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Gumshoe (film)
''Gumshoe'' is a 1971 British black comedy film that was the cinematic directorial debut of director Stephen Frears. Written by local author Neville Smith, who appears as Arthur, the film is set in Liverpool. Albert Finney plays the role of Eddie Ginley, a bingo-caller and occasional club comedian who dreams of being a private eye of the kind he knows from films and pulp novels. Having put an advertisement in a local newspaper (the ''Liverpool Echo'') as a birthday present to himself, Ginley is suddenly contacted for what appears to be an actual piece of detective work. Plot Eddie Ginley works at a bingo hall in Liverpool, England, but dreams of becoming a stylish private investigator like those he has read about and seen in films. After finally placing an advertisement in a local newspaper announcing his detective services, he receives a mysterious offer. Even though Ginley is inexperienced and clueless at certain aspects of investigating, he comes to realize that he is ent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Frears
Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accolades including three BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards. In 2008, ''The Daily Telegraph'' named Frears among the 100 most influential people in British culture. In 2009 he received the Commandeur de l' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Born in Leicester and educated at Gresham's School and Trinity College, Cambridge, Frears started his career working as an assistant director in theatre and film while directing numerous television plays. In 1971, he directed his first feature film, '' Gumshoe''. He received acclaim for his early films such as ''My Beautiful Laundrette'' (1985), ''Prick Up Your Ears'' (1987), and ''Dangerous Liaisons'' (1988). He received Academy Award for Best Director nom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carolyn Seymour
Carolyn Seymour is an English actress, best known for portraying the role of Abby Grant in the BBC series '' Survivors'' (1975), and Queen Myrrah in the '' Gears of War'' franchise. Career Born Carolyn von Benckendorf in Buckinghamshire to an Estonian father of Russian descent and an Irish mother. One of her early television roles was as Jenny in the BBC drama series ''Take Three Girls''. and an early film appearance was as Zita in the film ''Steptoe and Son'' (1972) alongside Harry H. Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell. Her best-known movie role remains Grace Gurney in '' The Ruling Class'' (also 1972), opposite Peter O'Toole. She left ''Survivors'' at the end of its first series due to disagreements with the producers over the direction the show and her character were taking. She appeared in the '' Space: 1999'' episode "The Seance Spectre", and with Joan Collins in '' The Bitch'' (1979). She then moved to the United States and made numerous television appearances including ''Hart ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunset Boulevard (musical)
''Sunset Boulevard'' is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and lyrics and book by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. It is based on the 1950 film of the same title. The plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the fabled Los Angeles street. When young screenwriter Joe Gillis accidentally crosses her path, she sees in him an opportunity to make her return to the big screen, with romance and tragedy to follow. Opening first in London in 1993, the musical has had several long runs internationally and enjoyed extensive tours. However, it has been the subject of several legal battles and ultimately lost money due to its extraordinary running costs. Background From approximately 1952 to 1956, Gloria Swanson worked with actor Richard Stapley (aka Richard Wyler) and cabaret singer and pianist Dickson Hughes on a musical adaptation originally entitled ''Starring Norma Desmond'', then ''Boulevar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Odessa File (film)
''The Odessa File'' is an 1974 thriller film, adapted from the 1972 novel of the same name by Frederick Forsyth, about a reporter's investigation of a neo-Nazi political-industrial network in post-Second World War West Germany. The film stars Jon Voight, Mary Tamm, Maximilian Schell and Maria Schell and was directed by Ronald Neame, with a score by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It was the only film that the Schell siblings made together. Plot On 22 November 1963, the day of the John F. Kennedy assassination in Dallas, Peter Miller (Jon Voight), a young freelance reporter in Hamburg, West Germany, pulls his car over to the kerb to listen to a radio report of the event. As a result, he happens to be stopped at a traffic signal as an ambulance passes by on a highway. He follows the ambulance and discovers it is en route to pick up the body of an elderly man who has committed suicide, leaving behind no family. Peter obtains the man's diary and learns the man was Salomon Tauber ( Towje Kl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlantis Bookshop
The Atlantis Bookshop is an esoteric bookshop in Museum Street, London. Established by Michael Houghton in 1922, it is currently owned and run by Bali Beskin and her mother Geraldine. Atlantis has long been a hub for London's occult world.Carr-Gomm & Heygate, p. 453 Gerald Gardner attended meetings of The Order of the Hidden Masters in its basement during his formative years, and also held meetings of his own Coven there. The shop published his first book on witchcraft, the novel ''High Magic's Aid''. Here he also met Ross Nichols, later a key figure in the Druid world, who edited Gardner's 1954 ''Witchcraft Today''. Atlantis hosts art exhibitions and esoteric talks, workshops and book launches. For many years it ran a discussion group for pagans and magicians called "The Moot With No Name" in the nearby Devereaux Arms off Fleet Street, which then moved to Milford's pub in Milford Lane as "The Atlantis Bookshop Presents" before ceasing some years ago. It also publishes occasion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subject is an original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, etc), but a parody can also be about a real-life person (e.g. a politician), event, or movement (e.g. the French Revolution or 1960s counterculture). Literary scholar Professor Simon Dentith defines parody as "any cultural practice which provides a relatively polemical allusive imitation of another cultural production or practice". The literary theorist Linda Hutcheon said "parody ... is imitation, not always at the expense of the parodied text." Parody may be found in art or culture, including literature, music, theater, television and film, animation, and gaming. Some parody is practiced in theater. The writer and critic John Gross observes in his ''Oxford Boo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Kempinski
