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Little Dorrit (1987 Film)
''Little Dorrit'' is a 1987 film adaptation of the 1857 novel ''Little Dorrit'' by Charles Dickens. It was written and directed by Christine Edzard, and produced by John Brabourne and Richard B. Goodwin. The music by Giuseppe Verdi was arranged by Michael Sanvoisin. The film stars Derek Jacobi as Arthur Clennam, Alec Guinness as William Dorrit, and Sarah Pickering in the title role. A huge cast of seasoned British and Irish stage and film actors was assembled to play the dozens of roles, including Simon Dormandy, Joan Greenwood, Roshan Seth, Miriam Margolyes, Cyril Cusack and Max Wall. Pickering, in contrast, had never acted on screen; she was cast after writing to the production team claiming to 'be' Little Dorrit. It remains her only screen acting role. Production ''Little Dorrit'' lasts nearly six hours and was released in two parts, of approximately three hours each. The first part was subtitled ''Nobody's Fault'', an allusion to one of Dickens' proposed titles for the or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Dorrit
''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Clennam encounters her after returning home from a 20-year absence, ready to begin his life anew. The novel satirises some shortcomings of both government and society, including the institution of debtors' prisons, where debtors were imprisoned, unable to work and yet incarcerated until they had repaid their debts. The prison in this case is the Marshalsea, where Dickens's own father had been imprisoned. Dickens is also critical of the impotent bureaucracy of the British government, in this novel in the form of the fictional "Circumlocution Office". Dickens also satirises the stratification of society that results from the British class system. Plot summary Poverty The novel begins in Marseilles "thirty years ago" (c. 1826), with the notor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyril Cusack
Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor with a career that spanned more than 70 years. During his lifetime, he was considered one of Ireland’s finest thespians, and was renowned for his interpretations of both classical and contemporary theatre, including Shakespearean roles as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and over 60 productions for the Abbey Theatre, of which he was a lifelong member. In 2020, Cusack was ranked at number 14 on ''The Irish Times'' list of Ireland's greatest film actors. Born to Irish parents in South Africa and raised in County Tipperary, Cusack dropped out of law school to join the Abbey Theatre and remained with the company for 13 years, acting in over 60 plays. In London, he performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, and later founded his own company which toured across Europe. Making his film debut at age 8, Cusack worked with many top British directors, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betty Marsden
Betty Marsden (24 February 1919 – 18 July 1998) was an English comedy actress. She is particularly remembered as a cast member of the radio series ''Beyond Our Ken'' and ''Round the Horne''. Marsden also appeared in two Carry On films, ''Carry On Regardless'' (1961) and ''Carry On Camping'' (1969). Early life Marsden was born in West Derby, Liverpool, and grew up in near poverty in Somerset. Her music teacher recognised her talent at the age of six, and became her guardian. She attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and during World War II she entertained the troops as a member of ENSA. It was at this time that she met and married her husband, Dr Jimmy Wilson Muggoch, an army doctor from Edinburgh. Career From 1958 to 1968, Marsden was among the cast of the radio series ''Beyond Our Ken'' and ''Round the Horne'', where she played most of the female characters. Perhaps her most famous catchphrase was "many, many, many times", delivered in the dry, reedy tones of Bea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Savident
John Savident (born 21 January 1938) is a retired British actor, known for his numerous television roles, including his portrayal of Fred Elliott in the soap opera '' Coronation Street'' from 1994-2006. He is also known for his performance as Monsieur Firmin in the West End debut of The Phantom of the Opera and ''The Lion King.'' Early life Savident was born in Guernsey and still lived there at the time of the German occupation of the island in 1940. He and his family escaped to England in a fishing boat. During his early years, he was a police officer before turning to acting as his profession. Career Savident created the role of Monsieur Firmin in the original production of ''Phantom of the Opera'', which opened on 9 October 1986 at Her Majesty's Theatre in Haymarket, London. He appeared as the renegade scientist Egrorian in a 1981 episode of the cult science fiction TV series ''Blake's 7''. He also had other television appearances in '' The Saint'', ''Callan'' and '' Doc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heathcote Williams
John Henley Heathcote-Williams (15 November 1941 – 1 July 2017), known as Heathcote Williams, was an English poet, actor, political activist and dramatist. He wrote a number of book-length polemical poems including ''Autogeddon'', ''Falling for a Dolphin'' and ''Whale Nation'', which in 1988 was described by Philip Hoare as "the most powerful argument for the newly instigated worldwide ban on whaling." Williams invented his idiosyncratic "documentary/investigative poetry" style which he put to good purpose bringing a diverse range of environmental and political matters to public attention. His last published work, ''American Porn'' was a critique of the American political establishment and the election of President Donald Trump; its publication date was the day of Trump's inauguration (20 January 2017). In June 2015 he published a book-length investigative poem about the "Muslim Gandhi", Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, ''Badshah Khan''. As well as being a playwright and screenwrit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eleanor Bron
Eleanor Bron (born 14 March 1938) is an English stage, film and television actress, and an author. Her film roles include Ahme in the Beatles musical ''Help!'' (1965), the Doctor in ''Alfie'' (1966), Margaret Spencer in '' Bedazzled'' (1967), and Hermione Roddice in ''Women in Love'' (1969). She has appeared in television series such as ''Yes Minister'', ''Doctor Who,'' and ''Absolutely Fabulous''. Early life and family Bron was born on 14 March 1938 in Stanmore, Middlesex, into a Jewish family. Before her birth, her father Sydney had legally changed his name from Bronstein to Bron, in an effort to enhance his newly founded commercial enterprise, Bron's Orchestral Service. Her elder brother was the record producer Gerry Bron. She attended the North London Collegiate School and then Newnham College, Cambridge, where she read Modern Languages. She later characterised her time at Newnham as "three years of unparalleled pampering and privilege". Career Early work Bron began her c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Blake (English Actor)
Arthur Blake (November 7, 1929, Washington, Tyne and Wear – November 27, 2001, Kensington, London, England) was an English actor who appeared in British television and film from the 1950s through the 1990s. Filmography Film *''Quatermass 2'' (1957) *''Girl Stroke Boy'' (1971) *''Male Bait'' (1971) *'' The Cherry Picker'' (1974) *''Little Dorrit'' (1987) Television *''Saturday Playhouse'' (1959) * ''No Hiding Place'' (1959-1961) *''ITV Television Playhouse'' (1961) *''Z-Cars'' (1962) *''The Dickie Henderson Show'' (1963-1965) *'' Crane'' (1965) *''Doctor Who'' (1965) *''Frontier'' (1968) *'' Crime Buster'' (1968) *''Theatre Date'' (1969) *''World in Ferment'' (1969) *''Budgie'' (1971) *''ITV Sunday Night Theatre'' (1971) *''Hine'' (1971) *''Bel Ami'' (1971) *''War and Peace'' (1972) *''The Edwardians'' (1972) *'' Heil Caesar!'' (1973) *'' Thursday's Child'' (1973) *''The Stars Look Down'' (1975) *''Red Letter Day'' (1976) *''Striker'' (1976) *''Headmaster'' (1977) *''Armchair T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Elphick
Michael John Elphick (19 September 1946 – 7 September 2002) was an English film and television actor. He played the eponymous private investigator in the ITV series ''Boon'' and Harry Slater in BBC's ''EastEnders''. He was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1983 film '' Gorky Park''. In his prime, Elphick always looked older than he was, and with his gruff Sussex accent and lip-curling sneer he often played menacing hard men. Elphick struggled with a highly publicised addiction to alcohol; at the height of his problem he admitted to consuming two litres of spirits a day, which contributed to his death from a heart attack in 2002. Early life Elphick grew up in Chichester, Sussex, where his family had a butcher's shop. He was educated at Lancastrian Secondary Modern Boys School in Chichester, where he took part in several school productions including ''Noah'' and ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. He initially considered joinin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pauline Quirke
Pauline Perpetua Sheen ( Quirke; born 8 July 1959) is an English actress who has played Sharon Theodopolopodous in the long-running comedy series '' Birds of a Feather'' (1988–1999, 2014–2017). For this role, she won the 1990 British Comedy Award for Best Newcomer. She was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1996 BBC miniseries ''The Sculptress''. Her other television credits include ''Maisie Raine'' (1998–1999), '' Down to Earth'' (2000–2003), ''Emmerdale'' (2010–2012) and ''Broadchurch'' (2013–2015). Career Early work Quirke began her career as a child actress with an appearance in ''Dixon of Dock Green.'' Another early role was that of an autistic teenager in the 1975 TV drama ''Jenny Can't Work Any Faster''. By 1976 she had her own TV show, ''Pauline's Quirkes'', on Thames Television, which featured pop music, teenage topics, and comedy sketches. This was also the first television show in which Quirke and Linda Robson appeared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mollie Maureen
Mollie Maureen (16 August 1904 – 26 January 1987) was an Irish actress who worked mainly in Britain. Life and career Maureen was born Elizabeth Mary Campfield in 1904 in Ireland. Her acting career began in 1939, wherein she acted in a film entitled ''A Ship in the Bay''. Maureen mainly worked in television, with many minor and/or recurring roles in major shows such as ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'', ''Z-Cars'', ''Open All Hours'', ''Last of the Summer Wine'' and ''The Sweeney''. She also appeared as an elderly lady in an episode of ''Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense''. More prominently, from 1981 to 1983, she had various roles on the ''Kenny Everett Show''. Other television appearances included playing Lady Glenmire in the 1972 version of Elizabeth Gaskell's '' Cranford'', alongside Pat Coombs. She played Queen Victoria on two occasions on screen, one of them in ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'', the other in the mini-series ''The Edwardians''. Her last film appearance was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John McEnery
John McEnery (1 November 1943 – 12 April 2019) was an English actor and writer. Born in Birmingham, he trained (1962–1964) at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, playing, among others, Mosca in Ben Jonson's ''Volpone'' and Gaveston in Marlowe's ''Edward II''. At the age of 20 he found his first stage work, spending three seasons with the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. He joined the National Theatre company in 1966. While working at the Everyman, he met actress Stephanie Beacham, whom he later married. The couple had two daughters but subsequently divorced. He has another daughter from a previous relationship with artist Sofi Bollack. His first notable screen role was in 1968 as Mercutio in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Romeo and Juliet''; he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for his performance. He took the title role in the 1970 film ''Bartleby'', in which he starred opposite Paul Scofield. In 1971 he starred in a major role alongside Claude Jade and Jean-Pierre Cassel in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Fraser
William Simpson Fraser (5 June 1908 – 9 September 1987) was a Scottish actor who appeared on stage, screen and television for many years. In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play ''When We Are Married''. Early life Fraser was born in Perth and educated at Strathallan School. He began his career as a clerk in a bank before beginning to act. In the early days when acting work was scarce, Fraser was often penniless, frequently sleeping rough on the Embankment in London. Before the Second World War, he ran the Connaught Theatre in Worthing; when called up he served in a Royal Air Force Special Liaison Unit, reaching the rank of flight lieutenant, where he met and became friends with Eric Sykes. Just after the war a chance meeting in a London street led to Fraser's giving Sykes his first work as a writer for radio comedy and the two friends worked together many times over the following years. Fraser is also credited wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
