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Serjeant Musgrave's Dance
''Serjeant Musgrave's Dance, An Un-historical Parable'' is a play by English playwright John Arden, written in 1959 and premiered at the Royal Court Theatre on October 22 of that year. In Arden's introductory note to the text, he describes it as "a realistic, but not a naturalistic" play. Four songs are performed that Arden writes should be sung not to an original score but to "folk-song airs." Music for this production was composed by Dudley Moore. It was the first public performance of his own original compositions. Plot The work follows three privates in the British Army and their sergeant, all of whom are deserters from a foreign imperialist war. Serjeant Musgrave and his men, Hurst, Sparky and Attercliffe, come to a northern English coal mining town in 1879, posing as a recruiting party. The community is in the grip of a coal strike and cut off by winter snow. The one means of reaching the town is by canal barge. They arrive in the company of the Bargee, a foul-mouthed, d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sparky And Annie
Sparky is a common nickname for people and animals. In the British Commonwealth, it can also be used to refer to an electrician. People *Sparky Adams (1894–1989), American Major League Baseball player *Sparky Anderson (1934–2010), American Major League Baseball manager *Sparky McEwen (born 1968), American football player * H. F. Gierke III (born 1943), North Dakota Supreme Court justice *Mark Hughes (born 1963), former Welsh international football player and manager *Eddie Lake (1916–1995), American Major League Baseball player *Shelly Liddelow (born 1984), Australian field hockey player *Sparky Lyle (born 1944), American Major League Baseball pitcher *Sparky Marcus (born Marcus Issoglio in 1967), American child actor *Mark Matejka, American Southern rock guitarist *Marv Olson (1907–1998), American Major League Baseball player *Mark Phillips, vocalist of the British band Demented Are Go *Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000), American cartoonist, creator of the ''Peanuts'' comic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading-light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered for his 1968 film '' if....'', which won the ''Palme d'Or'' at Cannes Film Festival in 1969 and marked Malcolm McDowell's cinematic debut. He is also notable, though not a professional actor, for playing a minor role in the Academy Award-winning 1981 film ''Chariots of Fire''. McDowell produced a 2007 documentary about his experiences with Anderson, '' Never Apologize''. Early life Lindsay Gordon Anderson was born in Bangalore, South India, where his father had been stationed with the Royal Engineers, on 17 April 1923. His father Captain (later Major General) Alexander Vass Anderson was a British Army officer who had been born in North India, and his mother Estelle Bell Gasson was born in Queenstown, South Africa, the daughter of a wool merch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clinton Greyn
Clinton Greyn (29 September 1933 – 19 March 2019) was a Welsh-born actor noted for his appearances in British television series of the 1960s and 1970s. After graduating from RADA in 1957, Greyn worked in rep at Ipswich, Chesterfield and the Belgrade Theatre Coventry. He made his film debut in the 1961 ''Scotland Yard'' short ''Wings of Death'', before going on to appear in such popular British TV series as ''Z-Cars'' and ''Compact''. By 1967 his career had progressed to prominent roles opposite Shirley MacLaine in Vittorio De Sica's ''Woman Times Seven'' (1967), Stanley Baker in Peter Yates' crime caper ''Robbery'' (1967), and Peter O'Toole in Herbert Ross's musical remake of ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1969). This led to him getting his own TV series in 1968, '' Virgin of the Secret Service'', in which he played the dashing Captain Robert Virgin, travelling the world battling evil in the name of the British Empire. The series was not a success and he found himself making guest ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Blakely
Colin George Blakely (23 September 1930 – 7 May 1987) was a Northern Irish actor. He had roles in the films '' A Man for All Seasons'' (1966), ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' (1970), ''Murder on the Orient Express'' (1974), and '' Equus'' (1977). Early life Born in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, Blakely attended Sedbergh School in Yorkshire (now Cumbria), England. At the age of 18 he started work in his family's sports goods shop in Belfast, before going on to work as a timber-loader on the railways. In 1957, after a spell of amateur dramatics with the Bangor Drama Club, he turned professional with the Group Theatre, Belfast. Career In 1957, at the age of 27, Blakely made his stage debut as Dick McCardle in ''Master of the House''. He also appeared in several Ulster Group Theatre productions, including Gerard McLarnon's ''Bonefire'' (1958) and Patricia O'Connor's ''A Sparrow Falls'' (1959). From 1957 to 1959 he was at the Royal Court Theatre, appearing in ''C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Smethurst
John Smethurst (9 April 1932 – 16 February 2022) was an English television and film comic actor. He was best known for his role as Eddie Booth in the British television sitcom ''Love Thy Neighbour''. Early life Smethurst was born on 9 April 1932 in Collyhurst, Manchester. Career He made his film debut in 1958's ''Carry On Sergeant''. This was followed by parts in the films ''Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' (1960), '' A Kind of Loving'' (1962), ''Run with the Wind'' (1966), ''Night After Night After Night'' (1970), the big-screen version of ''Please Sir!'' (1971) and the ITV sitcom ''For the Love of Ada'' (1970–71) amongst others, before he landed the role for which he is best known—that of bigoted socialist and union leader, 'brother' Eddie Booth in ''Love Thy Neighbour''. The programme ran for eight series between 1972 and 1976. During this run he also appeared in the 1974 film version of the sitcom ''Man About the House''. He reprised his role as Eddie Booth for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stratford Johns
Alan Edgar Stratford Johns (22 September 1925 – 29 January 2002), known as Stratford Johns, was a British stage, film and television actor who is best remembered for his starring role as Detective Inspector Charlie Barlow in the long-running BBC police series ''Z-Cars''. Early life Johns was born and grew up in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. After serving as a deckhand in the South African navy during World War II, he worked for a time in accountancy, but soon became involved in amateur theatre. Career In 1948, Johns bought a one-way ticket to Britain and learned his craft working in repertory theatre at Southend-on-Sea for almost five years. He began to appear in British films from the mid-1950s, including a bit part in the classic Ealing comedy '' The Ladykillers'' (1955). He ran a small hotel in London during the 1950s, and was a member of the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre during the Angry Young Men period when new playwrights, including John Osborne, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patsy Byrne
