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Semi-Detached (play)
''Semi-Detached'' is a play written by David Turner. It premiered at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in June 1962 with Leonard Rossiter in the lead role, the production was directed by Tony Richardson. In 1964, the BBC recorded a radio adaptation starring Rossiter, rebroadcast in 2016 in its series ''Repertory in Britain''. The Belgrade Theatre production transferred to London, still directed by Richardson, but with Laurence Olivier (replacing Rossiter), Eileen Atkins, John Thaw, James Bolam (replacing Ian McKellen) and Mona Washbourne. The play reached Broadway in New York for a season in 1963 and a film version '' All the Way Up'' (1970), directed by James MacTaggart, starred Warren Mitchell. The play was revived at the Chichester Festival in 1999. Plot Set in the Midlands, Fred Midway is working his way up the social ladder. His desire to be accepted in the social circles to which he aspires occupies much of his energy. At first, Fred's carefully laid plans to boost his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West End Theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, Along with New York City's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London. Famous screen actors, British and international alike, frequently appear on the London stage. There are a total of 39 theatres in the West End, with the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, opened in May 1663, the oldest theatre in London. The Savoy Theatre – built as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan – was entirely lit by electricity in 1881. Opening in October 2022, @sohoplace is the first new West End theatre in 50 years. The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) announ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mona Washbourne
Mona Lee Washbourne (27 November 1903 – 15 November 1988) was an English actress of stage, film, and television. Her most critically acclaimed role was in the film '' Stevie'' (1978), late in her career, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award. Early life Mona Washbourne was born in Sparkhill, Birmingham, and began her entertaining career training as a concert pianist. Her sister Kathleen Washbourne was a violinist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Adrian Boult. Career Washbourne was performing professionally from the early 1920s. She married the actor Basil Dignam. Her brother-in-law Mark Dignam was also a stage and film actor. In 1948, after numerous stage musical performances, Washbourne began appearing in films. Her film credits include the horror movie '' The Brides of Dracula'', ''Billy Liar'' (1963) and '' The Collector'' (1965). She is probably best known to American audiences for her role as housekeeper Mrs. Pearce in ''My F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Rothwell (actor)
Michael Rothwell (13 March 1936 – 24 January 2009) was an actor. Amongst his theatre work, he was part of the National Theatre's 1963/64 company, playing Roderigo in Olivier's ''Othello'' in 1964. Films * ''Rentadick'' (1972 ) * ''Fragment of Fear'' (1970) * ''Start the Revolution Without Me'' (1970) * ''The Mummy's Shroud'' (1967) TV * '' The Innes Book of Records'' (1979) * ''Jude the Obscure'' (1971) as Dawlish * ''The First Churchills'' (1969) * ''Strange Report'' (1969) * ''Mystery and Imagination'' - ''Casting the Runes'' (1968) * ''Sexton Blake'' (1968) * ''Vanity Fair'' (1967) * ''The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1967) * '' The Avengers'' (1967) (episode: ''The £50,000 Breakfast'') * ''The Plane Makers'' (1967) * ''Write a Play'' (1967) * '' Softly, Softly'' (1966) * ''Thirty-Minute Theatre ''Thirty-Minute Theatre'' was a British anthology drama series of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, which was used in part at least as a training ground for ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gillian Raine
Gillian Mary Lorraine (28 December 1926Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - entry for Rossiter - accessed 4 July 2011 – 19 June 2018), known professionally as Gillian Raine, was a British actress and singer. She was married to actor Leonard Rossiter from 1964 until his death in 1984; they had one daughter, Camilla (b. 1972). Raine appeared in repertory theatre, TV drama and film productions. Her theatre works included ''Hedda Gabler'' (as Juliana Tesman), 2005, at The Duke of York's Theatre, Richard Eyre's production of ''La Grande Magia'' for the National Theatre, Mike Bradwell’s ''Mackerel Sky'' at the Bush Theatre and Bill Bryden’s production of '' A Month in the Country'' at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre and in the West End at the Albery Theatre. Film work included '' Darling'' and '' A Night to Remember'' and on television ''Kiss Me Kate'', ''Vanity Fair'', ''A Very Peculiar Practice'' and ''Under the Hammer''. She met Rossiter when they were both appearing in the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheila Keith
Sheila Keith (9 June 1920 – 14 October 2004) was a British character actress, active in theatre, films and TV. She was born to Scottish parents in London while they were visiting the city and brought up in Aberdeen, Scotland. Longing to act, she trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Her stage career took her from repertory theatre at the Bristol Old Vic and Pitlochry, to West End appearances including Noël Coward's Present Laughter, Mame with Ginger Rogers, An Italian Straw Hat, Anyone for Denis?, and Deathtrap. The Scotsman wrote: "In the Sixties, she was often seen in series such as '' The Saint'', '' Public Eye'' and '' Sherlock Holmes''. But she gained a national popularity when she went into '' Crossroads'' in 1967 as Mrs Cornet. It was the era when the soap was hugely popular and Noelle Gordon ruled the motel with a rod of iron...She played Lady Rosina in the BBC’s mammoth production of The Pallisers, Aunt Morag (keen on her whisky) in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bridget Turner
Bridget Joanna Turner (22 February 1939 – 27 December 2014) was an English actress. She played a radical English teacher, Judy Threadgold, opposite Alun Armstrong's woodwork teacher in Alan Plater's ''Get Lost!'' for Yorkshire Television, shown in 1981. Armstrong was unavailable for a sequel, so it was completely recast and became '' The Beiderbecke Affair'' with the parts going to Barbara Flynn and James Bolam. She played Phyllis in Alan Ayckbourn's TV film ''Season's Greetings (play)''. On 8 May 2009, John Cleese stated in an interview that Turner was the original choice in 1974 for the role of Sybil Fawlty in ''Fawlty Towers''. She turned it down and the part was given to Prunella Scales. Turner died on 27 December 2014 in Dorchester, Dorset, at the age of 75, and was survived by her husband, Frank Cox. She was also godmother to actor Tom Burke. Filmography *''The Walking Stick'' (1970) – Sarah Dainton *''To Catch a Spy'' (1971) – Woman in Plane *''Under Milk Wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. The smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989. The inaugural Artistic Director was Sir Laurence Olivier, and it was at Chichester that the first National Theatre company was formed. Chichester's productions would transfer to the NT's base at the Old Vic in London. The opening productions in 1962 were: ''The Chances'' by John Fletcher (first production 1638) which opened on 3 July; ''The Broken Heart'' (1633), by John Ford, opened 9 July; ''Uncle Vanya'' (1896), by Anton Chekov, opened 16 July. Among the actors in the opening season were: Lewis Casson, Fay Compton, Joan Greenwood, Rosemary Harris, Kathleen Harrison, Keith Michell, André Morell, John Neville, Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warren Mitchell
Warren Mitchell (born Warren Misell; 14 January 1926 – 14 November 2015) was a British actor. He was a BAFTA TV Award winner and twice a Laurence Olivier Award winner. In the 1950s, Mitchell appeared on the radio programmes ''Educating Archie'' and ''Hancock's Half Hour''. He also performed minor roles in several films. In the 1960s, he rose to prominence in the role of bigoted cockney Alf Garnett in the BBC television sitcom '' Till Death Us Do Part'' (1965–75), created by Johnny Speight, which won him a Best TV Actor BAFTA in 1967. He reprised the role in the television sequels '' Till Death...'' ( ATV, 1981) and ''In Sickness and in Health'' (BBC, 1985–92), and in the films '' Till Death Us Do Part'' (1969) and ''The Alf Garnett Saga'' (1972). His other film appearances include ''Three Crooked Men'' (1958), ''Carry On Cleo'' (1964), '' The Spy Who Came In from the Cold'' (1965), '' The Assassination Bureau'' (1969) and ''Norman Loves Rose'' (1982). He held bot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James MacTaggart
James MacTaggart (25 April 1928 – 29 May 1974) was a Scottish television producer, director and writer. He worked in London from 1961. Early life MacTaggart was born in Glasgow and served in the Royal Army Service Corps from 1946, rising to the rank of Captain by the time he was demobbed in 1949. After his military service, he studied Political Economy and Social Economics at the University of Glasgow, from which he graduated with an MA in 1954. Career After an initial career as an actor, MacTaggart worked as a producer for BBC Radio in Scotland before moving into television. He relocated to London around 1961, at the request of his friend, scriptwriter Troy Kennedy Martin. MacTaggart aimed to break down the use of naturalism in television drama: "We were going to destroy naturalism", Kennedy Martin once said, "if possible, before Christmas". In a television career of almost 20 years, MacTaggart wrote, directed or produced nearly 100 plays or episodes. After his involvement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
All The Way Up (film)
''All The Way Up'' is a 1970 British comedy film directed by James MacTaggart based on ''Semi-Detached'', a 1962 play by Midlands dramatist David Turner. It stars Warren Mitchell, Pat Heywood, Kenneth Cranham, Richard Briers, Adrienne Posta and Elaine Taylor. Plot A social climbing father uses everything from poison pen letters to blackmail in order to gain promotion and wealth for his children through marriages. Cast *Warren Mitchell - Fred Midway * Pat Heywood - Hilda Midway * Elaine Taylor - Eileen Midway * Kenneth Cranham - Tom Midway * Vanessa Howard - Avril Hadfield * Richard Briers - Nigel Hadfield *Adrienne Posta - Daphne Dunmore *Bill Fraser - Arnold Makepiece *Terence Alexander Terence Joseph Alexander (11 March 1923 – 28 May 2009) was an English film and television actor, best known for his role as Charlie Hungerford in the British TV drama ''Bergerac (TV series), Bergerac'', which ran for nine series on BBC One be ... - Bob Chickman *Maggie Ren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural icon, he has received various accolades, including six Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, and a Golden Globe Award. The BBC states that his "performances have guaranteed him a place in the canon of English stage and film actors". McKellen began his professional career in 1961 at the Belgrade Theatre as a member of their highly regarded repertory company. In 1965, McKellen made his first West End appearance. In 1969, he was invited to join the Prospect Theatre Company to play the lead parts in Shakespeare's ''Richard II'' and Marlowe's ''Edward II'', and he firmly established himself as one of the country's foremost classical actors. In the 1970s, McKellen became a stalwart of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Turner (dramatist)
David Turner (18 March 1927 – 11 December 1990) was a British playwright. Turner was born in Birmingham and came from a working-class background. He studied French at Birmingham University and later worked as a school teacher in that city. He is best remembered for his stage play '' Semi-Detached'', first performed during 1962, which reached Broadway and was adapted for the film '' All the Way Up'' (1970). He prepared modern versions of classic plays including John Gay's ''The Beggar's Opera'', a version seen in London in 1968, and ''The Miser'' by Molière, which was performed at the Birmingham Rep in 1973. An early opponent of the 'Clean-Up TV' founder Mary Whitehouse, Turner interrupted the initial meeting at Birmingham Town Hall in April 1964 as an audience member. At this event, which first brought Mrs Whitehouse to national attention, he accused her of attacking creative freedoms. In '' Swizzlewick'' (BBC 1964), a twice weekly comedy drama he created, Turner wrote ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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