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John Cairney
John Cairney (16 February 1930 – 6 September 2023) was a Scottish stage, film and television actor who found fame through his one-man shows on Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Service, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and William McGonagall. Biography John Cairney was born on 16 February 1930 in the Baillieston area of Glasgow. He is the brother of footballer Jim Cairney. They were raised in the Parkhead area of Glasgow; the referee Tiny Wharton was a childhood acquaintance. He briefly attended art college but dropped out to pursue the life of an actor. Cairney worked as an actor, recitalist, lecturer, director and theatre consultant. He was also a published author and an exhibited painter. Trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, he was a notable Hamlet at the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow and a successful Macbeth at the Edinburgh International Festival. In 1954, he appeared in the British debut for Arthur Miller's ''The Crucible''. He played King ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in a "light Central Scots, Scots dialect" of English, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest. He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romanticism, Romantic movement, and after his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish diaspora around the world. Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Crucible
''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, when the United States government persecuted people accused of being communists. Miller was later questioned by the House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956 and convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to identify others present at meetings he had attended. The play was first performed at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway on January 22, 1953, starring E. G. Marshall, Beatrice Straight and Madeleine Sherwood. Miller felt that this production was too stylized and cold, and the reviews for it were largely hostile (although ''The New York Times'' noted "a powerful play n adriving performance"). The production won the 1953 Tony Award for Best Play. A year lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleopatra (1963 Film)
''Cleopatra'' is a 1963 American epic historical drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with a screenplay adapted by Mankiewicz, Ranald MacDougall and Sidney Buchman from the 1957 book ''The Life and Times of Cleopatra'' by Carlo Maria Franzero, and from histories by Plutarch, Suetonius, and Appian. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor in the eponymous role, along with Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall and Martin Landau. It chronicles the struggles of the young queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome. Walter Wanger had long contemplated producing a biographical film about Cleopatra. In 1958, his production company partnered with Twentieth Century Fox to produce the film. Following an extensive casting search, Elizabeth Taylor signed on to portray the title role for a record-setting salary of $1 million. Rouben Mamoulian was hired as director, and the script underwent numerous revisions from Nigel Balchin, Dale Wasserma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victim (1961 Film)
''Victim'' is a 1961 British neo-noir suspense film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Dirk Bogarde and Sylvia Syms. The first British film to explicitly name homosexuality and deal with it sympathetically, it premiered in the UK on 31 August 1961 and in the US the following February. On its release in the United Kingdom, the film proved highly controversial to the British Board of Film Censors, and in the US it was refused a seal of approval from the American Motion Picture Production Code. Despite this, it received acclaim and is now regarded as a British classic, and it has been credited with liberalising attitudes towards homosexuality in Great Britain. Plot Melville Farr is a successful barrister with a thriving London practice. He is on course to become a Queen's Counsel, and people are already talking of him being appointed a judge. One day, Farr receives a call from Jack "Boy" Barrett, a young working-class gay man with whom he previously had a romantic friendship. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Flesh And The Fiends
''The Flesh and the Fiends'' (US title ''Mania''; also known as ''The Fielndish Ghouls'' and ''Psycho Killers'') is a 1960 British horror film directed by John Gilling and starring Peter Cushing, June Laverick and Donald Pleasence. It was written by John Gilling and Leon Griffiths. 19th-century medical doctor Robert Knox purchases human corpses for research from a murderous pair named Burke and Hare. The film is based on the true case of Burke and Hare, who murdered at least 16 people in 1828 Edinburgh and sold their bodies for anatomical research. Plot In 1828 Edinburgh Dr. Knox is a highly skilled anatomist who draws large crowds of medical students to his lectures on the human body. Though he is constantly at odds with his stuffy, backwards colleagues, he is highly venerated by his students and believes his duty is to push the medical profession forward. Unfortunately, due to the laws of the time very few cadavers are legally available to the medical profession, nece ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Bullshine
''Operation Bullshine'' is a 1959 British colour comedy film directed by Gilbert Gunn and starring Donald Sinden, Barbara Murray and Carole Lesley. The working title of the film was ''Girls in Arms'' that features as a marching song in the film. Gunn had filmed '' Girls at Sea'' the previous year. The new title, based on an American euphemism for a very British word with the same meaning (bullshite), comes from the frenzied activity preparing for their brigadier's surprise inspection. The film features 1956 Olympic gold medallist Judy Grinham as a physical training instructor. The film was later also released in the US in 1963 by Seven Arts Productions. Plot During World War II, a Royal Artillery officer is assigned to an anti-aircraft battery that is filled with female soldiers of the Auxiliary Territorial Service. His wife who has enlisted is mistakenly posted to the battery in violation of regulations of husbands and wives serving together in the same formation. She beco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Night To Remember (1958 Film)
