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1-50 of 426
- Writer
- Actor
- Music Department
He was born Alfred Hawthorn Hill. It was his grandfather who introduced him to Burlesque Shows and the theatre from where the young Benny Hill was to draw much of his comic inspiration. After his national service with the army during WW2, Benny came to London, adopted the stage name Benny Hill (in homage to his all time favourite comedian Jack Benny) and began appearing in variety shows. He briefly formed a double act with Reg Varney and did radio shows. But it was his talent for impressions and comic timing that were to give him his first big break on TV with the show "Hi There" in 1949. The Benny Hill Show (1955) began in 1955. Its pioneering combination of cheeky humour, songs and impressions were to make it a hit for the next 40 years.
Benny also broadened his career with cameo appearances in films such as The Italian Job (1969), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes (1965). He also had a hit record in 1971 with "Ernie The Fastest Milkman In The West". In 1979 The Benny Hill Show (1955) was shown in America for the first time and Benny went on to become one of the biggest stars on US TV. The show itself has been seen in 109 countries and won a BAFTA as well as Golden Rose Of Montreaux Award. Benny Hill's TV career came to an end in 1989, when his show was dropped, but his popularity continued and he completed a US TV special, Benny Hill's World Tour: New York! (1991) shortly before his death in 1992.- In a career than spanned eight decades, Thora Hird was widely-regarded as one of Britain's finest character actresses. She made over 100 films as well as starring in a host of TV comedies and, as a straight actress, excelled in the works of playwright Alan Bennett. Even in her 90s, she was working almost daily.
Born in Morecambe, Lancashire, the daughter of the manager of the local Royalty Theatre, she was carried on to the stage in a melodrama at the age of eight weeks. When old enough, she joined the Royalty's theatre company, although she kept a day job as a cashier in a grocery store. "I spent 10 years working in that grocery store", she recalled, "and I've played nearly all the customers I used to serve - maids, landladies, cleaners, forthright parents. When I'm acting, I'll do some little thing I've remembered, so simple". At the theatre, she appeared in over 500 plays and, in 1941, the comedian George Formby, on a visit to the theatre, recommended her to Michael Balcon at Ealing Film Studios. Put under contract, she first appeared in Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942) with Will Hay and a string of comedy films and dramas followed. In the same vein as the saucy seaside postcards of her Morecambe birth, Hird was usually cast as the all-seeing boarding house landlady, a gossiping neighbour or a sharp tongued mother-in-law.
In the 1950s, Hird was under contract to the Rank Organisation and was established as a major character actress. She worked with some of Britain's finest directors, including Herbert Wilcox, Lewis Gilbert and John Schlesinger but, by her own account, was not easily awed. "I've appeared in hundreds of films and television things and, in some cases, I literally mean 'appeared' around the door, that was all. Like anybody earning a living, I took most of the work that came along". She gave outstanding performances in Simon and Laura (1955) and The Entertainer (1960), opposite Laurence Olivier, but one of her best- remembered roles was that of the monstrous TV-addicted mother in A Kind of Loving (1962).