Thomas Michael John Kempinski (born 24 March 1938) is an English playwright and actor best known for his 1980 play ''Duet for One'', which was a major success in London and New York City, and much revived since. Kempinski also wrote the screenplay for the movie version of ''Duet for One''. In addition, he made minor appearances on numerous British television shows including ''Dixon of Dock Green'' and ''Z-Cars''. Early life and education Kempinski was born in Hendon and educated at Abingdon School from 1951 to 1956. In 1957 he gained a major scholarship in Modern Languages to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, but suffered a breakdown and left after only ten weeks. Personal life He was married to the actress Frances de la Tour who starred in the original London production for ''Duet for One'', to the actress Margaret Nolan from 1967 to 1972, and to solicitor Sarah Tingay from 1991. Plays In 1967 he played the title role in Charles Wood (playwright), Charles Wood's ''Dingo' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oscar James
Oscar James (born 25 July 1942) is a Trinidadian actor, who is based in the United Kingdom. He has had a long and varied career, but is best known for appearing on British television, in particular the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', where he played original character Tony Carpenter for over two years. James resides in north London. Early life James was born in Trinidad, and had a poor upbringing. He came to the United Kingdom in the 1950s.Oscar James interview" BBC. Retrieved 22 April 2007. He initially worked as a taxi driver, a dish-washer and also a gymnast, but he always had aspirations to be an entertainer and followed his dream by becoming an actor. Career Roles for black actors were sparse during James' early career, but he persevere ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wendy Richard
Wendy Richard (born Wendy Emerton; 20 July 1943 – 26 February 2009) was an English actress, known for her television roles as Miss Shirley Brahms on the BBC sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' from 1972 to 1985, and Pauline Fowler on the soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 1985 to 2006. Despite being known for her Cockney accent, Richard was born in Middlesbrough. After a childhood in which her father died by suicide, Richard worked in department stores to pay her drama school fees before appearing regularly on-screen from the early 1960s. She played Joyce Harker in '' The Newcomers'' from 1967 to 1969. Richard then starred in two ''Carry On'' films. In the television series ''Dad's Army'', she was Private Walker's girlfriend, before being cast as Miss Brahms in ''Are You Being Served?'' appearing in all 69 episodes from 1972 to 1985. She also reprised the role in the sequel series ''Grace and Favour'' in 1992 and 1993. After ''Are You Being Served?'' ended, Richard starred as Pau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maureen Lipman
Dame Maureen Diane Lipman (born 10 May 1946) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She was made a dame in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to charity, entertainment and the arts. Early life and education Lipman was born on 10 May 1946 in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Maurice Julius Lipman and Zelma Pearlman. Her father was a tailor; he used to have a shop between the Ferens Art Gallery and Monument Bridge. Lipman grew up Jewish and found post-war Hull a welcoming place for the Jewish community. She lived on Northfield Road, Hull and attended Wheeler Primary School. Lipman then attended Newland School for Girls in Hull, and became interested in performing as a youth; she performed in school shows, attended an early Beatles concert, and watched Elizabeth Taylor's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Jones (actor)
Kenneth J Jones (20 February 1930 – 13 February 2014) was an English actor. Jones was born in Liverpool. After working as a signwriter and performing as an amateur, he trained at RADA. Known for his roles as 'Horrible' Ives in ''Porridge'' and as Rex in ''The Squirrels'', he also appeared in ''The Liver Birds'' as Uncle Dermot, in '' Goodnight Sweetheart'' as Owen Jones, and in ''Seconds Out'' as Dave Locket. Personal life Jones was married to the actress Sheila Fay, also a native of Liverpool, from 30 October 1964 until her death on 31 August 2013. He died from bowel cancer on 13 February 2014, seven days before his 84th birthday, in a nursing home in Prescot Prescot is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it lies about to the east of Liverpool city centre. At the 2001 Census, the civ .... Filmography Film Television References External links * * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Innes
George Innes (born 8 March 1938) is a British actor. Stage career Innes was born in Stepney, East London, and began his career on the stage with the National Theatre of Great Britain under Laurence Olivier. Before that, he trained at Toynbee Hall and evening classes at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), where he was awarded the Shakespeare Cup for excellence. He appeared in the Bernard Kops play ''The Dream of Peter Mann'' at the Edinburgh Festival and on a tour of Great Britain, directed by Frank Dunlop, under whom he had trained at Toynbee Hall and LAMDA. His final year of study and training was at the Bristol Old Vic School. He worked with Dunlop again in ''The Pantomime'' at the Bristol Old Vic, before a season at Nottingham Playhouse with Dunlop and John Neville. Other theatre credits include working for The Royal Court production company in ''Chips with Everything'', which played in the West End and on Broadway. He appeared in ''Othello'' (understud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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