|
John Dair
John Dair (3 March 1933 – 25 November 2005) was a Scottish actor who was best known for his role as Harry Grout’s bodyguard "Crusher" in the sitcom '' Porridge'' and as Charlie Dawson in the drama ''Our Friends in the North''. Although born in Dundee, Scotland, Dair was a resident of London, England, for many years. He drove mobile cranes and bulldozers on building sites and then worked as a singer, until he was offered the part in ''Porridge'' whilst performing at the Lyceum Theatre, London. He appeared in one of the most memorable scenes in the sitcom in which his character displays a "sense of humour failure" when a joke is repeated to him. He also had small parts in films, the most memorable of which was in '' Batman'' as crime boss Vinnie Ricorso, who is fatally stabbed in the throat with a quill pen by the Joker. In 1984 he appeared in the iconic music video for the Frankie Goes to Hollywood song ''Relax'' as a man dressed as a Roman emperor in a gay nightclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or 6,420/sq mi, the second-highest in Scotland. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea. Under the name of Dundee City, it forms one of the 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Angus, the city developed into a burgh in the late 12th century and established itself as an important east coast trading port. Rapid expansion was brought on by the Industrial Revolution, particularly in the 19th century when Dundee was the centre of the global jute industry. This, along with its other major industries, gave Dundee its epithet as the city of "jute, jam and journalism". Today, Dundee is promoted as "One City, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Relax (song)
"Relax" is a song by English synth-pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the United Kingdom by ZTT Records in 1983. It was the band's debut single. The hit version, produced by Trevor Horn and featuring the band along with other musicians, entered the UK Top 75 singles chart in November 1983 but did not crack the Top 40 until early January 1984. Three weeks later it reached number one, in the chart dated 28 January 1984. One of the decade's most controversial and most commercially successful records, "Relax" eventually sold a reported two million copies in the UK alone, easily ranking among the ten biggest-selling singles ever. It remained in the UK Top 40 for 37 consecutive weeks, 35 of which overlapped with a radio airplay ban by the BBC (owing to lyrics perceived as overtly sexual). In June 1984, bolstered by the instant massive success of the band's follow-up single "Two Tribes", the single re-entered the Top Ten for a further nine weeks including two spent at nu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1933 Births
Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wishes of U.S. President Herbert Hoover. * January 28 – "Pakistan Declaration": Choudhry Rahmat Ali publishes (in Cambridge, UK) a pamphlet entitled ''Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?'', in which he calls for the creation of a Muslim state in northwest India that he calls " Pakstan"; this influences the Pakistan Movement. * January 30 ** National Socialist German Workers Party leader Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany by President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg. ** Édouard Daladier forms a government in France in succession to Joseph Paul-Boncour. He is succeeded on October 26 by Albert Sarraut and on November 26 by Camille Chautemps. February * February 1 – Adolf Hitler gives his "Proclamation to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captain Jack (film)
''Captain Jack'' is a 1999 British comedy film produced by John Goldschmidt and written by Jack Rosenthal. The cast includes Bob Hoskins, Sadie Frost, Gemma Jones, Anna Massey, Peter McDonald, Maureen Lipman and Michele Dotrice. The film was produced by Goldschmidt's own company Viva Films Ltd. and was distributed on video by Koch Vision. Plot ''Captain Jack'' stars Bob Hoskins as a rebellious captain of a small Whitby boat who is determined to flout petty maritime bureaucracy. Officials declare his boat unsafe for a planned voyage to the Arctic, but Jack is determined to set sail and to place a plaque there in commemoration of his seafaring hero. With his motley crew, Captain Jack succeeds in making his voyage despite an international search for his boat by maritime authorities. Inspiration The film is based on a true life incident involving a Whitby man, Jack Lammiman, who declared that his ship was totally seaworthy but was being hampered from sailing by maritime rules. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loch Ness (film)
''Loch Ness'' is a 1996 family drama film starring Ted Danson and Joely Richardson. It was written by John Fusco and directed by John Henderson. Plot At Loch Ness, Scotland, scientist Dr. Abernathy is killed by slipping off some rocks, after seeing something in the loch and taking a single photograph of it. Months later, American zoologist and freshman college tutor, Dr. John Dempsey, is asked to replace Abernathy and dispel the myth of the Loch Ness Monster. Dempsey is reluctant to do so, having ruined his career by trying to prove the existence of the Sasquatch. He agrees to go for the money, which would allow him to pay alimony to his ex-wife that ran off and pay an IRS debt, naming a newly discovered species of parasitic wasp after her. Arriving in Scotland, Dempsey meets Dr. Abernathy's assistant Adrian Foote, who fanatically believes in the monster. Dempsey rents a room at a local inn run by Laura McFetridge and her young daughter, Isabel, who grows close to him. He soon me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hear My Song
''Hear My Song'' is a 1991 British comedy-drama film directed by Peter Chelsom, who co-wrote the screenplay with Adrian Dunbar, based on the story of Irish tenor Josef Locke. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 46th British Academy Film Awards in 1993. The film stars Ned Beatty (as Locke), Dunbar, Shirley Anne Field, Tara Fitzgerald, William Hootkins and David McCallum. Plot Micky O'Neill tries to revive the fortunes of his Liverpool nightclub by promising his patrons he will present a performance by the legendary Irish tenor Josef Locke. After a series of unfortunate bookings (including Franc Cinatra, a Sinatra impersonator), Micky books the mysterious Mr. X, a man who insists he cannot be booked as Joe Locke due to the legal issues that would invariably ensue. The elusive Locke left the United Kingdom during the 1950s to avoid paying taxes, leaving behind "a beauty queen, a Jaguar sportscar, and a pedigree dalmatian, all of them pining." O'Neill's personal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago Joe And The Showgirl
