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Max Kester
Max Kester Dodgson (11 December 1901 – 14 December 1991), known professionally as Max Kester, was a British scriptwriter and lyricist. Biography He was born in Leeds, the son of James Dodgson, an artist who drew cartoons for ''The Yorkshire Post'' under the pseudonym "Kester". Max Kester Dodgson started work on the ''Yorkshire Post'',"Obituary: Max Kester", ''The Times'', 4 January 1992 Retrieved 7 April 2021 and wrote and edited early radio programmes for the BBC in Leeds in 1926, as Max Kester. He moved to London by the late 1920s, and worked for |
Leeds
Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by population) in England, after London and Birmingham. The city was a small manorial borough in the 13th century and a market town in the 16th century. It expanded by becoming a major production centre, including of carbonated water where it was invented in the 1760s, and trading centre (mainly with wool) for the 17th and 18th centuries. It was a major mill town during the Industrial Revolution. It was also known for its flax industry, Foundry, iron foundries, engineering and printing, as well as shopping, with several surviving Victorian era arcades, such as Leeds Kirkgate Market, Kirkgate Market. City status was awarded in 1893, a populous urban centre formed in the following century which absorbed surrounding vi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million Military personnel, personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Air warfare of World War II, Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in hu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crook's Tour
''Crook's Tour'' is a 1941 black and white British film directed by John Baxter featuring Charters and Caldicott. It is adapted from a BBC radio serial of the same name. Plot Charters and Caldicott are touring the Middle East (Saudi Arabia) with fellow Britons. After their vehicle breaks down they meet a caravan and a local sheikh invites them to dinner. After a glass of wine the sheikh offers to lend them two camels and tells of his fears that someone is spying on his oilfield. They return to Baghdad where they go to a night club. Here two spies are expected and a Mata Hari type figure (the glamorous La Palermo) delivers a note (hidden on a record) to them in error, because they order exactly what the true spies are meant to order (as a code). When the real spies arrive (two Americans) and make the same order the mistake is realised. Meanwhile our two heroes are flying to Istanbul. Here they are directed to a false hotel. La Palermo is to sing there to let them know somethi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Her Excellency (musical)
''Her Excellency'' is a musical comedy composed by Manning Sherwin and Harold Purcell from a book by Archie Menzies and Max Kester. A couple of the songs were composed by Harry Parr-Davies. The story takes place entirely in the British Embassy in the fictional San Barcellos. After premiering at the Alhambra Theatre, Glasgow, the show transferred to London's West End enjoying a run of 252 performances between 22 June 1949 and 28 January 1950, initially at the London Hippodrome before switching to the Saville Theatre. It was written as a starring vehicle for Cicely Courtneidge and produced by her husband Jack Hulbert. The cast also included Patrick Barr, Austin Trevor, Thorley Walters, Billy Dainty and Tucker McGuire Anne Tucker McGuire (29 January 1913 in Winchester, Virginia, USA - 3 August 1988 in London, England) was an American-born actress who appeared largely in British films and television. She married actor Tom Macaulay. She appeared in the 1949 We ....Wearing, p. 447 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Hearne
Richard Lewis Hearne (30 January 1908 – 23 August 1979) was an English actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best remembered for his stage and television character Mr Pastry. Career Hearne was born in Norwich, Norfolk, in 1908, the son of Richard and Lily May Hearne. Richard senior came from a theatrical family – his mother had been on the stage and he himself was a performing acrobat. Hearne worked on and off for the BBC for thirty years; he became the first performer to be known as a "television star" and also the first to have his own television series. The series, with the theme tune " Pop Goes The Weasel", had episodes lasting 25 minutes in which Hearne assumed the character of "Mr Pastry" – an old man with a walrus moustache, dressed in a black suit or raincoat and with a trademark bowler hat. Each week, the bumbling old man would have adventures, partly slapstick, partly comic dance, with two young friends. Jon Pertwee also starred in the show in a variety ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Emney
Frederick Arthur Round Emney (12 February 1902 – 25 December 1980) was an English character actor and comedian. Emney was born in Prescot, Lancashire,GRO Register of Births Mar 1902 Frederick Arthur R Emney 8b 725 PRESCOT1901 Census: RG13/500 f.123 p.3 Fred Arthur Emney aged 1 living in Camberwell, but born Liverpool, Lancashire the son of Blanche (née Round) and Fred Emney, a music hall entertainer. His great-uncle was the actor Arthur Williams. Emney junior grew up in London and was educated at Cranleigh School. He made his film debut in 1935, having previously worked in music hall. He became a familiar figure to screen audiences, usually playing the "posh fat bloke", usually gruff and invariably wearing a monocle. During the 1950s, he had his own television show which featured sketches and deft piano pieces often composed by him. Some were released on record. He had a short spell as straight man to puppets Pinky and Perky. His sister Joan Emney was an actr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cicely Courtneidge
Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge, (1 April 1893 – 26 April 1980) was an Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer. The daughter of the producer and playwright Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West End theatre, West End by the age of 16, and was quickly promoted from minor to major roles in his Edwardian musical comedies. After the outbreak of the First World War, her father had a series of failures and temporarily withdrew from production. No other producers offered the young Courtneidge leading roles in musical comedies, and she turned instead to the music hall, learning her craft as a comedian. In 1916 she married the actor and dancer Jack Hulbert, with whom she formed a professional as well as a matrimonial partnership that lasted until his death 62 years later. They acted together on stage and screen, initially in a series of revues, with Hulbert frequently producing as well as performing. Courtneidge appeared in 12 British film ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Hulbert
John Norman Hulbert (24 April 189225 March 1978) was a British actor, director, screenwriter and singer, specializing primarily in comedy productions, and often working alongside his wife (Dame) Cicely Courtneidge. Biography Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely, Cambridgeshire, he was the elder and more successful son of Henry Harper Hulbert, a physician,Register of Marriages Solemnized at St Paul’s Church, Hampsteadp. 94(Marriage of J. N. Hulbert and Cecily Courtneidge on 14 February 1916, at ancestry.co.uk, accessed 7 May 2020 being the brother of the actor Claude Hulbert. He was educated at Westminster School and Caius College, Cambridge and appeared in many shows and revues, mainly with the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights. He was one of the earliest famous alumni of the comedy club. After Cambridge, he earned recognition and fame performing in musicals and light comedies.D. Pepys-Whiteley‘Hulbert, John Norman (Jack) (1892–1978)’ rev., ''Oxford Dictionary of National ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Children's Hour
''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Children's Hour'' was broadcast from 1922 to 1964, originally from the BBC's Birmingham station 5IT, soon joined by other regional stations, then in the BBC Regional Programme, before transferring to its final home, the new BBC Home Service, at the outbreak of the second World War. Parts of the programme were also rebroadcast by the BBC World Service. For the last three years of its life (from 17 April 1961 until 27 March 1964), the title ''Children's Hour'' was no longer used, the programmes in its "time-slot" going out under the umbrella heading of ''For the Young''. The programme takes its name from a verse by Longfellow: "Between the dark and the daylight, When the night is beginning to lower, Comes a pause in the day's occupations, That ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor who was classically trained for the stage but became known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction and horror films, and playing the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' from 1966 to 1969; he reprised the role in 1972–1973, 1983 and 1985. Although he is most well known for his television career and was loved by audiences for his versatility in roles, many of the productions Troughton performed in between 1947 and 1971 were amongst those either never recorded or destroyed by UK broadcasters, most notably his stint on ''Doctor Who''. Many of his appearances, including most of his personal favourites, remain missing to this day. Early life Troughton was born on 25 March 1920 [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robin Hood (1953 TV Series)
''Robin Hood'' is a 1953 six-episode British television series starring Patrick Troughton as Robin Hood and Wensley Pithey as Friar Tuck. It was written by Max Kester, and produced and directed by Joy Harington for the BBC. The 1953 series was the first TV production of Robin Hood, although the 1955 series, The Adventures of Robin Hood, remains better known. The 30-minute episodes were transmitted live, and only eight minutes from the second episode, ''The Abbot of St. Mary's'', the earliest surviving footage of Troughton's television career, exists (as a 16mm telerecording). Troughton's son Michael mistakenly claimed in his father's biography that the full episode survived. Short clips of this material appeared in 2007 documentary, presented by Jonathan Ross, covering Robin Hood from its beginnings to the more recent BBC production (2006), and were also shown as an example of television production in the BBC documentary series ''Children's T.V. On Trial The 1950s''. The survivin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Formby
George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961) was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he sang light, comic songs, usually playing the ukulele or banjolele, and became the UK's highest-paid entertainer. Born in Wigan, Lancashire, he was the son of George Formby Sr, from whom he later took his stage name. After an early career as a stable boy and jockey, Formby took to the music hall stage after the early death of his father in 1921. His early performances were taken exclusively from his father's act, including the same songs, jokes and characters. In 1923 he made two career-changing decisions – he purchased a ukulele, and married Beryl Ingham, a fellow performer who became his manager and transformed his act. She insisted that he appear on stage formally dressed, and introduced the ukulele to his performance. He started ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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