Oliver Ford Davies
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Oliver Ford Davies
Oliver Robert Ford Davies (born 12 August 1939) is an English actor, theatre historian, director, playwright, and writer. He is best known for his extensive theatre work, and to a broader audience for his role as Sio Bibble in ''Star Wars'' Episodes I to III. He is also known for his role as Maester Cressen in HBO series ''Game of Thrones''. Early life and education Oliver Robert Ford Davies was born in Ealing, Middlesex, England on 12 August 1939. His father was a teacher. He attended the King's School, Canterbury. Aged 11, he performed in a school play, '' Richard of Bordeaux'', and found that he . In 1956 he joined the eminent Ealing amateur company Questors. He won a scholarship to Merton College, Oxford, where he read history and became president of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. After obtaining his DPhil, he did a postgraduate teaching qualification. From 1964 Davies worked as a history lecturer at the University of Edinburgh before taking up acting prof ...
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Ealing
Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex. Until the urban expansion of London in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a rural village. Improvement in communications with London, culminating with the opening of the railway station in 1838, shifted the local economy to market garden supply and eventually to suburban development. By 1902 Ealing had become known as the "Queen of the Suburbs" due to its greenery, and because it was halfway between city and country. As part of the growth of London in the 20th century, Ealing significantly expanded and increased in population. It became a municipal borough in 1901 and part of Greater London in 1965. It is now a significant commercial and retail centre wi ...
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Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon, north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and south-west of Warwick. The town is the southernmost point of the Arden, Warwickshire, Arden area at the northern extremity of the The Cotswolds, Cotswolds. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 British census Stratford had a population of 30,495. Stratford was inhabited originally by Celtic Britons, Britons before Anglo-Saxons and remained a village before the lord of the manor, John of Coutances, set out plans to develop it into a town in 1196. In that same year, Stratford was granted a charter from King Richard I to hold a weekly Marketplace, market in the town, giving it its status as a market town. As a result, Strat ...
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Henry V (play)
''The Life of Henry the Fifth'', often shortened to ''Henry V'', is a Shakespearean history, history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written near 1599. It tells the story of Henry V of England, King Henry V of England, focusing on events immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt (1415) during the Hundred Years' War. In the First Quarto text, it was titled ''The Cronicle History of Henry the fift'', and ''The Life of Henry the Fifth'' in the First Folio text. The play is the final part of Henriad, a tetralogy, preceded by ''Richard II (play), Richard II'', ''Henry IV, Part 1'', and ''Henry IV, Part 2''. The original audiences would thus have already been familiar with the title character, who was depicted in the ''Henry IV'' plays as a wild, undisciplined young man. In ''Henry V'', the young prince has matured. He embarks on an expedition to France and, his army greatly outnumbered, defeats the French at Agincourt. Characters * Chorus ;The English ...
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Terry Hands
Terence David Hands, (9 January 1941 – 4 February 2020) was an English theatre director. He founded the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and ran the Royal Shakespeare Company for thirteen years during one of the company's most successful periods; he spent 25 years in all with the RSC. He also saved Clwyd Theatr Cymru from closure and turned it into the most successful theatre in Wales in his seventeen years as Artistic Director. He received several Olivier, Tony and Molière awards and nominations for directing and lighting. Early years Hands was born at Aldershot, Hampshire, England, on 9 January 1941. His mother was a German immigrant, though during World War II and for several years afterward, she said that she was from Switzerland. He studied at Woking Grammar School and the University of Birmingham before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, leaving with the gold medal for acting in 1964. He then established the Liverpool Everyman where he directed numerous productio ...
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Cambridge Arts Theatre
Cambridge Arts Theatre is a 666-seat theatre on Peas Hill and St Edward's Passage in central Cambridge, England. The theatre presents a varied mix of drama, dance, opera and pantomime. It attracts touring productions, as well as many shows direct from, or prior to, seasons in the West End. Its annual Christmas pantomime is an established tradition in the city. From 1969 to 1985, the theatre was also home to the Cambridge Theatre Company, a national touring company. The Cambridge Arts Theatre was founded in 1936 by the Cambridge economist and statesman John Maynard Keynes. The Cambridge Arts Theatre has also been home to performances of Cambridge University's Marlowe Society, and it provides a venue for the university's triennial Cambridge Greek Play performed in Ancient Greek. In previous years it also housed performances by Footlights, the Cambridge University Gilbert & Sullivan Society and the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society. History The Cambridge Arts ...
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Oxford Playhouse
The Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F. G. M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road (Oxford), Woodstock Road, North Oxford, in 1923 by J. B. Fagan. The early history of the theatre is documented by the theatre director, Norman Marshall (theatre director), Norman Marshall in his 1947 book, ''The Other Theatre''. Don Chapman also provided a comprehensive study of the theatre in the 2008 book, ''Oxford Playhouse: High and Low Drama in a University City''. The exterior design of the theatre building on the south side of Beaumont Street was by Sir Edward Maufe, with the interior design by F.G.M. Chancellor; the building was completed in 1938. It is faced with stone, in keeping with the early 19th century Regency architecture, Regency buildings in the street. Actors who have appeared on the stage at the Playhouse include Rowan Atkinson, ...
