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Jimmy Thompson (actor)
James Edward Thompson (30 October 1925 – 21 April 2005) was an English actor, writer and director. Biography He was born 30 October 1925 in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire and educated at St. Peter's School in York. As a young man he began his career in repertory theatre in Yorkshire and he toured with a theatrical company headed by Jean Forbes-Robertson. After his national service, he moved to London, and his early appearances on the West End stage were in intimate revue. In 1956, he became known for his impersonation of the American pianist and entertainer, Liberace, in the revue, For Amusement Only, at the Apollo Theatre. Thompson was called in the 1959 libel action brought by the pianist against the Daily Mirror, and was himself subsequently sued by Liberace. Thompson settled out of court, making a donation to an actors’ charity. In 1959, he and his wife, Nina, co-authored a musical comedy, ''The Quiz Kid'', which was presented at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woollen manufacture. Halifax is the largest town in the wider Calderdale borough. Halifax was a thriving mill town during the industrial revolution. Toponymy The town's name was recorded in about 1091 as ''Halyfax'', from the Old English ''halh-gefeaxe'', meaning "area of coarse grass in the nook of land". This explanation is preferred to derivations from the Old English ''halig'' (holy), in ''hālig feax'' or "holy hair", proposed by 16th-century antiquarians. The incorrect interpretation gave rise to two legends. One concerned a maiden killed by a lustful priest whose advances she spurned. Another held that the head of John the Baptist was buried he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Young Vic
The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 2018, succeeding David Lan. History In the period after World War II, a Young Vic Company was formed in 1946 by director George Devine as an offshoot of the Old Vic Theatre School for the purpose of performing classic plays for audiences aged nine to fifteen. This was discontinued in 1948 when Devine and the entire faculty resigned from the Old Vic, but in 1969 Frank Dunlop became founder-director of The Young Vic theatre with ''Scapino'', his free adaptation of Molière's ''The Cheats of Scapin'', presented at the new venue as a National Theatre production, opening on 11 September 1970 and starring Jim Dale in the title role with designs by Carl Toms (decor) and Maria Björnson (costumes). Initially part of the National Theatre, the You ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perchance To Dream (musical)
''Perchance to Dream'' is a musical romance with book, lyrics and music by Ivor Novello. It was the only musical for which Novello wrote lyrics. The title is a quotation from William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. The plot, like many of Novello's plots, is a romantic adventure tale, telling the parallel stories of the fates of several inhabitants of the same house through differing time periods. The stories interconnect and have unforeseen repercussions, one upon the other. It opened on the London stage at the Hippodrome Theatre on 21 April 1945. The show starred Novello as Sir Graham, Valentine Fayre and Bay Fayre; Margaret Rutherford as Lady Charlotte Fayre; Olive Gilbert as Ernestine Flavelle, later called Mrs. Bridport; Roma Beaumont as Melinda Fayre, Melanie and Melody; Muriel Barron as Lydia Lyddington, Veronica Lyddington and Iris; and Bobbie Andrews as William Fayre. Zena Dare was a replacement as Lady Charlotte. Sylvia Cecil replaced Muriel Barron during the run. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simon Ward
Simon Anthony Fox Ward (16 October 194120 July 2012) was a British stage and film actor. He was known chiefly for his performance as Winston Churchill in the 1972 film ''Young Winston''. He played many other screen roles, including those of Sir Monty Everard in ''Judge John Deed'' and Bishop Gardiner in ''The Tudors.'' Early life and education Simon Ward was born on 16 October 1941 in Beckenham, Kent, the son of Winifred and Leonard Fox Ward, a car dealer. From an early age he wanted to be an actor. He received his formal education at Alleyn's School, London, the home of the National Youth Theatre, which he joined at age 13 and stayed with for eight years. He then trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Career Ward made his professional stage debut with the Northampton Repertory in 1963, and his London theatrical debut one year later in ''The 4th of June''. He worked in repertory in Northampton, Birmingham and Oxford and occasionally in London's West End. His big bre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines
''Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines; Or, How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes'' is a 1965 British period comedy film that satirizes the early years of aviation. Directed and co-written by Ken Annakin, the film stars an international ensemble cast, including Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, Robert Morley, Terry-Thomas, James Fox, Red Skelton, Benny Hill, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Gert Fröbe and Alberto Sordi. Based on a screenplay entitled ''Flying Crazy'', the fictional account is set in 1910, when English press magnate Lord Rawnsley offers £10,000 () to the winner of the ''Daily Post'' air race from London to Paris to prove that Britain is "number one in the air". Plot A brief narration outlines man's first attempts to fly since the Stone Age inspired by a bird's flight, seen with footage from the silent film era, and man being represented by a "test pilot" (Red Skelton) encountering periodic misfortune in his attempts. In 1910, just seven years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carry On Cruising
