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The Scold's Bridle
''The Scold's Bridle'' (1994) is a crime novel by English writer Minette Walters. The book, Walters' third, won a CWA Gold Dagger. Synopsis Mathilda Gillespie, an eccentric recluse known for her incredible meanness of nature, is found dead in her bathtub, her wrists slashed and her head locked inside a so-called 'scold's bridle', a rusted cage built with tongue clamps which was used as a torture device throughout the middle ages. The dead woman's only friend, Dr. Sarah Blakeney, becomes the prime suspect in her murder after police discover that she's been left a great deal of money in the will. To clear her name, Sarah delves deep into Mathilda's mysterious past, and subsequently unravels an intricate web of greed, abuse and depravity. Television adaptation In 1998, ''The Scold's Bridle'' was adapted for television by the BBC. It was directed by David Thacker from a screenplay written by Tony Bicât; producer Chris Parr, editor St John O'Rorke, music Junior Campbell. the cas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minette Walters
Minette Caroline Mary Walters DL (born 26 September 1949) is an English crime writer. Life and work Walters was born in Bishop's Stortford in 1949 to Samuel Jebb and Colleen Jebb. As her father was a serving army officer, the first 10 years of Walters's life were spent moving between army bases in the north and south of England. Her father died from kidney failure in 1960. While raising Walters and her two brothers, Colleen Jebb painted miniatures from photographs to supplement the family's income. Walters spent a year at the Abbey School in Reading, Berkshire, before winning a Foundation Scholarship at the Godolphin boarding school in Salisbury. During a gap year between school and Durham University, 1968, Walters volunteered in Israel with The Bridge in Britain, working on a kibbutz and in a delinquent boys' home in Jerusalem. She graduated from Trevelyan College, Durham in 1971 with a BA in French. Minette met her husband Alec Walters while she was at Durham and they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Thacker
David Thacker (born 21 December 1950) is an English theatre director. He is married to the actress Margot Leicester. Education Thacker studied at the University of York. Theatre Thacker was the artistic director at the Octagon Theatre Bolton until July 2015, when he stepped down to become the first Professor of Theatre at University of Bolton. He will continue as associate director, directing two productions per year, until 2018. British Theatre Guide, sourced 3 January 2017 He has directed over 100 theatre productions including plays by William Shakespeare, Arthur Miller, Samuel Beckett, Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, Tennessee Williams, Tom Stoppard and Eugene O'Neill. Background Thacker has worked at eight producing theatres including the |
Miles Anderson
Miles Anderson (born 23 October 1947) is a British stage and screen actor, born in the colony of Southern Rhodesia, who has appeared in television serials both in the United Kingdom, and North America. He recently appeared as Alistair the photographer in the film ''La La Land''. In 2021 he played 'Lennox' in Joel Coen's ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'' with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand. Born in 1947 in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, Anderson was educated at Prince Edward School. His father was Major-General J. Anderson, CBE, the commander of the Southern Rhodesian Army who was dismissed in 1964 because of his opposition to the colonial government's plans for denial of native African rule upon independence; and his mother, Daphne, wrote ''The Toerags'' a memoir of her difficult childhood in Rhodesia. Miles has appeared in the US television series, ''Criminal Minds'', as well as the UK series ''Ultimate Force'' in which he played Colonel Aiden Dempsey for the entirety of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenniel Evans
Walter Tenniel Evans (17 May 1926 – 10 June 2009) was a British actor and, latterly, clergyman. Family Walter Tenniel Evans was born in Nairobi, Kenya. His middle name derived from the illustrator Sir John Tenniel, a distant relation.Biography of Tenniel Evans , White Rabbit Press. His daughter, , is an actress, and his son, Matthew, is a television director. Evans was a direct descendant of Isaac Evans, brother of (born as Mary Ann Evans). Career Educated at |
Rosemary Martin
Rosemary Martin (17 December 1936 – 14 August 1998) was an English actress, born in Birmingham. She appeared in dozens of films from 1964 to 1998 and is also known for television roles including Mrs. Partridge in ''Last of the Summer Wine'', Vera in ''Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt'', Marjorie in '' Pennies from Heaven'', Miss Weber in ''The Insurance Man'', Renie Fox in ''Fox'' and Verna Johnson in '' Tenko''. Other TV credits include: ''Z-Cars'', '' Crown Court'', '' Bill Brand'', '' Coronation Street'', ''The Gentle Touch'', '' The Sweeney'', '' Looking For Clancy'', '' Maggie: It's Me'', '' Thomas & Sarah'', '' Bergerac'', '' The Chinese Detective'', ''Jeeves and Wooster'', ''Drop the Dead Donkey'', ''Pie in the Sky'', '' Cracker'', '' Heartbeat'', ''The Bill'', '' Outside Edge'', ''Driving Ambition'', ''Peak Practice'' and '' EastEnders''. Her film credits include ''It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet'' (1976), ''Tess'' (1979), ''Britannia Hospital'' (1982), ''Slayground'' (1983) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Williams (actor)
Alan Williams (born 1954 in Manchester, England) is a British actor and playwright, who has performed in film, television and theatre in both the United Kingdom and Canada."Success, Failure All Part of the Plan for Playwright". ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 6 January 2015. Life and career Originally from Manchester and educated at The Manchester Grammar School, he took some classes in theatre school but received the bulk of his training as an apprentice with the Hull Truck Theatre."Tall tales from outsiders; Performer-playwright brings acclaimed trilogy to Ottawa". ''Ottawa Citizen'', 4 May 1988. He performed his Cockroach trilogy of one-man plays (''The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati'', ''The Return of the Cockroach'' and ''The Cockroach Has Landed'') at the influential London fringe venue The Bush Theatre and subsequently at the International Theatre Festival in Toronto, Ontario in 1981, and then decided to remain in the city, becoming playwright in residence at the Tarragon Theatre."F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia McKenna