As her career progressed, she frequently returned to the stage, often in comedies, with comedians such as Arthur Askey and Harry Secombe, and, in 1964, she was memorably team with the comedian Freddie Frinton in the TV series, Meet the Wife (1963). She starred in a succession of hit TV comedies throughout the 70s and 80s but proof of her talent as a straight actress came in 1987, when she starred in Alan Bennett's Talking Heads monologue, A Creamcracker under the Settee for which she won a BAFTA award. She wrote several volumes of autobiography, including "Scene and Hird" and "Not in the Diary" and, in 1995, was the subject of a South Bank Show (ITV) monograph. One of the show's contributors, the actor Alan Bates, said of her, "Thora always had a grasp of her character immediately. She didn't have to work herself into a state to get it right. She is a naturally funny woman whose comedy is on the edge of tragedy. It's instinctive and very understanding of life itself". - Actor
- Soundtrack
The son of a naval officer who ran what were called "concert parties", Kenneth Connor made his stage debut at age two, and by 11 was performing in both a solo act and a doubles act with his brother in various revue shows. He later decided to become a serious actor rather than just a revue performer, and attended a professional music and drama school. After a six-year stint in the army, he returned to the theater as an actor, and secured quite a few roles on the stage. For all his training, though, he found his greatest success doing voice characterizations on radio comedy shows. His success there led to his being cast in the first "Carry On" film, and he went on to become one of the regulars in the long-running series. After it ended Connor did a lot of television work, and achieved another round of success as the undertaker Alphonse in the popular TV series, 'Allo 'Allo! (1982). He died of cancer in 1993.- Director
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
During his last years at school he spent most of his time writing a thesis on 'the future of film' On leaving school he joined Gaumont British Studios at Lime Grove as an apprentice to a stills photographer for a year. He claimed this taught him more about the art of photography than any other form of training could. He then became a clapper boy at B.I.P. Studios at Elstree then moved to British Dominion where he became a a camera assistant. Next was a move to Pinewood and his call up for war duty much of which was spent as a one man film unit based at Aldershot where he learnt more about his craft than about soldering.. After the war he returned to Shepperton Studios to work for Alexander Korda and Powell and Pressburger. He also worked for John Huston on 'Moby Dick' for which he was responsible for all the second unit photography and special effects.- The lovely blonde actress, Susan Shaw, was groomed by the Rank Organisation in England for a career in film in the 40s and 50s. She was born on August 29, 1929 in West Norwood, England. Susan was at her best when cast in a role as a pretty young slip of a girl with her nose in the air. After a marriage to actor Albert Lieven, with whom she had a daughter, Susan married the American actor Bonar Colleano, known for his roles as the wisecracking Yank in British films. The two made a handsome couple, Susan with her petite blondeness and Bonar with his loud mouth and dark good looks. They had a child together, actor Mark Colleano, in 1955, before her husband suddenly died in a tragic road accident in 1958. After Bonar died, she was never the same and spent most of her life battling a drinking problem until her death in 1978. Her husband's mother became the legal guardian of her little boy and groomed him for an acting career. As a child star, Mark went on to star opposite Rock Hudson in "Hornets' Nest", as a 14-year-old Italian youth.
- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Born to a huge, poor family in Soho in London's West End, Jessie Matthews became a big stage star in the late 1920s and 1930s, enjoying some crossover success in musical films. Her career never quite relaunched after the war, though, but she staged a comeback when she replaced the lead actress in the radio soap "Mrs Dale's Diary" in the 1960s. Her life was blighted by breakdowns of relationships and her own struggles with bad health and insecurity, and she wound up, amazingly, buried in an unmarked grave (only rectified after a TV documentary in the late 1980s brought this to light--beg, steal or borrow a copy of BBC's Timewatch (1982) documentary series episode "Catch A Fallen Star"). An amazing life.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Gerard Kelly was born on 27 May 1959 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He was an actor and director, known for Going Out (1981), The Camerons (1979) and Brat Farrar (1986). He died on 28 October 2010 in Isleworth, Middlesex, England, UK.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Charlie Drake was born on 19 June 1925 in Elephant and Castle, London, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for The Cracksman (1963), Sinderella Live (1995) and Masterpiece Theatre: Bleak House (1985). He was married to Elaine Bird and Heather Barnes. He died on 23 December 2006 in Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Harold Goodwin (22 October 1917 - 3 June 2004) was an English actor born in Wombwell, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England.
Goodwin trained at RADA and was a stage actor at Liverpool repertory theatre for 3 years. He appeared in numerous British films of the 1950s and 1960s, usually playing 'flat cap' wearing working class characters from Northern England or low ranks in the military.
He had significant parts in the war films The Dam Busters (playing Guy Gibson's batman, 'Crosby'), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and The Longest Day. He can also be seen in films such as The Ladykillers, Sea of Sand, Angels One Five and The Cruel Sea (in which he was the ASDIC operator).
He also made hundreds of British TV appearances in programmes such as Minder (as Dunning, episode Get Daley!, 1984) and a notable role in All Creatures Great and Small. Goodwin was a 'staple' of the popular 1980s sitcom, That's My Boy. His last major television appearance was playing the part of Joss Shackleton, father to Vera Duckworth, in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (1960) in the early 1990s.