''Carry On Cruising'' is a 1962 British comedy film, the sixth in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It was based on an original story by Eric Barker. P&O – Orient Lines were thanked in the credits. Regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams and Kenneth Connor appear in the film, whereas Joan Sims and Charles Hawtrey do not. Sims took ill shortly before filming began and was replaced by Dilys Laye, making her ''Carry On'' debut, at four days' notice. Hawtrey was dropped for demanding star billing, but returned for the next entry, making this the only entry during Hawtrey's 23-film run which he missed. Sims returned two years later in ''Carry On Cleo''. Liz Fraser notches up the second of her four appearances here. Lance Percival makes his only appearance in the series in ''Carry On Cruising'', playing the ship's chef, the role originally designated for Hawtrey. The Australian actor Vincent Ball also makes his first, of two, ''Carry On'' appearances. This was the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carry On Regardless
''Carry On Regardless'' is a 1961 British comedy film, the fifth in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). The film revolves loosely around the activities of a job agency, 'Helping Hands', run by Sid James's character, Bert Handy. By now a fairly regular team was established with Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims and Kenneth Williams all having appeared in previous entries. Hattie Jacques – who was also a regular – makes a cameo appearance during a hospital scene. "Professor" Stanley Unwin appears in a guest role, playing his trademark "gobbledegook" speaking act. This would be the final appearance in the series for early regular Terence Longdon. Liz Fraser makes her debut in ''Carry On Regardless'' and would appear in a further three ''Carry On'' films. Plot Down at the local labour exchange, everyone is moaning about the lack of decent jobs, unaware that nearby Bert Handy and his secretary Miss Cooling are attempting to fill vacancies, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George And Mildred
''George and Mildred'' is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television and first aired between 1976 and 1979. It is a spin-off from ''Man About the House'', and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as constantly-sparring married couple George and Mildred Roper. The premise of the series had George and Mildred leaving their flat as depicted in ''Man About the House'' and moving to a modern, upmarket housing estate in Hampton Wick. Their arrival horrifies their snobbish neighbour Jeffrey Fourmile, a middle-class estate agent who fears the Ropers' presence will devalue his home. It was written by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer. Like many British sitcoms, ''George and Mildred'' was made into a film. The movie was dedicated to actress Yootha Joyce who died suddenly in August 1980, just as the cast were about to film a sixth and final series. Cast *Yootha Joyce as Mildred Roper *Brian Murphy as George Roper *Norman Eshley as Jeffrey Fourmile *Sheila Fearn as Ann Fourmile *N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Benny Hill Show
''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody and double entendre (which could be described as a filmatographic version of British saucy seaside postcard humour). At its peak ''The Benny Hill Show'' was among the most-watched programmes in the UK with the audience reaching more than 21 million viewers in 1971. In 1972, Hill received a BAFTA Television Award for Best Writer, and he was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance. In the late 1970s, the Thames Television version of the show gained a following in the United States and would run in syndication until 1991. In 1980 and 1981, it received Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Variety. In 1984 Hill received a Rose d'Or. Thames cancelled production of the show in 1989 due to declining ratings and large pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio channels, it is funded by the television licence, and is therefore free of commercial advertising. It is a comparatively well-funded public-service network, regularly attaining a much higher audience share than most public-service networks worldwide. Originally styled BBC2, it was the third British television station to be launched (starting on 21 April 1964), and from 1 July 1967, Europe's first television channel to broadcast regularly in colour. It was envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming, and while this tendency has continued to date, most special-interest programmes of a kind previously broadcast on BBC Two, for example the BBC Proms, no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jan And Vlasta Dalibor
Jan Dalibor (5 May 1921 – 23 July 2013) and his wife Vlasta Dalibor (born Vlasta Cely, 22 May 1921 – 21 February 2016) were Czech-born British puppeteers, responsible for devising and developing the characters Pinky and Perky on children's television in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Vlasta Cely was born in Brno, and became friends with Jan Dalibor as a child. She attended a language school and the Janáček Academy of performing arts while Jan taught an art class, but after the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia he was made to work in a factory and she became secretary to a businessman. They married after the end of World War II, and in 1948 escaped from the new Communist regime by making their way to Austria. Arriving as refugees in Britain, they settled in Yorkshire. Jan worked in a stone quarry at Tadcaster as a miner, and Vlasta worked as a housemaid in Houndhill. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinky And Perky
''Pinky and Perky'' is a children's television series first broadcast by BBC TV in 1957, and revived in 2008 as a computer-animated adaptation. Original series The title characters are a pair of anthropomorphic puppet pigs, named Pinky and Perky, who were originally going to be named Pinky and Porky but there was a problem registering Porky as a character name. This was solved by Margaret Potter, the wife of their producer, Trevor Hill, who also discovered them, when she woke him up one night announcing "I've got it! Pinky and Perky!" They were created by Czechoslovakian immigrants Jan and Vlasta Dalibor who moved to the village of Houndhill, leaving the pigs under the cupboard in The Bungalow. The characters of pigs were chosen because the pig is seen as a symbol of good luck in the former Czechoslovakia. The puppets, who had only very limited movements, looked very alike. Pinky wore red clothes and Perky wore blue, but this distinction was of little use on monochrome TV, s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
