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Single Spies
''Single Spies'' is a 1988 double bill written by the English playwright Alan Bennett. It consists of ''An Englishman Abroad'' and ''A Question of Attribution'', the former an adaptation of a television play the author had written for the BBC in 1983. Both plays depict members of the Cambridge spy ring and touch on their moral, political and aesthetic beliefs: the first shows Guy Burgess in exile in Moscow in 1958, seven years after absconding from Britain. The second focuses on Sir Anthony Blunt while he still holds high office in the Royal Household although known to the security services as a former Soviet agent. The double bill was presented at the National Theatre in December 1988, and transferred to the Queen's Theatre in the West End in February 1989. ''An Englishman Abroad'' The play is based on the true story of a chance meeting of the actress Coral Browne, with Guy Burgess, a member of the Cambridge spy ring, who worked for the Soviet Union while serving with MI6 a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. He also earned an Academy Award nomination for his film ''The Madness of King George'' (1994). In 2005 he received the Society of London Theatre Special Award. Bennett was born in Leeds and attended Oxford University, where he studied history and performed with the Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research medieval history at the university for several years. His collaboration as writer and performer with Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Peter Cook in the satirical revue '' Beyond the Fringe'' at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival brought him instant fame and later a Special Tony Award. He gave up academia, and turned to writing full time, his first stage play, '' Forty Years On'', being produced in 1968. He also became known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 1932, although the start of its regular service of television broadcasts is dated to 2 November 1936. The BBC's domestic television channels have no commercial advertising and collectively they accounted for more than 30% of all UK viewing in 2013. The services are funded by a television licence. As a result of the 2016 Licence Fee settlement, the BBC Television division was split, with in-house television production being separated into a new division called BBC Studios and the remaining parts of television (channels and genre commissioning, BBC Sport and BBC iPlayer) being renamed as BBC Content. History of BBC Television The BBC operates several television networks, television stations (although there is generally very little distincti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prunella Scales
Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English former actress, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy '' Fawlty Towers'', her nomination for a BAFTA award for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in '' A Question of Attribution'' (''Screen One'', BBC 1991) by Alan Bennett, and for the documentary series '' Great Canal Journeys'' (2014–2021), travelling on canal barges and narrowboats with her husband, fellow actor Timothy West. Early life Scales was born in Sutton Abinger, Surrey, the daughter of Catherine (''née'' Scales), an actress, and John Richardson Illingworth, a cotton salesman. She attended Moira House Girls' School, Eastbourne. She had a younger brother, Timothy "Timmo" Illingworth (1934–2017). In 1939, at the start of the Second World War, Scales's parents moved with their children to Bucks Mill near Bideford in Devon. Scales herself and her brother were evacua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' and ''Sunday Bloody Sunday''). Early life Schlesinger was born and raised in Hampstead, London, in a Jewish family, the eldest of five children of distinguished Emmanuel College, Cambridge-educated paediatrician and physician Bernard Edward Schlesinger (1896–1984), OBE, FRCP, who had also served in the Royal Army Medical Corps as a brigadier, and his wife Winifred Henrietta, daughter of Hermann Regensburg, a stockbroker from Frankfurt. She had left school at 14 to study at the Trinity College of Music, and later studied languages at the University of Oxford for three years. Bernard Schlesinger's father Richard, a stockbroker, had come to England in the 1880s from Frankfurt. After St Edmund's School, Hindhead and Uppingham School (whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trevor Baxter
Trevor Baxter (18 November 1932 – 16 July 2017) was a British actor and playwright. He was educated at Dulwich College and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Early years A postal worker's son, Baxter was born in Lewisham, London, England, and was educated at Dulwich College and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Career His credits include: ''Adam Adamant Lives!'', ''Z-Cars'', ''Maelstrom'', '' Thriller'', '' The New Avengers'', ''Jack the Ripper'', (1988) ''The Barchester Chronicles'' (1982) ''An Englishman Abroad'' (1983) and ''Doctors''. He is known for his appearance in the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Talons of Weng-Chiang'' (1977) as Professor George Litefoot and in 1978 in ''Rumpole of the Bailey''. He reprised his role of Professor Litefoot in an episode of the audio series, '' Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles'': '' The Mahogany Murderers''. The following year he was Professor Litefoot again for a continuing series of '' Jago & Litefoot''. Trevor Baxter worked with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Lamb (actor)
Charles Lamb (20 November 1900 – 19 March 1989) was a British stage, film and television actor. Previously an engineer, he made his theatre debut in 1924. His stage work included appearing in the original theatrical production of '' Brighton Rock'' at the Garrick Theatre in 1943. His longest running role was as Mrs Dale's gardener, Monument, in the radio soap opera ''Mrs Dale's Diary''. Selected filmography * ''Once a Crook'' (1941) - Joseph * ''Stop Press Girl'' (1949) - Green Line Conductor (uncredited) * '' The Galloping Major'' (1951) - Ernie Smart, Horse Owner * ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951) - Mr. Richards (uncredited) * ''Appointment with Venus'' (1951) - Jean - the Cowman * ''Curtain Up'' (1952) - George * '' Come Back Peter'' (1952) - Mr. Hapgood * ''Genevieve'' (1953) - Publican (uncredited) * '' The Intruder'' (1953) - Glazier (uncredited) * ''Meet Mr. Lucifer'' (1953) - 2nd Trap Door Stage Hand (uncredited) * ''Impulse'' (1954) - Mr. Palmer (Car Mechanic) (u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Hammond (actor)