He also appeared in an episode of One Foot in the Grave (1990) as a window cleaner.- George Murcell was born on 30 October 1925 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He was an actor, known for Cutthroat Island (1995), Hell Drivers (1957) and The Possessed (1969). He was married to Elvi Hale and Josephine Tweedy. He died on 3 December 1998 in Isleworth, Middlesex, England, UK.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Charles Simon was born on 4 February 1909 in Tettenhall Wood, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Topsy-Turvy (1999), 102 Dalmatians (2000) and The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997). He was married to Sheila Eves and Nancy McDermid. He died on 16 May 2002 in Harrow, Middlesex, England, UK.- Director
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Douglas Camfield was born on 8 May 1931 in England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for Doctor Who Lost in Time (1969), Danger UXB (1979) and Blake's 7 (1978). He was married to Sheila Dunn. He died on 28 January 1984 in Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK.- Director
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles Beeson was born on 10 May 1957 in Isle of Wight, England, UK. He was a director and producer, known for Revolution (2012), The Whispers (2015) and Timeless (2016). He died on 24 April 2021 in Teddington, Middlesex, England, UK.- Actor
- Writer
Robert James was a Scottish actor whose gift for subtle characterisation meant that he was rarely out of work in a career on stage, television and in film which spanned over five decades. He was recognisable stalwart of British television drama, a prolific "I know the face, but" performer of intelligence, authority and a distinctive countenance: large, beguiling eyes, pronounced cheekbones and latterly, a mighty shock of white hair, augmented by a slightly lisped diction. Held in high esteem by fellow members of the profession, he always gave good value: lending sharpness to the judiciary, geniality to the clergy or eccentricity to the scientist. He was born in Paisley, and despite his father's determination that he should be a lawyer (he was academically bright and even started working for a solicitor's firm after graduating from university) his love for theatre led to a zest for amateur dramatics and he was spotted by a director from The Wilson Barrett Company. They gave him his first professional role, and he quit the day job, ultimately appearing in over 100 productions for them at The Glasgow Alhambra during the late 40's/early 50's. Despite being extremely busy in television, he continued treading the boards for forty years, loving being a company man whether it be at The Liverpool Playhouse (where he met his wife) or The Almeida. His film appearances, initially as a bit player, included the Titanic film "A Night To Remember" (1958) in which he was among an illustrious bevy of British talent giving uncredited cameos (Norman Rossington, Desmond Llewellyn, Stratford Johns and Derren Nesbitt were literally in the same boat). James played the engine room officer, giving a touching performance that embodied the moving stoicism of the picture. In "Doctor Who", his affecting performance as conscience stricken scientist slowly losing his mind in "The Power Of The Daleks" (1966) is considered among the best performances given by a guest actor in the show. In person a witty, unassuming and modest man, he also lent his experience and encouragement to the Hadleigh Amateur Dramatic Society for whom he was a valued chairman.- Ronald Leigh-Hunt trained for acting at the Italia Conti School. He made his debut in regional repertory theatre. In films from 1950, he was rarely out of work, usually cast in subtle authoritarian or aristocratic roles. Cultured and dapper, latterly white-haired, he was particularly noted for his resonant voice (outside of acting, he sidelined in training business leaders in public speaking), impeccable manner and stylish attire.
Though very often only in small supporting roles, Leigh-Hunt was seen in several big budget features, ranging from Khartoum (1966) to The Omen (1976). He also played Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., opposite Barbra Streisand, in the West End production of 'Funny Girl' in 1966. On the small screen, he was a popular guest star in just about every major British television series, frequently popping up on Z Cars (1962) and Doctor Who (1963). He also had a recurring role, starring as Colonel Buchan, in the children's TV series Freewheelers (1968). Ronald was a cousin of the actress Barbara Leigh-Hunt. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Henry McGee specialized in comedy and was best known for his 20 year-long association with Benny Hill, on whose show he appeared as announcer and straight man. The son of a Rolls-Royce engineer, McGee was educated at Stonyhurst. After National Service in the Royal Navy, he joined the Italia Conti Stage Academy for two years, then acted with repertory companies in England and Australia.
