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Gwen Watford
Gwendoline Watford (10 September 1927 – 6 February 1994), professionally known after the mid-1950s as Gwen Watford, was an English actress. Watford's talent was spotted by John Gielgud while she was still a schoolgirl, and with his help she made her professional London debut in 1945. From then until her death she pursued a parallel career on stage and on television. She played a wide range of roles, from Shakespeare and Shaw to new works by playwrights including Willis Hall, David Hare, Hugh Leonard and David Mercer. For the BBC and ITV she appeared frequently from the mid-1950s onwards, and was dubbed one of British television's two leading ladies. She twice won the Society of Film and Television Arts's award (now the BAFTA award) for best television actress. Although she appeared in several cinema films, including ''Cleopatra'', she remained chiefly known as a stage and television performer. In later years Watford appeared in more comedy than in her earlier caree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Bebb
Richard Bebb (12 January 1927 – 12 April 2006) was an English actor of stage, screen and radio. Born Richard Bebb Williams in London, he changed his name to his mother's surname, Bebb, when he took up acting as there was already a British actor called Richard Williams. Bebb's father Herbert Edward Williams was a physician whose practice was run from part of St Mary's Lodge, the family's impressive home in Stoke Newington. Bebb was educated at Highgate School in North London, and attended Trinity College, Cambridge from . In 1952, he married actress Gwen Watford (1927–1994), who predeceased him. Bebb was a prolific performer in theatre, television and radio, probably most famously as "Second Voice" in the original 1954 BBC Radio broadcast of Dylan Thomas's ''Under Milk Wood'', opposite Richard Burton's "First Voice". On television, he appeared in early televised Shakespeare to Z Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, Softly, Softly (TV series), and a long running role in the soap-op ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-commissioned Officer
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enlisted personnel, are of lower rank than any officer.) In contrast, commissioned officers usually enter directly from a military academy, officer candidate school (OCS), or officer training school (OTS) after receiving a post-secondary degree. The NCO corps usually includes many grades of enlisted, corporal and sergeant; in some countries, warrant officers also carry out the duties of NCOs. The naval equivalent includes some or all grades of petty officer. There are different classes of non-commissioned officers, including junior (lower ranked) non-commissioned officers (JNCO) and senior/staff (higher ranked) non-commissioned officers (SNCO). Function The non-commissioned officer corps has been referred to as "the backbone" of the armed se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensive shopping district and night-time economy. The entire town had a population of 192,064 as of 2011, whilst the wider borough had a population of 384,837. Historically an ancient parish in the Wallington hundred of Surrey, at the time of the Norman conquest of England Croydon had a church, a mill, and around 365 inhabitants, as recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. Croydon expanded in the Middle Ages as a market town and a centre for charcoal production, leather tanning and brewing. The Surrey Iron Railway from Croydon to Wandsworth opened in 1803 and was an early public railway. Later 19th century railway building facilitated Croydon's growth as a commuter town for London. By the early 20th century, Croydon was an important industria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level."Buxton – in pictures" , BBC Radio Derby, March 2008, accessed 3 June 2013. also claims this, but lacks a regular market. It lies close to to the west and to the south, on the edge of the |
Kenneth Horne (writer)
Kenneth Horne (28 April 1900 – 5 June 1975) was an English writer and playwright. Born in Westminster, London, he was active between 1933 and 1970, and his works included ''A Lass and a Lackey'', ''Fools Rush In'', ''Trial and Error'', ''Public Mischief'' and ''The Coming-Out Party'', as well as film scripts. (He should not be confused with popular radio comedian Kenneth Horne of a similar age-group.) Biography Kenneth Horne was born in Westminster, London, on 28 April 1900. He read many works by George Bernard Shaw, and later the two men shared the same manager. During the Second World War, Horne worked in the Air Ministry. Horne was married twice and had three sons, antiquities dealer Jonathan Horne, who was born on 13 November 1940 in Cornwall, Christopher, and Nicolas; Horne also had a daughter, Judith. He spent some time living in Croydon, Surrey. Horne's first play to be performed in the West End of London was in 1934. In 1940 Horne wrote ''The Good Young Man'', ab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St Martin's Theatre
St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre which has staged the production of ''The Mousetrap'' since March 1974, making it the longest continuous run of any show in the world. The theatre is located in West Street, near Shaftesbury Avenue, in the West End of London. It was designed by W. G. R. Sprague as one of a pair of theatres, along with the Ambassadors Theatre, also in West Street. Richard Verney, 19th Baron Willoughby de Broke, together with B. A. (Bertie) Meyer, commissioned Sprague to design the theatre buildings. Although the Ambassadors opened in 1913, construction of the St Martin's was delayed by the outbreak of the First World War. The theatre is still owned by the present Lord Willoughby de Broke and his family. The first production at the St Martin's was the spectacular Edwardian musical comedy ''Houp La!'', starring Gertie Millar, which opened on 23 November 1916. The producer was the impresario Charles B. Cochran, who took a 21-year lease on the new theatre.C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gillian Lynne Theatre
