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Maina Gielgud
Maina Gielgud (born 14 January 1945) is a British former ballet dancer and a veteran ballet administrator. She was artistic director of The Australian Ballet from 1983 to 1996. She had a twenty-year career as a dancer in Europe and the United Kingdom. Gielgud directed the Royal Danish Ballet between 1997 and 1999. Until 2005, she held the artistic associate position at the Houston Ballet. She is a daughter of Lewis Gielgud and actress Zita Gordon and niece of actor John Gielgud. Early and personal life Maina Gielgud began dancing when she was six years old while living with her family in Brussels, Belgium. Her teacher at that time was Nadine Nicolaeva-Legat, the wife of renowned ballet dancer Nikolai Legat who taught her ''Swan Lake'' at the time. During her childhood she was inspired by such ballet greats as Maya Plisetskaya, Nina Vyroubova, Rosella Hightower and Galina Ulanova. Her favourite authors are Lewis Carroll, Marcel Proust, Iris Murdoch, Charles Dickens and former P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Government. Before the establishment of the order, Australian citizens received British honours. The Monarch of Australia is sovereign head of the order, while the Governor-General of Australia is the principal companion/dame/knight (as relevant at the time) and chancellor of the order. The governor-general's official secretary, Paul Singer (appointed August 2018), is secretary of the order. Appointments are made by the governor-general on behalf of the Monarch of Australia, based on recommendations made by the Council of the Order of Australia. Recent knighthoods and damehoods were recommended to the governor-general by the Prime Minister of Australia. Levels of membership The order is divided into a general and a military divis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prime Minister Of The United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern prime ministers hold office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons, they sit as members of Parliament. The office of prime minister is not established by any statute or constitutional document, but exists only by long-established convention, whereby the reigning monarch appoints as prime minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons; this individual is typically the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber. The prime minister is '' ex officio'' also First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and the minister responsible for national security. Indeed, certain privileges, such a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. Kingsley was appointed Knight Bachelor in 2002 for services to the British film industry. In 2010, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2013, he received the Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment. Born to an English mother and an Indian Gujarati father with roots in Jamnagar, Kingsley began his career in theatre, joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967 and spending the next 15 years appearing mainly on stage. His starring roles included productions of ''As You Like It'' (his West End debut for the company at the Aldwych Theatre in 1967), ''Much Ado About Nothing'', ''Richard III'', '' The Tempest'', ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (including Peter Brook's 197 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Firth
Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A Month in the Country'' (1987), '' Tumbledown'' (1988) and '' Valmont'' (1989). His portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's ''Pride and Prejudice'' led to widespread attention, and to roles in more prominent films such as '' The English Patient'' (1996), '' Shakespeare in Love'' (1998), '' Bridget Jones's Diary'' (2001), ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' (2002), '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'' (2003), Richard Curtis's romantic comedy ensemble film ''Love Actually'' (2003), and the musical comedy ''Mamma Mia!'' (2008) and its sequel, '' Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again!'' (2018). In 2009, Firth received international acclaim for his performance in Tom Ford's '' A Single Man'', for which he won a BAFTA Award an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949), in which he played nine different characters, '' The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination, and '' The Ladykillers'' (1955). He collaborated six times with director David Lean: Herbert Pocket in '' Great Expectations'' (1946), Fagin in '' Oliver Twist'' (1948), Col. Nicholson in ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' (1957), for which he won both the Academy Award for Best Actor and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor, Prince Faisal in ''Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962), General Yevgraf Zhivago in ''Doctor Zhivago'' (1965), and Professor Godbole in '' A Passage to India'' (1984). In 1970 he played Jacob Marley's ghost in Ronald Neame's '' Scrooge''. He also portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage. Dench has garnered various accolades throughout a career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, six British Academy Film Awards and seven Olivier Awards. Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years, she performed in several of Shakespeare's plays, in such roles as Ophelia in ''Hamlet'', Juliet in '' Romeo and Juliet'' and Lady Macbeth in '' Macbeth''. Although most of Dench's work during this period was in theatre, she also branched into film work and won a BAFTA Award as Most Promising Newcomer. In 1968, she drew excellent reviews for her leading role of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glenda Jackson
Glenda May Jackson (born 9 May 1936) is an English actress and former Member of Parliament (MP). She has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice: for her role as Gudrun Brangwen in the romantic drama ''Women in Love'' (1970); and again for her role as Vickie Allessio in the romantic comedy '' A Touch of Class'' (1973). She received praise for her performances as Alex Greville in the drama film '' Sunday Bloody Sunday'' (1971) and Elizabeth I in the BBC television serial ''Elizabeth R'' (1971), winning two Primetime Emmy Awards for the latter. In 2018, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role in a revival of Edward Albee's ''Three Tall Women'', becoming one of the few performers to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting in the US. Jackson took a hiatus from acting to take on a career in politics from 1992 to 2015, and was elected as the Labour Party MP for Hampstead and Highgate in the 1992 general election. She served as a junior transport minister fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performers to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having received highest achievement for film, television and theatre, winning two Academy Awards, a Tony Award and four Primetime Emmy Awards. Hailed as one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actresses, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990 for contributions to the Arts, and a Companion of Honour in 2014 for services to Drama. Smith began her career on stage as a student, performing at the Oxford Playhouse in 1952, and made her professional debut on Broadway in ''New Faces of '56''. Over the following decades, Smith established herself alongside Judi Dench as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakesp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maria Callas
Maria Callas . (born Sophie Cecilia Kalos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her ''bel canto'' technique, wide-ranging voice and dramatic interpretations. Her repertoire ranged from classical ''opera seria'' to the ''bel canto'' operas of Donizetti, Bellini and Rossini and, further, to the works of Verdi and Puccini; and, in her early career, to the music dramas of Wagner. Her musical and dramatic talents led to her being hailed as ''La Divina'' ("the Divine one"). Born in Manhattan, New York City, to Greek immigrant parents, she was raised by an overbearing mother who had wanted a son. Maria received her musical education in Greece at age 13 and later established her career in Italy. Forced to deal with the exigencies of 1940s wartime poverty and with near-sightedness that left her nearly blind onstage, she endured strug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Hall (director)
Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Hall CBE (22 November 1930 11 September 2017) was an English theatre, opera and film director. His obituary in ''The Times'' declared him "the most important figure in British theatre for half a century" and on his death, a Royal National Theatre statement declared that Hall's "influence on the artistic life of Britain in the 20th century was unparalleled". In 2018, the Laurence Olivier Awards, recognizing achievements in London theatre, changed the award for Best Director to the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director. In 1955, Hall introduced London audiences to the work of Samuel Beckett with the UK premiere of '' Waiting for Godot''. Hall founded the Royal Shakespeare Company (1960–68) and went on to build an international reputation in theatre, opera, film and television. He was director of the National Theatre (1973–88) and artistic director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (19841990). He formed the Peter Hall Company (19982011) and became ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Brook
Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). With them, he directed the first English-language production in 1964 of ''Marat/Sade'' by Peter Weiss, which was transferred to Broadway in 1965 and won the Tony Award for Best Play, and Brook was named Best Director. He also directed films such as an iconic version of '' Lord of the Flies'' in 1963. He was based in France from the early 1970s on, where he founded an international theatre company, playing in developing countries, in an approach of great simplicity. He was often referred to as "our greatest living theatre director". He won multiple Emmy Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, the Japanese Praemium Imperiale, the Prix Italia and the Europe Theatre Prize. In 2021, he was awarded India's Padma Shri. Ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wayne McGregor
Wayne McGregor, CBE (born 12 March 1970) is a multi award-winning British choreographer and director. He is the Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor and Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet. McGregor was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) 2011 for Services to Dance. Biography McGregor was born in Stockport, England, in 1970. He studied dance at Bretton Hall College of the University of Leeds and at the José Limon School in New York. In 1992 he was appointed Choreographer-in-Residence at The Place, London, and in the same year he founded his own company, Random Dance (now Company Wayne McGregor). Company Wayne McGregor was invited to be the first Resident Company at the new Sadler's Wells in 2002. Appointed in 2006, McGregor is the first Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet from a contemporary dance background. In 2021, McGregor was announced as the Director of Dance for the Venice Biennale until 2024. McGregor is Professor of C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
