1962) was a radio program made by the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Background Transcriptions of ...
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The Goon Show
''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 1951, was titled ''Crazy People''; subsequent series had the title ''The Goon Show''. The show's chief creator and main writer was Spike Milligan, who performed the series alongside Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and (for the first two series) Michael Bentine. The scripts mixed ludicrous plots with surreal humour, puns, catchphrases and an array of bizarre sound effects. There were also light music interludes. Some of the later episodes feature electronic effects devised by the fledgling BBC Radiophonic Workshop, many of which were reused by other shows for decades. Elements of the show satirised contemporary life in 1950s Britain, parodying aspects of show business, commerce, industry, art, politics, diplomacy, the police, the military, educ ...
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Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs and became known to a worldwide audience through his many film roles, among them Chief Inspector Clouseau in '' The Pink Panther'' series. Born in Southsea, Portsmouth, Sellers made his stage debut at the Kings Theatre, Southsea, when he was two weeks old. He began accompanying his parents in a variety act that toured the provincial theatres. He first worked as a drummer and toured around England as a member of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). He developed his mimicry and improvisational skills during a spell in Ralph Reader's wartime Gang Show entertainment troupe, which toured Britain and the Far East. After the war, Sellers made his radio debut in ''ShowTime'', and eventually became a regular performer on vario ...
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Queen's University At Kingston
Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England. Queen's is organized into eight faculties and schools. The Church of Scotland established Queen's College in October 1841 via a royal charter from Queen Victoria. The first classes, intended to prepare students for the ministry, were held 7 March 1842 with 13 students and two professors. In 1869, Queen's was the first Canadian university west of the Maritime provinces to admit women. In 1883, a women's college for medical education affiliated with Queen's University was established after male staff and students reacted with hostility to the admission of women to the university's medical classes. In 1912, Queen's ended its affiliation with the Presbyterian Church, and adopted its present name. During the mid-20th century, the u ...
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The Barris Beat
''The Barris Beat'' is a Canadian variety television series which aired on CBC Television from 1956 to 1957. Premise Alex Barris, an entertainment writer for Toronto newspaper ''The Globe and Mail'', hosted this entertainment series. Initially, the series was a mid-year replacement for '' Cross Canada Hit Parade'', then was granted a full season run in October 1956. ''The Barris Beat'' functioned as a low-budget version of ''The Steve Allen Show''. The series featured Bill Isbister's house band, accompanied by the Gino Silvi Octet and vocalists Betty Jean Ferguson and Roy Roberts. Jack Duffy later joined the series as another vocalist and in a recurring role as a newspaper copy assistant with Barris who portrayed a columnist. For the full season, Ferguson left the series and was replaced by Gloria Lambert. Besides Duffy and Roberts, Larry D. Mann joined as a series regular as did Sammy Sales who was previously a guest in the early episodes. Cynthia Barrett led a regularly seen ...
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Saber Of London
''The Vise'' (later known as ''Saber of London'', also known as ''Mark Saber'') is an American detective drama that was broadcast on ABC (1955-1957) and then moved to NBC (1957-1960). The series is a reboot of the '' ABC Mystery Theater'' radio and television series. It was produced by the Danzigers and starred Donald Gray as Mark Saber. It mostly ran during prime time in the late 1950s. Background ABC had originally broadcast a radio series called ''ABC Mystery Theater'' alongside a television series of the same name from 1951 to 1954. In the TV series, Mark Saber was portrayed by Tom Conway and his assistant Tim Maloney was portrayed by James Burke. Saber was a British detective working in an American homicide department. In the meantime in 1954, the Danzigers were developing a mystery anthology series called ''The Vise''. It was hosted by Australian actor Ron Randell and was broadcast on various ITV channels in the UK, as well as syndicated episodes of ''The Pendulum'' ...
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The Danzigers
Edward J. Danziger (1909–1999) and Harry Lee Danziger (1913–2005) were American-born brothers who produced many British films and TV shows in the 1950s and 1960s. According to one profile "throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, their second features and TV series seemed to be on screens everywhere, their pervasive presence forming a part of virtually every British filmgoer's and television viewer's experience during those years." Career Edward and Harry Danziger were native New Yorkers. Edward studied law and had worked on the Nuremberg Trials while brother Harry had a musical background. They operated a sound studio in New York that specialised in the dubbing of foreign films for US release. Their first feature film as producers was '' Jigsaw'' (1949). In 1952, they moved to Britain and began making television films, using resources at various facilities including London's Riverside Studios, Shepperton, Borehamwood and Nettlefold. Among their first productions was the series ...
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WCAU-TV
WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo outlet WWSI (channel 62); it is also sister to regional sports network NBC Sports Philadelphia. WCAU and WWSI share studios within the Comcast Technology Center on Arch Street in Center City, with some operations remaining at their former main studio at the corner of City Avenue and Monument Road in Bala Cynwyd, along the Philadelphia– Montgomery county line. Through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WCAU's spectrum from a tower in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. History As a CBS station (1946–1995) In 1946, the ''Philadelphia Evening Bulletin'' secured a construction permit for channel 10, naming its proposed station WPEN-TV after the newspaper's WPEN radio stations (950 AM, ...
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Action In The Afternoon
''Action in the Afternoon'' is an American TV Western that aired live on CBS from February 2, 1953, to January 29, 1954. The series originated from the studios and back lot of WCAU, Channel 10 in Philadelphia, and was broadcast Monday through Friday regardless of the weather. The half-hour series aired variously at 3:30 pm or 4:00 pm, throughout its run. The show starred singing cowboy Jack Valentine, who was backed up by the Tommy Ferguson Trio. Other characters included Jack's sidekick Ozzie, Sheriff Ace Bancroft, and Kate, who published the ''Huberle Record''. Red Cotton ran the local saloon, the Copper Cup. The show could be very violent; the premiere left one character dead and one wounded. Production While ad-libbing his pitch for the series to the executives at CBS, vice-president Charles Vanda set the story in the fictional town of Huberle, Montana, a name derived from CBS executives Hubbell Robinson and Harry Omerle. ''Action in the Afternoon'' is the only live daily wes ...
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