''Chicago Joe and the Showgirl'' is a 1990 British crime drama film directed by Bernard Rose and written by David Yallop, starring Kiefer Sutherland and Emily Lloyd. The film was inspired by the real-life Hulten/Jones murder case of 1944, otherwise known as the Cleft Chin Murder. Plot In the film, Karl Hulten ( Kiefer Sutherland) is an American GI who is stalking the black market of London after stealing an army truck and going AWOL. There he meets up with Betty Jones (Emily Lloyd), a stripper with a deluded fantasy world view formed by watching a steady stream of Hollywood film noir and gangster pictures. Seeing Karl, who claims he is Chicago Joe doing advance work in London for encroaching Chicago gangsters, Betty takes the opportunity to set her fantasies to life as she connives Karl into a spree of petty crimes. With luck on their side, the spree keeps escalating, until Betty urges Karl to commit the ultimate crime: murder. Cast * Kiefer Sutherland as Karl Hulten *Emily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yellowbeard
''Yellowbeard'' is a 1983 British comedy film directed by Mel Damski and written by Graham Chapman, Peter Cook, Bernard McKenna, and David Sherlock, with an ensemble cast featuring Chapman, Cook, Peter Boyle, Cheech & Chong, Martin Hewitt, Michael Hordern, Eric Idle, Madeline Kahn, James Mason, and John Cleese, and the final cinematic appearances of Marty Feldman, Spike Milligan, and Peter Bull. Plot In 1687, pirate Yellowbeard attacks the ship of inquisitor El Nebuloso and seizes a treasure hoard from the Spanish Main. Although his second-in-command Moon devised the attack plan, Yellowbeard treats him harshly and severs Moon's hand for touching the treasure. Yellowbeard continues piracy in the West Indies until he is betrayed by Moon and imprisoned in England for tax evasion. Twenty years later, Yellowbeard is about to complete his prison sentence, having kept secret the location of his buried treasure from his torturers and from Moon's spy Gilbert. Commander Clement, a R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porridge (film)
''Porridge'' is a 1979 British comedy film based on the television series ''Porridge''. It was released under the title ''Doing Time'' in the United States. Most of Prison Officers and inmates from the original series appear in the film, with the notable exceptions of Lukewarm, Blanco, Heslop and Harris. There is also a different governor, played by Geoffrey Bayldon rather than series regular Michael Barrington. The film, set a year before the final episode of the TV series, includes one of the last appearances by Richard Beckinsale, the actor who played Godber. He died in March 1979, a few weeks after its completion. Plot Slade prison has two new inmates: Rudge, a first offender, and Oakes (Barrie Rutter), an armed robber. Oakes approaches the prison's 'Mr Big', (Genial) Harry Grout (Peter Vaughan), and using a cut from his last job before being caught, asks for his escape to be arranged. Grout sets the price, then begins making arrangements. Grout starts by forcing Fletcher ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lung Cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malignant cells that originate as epithelial cells, or from tissues composed of epithelial cells. Other lung cancers, such as the rare sarcomas of the lung, are generated by the malignant transformation of connective tissues (i.e. nerve, fat, muscle, bone), which arise from mesenchymal cells. Lymphomas and melanomas (from lymphoid and melanocyte cell lineages) can also rarely result in lung cancer. In time, this uncontrolled neoplasm, growth can metastasis, metastasize (spreading beyond the lung) either by direct extension, by entering the lymphatic circulation, or via hematogenous, bloodborne spread – into nearby tissue or other, more distant parts of the body. Most cancers that originate from within the lungs, known as primary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laundromat
A self-service laundry, coin laundry, laundromat, or coin wash is a facility where clothes are washed and dried without much personalized professional help. They are known in the United Kingdom as launderettes or laundrettes, and in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as laundromats. In Texas and other parts of the south central United States, the term ''washateria'' is still used by some older speakers. General While most homes have their own washers and dryers, self-service laundries are used by many who do not have their own machines. Even those who have their own machines sometimes use them for large bedding and other items that cannot fit into residential washers and dryers. Staffed laundries Laundromats are an essential business in urban communities. Laundromat owners may employ someone to oversee and maintain the general laundromat throughout the day. Some laundries employ staff to provide service for the customers. Minimal service centres may simp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Kamen
Ivor Neville "Nick" Kamen (15 April 1962 – 4 May 2021) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and model. He was best known for "Turn It Up" from 1989, the singles "Each Time You Break My Heart" from 1986 and "I Promised Myself" from 1990, as well as for appearing in a 1985 Levi's advert. Early life Kamen was born in Harlow, Essex, England, where he attended St Marks RC Comprehensive School. He was the seventh of eight children, with four sisters and three brothers, Ronald Kamen, Chester Kamen and Barry Kamen. Career In 1982, Kamen appeared in the video for ''The Damned Don't Cry'' by British synthpop band Visage. He first came to the public's attention in 1984 when Ray Petri featured him on the front cover of ''The Face''. The cover showed him wearing a ski-hat, lipstick, orange roll-neck sweater and aviator sunglasses. He is best known in the UK for his appearance in the 1985 Levi's "Launderette" commercial, where he strips down to wash his blue jeans in a 1950s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
