|
The Scold's Bridle
''The Scold's Bridle'' is a 1994 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 In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and .... 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 an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minette Walters
Minette Caroline Mary Walters Deputy Lieutenant, DL (born 26 September 1949) is an English 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 School, 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, England, Durham in 1971 with a BA in French. Minette met her husband Al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Parr
Chris Parr (25 September 1943 – 24 November 2023) was a British theatre director and television drama producer and executive. Life and career Chris Parr grew up in Littlehampton, Sussex. He was educated at Chichester High School for Boys, where his contemporaries included Howard Brenton, David Wood and the late David Horlock, and Queen's College, Oxford, to which he won an Open Scholarship to read Classics. However, he left Oxford without a degree but with the intention of making a career in the theatre. From 1969 to 1972, Parr was the first Fellow in Theatre at the University of Bradford. During this period he worked closely with Bradford University Drama Group, directing or producing new plays by writers, notably Howard Brenton, David Edgar and Richard Crane, who were already getting, or were about to get, attention on a national level. From 1975 to 1981 he was Artistic Director of the Traverse Theatre, where he ran the Royal Court Theatre's Sunday Night Programme and develop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan MacNaughtan
Alan MacNaughtan (4 March 1920 – 29 August 2002) was a Scottish actor, born in Bearsden, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. He was educated at the Glasgow Academy, trained at RADA, and graduated in 1940 with the Bancroft Gold Medal. An experienced Old Vic, West End and Broadway actor, he became active in television and certain films between 1954 and 1999. Television career MacNaughtan played many guest roles in productions of the 1960s and 1970s including ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'', '' The Avengers'', '' The Baron'', ''"The Maze"'' (ATV/ITC, 1966), '' Department S'', ''Who Plays the Dummy?'' (ATV/ITC, 1969), '' The Saint'', '' The Professionals'', ''A Stirring of Dust'' (LWT/Avengers Mark 1, 1978). He also played Major Brenan, a deceptive MI5 agent in '' The Ghost Talks (Randall and Hopkirk Deceased)'' in 1969. MacNaughtan's sharp blue eyes and features meant that he often played a villain in such ITC series. He appeared at Laurence Olivier's National Theatre in roles which br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 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. He is commonly remembered in the UK for his role as Lieutenant Colonel Dan Fortune in ITV television show Soldier Soldier that aired in 1991-92 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 televi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenniel Evans
Walter Tenniel Evans (17 May 1926 – 10 June 2009) was a British actor. 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, Serena Evans, 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'', '' The Insurance Man'', ''Jeeves and Wooster'', '' Drop the Dead Donkey'', '' Pie in the Sky'', ''Cracker'', '' Heartbeat'', ''The Bill'', '' Outside Edge'', ''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) 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."From Cockroach Tri ... [...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, animal rights activist, 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. McKenna won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress in 1956. For ''A Town Like Alice'', she won the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress in 1957, and in 1979 won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for ''The King and I'', making her one of the few to have completed the British Triple Crown. 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Brooke
Paul Brooke (born 22 November 1944) is a retired English actor. 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'' sketch "The Library". He play ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trudie Styler
Trudie Styler (born 6 January 1954) is an English actress, director, 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 ... [...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 from Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Wales. Her early career consisted primarily of stage roles, including the title roles in Ibsen's '' Hedda Gabler'' and George Bernard Shaw's '' Saint Joan.'' In the 1960s, she started taking on more roles in television and film. She is particularly known for her performance as Livia in the 1976 BBC television series '' I, Claudius,'' for which she was awarded a BAFTA and a Royal Television Society award. She was nominated for a Tony Award and Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Marlene Dietrich in '' Marlene''. Early life Phillips was born on 14 May 1933 in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Glamorgan, South 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Hodge
Douglas William Hodge (born 25 February 1960) is an English actor, director and musician. He has had an extensive career in theatre, as well as film and television where he has appeared in ''Robin Hood'' (2010), '' Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return'' and '' Diana'' (both 2013), ''Penny Dreadful'' (2016), '' Catastrophe'' (2018), '' Joker'' and '' Lost in Space'' (both 2019), and '' The Great'' (2020–2023). Early life Hodge was born on 25 February 1960 in Plymouth, Devon. When he was 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 and left before graduating. This never affected his desire 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; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |