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The Dog It Was That Died
''The Dog It Was That Died'' is a play by the British playwright Tom Stoppard. Written for BBC Radio in 1982, it concerns the dilemma faced by a spy over who he actually works for. The play was also adapted for television by Stoppard, and broadcast in 1988. The title is taken from Oliver Goldsmith's poem"An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog" Story Rupert Purvis works for "Q6", a department of an unnamed espionage agency of the British Government. As the play begins, he is in the process of ending his life by jumping off Waterloo Bridge into the Thames. However, the attempt goes wrong when he falls not into the water but onto a passing barge, breaking his legs and killing a dog which was on the deck. Over the course of the play, the reasons for this emerge. Some years ago, Purvis was approached by a Soviet spy named Rashnikov, who asked him to work as a double agent. Purvis reported this to his British superiors, who told him to pretend to work as a Soviet double agent whilst rea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and political freedom, often delving into the deeper philosophical thematics of society. Stoppard has been a playwright of the National Theatre and is one of the most internationally performed dramatists of his generation. Stoppard was knighted for his contribution to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997. Born in Czechoslovakia, Stoppard left as a child refugee, fleeing imminent Nazi occupation. He settled with his family in Britain after the war, in 1946, having spent the previous three years (1943–1946) in a boarding school in Darjeeling in the Indian Himalayas. After being educated at schools in Nottingham and Yorkshire, Stoppard became a journalist, a drama critic and then, in 1960, a playwright. Stoppard's most prominent plays include ''R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opium
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which is processed chemically to produce heroin and other synthetic opioids for medicinal use and for the illegal drug trade. The latex also contains the closely related opiates codeine and thebaine, and non-analgesic alkaloids such as papaverine and noscapine. The traditional, labor-intensive method of obtaining the latex is to scratch ("score") the immature seed pods (fruits) by hand; the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky yellowish residue that is later scraped off and dehydrated. The word '' meconium'' (derived from the Greek for "opium-like", but now used to refer to newborn stools) historically referred to related, weaker preparations made from other parts of the opium poppy or different species of poppies. The production methods have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Howard (actor)
Alan MacKenzie Howard, CBE (5 August 1937 – 14 February 2015) was an English actor. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1966 to 1983 and played leading roles at the Royal National Theatre between 1992 and 2000. Early life Howard was born in Croydon, Surrey, the only son of actor Arthur Howard and his wife Jean Compton (Mackenzie). His uncle was Leslie Howard, the film star,Michael Covene"Alan Howard obituary", ''The Guardian'', 18 February 2015 while his aunt was the casting director Irene Howard. On his mother's side he was also a great-nephew of the actress Fay Compton and the novelist Sir Compton Mackenzie. He was educated at the independent school Ardingly College in Ardingly, West Sussex. Theatre career 1958–1965 Alan Howard made his first stage appearance at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, in April 1958, as a footman in ''Half In Earnest''. He remained with the company until 1960, where his roles included Frankie Bryant in Arnold Wesker's '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" drama '' A Kind of Loving''. He is also known for his performance with Anthony Quinn in ''Zorba the Greek'', as well as his roles in ''King of Hearts'', '' Georgy Girl'', ''Far From the Madding Crowd'' and '' The Fixer'', for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1969, he starred in the Ken Russell film ''Women in Love'' with Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson. Bates went on to star in ''The Go-Between'', ''An Unmarried Woman'', ''Nijinsky'' and in '' The Rose'' with Bette Midler, as well as many television dramas, including ''The Mayor of Casterbridge'', Harold Pinter's '' The Collection'', ''A Voyage Round My Father'', ''An Englishman Abroad'' (as Guy Burgess) and ''Pack of Lies''. He also appeared on the stage, nota ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Wood (director)
Peter Wood (8 October 1925 – 11 February 2016) was an English theatre director, theatre and film director. Biography Wood was born on 8 October 1925 in Colyton, Devon. His father Frank Wood was a basketmaker and his mother, Lucy Eleanor (Nell), née Meeson was a seamstress. Wood developed his interest in acting while at Taunton School. After school, he spent his National Service with the RAF in Canada and on his return he studied English at Downing College, Cambridge. Wood joined an acting troupe after university, and by 1955 he was running the Oxford Playhouse. The following year, he became resident director at the London Arts Theatre, working alongside Peter Hall (director), Peter Hall During the late 1950s, Wood directed plays at Edinburgh festival and the Old Vic before travelling to Broadway theatre, Broadway to direct ''Five Finger Exercise#Original play, Five Finger Exercise''. He returned to England to direct plays at Old Vic, Globe Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in the United Kingdom. At the time, the only other channels were the television licence, licence-funded BBC One and BBC Two, and a single commercial broadcasting network ITV (TV network), ITV. The network's headquarters are based in London and Leeds, with creative hubs in Glasgow and Bristol. It is publicly owned and advertising-funded; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public corporation of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993. Until 2010, Channel 4 did not broadcast in Wales, but many of its programmes were re-broadcast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation comedy ''Dad's Army'' (1968–1977). A self-confessed "jobbing actor", Le Mesurier appeared in more than 120 films across a range of genres, normally in smaller supporting parts. Le Mesurier became interested in the stage as a young adult and enrolled at the Fay Compton Studio of Dramatic Art in 1933. From there he took a position in repertory theatre and made his stage debut in September 1934 at the Palladium Theatre in Edinburgh in the J. B. Priestley play ''Dangerous Corner''. He later accepted an offer to work with Alec Guinness in a John Gielgud production of ''Hamlet''. He first appeared on television in 1938 as Seigneur de Miolans in the BBC broadcast of ''The Marvellous History of St Bernard''. During the Second World War Le Mesuri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice Denham
William Maurice Denham OBE (23 December 1909 – 24 July 2002) was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes in his long career. Family Denham was born on 23 December 1909 in Beckenham, Kent, the son of Eleanor Winifred (née Lillico) and Norman Denham. He was the third child of four: Norman Keith (1907), Winifred Joan (1908), and Charles (1915). He was educated at Tonbridge School and trained as a lift engineer. Like fellow actor James Robertson Justice, he played amateur rugby for Beckenham RFC. In 1936, he married Elizabeth Dunn, with whom he had two sons and a daughter: Christopher (born 1939), Timothy (born 1946) and Virginia (born 1948). Elizabeth died in 1971. He was awarded the OBE in 1992. He died on 24 July 2002, aged 92 at Denville Hall in North London. Career Denham eventually became an actor in 1934, and appeared in live television broadcasts as early as 1938, continuing to perform in that medium until 1997. Denha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penelope Keith
Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith, (née Hatfield; born 2 April 1940) is an English actress and presenter, active in film, radio, stage and television and primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms '' The Good Life'' and ''To the Manor Born''. She succeeded Lord Olivier as president of the Actors' Benevolent Fund after his death in 1989, and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the arts and to charity. Keith joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963, and went on to win the 1976 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for the play ''Donkeys' Years''. She became a household name in the UK playing Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom ''The Good Life'' (1975–78), winning the 1977 BAFTA TV Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance. In 1978, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for ''The Norman Conquests''. She then starred as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in the sitcom ''To the Manor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenneth Cranham
Kenneth Cranham (born 12 December 1944) is a Scottish film, television, radio and stage actor. Early life Cranham was born in Dunfermline, Fife, the son of Lochgelly-born Margaret McKay Cranham (née Ferguson) and Ronald Cranham, a London-born civil servant. Career Cranham trained at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, and at RADA. He starred in the title role in the popular 1980s comedy drama ''Shine on Harvey Moon'', prior to which he had appeared as Charlie Collins in ''A Family at War'' (1971). He also appeared in ''Layer Cake'', ''Gangster No. 1'', ''Rome'', ''Oliver!'' and many other films. Cranham was cast as the deranged Philip Channard and his Cenobitic alter-ego in the Horror film '' Hellbound: Hellraiser II''. Among many stage credits are West End productions of ''Entertaining Mr Sloane'', '' Loot'', ''An Inspector Calls'' (both transferring to Broadway), ''The Ruffian on the Stair'', '' The Birthday Party'' and ''Gaslight'' (at the Old Vic). For his ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinsdale Landen
Dinsdale James Landen (4 September 1932 – 29 December 2003) was an English actor. His television appearances included starring in the shows ''Devenish'' (1977) and ''Pig in the Middle'' (1980). ''The Independent'' named him an "outstanding actor with the qualities of a true farceur." He performed in many Shakespeare plays at Stratford-upon-Avon and Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. Early life Landen was born at Margate, Kent and educated at King's School, Rochester. Career Landen made his television debut in 1959 as the adult Pip in an adaptation of ''Great Expectations'' and made his film debut in 1960, with a walk-on part in ''The League of Gentlemen''. During the 1960s, he starred in the TV series ''Mickey Dunne'' and ''The Mask of Janus'', and its spinoff series '' The Spies''. In 1969, he starred as Chris Champers in the comedy series ''World in Ferment''. As a stage actor, he appeared as Richard Dazzle in the RSC's 1970 production of ''London Assurance''. He appeared in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Gray (actor)
Charles Gray (born Donald Marshall Gray; 28 August 1928 – 7 March 2000) was an English actor and voice artist who was well known for roles including the arch-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film '' Diamonds Are Forever''; Dikko Henderson in a previous Bond film, '' You Only Live Twice''; Sherlock Holmes's brother Mycroft Holmes in ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''; and The Criminologist in ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''. Early life Gray was born in Bournemouth, Hampshire, the son of surveyor Donald Gray (died 1975), who had served as a Captain in the Royal Engineers, and Maude Elizabeth (née Marshall). Gray attended Bournemouth School alongside Benny Hill, whose school had been evacuated to the same buildings, during the Second World War. Some of his friends remember that his bedroom walls were plastered with pictures of film stars. Stage career By his mid-twenties, Gray had left his first job as a clerk for an estate agent to become an actor. He b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
