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Arthur English
Arthur Leslie Norman English (9 May 1919 – 16 April 1995) was an English television, film and stage actor and comedian from the music hall tradition. Early life English was born at 22 Lysons Road in Aldershot,'Arthur English, ''Aldershot Historical & Archaeological Society'' (AHAS), Yearbook 23 (2010) pg7 Hampshire, the son of Walter Frederick English (1856–1948) and Ethel English (née Parsons) (1886–1975), who married at Holy Trinity church in Aldershot in 1909. Arthur English had two older brothers: Walter (born 1910) and John Edgar (born 1912). All three boys were born in their parents' bedroom in Lysons Road and all three were baptised at Holy Trinity church. He attended West End Boys School in Aldershot (now the West End Centre) from the age of 5 to 14. His first stage appearance was aged 10 when he joined a group from Gale & Polden called the 'Five O'clock Follies' as an acrobat.AHAS, pg8 On leaving school in 1933 he briefly worked at Fisher's Hotel in nearby Fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Are You Being Served?
''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London, the show follows the misadventures and mishaps of the staff of the retail ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments in the flagship department store of a fictional chain called Grace Brothers. The series was broadcast on the BBC for ten series, totalling 69 episodes between 8 September 1972 and 1 April 1985 – and included five Christmas specials. There was also a 1977 film, a spin-off series '' Grace & Favour'' with the same main cast in 1991–1992, and a one-off episode with a new cast in 2016. Since its original release, all 69 episodes, the pilot, the Christmas specials, the sequel and the film have been released on DVD. ''Are You Being Served?'' was a success in the UK audience ratings. The series was screened in Canada, New ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windmill Theatre
The Windmill Theatre in Great Windmill Street, London, was a variety and revue theatre best known for its nude '' tableaux vivants'', which began in 1932 and lasted until its reversion to a cinema in 1964. Many prominent British comedians of the post-war years started their careers at the theatre. As the Palais de Luxe Great Windmill Street took its name from a windmill that stood there from the reign of King Charles II until the late 18th century. In 1909 a cinema, the Palais de Luxe, opened on the site. It stood on the corner of a block of buildings that included the Apollo and Lyric theatres, where Archer Street joined Great Windmill Street, just off Shaftesbury Avenue. The building complex incorporates Piccadilly Buildings, an 1897 building which housed the offices of British Mutoscope and Biograph Company, an early producer of films. The Palais de Luxe was one of the first places where early silent films were shown. As larger cinemas were opened in the West End, bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alf Garnett
Alfred Edward "Alf" Garnett is a fictional character from the British sitcom '' Till Death Us Do Part'' and its follow-on and spin-off series '' Till Death...'' and ''In Sickness and in Health''. He also appeared in the chat show ''The Thoughts of Chairman Alf''. The character was created by Johnny Speight and played by Warren Mitchell. In a 2001 poll conducted by Channel 4, Alf Garnett was ranked 49th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. Character History Alf Garnett was born in Wapping around 1917. Not much was known of Alf's parents but his father was sometimes mentioned negatively by Alf's wife Else, who said 'nobody knew what ''he'' was - some say he was a gyppo (gypsy).' It was also hinted that Alf had Jewish ancestry, though he always denied this and often referred to his religion as Church of England, 'same as Her Majesty the Queen', though he rarely attended services. He was unpopular as a youth and it was claimed he only began going out with Else, whom h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Are You Being Served? (film)
''Are You Being Served?'' is a 1977 British comedy film based on the BBC sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' (1972–1985), which follows the staff of the men's and women's clothing departments of the London Grace Brothers department store. The story is an adaptation of the successful stage version of the show, which played at Winter Gardens, Blackpool. The film was directed by Bob Kellett and the screenplay was by series creators and writers David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. The film also featured the performers from the television series, including Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Frank Thornton, Trevor Bannister, Arthur Brough, Wendy Richard and Nicholas Smith. Plot Mr Humphries is taking advantage of a staff discount on a blue rinse in the hairdressing dept. Mr Harman is demonstrating a new inflatable bikini to Miss Brahms and Mrs Slocombe. Mr Lucas is chastised by Captain Peacock for being late again. As Grace Brothers is being redecorated, the management sends the staff on a pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shaggy Dog Story
In its original sense, a shaggy dog story or yarn is an extremely long-winded anecdote characterized by extensive narration of typically irrelevant incidents and terminated by an anticlimax. Shaggy dog stories play upon the audience's preconceptions of joke-telling. The audience listens to the story with certain expectations, which are either simply not met or met in some entirely unexpected manner. A lengthy shaggy dog story derives its humour from the fact that the joke-teller held the attention of the listeners for a long time (such jokes can take five minutes or more to tell) for no reason at all, as the long-awaited resolution is essentially meaningless, with the joke as a whole playing upon humans' search for meaning. The nature of their delivery is reflected in the English idiom '' spin a yarn'', by way of analogy with the production of yarn. Archetypal story The eponymous shaggy dog story serves as the archetype of the genre. The story builds up a repeated emphasizi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cockney
Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or born within earshot of Bow Bells, although it most commonly refers to the broad variety of English native to London. Estuary English is an intermediate accent between Cockney and Received Pronunciation, also widely spoken in and around London, as well as in wider southeastern England. In multicultural areas of London, the Cockney dialect is, to an extent, being replaced by Multicultural London English—a new form of speech with significant Cockney influence. Words and phrases Etymology of Cockney The earliest recorded use of the term is 1362 in passus VI of William Langland's '' Piers Plowman'', where it is used to mean "a small, misshapen egg", from Middle English ''coken'' + ''ey'' ("a cock's egg"). Concurrently, the mythical lan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety Bandbox
''Variety Bandbox'' is a BBC Radio variety show transmitted initially in the BBC General Forces Programme, General Forces Programme and then the BBC Light Programme, Light Programme. Featuring a mixture of comic performances and music, the show helped to launch the careers of a number of leading British performers. Presented by Philip Slessor, it became a feature of Sunday evenings for more than eight years between February 1944 and September 1952. Hosting duties would later be taken over by Derek Roy (comedian), Derek Roy. Amongst those who launched their careers on the show was Frankie Howerd, who first appeared on ''Variety Bandbox'' in 1947 following a provincial tour. Howerd was to become a fixture of the show and honed his catch phrase-driven comedic style in these appearances. Tony Hancock also featured on the show early in his career. March 1950 saw the debut of a fortnightly series within the show called ''Blessem Hall'' which featured several characters voiced by a youn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trilby
A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in Britain Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). ''Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style''. Barnes & Noble. and was frequently seen at the horse races. The traditional London hat company Lock and Co. describes the trilby as having a "shorter brim which is angled down at the front and slightly turned up at the back" compared to the fedora's "wider brim which is more level". The trilby also has a slightly shorter crown than a typical fedora design. History The hat's name derives from the stage adaptation of George du Maurier's 1894 novel '' Trilby''. A hat of this style was worn in the first London production of the play, and promptly came to be called "a ''Trilby'' hat". Its shape somewhat resembles the Tyrolean hat. Traditionally it was made from rabbit hair felt, but now is usually made from other materials, such as tweed, straw, heavywe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only the online edition. The newspaper was controlled by Tony O'Reilly's Irish Independent News & Media from 1997 until it was sold to the Russian oligarch and former KGB Officer Alexander Lebedev in 2010. In 2017, Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel bought a 30% stake in it. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards. The website and mobile app had a combined monthly reach of 19,826,000 in 2021. History 1986 to 1990 Launched in 1986, the first issue of ''The Independent'' was published on 7 October in broadsheet format.Dennis Griffiths (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press, 1422–1992'', London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p. 330 It was pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denis Gifford
Denis Gifford (26 December 1927 – 18 May 2000)Holland, Steve, Obituaries: Denis Gifford', ''The Guardian'', 26 May 2000. was a British writer, broadcaster, journalist, comic artist and historian of film, comics, television and radio. In his lengthy career, he wrote and drew for British comics; wrote more than fifty books on the creators, performers, characters and history of popular media; devised, compiled and contributed to popular programmes for radio and television; and directed several short films. Gifford was also a major comics collector, owning what was perhaps the largest collection of British comics in the world. Gifford's work in the history of film and comics, particularly in Britain, provided an account of the work in those media of previously unattempted scope, discovering countless lost films and titles and identifying numerous uncredited creators. He was particularly interested in the early stages in film and comics history, for which records were scarce an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
