Christine Glanville (born Nancy Christine Fletcher; 28 October 1924 – 1 March 1999) was an English puppeteer who spent much of her professional life contributing to television series produced by

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...

Career

Glanville became involved in the film industry in war service at Elstree Studios and studied art during her free time. After the Second World War she joined a puppet theatre company with which her parents were connected, Ebor Marionettes. Glanville joined

AP Films AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette tel ...

in 1957 and worked on all its series, as well as the later

Supermarionation Supermarionation (a portmanteau of the words "super", " marionette" and "animation")La Rivière 2009, p. 67. is a style of television and film production employed by British company AP Films (later Century 21 Productions) in its puppet ...

presentations of Anderson's

Century 21 Productions AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette tel ...

. She worked closely with fellow puppeteer Mary Turner. In addition to her primary role of lead puppet operator, Glanville was often responsible for the design and construction of the puppets themselves ('' Thunderbirds''; 1965–66) and sculpted marionettes of Scott Tracy, Alan Tracy, and Tin-Tin Kyrano. The likeness of Mrs Appleby, a supporting character that appeared in '' The Secret Service'' (1969), was based on Glanville's mother. Others she created included Masterspy and his sidekick Zarin (''

Supercar A supercar – also called exotic car – is a loosely defined description of street-legal, high-performance sports cars. Since the 2010s, the term hypercar has come into use for the highest performing supercars. Supercars commonly serve as t ...

''), Venus ('' Fireball XL5''), Titan, Agent X20 and Atlanta Shore (''

Stingray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatid ...

'') Captain Black and the Angels (excluding Destiny) in

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', often shortened to ''Captain Scarlet'', is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry Anderson, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company AP Films#Century 21, Cent ...

Family

Glanville was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, to James Fletcher and Phyllis Blatchford ''(maiden;'' 1890–1976), who were married July 1923 in

Halifax, England Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th cen ...

. She moved with her parents to Ilford, Essex, as an infant. One of her 3rd great-grandparents was Domenico Corri (1746–1825), an Italian musician and publisher who, in the late

18th century The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 ( MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 ( MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. During the century, slave tradin ...

, moved from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

to teach music. She was a

grandniece In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of the subject's sibling or sibling-in-law. The converse relationship, the relationship from the niece or nephew's perspective, is that of an ...

Robert Peel Glanville Blatchford Robert Peel Glanville Blatchford (17 March 1851 – 17 December 1943) was an English socialist campaigner, journalist, and author in the United Kingdom. He was also noted as a prominent atheist, nationalist and opponent of eugenics. In the early ...

(1851–1943), English socialist campaigner, journalist, and author.

Death

Glanville worked in puppetry and lived in

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Aylesbur ...

, Buckinghamshire, until her death on 1 March 1999 at the age of 74.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glanville, Christine 1924 births 1999 deaths 20th-century English people 20th-century English women English puppeteers People from Halifax, West Yorkshire People from Ilford English people of Italian descent