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Sheila Mercier
Sheila Betty Mercier (''née'' Rix; 1 January 1919 – 4 December 2019) was an English actress, of stage and television, best known for playing Annie Sugden in the soap opera ''Emmerdale'' for over 20 years, from the programme's first episode in 1972 until the mid-1990s, with a guest return in 2009. Early life and education Mercier was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Herbert Rix (of J.R. Rix & Sons Ltd) and his wife Fanny. She was their third child and second daughter; her younger brother was the actor and campaigner Brian Rix. After education at the French Convent (Hull) and at Hunmanby Hall (both East Riding of Yorkshire), she trained for the stage at the Stratford-upon-Avon College of Drama under Randle Ayrton. Career Mercier had a long career on stage before her television career. Donald Wolfit had talent spotted her and she toured with Wolfit's own Shakespeare company in 1939. During the Second World War she joined the WAAF division of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingston Upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east of York, the historic county town. With a population of (), it is the fourth-largest city in the Yorkshire and the Humber region after Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford. The town of Wyke on Hull was founded late in the 12th century by the monks of Meaux Abbey as a port from which to export their wool. Renamed ''Kings-town upon Hull'' in 1299, Hull had been a market town, military supply port, trading centre, fishing and whaling centre and industrial metropolis. Hull was an early theatre of battle in the English Civil Wars. Its 18th-century Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce, took a prominent part in the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. More than 95% of the city was damaged or destroyed in the blitz and suffered a perio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Stage
''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those who work in theatre and the performing arts. History The first edition of ''The Stage'' was published (under the title ''The Stage Directory – a London and Provincial Theatrical Advertiser'') on 1 February 1880 at a cost of three old pence for twelve pages. Publication was monthly until 25 March 1881, when the first weekly edition was produced. At the same time, the name was shortened to ''The Stage'' and the publication numbering restarted at number 1. The publication was a joint venture between founding editor Charles Lionel Carson and business manager Maurice Comerford. It operated from offices opposite the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Carson, whose real name was Lionel Courtier-Dutton, was cited as the founder. His wife Emily Courtier ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hazel Holt
Hazel Holt (nee Young, 3 September 1928 – 23 November 2015) was a British novelist. She studied at King Edward VI High School for Girls in Birmingham, England, and then Newnham College, Cambridge. She went on to work at the International African Institute in London, where she became acquainted with the novelist Barbara Pym, whose biography she later wrote. She also finished one of Pym's novels after Pym died. Holt has published ''My Dear Charlotte'', a story that uses the actual language of Jane Austen's letters to her sister Cassandra to construct a Regency murder mystery. Holt wrote her first novel in her sixties, and was a leading crime novelist. She is best known for her Sheila Malory series. She was also a regular contributor to ''The Stage'' for some years.'''' She married Geoffrey Louis Holt (1924-2010) in 1951; their son is novelist Tom Holt Thomas Charles Louis Holt (born 13 September 1961) is a British novelist. In addition to fiction published under his own ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amos Brearly
Amos Brearly is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Ronald Magill. He made his first appearance during the serial's debut episode on 16 October 1972. Amos ran The Woolpack pub and was the village gossip. A double act was later formed between Amos and Henry Wilks ( Arthur Pentelow), which lasted for 19 years. Amos became known for his bushy sideburns and catchphrase "Nay, Mr Wilks". Magill left the show in January 1991, but reprised the role for several brief appearances until July 1995. Development Amos is one of ''Emmerdales original characters conceived by creator Kevin Laffan. He was known for his bushy sideburns, which were the result of Magill having rushed to the audition from playing an Edwardian character in a stage play. He thought he would be asked to shave the sideburns if he secured the part, but the producer told him they were ideal for the part and to keep them. At the beginning of the serial, Amos is the landlord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soap Opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored by soap manufacturers.Bowles, p. 118. The term was preceded by "horse opera", a derogatory term for low-budget Westerns. BBC Radio's ''The Archers'', first broadcast in 1950, is the world's longest-running radio soap opera. The longest-running current television soap is '' Coronation Street'', which was first broadcast on ITV in 1960, with the record for the longest running soap opera in history being held by '' Guiding Light'', which began on radio in 1937, transitioned to television in 1952, and ended in 2009. A crucial element that defines the soap opera is the open-ended serial nature of the narrative, with stories spanning several episodes. One of the defining features that makes a television program a soap opera, according to Alber ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matriarch
Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general English, definitions specific to anthropology and feminism differ in some respects. Matriarchies may also be confused with matrilineal, matrilocal, and matrifocal societies. While there are those who may consider any non-patriarchal system to be matriarchal, most academics exclude those systems from matriarchies as strictly defined. Definitions, connotations, and etymology According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), matriarchy is a "form of social organization in which the mother or oldest female is the head of the family, and descent and relationship are reckoned through the female line; government or rule by a woman or women."''Oxford English Dictionary'' (online), entry ''matriarchy'', as accessed November 3, 2013. A pop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trafalgar Studios
Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million Pound sterling, pound restoration project aiming to reinstate it back to its original heritage design. The Listed building, Grade II listed building was built in 1930 with interiors in the Art Deco style as the Whitehall Theatre; it regularly staged comedies and revues. It was converted into a television and radio studio in the 1990s, before returning to theatrical use in 2004 as Trafalgar Studios, the name it bore until 2020. History 1930 to 1996 The original Whitehall Theatre, built on the site of the 17th century ''Ye Old Ship Tavern'' was designed by Edward A. Stone, with interiors in the Art Deco style by Marc-Henri and Laverdet. It had 634 seats. The theatre opened on 29 September 1930 with ''The Way to Treat a Woman'' by Walter Hackett, who was the theatre's licensee. In November 1933 Henry D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whitehall Farce
The Whitehall farces were a series of five long-running comic stage plays at the Whitehall Theatre in London, presented by the actor-manager Brian Rix, in the 1950s and 1960s. They were in the low comedy tradition of British farce, following the Aldwych farces, which played at the Aldwych Theatre between 1924 and 1933. History The farces; critical reception The five farces were as follows: Rix built a company of regular players who appeared in some or all of these shows. They included Leo Franklyn, Larry Noble, Dennis Ramsden and Derek Royle, and members of Rix's family: his wife, Elspet Gray, his sister, Sheila Mercier and his brother-in-law, Peter Mercier. Others who appeared in one or more of the Whitehall farces include Terry Scott and Andrew Sachs. Rix starred in all five plays, in a range of roles: a "gormless recruit" to the army in ''Reluctant Heroes''; a timidly crooked bookie's runner in ''Dry Rot''; a street musician recruited as a secret agent in ''Simple Spymen''; f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
L'Aigle à Deux Têtes
''L'Aigle à deux têtes'' is a French play in three acts by Jean Cocteau, written in 1943 and first performed in 1946. It is known variously in English as ''The Eagle with Two Heads'', ''The Eagle Has Two Heads'', ''The Two-Headed Eagle'', ''The Double-Headed Eagle'', and ''Eagle Rampant''. The title refers to the double-headed eagle of heraldry. Cocteau also directed a film of his play which appeared in 1948. Cocteau said that he took his inspiration for the play from the separate stories of Ludwig II of Bavaria and of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Ludwig was found drowned in Lake Starnberg in Bavaria in circumstances which have never been satisfactorily explained. Elisabeth was stabbed in the heart by an assassin while out walking in Geneva. For his portrait of the Queen, Cocteau drew upon the portrait of Elisabeth given by Remy de Gourmont in his ''Promenades littéraires''. He was also concerned to create characters which called for a grand style of acting in a tradit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hay Fever (play)
Robert Andrews and Helen Spencer as her children, 1925">alt=middle-aged white woman in large sun-hat, with young adult male and female kneeling to each side ''Hay Fever'' is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924. Its first production was in the West End theatre, West End in 1925 with Marie Tempest as Judith Bliss. A cross between high farce and a comedy of manners, the play is set in an English country house in the 1920s, and deals with the four eccentric members of the Bliss family and their outlandish behaviour when they each invite a guest to spend the weekend. The self-centred behaviour of the hosts finally drives their guests to flee while the Blisses are so engaged in a family row that they do not notice their guests' furtive departure. The play's original production opened in London in 1925 and ran for 337 performances. Coward wrote the piece with Tempest in mind for the central role of Judith. In later productions the part has been played by actresses including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Enchanted Cottage (play)
''The Enchanted Cottage'' is a romance by the English playwright Arthur Wing Pinero, written in 1921. The play opened on Broadway at the Ritz Theatre on March 31, 1923, directed by Jessie Bonstelle and William A. Brady, and starring Herbert Bunston and Katharine Cornell and ran for 65 performances until May 1923. In April 1925, ''The Enchanted Cottage'' was the opening play for the Omaha Community Playhouse, starring Dodie Brando, mother of Marlon Brando. The play was published by Heinemann in 1922. ''The Enchanted Cottage'' has been adapted for the screen in 1924, 1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ... and 2016. Notes Plays by Arthur Wing Pinero British plays adapted into films 1921 plays Heinemann (publisher) books West End plays {{1920s-play ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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