John Roger Hammond (21 March 1936 – 8 November 2012) was an English character actor who appeared in many films and television series. Hammond's father was a chartered accountant and managing director of a cotton mill. John attended Stockport Grammar School for two years followed by Bryanston School in Dorset. He then went to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he initially read English, then switched to archaeology and anthropology and he appeared extensively in their drama programme, alongside actors such as Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi. Following that, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1963, he joined the Arts Theatre Company, and appeared in a number of productions there, including productions of the associated Unicorn Theatre. In 1964, Hammond made his first television appearance, as Tidiman in an episode of ''The Villains'', and his first film appearance the next year. Although he worked primarily as a television actor in his early years, from the 1990 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denys Hawthorne
Denys Vernon Hawthorne (9 August 1932 – 16 October 2009) was an actor from Northern Ireland who was known for his work in theatre, film, television and radio. Life Denys Hawthorne was born into an upper middle-class Protestant family in Portadown, County Armagh in 1932; his father had a linen business. He studied law at Queen's University Belfast, and afterwards joined the Ulster Group Theatre; other actors in the company included Patrick Magee, James Ellis, Stephen Boyd and Colin Blakely. The company produced modern classics, and plays by new Irish writers including Joseph Tomelty and Brian Friel.Denys Hawthorne obituary ''The Guardian'', 1 November 2009, accessed 16 August 2017. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexei Jawdokimov
Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Alexius. Alexey may also be romanized as ''Aleksei'', ''Aleksey'', ''Alexej'', ''Aleksej'', etc. It has been commonly westernized as Alexis. Similar Ukrainian and Belarusian names are romanized as Oleksii (Олексій) and Aliaksiej (Аляксей), respectively. The Russian Orthodox Church uses the Old Church Slavonic version, Alexiy (Алексiй, or Алексий in modern spelling), for its Saints and hierarchs (most notably, this is the form used for Patriarchs Alexius I and Alexius II). The common hypocoristic is Alyosha () or simply Lyosha (). These may be further transformed into Alyoshka, Alyoshenka, Lyoshka, Lyoha, Lyoshenka (, respectively), sometimes rendered as Alesha/Aleshenka in English. The form Alyosha may be u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Chelsom
Peter Chelsom (born 20 April 1956) is a British film director, writer, and actor. He has directed such films as Hector and the Search for Happiness (film), ''Hector and the Search for Happiness'', Serendipity (film), ''Serendipity'', and ''Shall We Dance? (2004 film), Shall We Dance?'' Peter Chelsom is a member of the British Academy, the American Academy, The Directors Guild of America, and The Writers Guild of America. Early life Chelsom was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, the son of antiques shop owners Kay and Reginald Chelsom. He was educated at Wrekin College (1969-1973) and later studied at the Central School of Drama in London. He has dual citizenship in the US and the UK, and is an Honorary Citizen of the small town Fivizzano in Tuscany. Career Before the age of 30, Chelsom played roles at the Royal Shakespeare Company opposite Patrick Stewart, the Royal National Theatre alongside Anthony Hopkins, Sir Anthony Hopkins, and the Royal Court Theatre in London. During that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Reith
Douglas Reith is a British actor and teacher. He is best known for his role as Lord Merton in the television series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010-2015), as well as its two follow-up films. Early life Reith was born in Melton, Suffolk. He studied acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. He began acting in the late 1970s, beginning with an appearance in '' International Velvet'' (1978) alongside Tatum O'Neal and Christopher Plummer. Career He worked as an announcer and presenter at BBC Radio 3 for five years before leaving to study Greats at Christ Church, Oxford for four years beginning in 1989. He worked as a teacher, including at Westminster School, before resuming his acting career. Reith joined the cast of ''Downton Abbey'' as Lord Merton in 2012, and alongside the cast was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the 23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards. He reprised the role in the films ''Downton Abbey'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Wing-Davey
Mark Wing-Davey (born 30 November 1948) is a British actor and director. He portrayed Zaphod Beeblebrox in the radio and television versions of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Early life and career The son of actor and actress Peter Davey and Anna Wing, Wing-Davey attended Woolverstone Hall School in Suffolk before studying English at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the Footlights between 1967 and 1970. He had a featured role in the 1976 miniseries ''The Glittering Prizes''. This role was later cited by Geoffrey Perkins as the likely reason for his being cast in arguably his most memorable role, that of the two-headed Galactic President, Zaphod Beeblebrox, in the radio and TV versions of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', written by Douglas Adams. He played a barrister in some episodes of the ITV television series ''Crown Court'', King Henry V in Episode 3 of James Burke's '' Connections'', a record company executive in the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
