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Kent Walton
Kent Walton (22 August 1917 – 24 August 2003), born Kenneth Walton Beckett, was a British television sports commentator, presenter and actor. He is best remembered as the predominant commentator on ITV's coverage of British professional wrestling from 1955 to 1988. Early life Despite a transatlantic accent which led many to believe he was Canadian, he was born in Cairo, Egypt, the son of the finance minister in the colonial government. He grew up at Haslemere in Surrey and was educated at Charterhouse. He attended the Embassy School of Acting in London and appeared in rep. On the outbreak of war in 1939, he joined the Royal Air Force, serving in Bomber Command as a radio operator and front gunner. He acquired his accent mixing with Canadian airmen. Sports commentator After the end of the war he returned to acting before commentating on tennis and football. He made his television wrestling commentary debut on the ITV network in November 1955, a job he kept for 33 years. At i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ITV (TV Channel)
ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for the central and northern areas of Scotland where STV (TV channel), STV provides the service. ITV1 as a consistent national channel (with dedicated slots for regional news and other regional programmes) evolved out of the old ITV (TV network), ITV network – a federation of separately owned regional companies which had significantly different local schedules and branding. During the 1990s, the differences between the schedules in each region gradually reduced – partly through the consolidation of ownership and partly through the standardisation in the volume and scheduling of regional programmes. In 2002, a major change of appearance occurred when all ITV regions in Engl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime minister and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century. As prime minister, she implemented economic policies that became known as Thatcherism. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. Thatcher studied chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, and worked briefly as a research chemist, before becoming a barrister. She was List of MPs elected in the 1959 United Kingdom general election, elected Member of Parliament for Finchley (UK Parliament constituency), Finchley in 1959 United Kingdom general election, 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Grade
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 (1988–1997), Chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC (2004–2006), and executive chairman of ITV plc (2007–2009). Since 2011, he has been a Conservative Party life peer in the House of Lords. In April 2022, it was announced by the Government that Grade would take up his four year appointment as Chairman of Ofcom from May 2022 and would move to the crossbenches in the House of Lords at the earliest practical opportunity. Early life Grade was born into a Jewish show business family originally called Winogradsky; his father was the theatrical agent Leslie Grade and his uncles were the impresarios Lew Grade and Bernard Delfont. When he was three years old his mother Lynn Smith left the family to conduct a relationship with wrestlin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stepson
A stepchild is the offspring of one's spouse, but not one's own offspring, either biologically or through adoption. Stepchildren can come into a family in a variety of ways. A stepchild may be the child of one's spouse from a previous relationship, or alternatively, be the result of an adoption, in which case the child would have no biological relationship with either parent. Some also apply the term loosely to non-custodial relationships where “stepparent" can refer to the partner of a parent with whom the child does not live.National Stepfamily Resource Center Stepchildren play a significant role in the lives of their parents and siblings. In many cases, stepchildren are welcomed into a family and are treated as full members, with the same rights and responsibilities as biological children. However, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leslie Grade
Leslie Grade (3 June 1916 – 15 October 1979), born Laszlo (or Lazarus) Winogradsky, was a British theatrical talent agent. In 1943, he co-founded the Grade Organisation (also known as Lew and Leslie Grade Ltd) with his elder brother, the impresario and producer Lew Grade, Baron Grade, Lew Grade (1906–98). During the 1940s, the company became the UK's most successful light entertainment talent agency. Life and career Grade, the youngest of three brothers, was born in London in 1916, four years after his History of the Jews in Ukraine, Jewish family had emigrated from Tokmak, Ukraine, Tokmak, Ukraine—then Imperial Russian territory—Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire, in response to pogroms. Leslie and his siblings, Lew and Bernard Delfont, Bernard (1909–94), were raised in Stepney. While their parents, Isaac and Olga, worked in the textile industry, the brothers left school at the age of 14 to establish themselves in showbusiness. With Lew, Grade became one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Man Alive (British TV Series)
''Man Alive'' is a documentary and current affairs series which ran on BBC2 between 1965 and 1981. During that time there were nearly 500 programmes tackling a range of social and political issues, both in the UK and abroad. The series was commissioned by David Attenborough, while he was Controller of BBC2 between 1965 and 1969. British television journalist and presenter Esther Rantzen worked on ''Man Alive'' in the mid-1960s. One of the programme's reporters and series editor was Desmond Wilcox, whom Rantzen later married. Wilcox contributed directly to about 50 ''Man Alive'' programmes. The ''Man Alive'' theme music was composed and played by Tony Hatch and his orchestra. History The first ''Man Alive'' programme, "The Heart Man", was broadcast on 4 November 1965. It focused on heart surgeon Michael Ellis DeBakey at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. There were a further eight programmes that year, at this stage Wilcox was also the programme's executive producer. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crossroads (British TV Series)