Patricia Anne Thirza Byrne (13 July 1933 – 17 June 2014) was an English actress, best known for her role as "Nursie" in ''Blackadder II'' as well as Malcolm's domineering Mother, Mrs Stoneway in all seven series of the ITV comedy '' Watching''Slide, Anthony (1996) ''Some Joe You Don't Know: American Biographical Guide to 100 British Television Personalities'', Greenwood Press; , p. 11 between 1987 and 1993. Biography Byrne was educated at Ashford County Grammar School. She studied drama at Rose Bruford College before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company playing parts such as Maria in ''Twelfth Night'' and Gruscha in ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' at the Aldwych Theatre in the early 1960s. In the 1980s she also worked at Chichester Festival Theatre. Byrne starred alongside Tony Robinson in a Series 3 episode of ''Maid Marian and her Merry Men''. She played Betty the Tea Lady on the BBC children's programme ''Playdays''. Other roles included appearances in ''I, Claudius'' (1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freda Jackson
Freda Maud Jackson (29 December 1907 – 20 October 1990) was an English stage actress who also worked in film and television. Early life and career Jackson was born in Nottingham in 1907. She made her stage debut on 1 January 1934 at the Northampton Repertory Theatre in '' Sweet Lavender''. During this period, she reputedly had a relationship with Errol Flynn, a fellow company member. After two years with the Northampton Rep, she first appeared in London on 13 July 1936 in '' The Sacred Flame'' at the Q Theatre, afterwards touring with Emlyn Williams in Williams' play ''Night Must Fall''. In 1938 she joined the Old Vic company, touring with them the following year in Europe and Egypt, and in 1940 she became part of the Stratford Memorial Theatre company. Her film debut was in ''Mountains O'Mourne'' (1938); other early films included Powell and Pressburger's ''A Canterbury Tale'', Laurence Olivier's ''Henry V'' (both 1944) and David Lean's ''Great Expectations'' (1946). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Caldicot
Richard Caldicot (7 October 1908 – 16 October 1995) was an English actor famed for his role of Commander (later Captain) Povey in the BBC radio series ''The Navy Lark''. He also appeared often on television, memorably as the obstetrician delivering Betty Spencer's baby in ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em''. His father was a civil servant and he attended Dulwich College prior to training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He then appeared in repertory theatre and on the London stage from 1928. Among numerous West End appearances, he played Lance-Corporal Broughton in the original production of ''Journey's End'' from 1929–30, Harry Soames in ''Edward, My Son'' (1947–49) and Mr Bromhead in ''No Sex Please, We're British'' from 1971 to 1976. His film debut was in ''The Million Pound Note'' (1954). Caldicot's television appearances include '' The Four Just Men'', ''The Prisoner'': " Many Happy Returns", ''Steptoe and Son'', '' Vanity Fair'', ''Fawlty Towers'' and ''Coronation St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian Bannen
Ian Edmund Bannen (29 June 1928 – 3 November 1999) was a Scottish actor with a long career in film, on stage, and on television. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in '' The Flight of the Phoenix'' (1965), the first Scottish actor to receive the honour, as well as two BAFTA Film Awards for his performances in Sidney Lumet's ''The Offence'' (1973) and John Boorman's '' Hope and Glory'' (1987). On stage, he was renowned for his interpretations of William Shakespeare and Eugene O'Neill, and was an original member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He won the 1981 Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Brian Friel's ''Translations''. Early life Bannen was born in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, the son of Clare (née Galloway) and John James Bannen, a lawyer. After attending St Aloysius' College, Glasgow and Ratcliffe College, Leicestershire, Bannen served in Egypt as a corporal in the British Army. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Bree (actor)
James Rutherfoord Worsfold Thomson (20 July 1923 – 1 December 2008), known professionally as James Bree, was a British actor who appeared on stage, and played many supporting roles in both film and television. Bree was educated at Radley College near Abingdon, Oxfordshire and during the Second World War served in the RAF. He later trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He changed his surname to Thomson-Bree after inheriting land from his great-uncle, Archdeacon William Bree. On stage, Bree was in the original productions of Thornton Wilder's ''The Matchmaker'' in London's West End in 1954; and in John Arden's ''Sergeant Musgrave's Dance'' at the Royal Court in 1959. He was also one of the founder members of Peter Hall's Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford in 1960. On screen, he was cast as Blofeld's attorney Gumbold in the 1969 James Bond film '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service'', and for his role as Uncle Arthur in '' The Jewel in the Crown''. Bree perf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Finlay
Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English stage, film and television actor, Oscar-nominated for a supporting role as Iago in Laurence Olivier's 1965 film adaptation of ''Othello''. In 1983, Finlay was directed by Italian filmmaker Tinto Brass in the erotic classic '' The Key'', with Stefania Sandrelli. His first leading television role came in 1971 in ''Casanova''. This led to appearances on '' The Morecambe and Wise Show''. He also appeared in the drama ''Bouquet of Barbed Wire''. Early life Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Josiah Finlay, and Margaret Finlay. He was educated at St Gregory the Great School, but left at 14 to train as a butcher at Toppings, gaining a City and Guilds Diploma in the trade. Stage career Finlay made his first stage appearances at the local Farnworth Little Theatre, in plays that included Peter Blackmore's ''Miranda'' in 1951. The current Little Theatre president, also in the cast of that ''Miranda'' pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |