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Simon Jones (actor)
Simon Jones (born 27 July 1950) is an English actor. He is best known for originating the role of Arthur Dent, protagonist of Douglas Adams' ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. He also played the role of Donald Shellhammer in '' Miracle on 34th Street'' (1994), appeared in '' Brideshead Revisited'' as Lord Brideshead, and as King George V in the film ''Downton Abbey''. Early life Jones was born 27 July 1950, in Charlton Park, Wiltshire, England. When young, his family moved to Broad Town near Wootton Bassett (before it was Royal), travelling often to visit elderly aunts in Salisbury. Jones studied at King's College, Taunton, before going up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, at age 25. Career Jones appeared in various television series, including '' Brideshead Revisited'', in which he played the Earl of Brideshead, or 'Bridey', heir to the Marquess of Marchmain, and the second series of ''Blackadder'' (1986), playing Sir Walter Raleigh in the episode "Potato". His films ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (TV Series)
''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams' ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' which aired between 5 January and 9 February 1981 on BBC2 in the United Kingdom. The adaptation follows the original The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), radio series in 1978 and 1980, the first novel and double LP record, LP, in 1979, and the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#Stage shows, stage shows, in 1979 and 1980, making it the fifth iteration of the guide. The series stars Simon Jones (actor), Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, David Dixon (actor), David Dixon as Ford Prefect (character), Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Sandra Dickinson as Trillian (character), Trillian and Stephen Moore (actor), Stephen Moore as the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android, Marvin. The voice of the guide is by Peter Jones (actor), Peter Jones. Peter Jones, Simon Jones, Moore and Wing-Davey reprised their roles from the original rad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion in Ireland, helped defend England against the Spanish Armada and held political positions under Elizabeth I. Raleigh was born to a landed gentry family of Protestant faith in Devon, the son of Walter Raleigh and Catherine Champernowne. He was the younger half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and a cousin of Sir Richard Grenville. Little is known of his early life, though in his late teens he spent some time in France taking part in the religious civil wars. In his 20s he took part in the suppression of rebellion in the colonisation of Ireland; he also participated in the siege of Smerwick. Later, he became a landlord of property in Ireland and mayor of Youghal in east Munster, where his house still stands in Myrtle Grove. He rose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance Gilliam ( ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman. Together they collaborated on the sketch comedy, sketch series ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (1969–1974) and the films ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975, also co-directed), ''Monty Python's Life of Brian, Life of Brian'' (1979) and ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, The Meaning of Life'' (1983). In 1988, they received the British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Award for BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award, Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. In 2009, Gilliam received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement. Gilliam transitioned to directing serious films with themes exploring imagination and oppositions to bureaucracy and authoritarianism. His films are some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Palin
Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knighthood, knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019 New Year Honours, 2019. Palin started in television working on programmes including the ''Ken Dodd Show'', ''The Frost Report'', and ''Do Not Adjust Your Set''. He joined ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (1969–1974) alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman. He acted in some of the most famous Python sketches, including "Argument Clinic", "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python), The Spanish Inquisition", "Bicycle Repair Man", and "The Fish-Slapping Dance". Palin continued to work with Jones away from Python, co-writing ''Ripping Yarns''. Palin co-wrote and starred in ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Friends
''American Friends'' is a 1991 British film starring Michael Palin. It was written by Palin and its director, Tristram Powell. Plot Palin plays Francis Ashby, a senior Oxford professor on holiday in the Swiss Alps in 1861. There he meets the American Caroline Hartley ( Connie Booth) and her 18-year-old ward Elinor (Trini Alvarado). Ashby is drawn to them both, particularly Elinor, but is rather surprised when they arrive in Oxford and rent a house. Women are not allowed in the college, nor are fellows allowed to marry, which puts him in an embarrassing situation. Ashby's rival for the post of college president, Oliver Syme (Alfred Molina), takes full advantage of this to try to discredit Ashby. Inspiration The plot was based on a real-life incident involving Palin's great-grandfather, Edward Palin. Cast * Michael Palin - Rev. Francis Ashby * Trini Alvarado - Elinor Hartley * Connie Booth - Caroline Hartley * Alfred Molina - Oliver Syme * Bryan Pringle - Haskell * Fred Pearso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on ''The Frost Report''. In the late 1960s, he cofounded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus.'' Along with his Python costars Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, Cleese starred in Monty Python films, which include ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975), ''Monty Python's Life of Brian, Life of Brian'' (1979), and ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, The Meaning of Life'' (1983). In the mid-1970s, Cleese and first wife Connie Booth cowrote the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'', in which he starred as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, for which he won the 1980 British Academy Television Award for Best Ente ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monty Python
Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy series '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which aired on the BBC from 1969 to 1974. Their work then developed into a larger collection that included live shows, films, albums, books, and musicals; their influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. (The live version of the Web page does not contain the quoted line, but the archived version does.) Their sketch show has been called "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy". ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' was loosely structured as a sketch show, but its innovative stream-of-consciousness approach and Gilliam's animation skills pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy unit, the Pythons had creative ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grim Reaper
The Grim Reaper is a popular personification of death in Western culture in the form of a hooded skeletal figure wearing a black robe and carrying a scythe.More About ''Grim Reaper'' . ''Dictionary.com''. December 2024. Since the 14th century, European art connected each of these various physical features to death, though the name "Grim Reaper" and the artistic popularity of all the features combined emerged as late as the 19th century. Sometimes, particularly when winged, the character is equated with the Angel of Death. The scythe as an of death has deliberate agricultural associations since the medieval period. The tool symbolizes the removal of human s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life
''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'', also known simply as ''The Meaning of Life'', is a 1983 British musical sketch comedy film written and performed by the Monty Python troupe, directed by Terry Jones. ''The Meaning of Life'' was the last feature film to star all six Python members before the death of Graham Chapman in 1989. Unlike ''Holy Grail'' and '' Life of Brian'', the film's two predecessors, which each told a single, more-or-less coherent story, ''The Meaning of Life'' returned to the sketch format of the troupe's original television series and their first film from twelve years earlier, '' And Now for Something Completely Different'', loosely structured as a series of comic sketches about the various stages of life. It was accompanied by the short film '' The Crimson Permanent Assurance''. Released on 23 June 1983 in the United Kingdom, ''The Meaning of Life'' was not as acclaimed as its predecessors, but was still well received critically and was a minor box offic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (radio Series)
''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a comic science fiction, science fiction comedy radio series primarily written by Douglas Adams. It was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Radio 4 in 1978, and afterwards the BBC World Service, National Public Radio in the US and CBC Radio in Canada. The series was the first radio comedy programme to be produced in stereo, and was innovative in its use of music and sound effects, winning a number of awards. The series follows the adventures of hapless Englishman Arthur Dent and his friend Ford Prefect (character), Ford Prefect, an alien who writes for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (fictional), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', a pan-galactic encyclopaedia and travel guide. After Earth is destroyed in the first episode, Arthur and Ford find themselves aboard a stolen spaceship piloted by Zaphod Beeblebrox (Ford's semi-cousin and Galactic President), depressed robot Marvin the Paranoid Android, Marvin, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Out Of The Trees
''Out of the Trees'' is a 1975 television sketch show pilot written by Graham Chapman, Bernard McKenna and Douglas Adams that was broadcast on BBC 2 in 1976. The show shared some of the stream-of-consciousness style of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', of which Chapman was a member. Actors included Chapman, Mark Wing-Davey and Simon Jones. The instrumental theme tune was by Neil Innes. The concept of the show was, according to Chapman, to follow the exploits of two modern-day linguists who would travel around a Britain gripped in rapid decline. The linguists would comment upon the origins of a word or phrase, which would then be the genesis of a sketch. Although two scripts were written (the second a collaboration between Chapman and David Yallop), only one episode was ever filmed. It was broadcast only once by the BBC, with little promotion, at 10pm on Saturday 10 January 1976 opposite ''Match of the Day'', and so was seen by relatively few people. The original broadcast sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Footlights
The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy society is run by the students of the University of Cambridge. History Footlights' inaugural performance took place in June 1883. For some months before the name "Footlights" was chosen, the group had performed to local audiences in the Cambridge area (once, with a cricket match included, at the "pauper lunatic asylum"). They wished to go wider than the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club (ADC), founded in 1855, with its membership drawn largely from Trinity College, and its theatre seating only 100. They were to perform every May Week at the Theatre Royal, Barnwell, Cambridge, the shows soon open to the public. A local paper commended the club's appeal to the "general public, the many different classes of which life in Cambridge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