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Mermaid Theatre
The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre encompassing the site of Puddle Dock and Curriers' Alley at Blackfriars in the City of London, and the first built in the City since the time of Shakespeare. It was, importantly, also one of the first new theatres to abandon the traditional stage layout; instead of this, a single tier of seats surrounded the stage on three sides. History The 20th-century theatre was the life's work of actor Bernard Miles with his wife, Josephine Wilson. His original Mermaid Theatre was a large barn at his house in St John's Wood, north west London. This seated 200 people, and during 1951 and 1952 was used for concerts, plays and a celebrated opera production of ''Dido and Aeneas'' with Kirsten Flagstad, Maggie Teyte and Thomas Hemsley, conducted by Geraint Jones, which was recorded by His Master's Voice. For the third season in 1953, the Mermaid Theatre was moved to the Royal Exchange. Miles was encouraged to build a permanent theatre and, raising mone ...
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Anna Calder-Marshall
Anna Calder-Marshall (born 11 January 1947) is an English stage, film and television actress. Personal life Calder-Marshall was born in Kensington, London, and is the daughter of novelist and essayist Arthur Calder-Marshall and documentary screenplay-writer and his wife, Ara ( Violet Nancy Sales). Her husband is actor David Burke. Their son, Tom, is also an actor. Filmography She appeared in the ''Inspector Morse'' episode ''The Settling of the Sun'' (1988) and the ''Midsomer Murders'' episode ''Garden of Death'' (2000). In 2005 Calder-Marshall played Maude Abernethie in Poirot's '' After the Funeral''. Other roles include appearing in '' Harlots'' as Mrs. May, and in the 2018 BBC adaptation of ''Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...'' as Mada ...
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Timothy Dalton
Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. He gained international prominence as the fourth actor to portray fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, starring in '' The Living Daylights'' (1987) and ''Licence to Kill'' (1989). Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama '' The Lion in Winter''. He took roles in the period films '' Wuthering Heights'' (1970), '' Cromwell'' (1970), and ''Mary, Queen of Scots'' (1971). Dalton also appeared in the films '' Flash Gordon'' (1980), '' The Rocketeer'' (1991), '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action'' (2003), ''Hot Fuzz'' (2007) and '' The Tourist'' (2010). On television, Dalton's role as Oliver Secombe made him one of the stars of '' Centennial'' (1978–1979). He later played Mr. Rochester in the BBC serial '' Jane Eyre'' (1983), Rhett Butler in the CBS miniseries '' Scarlett'' (1994), Rassilon in the BBC One sci- ...
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Brian Cox (actor)
Brian Denis Cox (born 1 June 1946) is a Scottish actor. A classically trained Shakespearean actor, he is known for his work on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include two Laurence Olivier Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award as well as two nominations for a British Academy Television Award. In 2003, he was appointed to the Order of the British Empire at the rank of Commander. Cox trained at the Dundee Repertory Theatre before becoming a founding member of Royal Lyceum Theatre. He went on to train as a Shakespearean actor, starring in numerous productions with the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he gained recognition for his portrayal of King Lear. Cox received two Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Actor for his roles in '' Rat in the Skull'' (1984), for Royal Court and '' Titus Andronicus'' (1988). He received two more Olivier Award nominations for '' Misalliance'' (1986) and ''Fashion'' (1988). Known as a ...
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Michael Gambon
Sir Michael John Gambon (; 19 October 1940 – 27 September 2023) was an Irish-English actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career, he received three Olivier Awards, four BAFTA TV Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 1998, he was Knight Bachelor, knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama. Gambon appeared in many productions of works by William Shakespeare such as ''Othello'', ''Hamlet'', ''Macbeth'' and ''Coriolanus''. Gambon was nominated for thirteen Olivier Awards, winning three times for ''A Chorus of Disapproval (play), A Chorus of Disapproval'' (1985), ''A View from the Bridge'' (1987) and ''Man of the Moment (play), Man of the Moment'' (1990). In 1997, Gambon made his Broadway debut in David Hare (playwright), David Hare's ''Skylight (play), Skylight,'' earning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination. Gambon made his film debut in ...
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Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre companies and one of its most consistently innovative. Today The Rep produces a wide range of drama in its three auditoria (825 seats, 300 seats, and 140 seats), much of which goes on to tour nationally and internationally. The company retains its commitment to new writing and in the five years to 2013 commissioned and produced 130 new plays. The company's former home, now known as " The Old Rep", is still in use as a theatre. History Foundation and early years The origins of The Rep lie with the 'Pilgrim Players', an initially amateur theatre company founded by Barry Jackson in 1907 to reclaim and stage English poetic drama, performing a repertoire that ranged from the 16th century morality play '' Interlude of Youth'' to contemp ...
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