He returned to England in the 1960's and enjoyed a prolific career on television, especially in comedies. His appearance as an upmarket conman who takes in Leonard Rossiter's Rigsby in The Perfect Gentleman (1975) was considered one of the highlights of the popular ITV sitcom, so much so that the storyline was recycled for the film version, Rising Damp (1980), when McGee's role was taken by Denholm Elliott.
McGee was also recognized for being in the 'Sugar Puffs' breakfast cereal commercials on television alongside The Honey Monster. His hobbies were gliding and collecting old engravings. He left a million pounds in his will.- Mela White was born on 28 March 1931 in Woodford, Essex, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Bergerac (1981), Fog for a Killer (1962) and Blind Man's Bluff (1977). She was married to Ronald Lacey and Roger Brompton. She died on 24 December 2017 in Twickenham, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Gustav Holst was born on 21 September 1874 in Pittville, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, UK. He was a composer, known for Knowing (2009), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) and The Vast of Night (2019). He was married to Isobel Harrison. He died on 25 May 1934 in Ealing, Middlesex, London, England, UK.- Malcolm Gerard was born on 16 May 1937 in Brentford, Middlesex, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School (1952), A Matter of Choice (1963) and The Bill (1984). He was married to Jill Simcox. He died on 7 August 2015 in Hampton, Middlesex, England, UK.
- Sheila Dunn was born on 11 April 1940 in Wandsworth, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Doctor Who (1963), R3 (1964) and The Fast Kill (1972). She was married to Douglas Camfield. She died on 3 March 2004 in Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Robert Banks Stewart had an incredible career in British television drama, becoming one of its greatest ever writers, story editors and producers. He started writing in primary school, winning a Burns essay prize and contributing stories to local newspapers. At age 15, he left school to become an office boy at the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch. He did his National Service with Field Marshal Montgomery's peacetime staff. He then worked as a newspaper editor. By this time he had written several plays and done a stint as a radio commentator. He eventually left Scotland for a post as foreign corespondent for Illustrated magazine. When that publication folded, he joined the Rank Organisation, providing rewrites and producing movie and TV scripts.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Maggie Rennie was born on 11 February 1919 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Intent to Kill (1958), Fox Mystery Theater (1984) and Urge to Kill (1960). She was married to Michael Rennie. She died on 5 August 2017 in Brinsworth House, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK.- Colin McCormack was born on December 2, 1941, in Cardiff, Wales. His father was a railway worker. He was educated at King's College in Cardiff, then studied at the Cardiff Art College before training at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. There, he met his future wife, the actress Wendy Allnutt.
Mc Cormack began his professional career with the Bristol Old Vic and went on to perform in many of Britain's theatres. From 1967-2004, he was most closely associated with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He played many roles for the RSC, appearing in productions ranging from a 1967 Peter Hall production of "Macbeth" to Edward Hall's production of "Julius Ceasar". He was also a Royal Court stalwart, where he was known for his performances in more modern plays. His fellow professionals admired his striking presence and clarity on stage. He also tutored at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and his students included Ewan McGregor, Alistair McGowan, Damian Lewis, Joseph Fiennes, and Daniel Craig, among others.
His television career began in 1971, with his appearance in the Trial (1971) TV series, and included appearances in Martin Chuzzlewit (1994), Inspector Morse (1987) and other popular TV-series. He died of cancer on June 19, 2004, in Middlesex, England. He was survived by his wife, Wendy Allnutt, and their children Katherine McCormack Wherry and Andrew McCormack. - Actress
- Writer
Molly Weir was born on 17 March 1910 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. She was an actress and writer, known for Family Affair (1954), Suspense (1962) and The Lyons Abroad (1955). She was married to Sandy Hamilton. She died on 28 November 2004 in Pinner, Middlesex, England, UK.- Pauline Letts was born on 1 May 1917 in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Antony and Cleopatra (1951), Gawain and the Green Knight (1973) and Nicholas Nickleby (1977). She died on 25 June 2001 in Isleworth, Middlesex, England, UK.