Dame Virginia Anne McKenna, (born 7 June 1931) is a British stage and screen actress, author and wildlife campaigner. She is best known for the films ''A Town Like Alice'' (1956), '' Carve Her Name with Pride'' (1958), ''Born Free'' (1966), and ''Ring of Bright Water'' (1969), as well as her work with The Born Free Foundation. Early life McKenna was born in Marylebone to a theatrical family and was educated at Heron's Ghyll School, a former independent boarding school near the market town of Horsham in Sussex. She spent six years in South Africa before returning to the school at the age of fourteen, after which she attended the Central School of Speech and Drama, at that time based at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Career Aged 19, McKenna spent six months at Dundee Repertory Theatre. She worked on stage in London's West End theatre, making her debut in ''Penny for a Song''. She attracted attention on TV appearing in ''Winter's Tale'' with John Gielgud and ''Shout Aloud Salvat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Brooke
Paul Brooke (born 22 November 1944) is a retired English actor of film, television and radio. He made his film debut in 1972 in the Hammer film '' Straight on till Morning'', followed by performances in '' For Your Eyes Only'' (1981), ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), ''Scandal'' (1989), '' Saving Grace'' (2000), ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' (2001), ''Alfie'' (2004), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (2004), and '' Oliver Twist'' (2005). Brooke is the father of actor Tom Brooke. Career Brooke began as a stage actor and has played in many London productions, including several years as a member of Frank Dunlop's original Young Vic Company. He played Malakili the Rancor Keeper in the 1983 ''Star Wars'' film ''Return of the Jedi'' (his voiced dubbed over by Ernie Fosselius). He played British Conservative politician Ian Gow in the 2004 BBC series ''The Alan Clark Diaries''. In 2006, he guest starred in the ''Doctor Who'' audio adventure ''Year of the Pig'' as well as the 1990 ''Mr. Bean'' sket ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trudie Styler
Trudie Styler (born 6 January 1954) is an English actress and film producer. Early life and family Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, the daughter of Pauline and Harry Styler, a farmer and factory worker. When Styler was two years old, she was hit by a van. She received severe facial injuries that left her badly scarred and required several plastic surgery operations up until the age of 18. Her classmates nicknamed her "scarface", which caused her to feel for many years that she was "not a very attractive person". She attended North Bromsgrove High School, where one of her teachers was the singer-songwriter Clifford T. Ward. Acting career Styler trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and went on to appear in various period BBC productions. She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, in which she played multiple major roles. Her theatre credits also include ''The Vagina Monologues'', ''Twin Spirits'', and ''The Seagull''. She has appeared in many British te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siân Phillips
Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips (born 14 May 1933), known professionally as Siân Phillips ( ), is a Welsh actress. She has performed the title roles in Ibsen's ''Hedda Gabler'' and George Bernard Shaw's '' Saint Joan''. Early life Phillips was born on 14 May 1933 in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Glamorgan, Wales, the daughter of Sally (''née'' Thomas), a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker who became a policeman. She is a Welsh-speaker: in the first volume of her autobiography ''Private Faces'' (1999) she notes that she spoke only Welsh for much of her childhood, learning English by listening to the radio. Phillips attended Pontardawe Grammar School and originally was known there as Jane, but her Welsh teacher called her Siân, the Welsh form of Jane. Later she took up English and philosophy at University College Cardiff. Phillips graduated from the University of Wales in 1955. She entered the RADA with a scholarship in September 1955, the same year as Diana Rigg and Glen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Hodge
Douglas Hodge is an English actor, director, and musician who has had an extensive career in theatre, as well as television and film where he has appeared in ''Robin Hood'' (2010), '' Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return'' and '' Diana'' (2013), ''Penny Dreadful'' (2016), ''Catastrophe'' (2018), '' Joker'' and ''Lost in Space'' (2019), '' The Great'' (2021), Early life When he was very young, his family moved to Wigmore, Gillingham, Kent. He attended Fairview Primary School and The Howard School in Rainham, Kent. He was awarded a position as student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), in London, but was not happy with the syllabus and left before graduating. This never affected his hunger to be an actor. Career Theatre Hodge has acted in plays by Harold Pinter, including '' No Man's Land'' at the Comedy Theatre in February 1993; '' Moonlight'' at the Almeida Theatre in September 1993; ''A Kind of Alaska'','' The Lover''; '' The Collection'' at the Donmar Warehouse in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Peck
Robert Peck (23 August 1945 – 4 April 1999) was an English actor who played Ronald Craven in the television serial ''Edge of Darkness'', for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He was also known for his role as game warden Robert Muldoon in the film ''Jurassic Park''. Early life Robert Peck was born into a working-class family in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, on 23 August 1945. He attended Leeds Modern School in Lawnswood, and performed with the National Youth Theatre for six weeks when he was 15. He then studied at Leeds College of Art, where he received a Diploma in Art and Design, and where he was involved in student amateur dramatics. Career Stage career Before breaking into film and television work, Peck was a regular actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) alongside Ian McKellen, Donald Sinden and Judi Dench. Between 1979–80 he played Iago alongside Donald Sinden in ''Othello'', in both Stratford and London. He made a memorable appearanc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |