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Joan Rhodes
Joan Rhodes (13 April 1921 – 30 May 2010) was a London-born British performer, wrestler, stuntwoman and strongwoman. Born into poverty in London, she and her siblings were deserted by their parents. Following unhappy spells in the workhouse and with an aunt, she left home at 14. After sleeping rough in Brewer Street in Soho, she joined a travelling fair, where she got the idea for her act after seeing a professional strongman at work. With Bob Hope She began as a variety and cabaret performer during the 1950s and '60s. Her popularity increased due to her early appearances on television shows in the US and UK, including Ed Sullivan's '' The Toast of the Town'' (1955) and the '' Bob Hope Christmas Show''. It was in the latter that, on stage in Iceland on 27 December 1955, Rhodes lifted, then accidentally dropped, Bob Hope, while entertaining troops for the USO. Stunts As a stunt performer, she worked on films, including '' Fanny by Gaslight'' (1944). She appeared as herself p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its surrounding areas) is home to over 65% of the population. Iceland is the biggest part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that rises above sea level, and its central volcanic plateau is erupting almost constantly. The interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains, and glaciers, and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly, and most of its islands have a polar climate. According to the ancient manuscript , the settlement of Iceland began in 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Lives
''Great Lives'' is a BBC Radio 4 biography series, produced in Bristol. It has been presented by Joan Bakewell, Humphrey Carpenter, Francine Stock and currently (since April 2006) Matthew Parris. A distinguished guest is asked to nominate the person they feel is truly deserving of the title "Great Life". The presenter and a recognised expert (a biographer, family member or fellow practitioner) are on hand to discuss the life. The programmes are 28 minutes long, originally broadcast on Fridays at 23:00, more recently at 16:30 on Tuesday with a repeat at 23:00 on Friday. Programmes Series 0, August – November 2001 Series 1, May – August 2002 Series 2, October – December 2002 Series 3, April – June 2003 Series 4, October – December 2003 Series 5, April – June 2004 Series 6, October – December 2004 *1The programme originally was scheduled by the guest film-maker David Puttnam David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, HonFRSA, HonFRPS, MRIA (b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Repair Shop
''The Repair Shop'' is a British daytime television show made by production company Ricochet that aired on BBC Two for series 1 to 3 and on BBC One for series 4 onwards, in which family heirlooms are restored for their owners by numerous experts with a broad range of specialisms. Furniture restorer Jay Blades acts as the foreman. Theme Each episode follows professional craftspeople from around the country who restore family heirlooms that have sentimental value for their owners. Heirlooms are found mostly through social media, and their owners are not charged for the restorations. Viewers find out about the emotional family stories and events behind the pieces, before enjoying the sight of the technical skills and progress used to bring the pieces back to looking more cared for and in working order. Episodes * NOTE 1: An episode billed as "Series 9, Episode 1" aired as a one-off on 29 December 2021. However, Series 9 did not officially start until 14 March 2022 with a diffe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Hudd
Roy Hudd, OBE (16 May 1936 – 15 March 2020) was an English comedian, actor, presenter, radio host, author and authority on the history of music hall entertainment. Early life Hudd was born in Croydon on 16 May 1936 to Evalina "Evie" (née Barham) and Harry Hudd. His father was a carpenter who left the family shortly after the Second World War, and his mother, who had a history of mental health problems, commited suicide by gas when Hudd was 9 years old. Hudd was primarily brought up by his grandmother, and attended Tavistock Secondary Modern School in Croydon and Croydon Secondary Technical School. After completing his national service in the Royal Air Force, he studied commercial art at the Regent Street Polytechnic. He then worked as a messenger for an advertising agency, a window dresser and a commercial artist working under Harry Beck. He made his professional debut as a comedian at the Streatham Hill Theatre on 27 October 1957, in a show in aid of the Sir Philip Game#M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. The station controller is Mohit Bakaya. Broadcasting throughout the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands on FM, LW and DAB, and on BBC Sounds, it can be received in the eastern counties of Ireland, northern France and Northern Europe. It is available on Freeview, Sky, and Virgin Media. Radio 4 currently reaches over 10 million listeners, making it the UK's second most-popular radio station after Radio 2. BBC Radio 4 broadcasts news programmes such as ''Today'' and ''The World at One'', heralded on air by the Greenwich Time Signal pips or the chimes of Big Ben. The pips are only accurate on FM, LW, and MW; there is a delay on digital radio of three to five seconds and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountview Theatre School
Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. The Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting and musical theatre, as well as production arts. The President of the school is Dame Judi Dench, and the Principal and Artistic Director Stephen Jameson. History Mountview was founded in Crouch End, north London, in 1945 by Peter Coxhead and Ralph Nossek as "The Mountview Theatre Club", an amateur repertory company staging a new production for a six-day run every second week. Among the club's productions were Coxhead's staging of Eugene O'Neill's ''Mourning Becomes Electra'', a production of the complete Arnold Wesker Trilogy – ''Chicken Soup with Barley'', ''Roots'' and ''I'm Talking about Jerusalem'' directed by Peter Scott-Smith – and ''Buttered Both Sides'', a revue written and composed by Mountview member Ted Dicks and directed by Gale Webb, which later transferred to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crouch Hill
Crouch Hill is a street in north London, England, running between Crouch End and Stroud Green in the boroughs of Haringey and Islington. It is not to be confused with Crouch End Hill which runs between Crouch End and Hornsey Rise. (The two roads meet at a "y" junction in Crouch End and together the two routes constitute the southern access to Crouch End Broadway). The street has a railway station of the same name on the Islington (south) slope of the hill, which is served by the Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside line. It is served by London Buses route W7. The Parkland Walk Crouch Hill crosses over the ''Parkland Walk'', a public foot and cycle path and linear park that stretches from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace, and follows some of the course of the Northern Heights planned rail extension to the Northern line, abandoned on 9 February 1954. Balcombe Street Siege In 1974, rooms in a house on the Islington side of Crouch Hill were rented by IRA members who were subsequ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Elephant Man (film)
''The Elephant Man'' is a 1980 British-American biographical drama film about Joseph Merrick (John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in late 19th-century London. The film was directed by David Lynch, produced by Mel Brooks (who was uncredited, to avoid audiences anticipating the film being in the vein of his comedic works, although his company Brooksfilms is in the opening credits) and Jonathan Sanger, and stars John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Michael Elphick, Hannah Gordon and Freddie Jones. ''The Elephant Man'' is generally regarded as one of Lynch's more accessible and mainstream works, alongside ''The Straight Story'' (1999). The screenplay was adapted by Lynch, Christopher De Vore and Eric Bergren from Frederick Treves's ''The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences'' (1923) and Ashley Montagu's ''The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity'' (1971). It was shot in black-and-white and featured make-up work by Christopher Tucke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
''The Pink Panther Strikes Again'' is a 1976 comedy film. The fifth film in ''The Pink Panther'' series, its plot picks up three years after '' The Return of the Pink Panther'', with former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) about to be released from a psychiatric hospital after having finally been driven insane by new Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau's (Peter Sellers) unrelenting ineptitude in the previous films. A typically disastrous visit from Clouseau on the day of his release prompts a swift relapse which cancels Dreyfus's scheduled discharge, but he soon escapes anyway, and organizes an elaborate criminal plot to threaten the countries of the world with annihilation by a massive laser weapon if they do not assassinate Clouseau for him. Unused footage from the film was later included in ''Trail of the Pink Panther'' (1982), after Sellers's death. Plot After three years in a psychiatric hospital, former Chief Inspector of the Sûreté Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burke & Hare (1972 Film)
''Burke & Hare'', sometimes called ''Burke and Hare'' or ''The Horrors of Burke and Hare'', is a 1972 horror film, directed by Vernon Sewell, and starring Derren Nesbitt, Harry Andrews, and Glynn Edwards. It is based on the true life story of the Burke and Hare murders, and was the last film to be directed by Vernon Sewell. Typically for its time the film is considerably more sexual that most of its counterparts, and much of the plot focusses on brothel activities. It was shot at Twickenham Studios in London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Scott MacGregor. Plot In Edinburgh, in 1828, there are two sides to society: men living in dirty hovels and grave robbing to make a living; and rich men going to the brothels. Meanwhile, the doctors dine together and drink wine. Surgeon Dr Robert Knox (Harry Andrews) needs bodies for dissection to satisfy the training needs of his medical students. As only hanging victims may be used, bodies are in short supply. In order ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny, You're Wanted
''Johnny, You're Wanted'' is a 1956 British crime B-movie, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring John Slater. The film features famous strongwoman Joan Rhodes performing her stage act. It was based on the 1953 BBC television series of the same name which also starred Slater. Plot Johnny (Slater) is a long-distance lorry driver returning to London from a provincial delivery, after having taken in a show by Joan Rhodes on the way. Late at night he stops to give a lift to an attractive female hitchhiker whose car has broken down and who is in a hurry to get to back to London. Later, Johnny pulls in to a transport café to make a telephone call and buy a coffee. When he returns to his truck, the woman is gone. Assuming that in her hurry she has picked up a lift with another driver, he goes on his way, and a few miles down the road is flagged down by another driver to help with a woman who has been found laid at the roadside. It turns out that the woman is Johnny's hitchhike ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