''Crossroads'' (later known as ''Crossroads Motel'' and ''Crossroads King's Oak'') is a British television soap opera that ran on ITV (TV network), ITV over two periods – the original 1964 to 1988 run, followed by a short revival from 2001 to 2003. Set in a fictional motel (hotel in the revival) in the Midlands, ''Crossroads'' became a byword for cheap production values, particularly in the 1970s and early 1980s. Despite this, the series regularly attracted huge audiences during this time, with ratings as high as 15 million viewers. It was created by Hazel Adair (actress and screenwriter), Hazel Adair and Peter Ling and produced by Associated TeleVision, ATV (until the end of 1981) and then by ATV's successor, ITV Central, Central Independent Television until 1988. The series was revived by Carlton Television in 2001; however, due to low ratings it was cancelled again in 2003. Storylines 1964–1988 The original premise of ''Crossroads'' is based around two feuding sisters, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hazel Adair (screenwriter)
Hazel Joyce Marriott, née Willett (9 July 1920 – 22 November 2015), known professionally as Hazel Adair, was a British actress turned screenwriter and creator of soap operas for radio and television. She is best known for co-creating ''Crossroads'' with Peter Ling. Early life and career Hazel Joyce Willett was born in 1920 at Darjeeling, British India,, daughter of Ada "Alma" (Rhames) and Edward Willett, an engineer who worked in Calcutta. At 9 months old, her English family returned to England, where her parents divorced in 1923 when she was two years old. Her mother later remarried Edward Hamblin, and she adopted his surname. In 1940, Hazel wed Gordon Mackenzie, a rancher from Brazil. The couple had one son Colin, after WWII her husband returned to Brazil and they divorced in 1949. In 1950, Hazel remarried Ronald Marriott, an actor-writer, who died in 1972, and with whom she had 5 children. Using Adair as her stage name, she began her career as an actress with parts in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sexploitation
A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity. The genre is a subgenre of exploitation films. The term "sexploitation" has been used since the 1940s. Sexploitation films were generally exhibited in urban grindhouse theatres, the precursor to the adult movie theaters of the 1970s and 1980s that featured hardcore pornography content. The term soft-core is often used to designate non-explicit sexploitation films after the general legalisation of hardcore content. Nudist films are often considered to be subgenres of the sex-exploitation genre as well. "Nudie" films and "Nudie-cuties" are associated genres. History of sexploitation films in United States After a series of United States Supreme Court rulings in the late 1950s and 1960s, increasingly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thank Your Lucky Stars (TV Series)
''Thank Your Lucky Stars'' was a British television pop music show made by ABC Weekend TV, and broadcast on ITV from 1961 to 1966. Of all the show's presenters, Brian Matthew is perhaps the best remembered. Many of the leading pop groups of the time performed on it. As well as featuring British artists, it often included American guest stars. It would appear from the surviving footage that the bands mimed their latest 45. Occasionally a band was allowed to do two numbers (possibly the A-side and B-side sides of their latest single or an EP or LP track); bands of a higher status such as The Beatles or The Rolling Stones would sometimes play up to as many as four numbers. A typical 1961 programme listing included The Dale Sisters, Adam Faith, John Leyton, The Brook Brothers, Geoff Goddard and Dion. Audience participation was a feature of ''Thank Your Lucky Stars'', and the Spin-a-Disc section, in which a guest DJ and three teenagers reviewed three singles, was a feature of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Television Wales And The West
Television Wales and the West (TWW) was the British Independent Television (commercial television) contractor for a franchise area that initially served South Wales and West of England (franchise awarded 26 October 1956, started transmissions on 14 January 1958, the eighth franchise to launch) until 1968. For the first six years, TWW's service was provided from a single VHF transmitter serving both south east Wales and the west of England. The later acquisition of Teledu Cymru in 1964 enabled TWW to extend its coverage across most of Wales and to provide separate services for the Welsh and English parts of the resulting 'dual region' franchise. After losing their franchise to Harlech in 1967, TWW ended their service early in protest long before Harlech was ready to take over. This forced the Independent Television Authority to organise an emergency transitional service run by Harlech but using TWW's staff, leftover programming, and some assets. History Launch Television Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cool For Cats (TV Show)
''Cool for Cats'' was one of the first shows on British TV to feature music for a teenage audience. It was produced by Associated Rediffusion, part of the ITV network, and ran from December 1956 to February 1961. The show was presented by Kent Walton. It lasted 15 minutes. Discs were played and then commented upon. Sometimes The Dougie Squires Dancers, which included the then unknown Una Stubbs, performed dance routines to the music, and sometimes Tony Hart would draw a relevant cartoon while the record played. The programme was originally broadcast on Mondays at 7:15 pm and later moved to Thursdays. Owing to its success, it was a twice-weekly show (the second a repeat), later expanding to half an hour. The show's initiator was director Joan-Kemp Welch, the drama innovator, and the first—and the show's longest-running—choreographer was Dougie Squires. Kent Walton took the title from a show of the same name he hosted on Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