The Gillian Lynne Theatre (formerly New London Theatre) is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden. The Winter Garden Theatre formerly occupied the site until 1965. On 1 May 2018, the theatre was officially renamed the Gillian Lynne Theatre in honour of Gillian Lynne. It is the first theatre in the West End of London to be named after a non-royal woman. Previous buildings The modern theatre is built on the site of previous taverns and music hall theatres, where a place of entertainment has been located since Elizabethan times. Nell Gwynn was associated with the tavern, which became known as the ''Great Mogul'' by the end of the 17th century, and presented entertainments in an adjoining hall, including "glee clubs" and "sing-songs". The ''Mogul Saloon'' was built on the site in 1847, which was sometimes known as the "Turkish Saloon" or the "Mogul Music Hall." In 1851, it became the Middlesex Music Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Embassy Theatre (London)
{{Infobox venue , name = Embassy Theatre , native_name = , native_name_lang = , image = Embassy Theatre London.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption = , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_caption= , address = 64 Eton Avenue , city = London , country = United Kingdom , designation = , coordinates = {{coord, 51.5442, -0.1738, type:landmark_region:GB, display=inline,title , architect = Andrew Mather , builder = , owner = Royal Central School of Speech and Drama , tenant = , operator = , capacity = 234 , type = , opened = 1890 , reopened = , yearsactive = , rebuilt = 1928, 1945, 2003 , closed = , demolished = , othernames = Eton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dear Octopus
''Dear Octopus'' is a comedy by the playwright and novelist Dodie Smith. It opened at the Queen's Theatre, London on 14 September 1938. On the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 the run was halted after 373 performances; after a spell in the provinces in early 1940 the play was brought back to London and played two further runs there until 31 August 1940. The play depicts the relationships between three generations of a large family. The "dear octopus" of the title refers to the family itself, whose tentacles its members can never escape. Background Smith had been a successful playwright throughout the 1930s. Her 1935 play ''Call It a Day'' had the longest run of any play by a woman dramatist up to that time, 509 performances."Obituary: Dodie Smith", ''The Times'', 27 November 1990, p. 20 The impresario Binkie Beaumont of H. M. Tennent secured the performing rights of ''Dear Octopus'' and offered his friend John Gielgud the romantic lead. Gielgud was happy to ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dodie Smith
Dorothy Gladys "Dodie" Smith (3 May 1896 – 24 November 1990) was an English novelist and playwright. She is best known for writing ''I Capture the Castle'' (1948) and the children's novel ''The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1956). Other works include ''Dear Octopus'' (1938) and '' The Starlight Barking'' (1967). ''The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' was adapted into a 1961 animated film and a 1996 live-action film, both produced by Disney. Her novel ''I Capture the Castle'' was adapted into a 2003 film version. ''I Capture the Castle'' was voted number 82 as "one of the nation's 100 best-loved novels" by the British public as part of the BBC's The Big Read (2003). Biography Early life Smith was born on 3 May 1896 in a house named Stoneycroft (number 118) on Bury New Road, Whitefield, near Bury in Lancashire, England. She was an only child. Her parents were Ernest and Ella Smith (née Furber). Ernest was a bank manager; he died in 1898 when Dodie was two years old. Dodie an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Hawtrey
Anthony John Hawtrey (22 January 1909 – 18 October 1954) was an English actor and stage director. He began his acting career in 1930 and began directing by 1939. As director of the Embassy Theatre in London, his productions sometimes achieved enough success to transfer to the West End. During his theatre career, Hawtrey also acted in television and on film. He was a member of the Terry family of actors. Life and career Hawtrey was born in Claygate, Surrey, the illegitimate son of the actors Sir Charles Hawtrey and Olive Morris (the daughter of Florence Terry), and was educated at Bradfield College prior to studying for the stage under Bertha Moore. From 1930 Hawtrey worked as an actor in London, on tour in South Africa, and with the Liverpool Repertory Company. He appeared as the King of France in the Old Vic's production of ''King Lear'' in 1931, when his cousin John Gielgud played Lear. In 1939 he was director of productions at the Embassy Theatre in north London, subse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west at Senlac Hill in 1066. It later became one of the medieval Cinque Ports. In the 19th century, it was a popular seaside resort, as the railway allowed tourists and visitors to reach the town. Today, Hastings is a fishing port with the UK's largest beach-based fishing fleet. It has an estimated population of 92,855 as of 2018. History Early history The first mention of Hastings is found in the late 8th century in the form ''Hastingas''. This is derived from the Old English tribal name '' Hæstingas'', meaning 'the constituency (followers) of Hæsta'. Symeon of Durham records the victory of Offa in 771 over the ''Hestingorum gens'', that is, "the people of the Hastings tribe." Hastingleigh in Kent was named after that tribe. The place n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