''A Night to Remember'' is a 1958 British historical disaster film, directed by Roy Ward Baker. Its screenplay by Eric Ambler was based on the 1955 book by Walter Lord, depicting the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'' on 15 April 1912, after it struck an iceberg. The film recounts the events of that night in a documentary-style fashion in considerable detail. It stars Kenneth More as the ship's Second Officer Charles Lightoller and features Michael Goodliffe, Laurence Naismith, Kenneth Griffith, David McCallum and Tucker McGuire. ''A Night to Remember'' was filmed at Pinewood Studios from October 1957 to March 1958. The production team, supervised by producer William MacQuitty, used blueprints of the ship to create authentic sets, while Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall and ex- Cunard Commodore Harry Grattidge worked as technical advisors on the film. Its estimated budget of up to £600,000 made it the most expensive film ever made in Britain up to that time. The film's sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucky Jim (1957 Film)
''Lucky Jim'' is a 1957 British comedy film directed by John Boulting and starring Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas and Hugh Griffith. It is an adaptation of the 1954 novel ''Lucky Jim'' by Kingsley Amis. Plot Jim Dixon is a young lecturer in history at a redbrick university, who manages to offend his head of department and create various disastrous incidents. When he eventually delivers a lecture drunk, he feels forced to resign. But just as his career seems over, he is offered a job in London, and when he learns that the girl of his dreams is on her way to the railway station, he chases after her in the professor's old car. The professor's whole family chases after, and arrives at the station just in time to see Jim and the girl disappear on the train to London. Main cast * Ian Carmichael as James "Jim" Dixon * Terry-Thomas as Bertrand Welch * Hugh Griffith as Professor Welch * Sharon Acker as Christine Callaghan * Jean Anderson as Mrs Welch * Maureen Connell as Margaret Peel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
This Man Craig
''This Man Craig'' is a TV drama series produced by BBC Scotland and screened over 52 episodes in 1966 and 1967. It was set in a secondary school in the fictional Scottish town of Strathaird. Episodes were filmed at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Academy and Knightswood Secondary School. The series dealt with the everyday issues affecting both staff and pupils at Strathaird School, and in particular the title character, idealistic science teacher and housemaster Ian Craig (played by John Cairney). The first series was shown over 26 episodes between January 7, 1966 and July 1, 1966. The second series was shown over 26 episodes between September 17, 1966 and March 21, 1967. Only two episodes are known to be still in existence in the BBC Archives. The opening sequence showed Ian Craig driving over the Forth Road Bridge, which at the time was newly built and a Scottish cultural icon. Only two episodes ("Dougie" and "The Time Wasters") are known to exist. Main cast *John Cairney J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert McLellan
Robert McLellan OBE (1907–1985) was a Scottish Renaissance dramatist, writer and poet and a leading figure in the twentieth century movement to recover Scotland’s distinctive theatrical traditions. He found popular success with plays and stories written in his native Scots tongue and is regarded, alongside William Lorimer, as one of the most important modern exponents of fine prose in the language. In addition to his literary career, McLellan saw active service during World War II, served as an elected councillor for the Isle of Arran, his adopted home after marriage, and was active variously in the League of Dramatists, the Society of Authors and the Lallans Society. In the early 1960s he served briefly as elected President for the District Councils Association for Scotland. He was also a frequent campaigner in defence of local heritage and a dedicated beekeeper. McLellan today in literature is probably best remembered for the historical comedies, '' Jamie the Sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, '' Life of Samuel Johnson,'' which is commonly said to be the greatest biography written in the English language. A great mass of Boswell's diaries, letters, and private papers were recovered from the 1920s to the 1950s, and their publication by Yale University has transformed his reputation. Early life Boswell was born in Blair's Land on the east side of Parliament Close behind St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh on 29 October 1740 ( N.S.). He was the eldest son of a judge, Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, and his wife Euphemia Erskine. As the eldest son, he was heir to his family's estate of Auchinleck in Ayrshire. Boswell's mother was a strict Calvinist, and he felt that his father was cold to him. As a child, he was delicate. Kay Jamison, Profes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gateway Theatre (Edinburgh)
The Gateway Theatre was a Category C listed building in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on Elm Row at the top of Leith Walk. History Veterinary College The building was purpose-built by George Beattie and Sons in 1882 to accommodate W. Owen Williams' New Veterinary CollegeMackie, A.D (1965), "Forty-One Elm Row", in ''The Twelve Seasons of the Edinburgh Gateway Company, 1953 - 1965'', St. Giles Press, Edinburgh (not to be confused with the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College, which is still extant, elsewhere in the city). The college had a statuary group of animals (one horse, one cow and one dog) over the entrance, carved by John Rhind which survived until the mid 20th century. In 1904, the College vacated the building, with a professor and eleven students relocating to the veterinary faculty at Liverpool. The college buildings were sold to William Perry in 1908, who then applied for a roof to be built over the courtyard to create a roller-skating rink. Cinema Perry's rink did ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
