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The Green Bay Tree
''The Green Bay Tree'' is a 1933 three-act drama written by Mordaunt Shairp that explores a "half-suggested homosexual relationship" between a man and his protégé or, in the words of one critic "a rich hot-house sybarite" and someone "he adopted at a tender age and has reared in emasculating luxury". It was included in Burns Mantle's ''The Best Plays of 1933-1934''. The play premiered at St Martin's Theatre in London's West End on 25 January 1933 and had a highly successful run of 217 performances, closing on 19 August 1933. It was directed by Marguerite Rea and the cast included Hugh Williams (the author's stepson) as Julian, Catherine Lacey as Leonora, Frank Vosper as Mr. Dulcimer, Herbert Lomas as Mr. Owen and Henry Hewitt as Trump. Its Broadway premiere was produced and staged by Jed Harris with scenic design by Robert Edmond Jones. The play was a hit, running for 166 performances from 20 October 1933 to March 1934 at the Cort Theatre. Laurence Olivier appeared as Juli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mordaunt Shairp
Mordaunt Shairp (13 March 1887 – 18 January 1939) was an English dramatist and screenwriter born at Totnes. Educated at St Paul's School, London, and Lincoln College, Oxford, he spent much of his life as a schoolmaster in London and wrote many plays for pupils to perform. His adult plays dealt with darker interpersonal relationships and ''The Green Bay Tree'' (premièred at St Martin's Theatre in London's West End on 25 January 1933 and also performed on Broadway) was originally controversial because of its gay subtext. Shairp also spent a short spell in Hollywood as a screenwriter. He died at Hastings. Selective filmography * '' The Dark Angel'' (1935, directed by Sidney Franklin; cowritten with Lillian Hellman) * '' The White Angel'' (1936, directed by William Dieterle) * ''Wee Willie Winkie'' (1937, directed by John Ford) Plays *''The Crime at Blossoms'' (1932) *''The Green Bay Tree ''The Green Bay Tree'' is a 1933 three-act drama written by Mordaunt Shairp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jill Esmond
Jill Esmond (born Jill Esmond Moore; 26 January 1908 – 28 July 1990) was an English stage and screen actress. She was the first wife of Laurence Olivier. Early life Esmond was born in London, the daughter of stage actors Henry V. Esmond and Eva Moore. Dramatist W.S. Gilbert and actress Maxine Elliott were her godparents. One of her maternal aunts was Decima Moore. She had a brother Jack (an actor) and a sister, Lynette, who did not survive infancy.Joannou, Maroula"Moore, Eva (1868–1955)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 10 February 2011 While her parents toured with theatre companies, Esmond spent her childhood in boarding schools until she decided at the age of 14 to become an actress. She made her stage debut playing Wendy to Gladys Cooper's Peter Pan, but her success was short-lived. When her father died suddenly in 1922, in Paris, due to pneumonia, Esmond returned to school and at the time considered abandoning her a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The Daily Telegraph'' newspaper, via Press Holdings. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture. It is politically conservative. Alongside columns and features on current affairs, the magazine also contains arts pages on books, music, opera, film and TV reviews. Editorship of ''The Spectator'' has often been a step on the ladder to high office in the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. Past editors include Boris Johnson (1999–2005) and other former cabinet members Ian Gilmour (1954–1959), Iain Macleod (1963–1965), and Nigel Lawson (1966–1970). Since 2009, the magazine's editor has been journalist Fraser Nelson. ''The Spectator Australia'' offers 12 pages on Australian politics and affairs as well as the full UK maga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Fitzgerald
Walter Fitzgerald Bond (18 May 1896 – 20 December 1976) was an English character actor. Early life Born in Stoke, Plymouth, Fitzgerald was a former stockbroker before he began his theatrical training at RADA. He joined the British Army during World War I, serving with the Worcestershire Regiment, the Devonshire Regiment, and the Somerset Light Infantry. Career Fitzgerald made his professional stage bow in 1922 and his first film appearance in 1930. He toured with Sir John Martin-Harvey and Sir Seymour Hicks. He was understudy to Sir Gerald du Maurier (1928–29). Fitzgerald appeared in films from the 1930s, often in 'official' roles (policemen, doctors, lawyers). He appeared on British television in the 1950s and 1960s before his retirement. His best-remembered film roles include Simon Fury in ''Blanche Fury'' (1948), Dr. Fenton in '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), and Squire Trelawney in ''Treasure Island'' (1950). In the opening scenes of '' H.M.S. Defiant'' (1962) he played ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brenda Bruce
Brenda Bruce OBE (7 July 1919Some sources cite 17 July 1919. – 19 February 1996) was an English actress. She was focused on the theatre, radio, film and television. Career Bruce was born in Prestwich, Lancashire in 1919, and started her acting career as a teenager on stage as a chorus girl. She appeared with the Birmingham Repertory Company (1936–39) and was a long-time actress with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). She was the RSC's resident Mistress Page in ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'', playing the role in 1964, 1968, 1975 and 1995. She appeared as Irma in the RSC's production of Jean Genet's ''The Balcony'' in 1971. In the 1950s she appeared on television in many dramas, and in a chat show ''Rich and Rich'' with her husband. She starred as Winnie in the 1962 British premiere of Samuel Beckett's ''Happy Days'', and in 1977 as Lucilla Edith Cavell Teatime in ''Murder Most English''. Bruce played Aunt Dahlia in the 1990s production of ''Jeeves and Wooster'' with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Watling
Jack Stanley Watling (13 January 1923 – 22 May 2001) was an English actor. Life and career The son of a travelling scrap metal dealer, Watling trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts as a child; and made his stage debut in ''Where the Rainbow Ends'' at the Holborn Empire in 1936. He made his first film appearances (all uncredited) in ''Sixty Glorious Years'', ''Housemaster'' (both 1938) and ''Goodbye, Mr Chips'' (1939).Anthony HaywarObituary: Jack Watling ''The Independent'', 24 May 2001. In 1941, he played Bill Hopkins in ''Once a Crook'' in his West End debut. He starred as Flight Lieutenant Teddy Graham in the original 1942 production of Terence Rattigan's ''Flare Path''. Watling had a long career in low-key British films, originally in easy-going boyish roles. His early appearances were in ''Cottage to Let'' (1941). ''We Dive at Dawn'' (1943), ''The Demi-Paradise'' (1943) opposite Laurence Olivier, ''The Way Ahead'' (1944) with David Niven, ''The Winslow Boy' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Pelissier
Harry Anthony Compton Pelissier (27 July 1912 – 2 April 1988) was an English actor, screenwriter, producer and director. Biography Pelissier was born in Barnet and came from a theatrical family. His parents were the theatre producer H. G. Pelissier (who presented ''Pelissier's Follies'') and the actress Fay Compton. His uncle was Compton MacKenzie, who wrote '' Whisky Galore''. Pelissier began acting in the 1930s. In 1935 and 1936, he was featured in Noël Coward's play cycle, '' Tonight at 8.30'', both in Britain and on Broadway. He also played in Coward's ''Set to Music'' (1939) He began writing in 1937 and directing in 1949. He was the screenwriter and director of four popular films: ''The History of Mr Polly'' (1949), ''The Rocking Horse Winner'' (1950), ''Night Without Stars'' (1951), and ''Personal Affair'' starring Gene Tierney written by Lesley Storm. He also directed ''Encore'' (1951). He also directed Ealing's satire on television '' Meet Mr Lucifer'' (1953). He lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Playhouse Theatre
The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square, central London. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt in 1907 and still retains its original substage machinery. As of November 2021, the theatre has been refurbished and renamed as the Kit Kat Club and is home to a revival of the musical ''Cabaret'' with a seating capacity of 550. History Early years Built by Sefton Henry Parry as the Royal Avenue Theatre, it opened on 11 March 1882 with 1200 seats. The first production at the theatre was Jacques Offenbach's ''Madame Favart''. In its early seasons, the theatre hosted comic operas, burlesques and farces for several years. For much of this time, the low comedian Arthur Roberts, a popular star of the music halls, starred at the theatre. By the 1890s, the theatre was presenting drama, and in 1894 Annie Horniman, the tea heiress, anonymously ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Children's Hour (play)
''The Children's Hour'' is a 1934 American play by Lillian Hellman. It is a drama set in an all-girls boarding school run by two women, Karen Wright and Martha Dobie. An angry student, Mary Tilford, runs away from the school and, to avoid being sent back, tells her grandmother that the two headmistresses are having a lesbian affair. The accusation proceeds to destroy the women's careers, relationships, and lives. The play was first staged on Broadway at the Maxine Elliott Theatre in 1934, produced and directed by Herman Shumlin. In 1936, it was presented in Paris and at London's Gate Theatre Studio. Synopsis Two women, Karen Wright and Martha Dobie, have worked hard to build a girls' boarding school in a refurbished farmhouse. They run and teach the school with the somewhat unwelcome help of Lily Mortar, Martha's aunt. One pupil, Mary Tilford, is mischievous, disobedient, and untruthful, and often leads the other girls into trouble. One day, when Mary feigns illness and is b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted after her appearance before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) at the height of the anti-communist campaigns of 1947–1952. Although she continued to work on Broadway in the 1950s, her blacklisting by the American film industry caused a drop in her income. Many praised Hellman for refusing to answer questions by HUAC, but others believed, despite her denial, that she had belonged to the Communist Party. As a playwright, Hellman had many successes on Broadway, including ''Watch on the Rhine'', ''The Autumn Garden'', '' Toys in the Attic'', ''Another Part of the Forest'', '' The Children's Hour'' and ''The Little Foxes''. She adapted her semi-autobiographical play ''The Little Foxes'' into a screenplay, which starred Bette ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia de Havilland, and reputation for his womanising and hedonistic personal life. His most notable roles include the eponymous hero in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938), which was later named by the American Film Institute as the 18th greatest hero in American film history, the lead role in ''Captain Blood'' (1935), Major Geoffrey Vickers in ''The Charge of the Light Brigade'' (1936), and the hero in a number of Westerns such as ''Dodge City'' (1939), ''Santa Fe Trail'' (1940), and ''San Antonio'' (1945). Early life Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn was born on 20 June 1909 in Battery Point, Tasmania. His father, Theodore Thomson Flynn, was a lecturer (1909) and later professor (1911) of biology at the University of Tasmania. His mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight. The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe deriving its name from the Anglia peninsula, who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The English language, the Anglican Church, and Engli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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