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Robert Stephens
Sir Robert Graham Stephens (14 July 193112 November 1995) was a leading English actor in the early years of Britain's Royal National Theatre. He was one of the most respected actors of his generation and was at one time regarded as the natural successor to Laurence Olivier. Early life and career Stephens was born in Shirehampton, Bristol, in 1931, the eldest of three children of shipyard labourer and costing surveyor Reuben Stephens (19051985) and chocolate-factory worker Gladys Millicent (née Deverill; 19061975). When aged 18, he won a scholarship to Esme Church's Bradford Civic Theatre School in Yorkshire, where he met his first wife Nora, a fellow student. His first professional engagement was with the Caryl Jenner Mobile Theatre, which he followed in 1951 by a year of more challenging parts in repertory at the Royalty Theatre, Morecambe, followed by seasons of touring and at the Hippodrome, Preston. The London director Tony Richardson saw a performance at the Royal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in South West England. The wider Bristol Built-up Area is the eleventh most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. Iron Age hillforts and Roman villas were built near the confluence of the rivers Frome and Avon. Around the beginning of the 11th century, the settlement was known as (Old English: 'the place at the bridge'). Bristol received a royal charter in 1155 and was historically divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset until 1373 when it became a county corporate. From the 13th to the 18th century, Bristol was among the top three English cities, after London, in tax receipts. A major port, Bristol was a starting place for early voyages of exploration to the New World. On a ship out of Bristol in 1497, John Cabot, a Venetia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Richardson
Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film ''Tom Jones''. Early life Richardson was born in Shipley, West Riding of Yorkshire in 1928, the son of Elsie Evans (Campion) and Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist. He was Head Boy at Ashville College, Harrogate and attended Wadham College, University of Oxford. His Oxford contemporaries included Rupert Murdoch, Margaret Thatcher, Kenneth Tynan, Lindsay Anderson and Gavin Lambert. He had the unprecedented distinction of being the President of both the Oxford University Dramatic Society and the Experimental Theatre Club (the ETC), in addition to being the theatre critic for the university magazine ''Isis''. Those he cast in his student productions included Shirley Williams (as Cordelia), John Schlesinger, Nigel Davenport and Robert Robinson. Career ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atahuallpa
Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa (Quechua), Atabalica, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa (c. 1502 – 26-29 July 1533) was the last Inca Emperor. After defeating his brother, Atahualpa became very briefly the last Sapa Inca (sovereign emperor) of the Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu) before the Spanish conquest ended his reign. Before the Inca Emperor Huayna Capac died in Quito in 1524 (possibly assassinated by the Spanish to claim the treasures or rumored to have died from smallpox, a disease brought by Europeans), he had appointed his son Ninan Cuyochi as his successor. Ninan died of the same disease. Huáscar, another son of Huayna, was named Sapa Inca by the Cusquenian nobles and he appointed his brother Atahualpa as governor of Quito. The Inca Civil War began in 1529 when Huáscar declared war on Atahualpa, for fear that he would try to carry out a coup d'état against him. Atahualpa became Inca emperor in May 1532 after he had defeated and imprisoned Huáscar and massacred any pretenders to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Asphyx
''The Asphyx'', also known as ''Spirit of the Dead'' and ''The Horror of Death'', is a 1972 British horror film/ science fiction film directed by Peter Newbrook and starring Robert Stephens and Robert Powell. ''Asphyx'' refers to Old Greek ''asphyxía'', "lack of pulse", or English asphyxiation. Plot In Victorian England, philanthropic scientist Sir Hugo Cunningham is a member of a parapsychological society that studies psychic phenomena. As part of their latest investigation, the men have begun photographing individuals at the moment of death; done properly, the resultant photos depict a strange smudge hovering around the body. Though the society concludes that they have captured evidence of the soul escaping the body, Cunningham is sceptical. At a riverside party to celebrate his recent engagement, Cunningham is making home movies with a primitive movie camera of his own invention when his fiancée and son are killed in a boating accident. When Cunningham views the film, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes
''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1970 DeLuxe Color film in Panavision written and produced by Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, and directed by Wilder. The film offers an affectionate, slightly parodic look at Sherlock Holmes, and draws a distinction between the "real" Holmes and the character portrayed by Watson in his stories for '' The Strand'' magazine. It stars Robert Stephens as Holmes and Colin Blakely as Doctor Watson. Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, the creators and writers of the BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning series '' Sherlock'', credited ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' as a source of inspiration for their show. Michael Hardwick and Mollie Hardwick authored a novelization of the film. Plot The film is divided into two separate, unequal stories. In the first and shorter of the two, in August 1887 Holmes is approached by Rogozhin, on behalf of a famous Russian ballerina, Madame Petrova. Madame Petrova is about to retire, and wishes to have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Hollywood cinema. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director eight times, winning twice, and for a screenplay Academy Award 13 times, winning three times. Wilder became a screenwriter while living in Berlin. The rise of the Nazi Party and antisemitism in Germany saw him move to Paris. He then moved to Hollywood in 1933, and had a major hit when he, Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch wrote the screenplay for the Academy Award-nominated film ''Ninotchka'' (1939). Wilder established his directorial reputation and received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director with the film noir adaptation of the novel '' Double Indemnity'' (1944), for which he co-wrote the screenplay with Raymond Chandler. Wilder won th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romeo And Juliet (1968 Film)
''Romeo and Juliet'' ( it, Romeo e Giulietta) is a 1968 coming-of-age period romantic drama film based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare. Directed and co-written by Franco Zeffirelli, the film stars Leonard Whiting as Romeo and Olivia Hussey as Juliet. Laurence Olivier spoke the film's prologue and epilogue and dubs the voice of Antonio Pierfederici, who played Lord Montague but was not credited on-screen. The film also stars Milo O'Shea, Michael York, John McEnery, Bruce Robinson, and Robert Stephens. The most financially successful film adaptation of a Shakespeare play at the time of its release, it was popular among teenagers partly because it was the first film to use actors who were close to the age of the characters from the original play. Several critics also welcomed the film enthusiastically. It won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography ( Pasqualino De Santis) and Best Costume Design ( Danilo Donati); it was also nominated for Best Director ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franco Zeffirelli
Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, gaining both acclaim and notoriety for his lavish stagings of classical works, as well as his film adaptations of the same. A member of the Forza Italia party, he served as the Senator for Catania between 1994 until 2001. Films he directed included the Shakespearean adaptations ''The Taming of the Shrew'' (1967), starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton; '' Romeo and Juliet'' (1968), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director; and ''Hamlet'' (1990), starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close. His Biblical television miniseries '' Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977) won both national and international acclaim and is still frequently shown at Christmas and Easter in many countries. A Grande Ufficiale OMRI of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie (film)
''The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' is a 1969 British drama film directed by Ronald Neame from a screenplay written by Jay Presson Allen, adapted from her own stage play, which was in turn based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Muriel Spark. The film stars Maggie Smith in the title role as an unrestrained teacher at a girls' school in Edinburgh. Celia Johnson, Robert Stephens, Pamela Franklin, and Gordon Jackson are featured in supporting roles. ''The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' premiered at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and was released in cinemas in the UK on 24 February 1969 and in the US on 2 March 1969. The film received positive reviews with major acclaim drawn towards Smith's performance, although it was a box office disappointment, grossing $3 million on a $2.76 million budget. It received two nominations at the 42nd Academy Awards; Best Original Song for its theme song "Jean", and Best Actress for Smith, winning for the latt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleopatra (1963 Film)
''Cleopatra'' is a 1963 American epic historical drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with a screenplay adapted by Mankiewicz, Ranald MacDougall and Sidney Buchman from the 1957 book ''The Life and Times of Cleopatra'' by Carlo Maria Franzero, and from histories by Plutarch, Suetonius, and Appian. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor in the eponymous role. Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall, and Martin Landau are featured in supporting roles. It chronicles the struggles of Cleopatra, the young queen of Egypt, to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome. Walter Wanger had long contemplated producing a biographical film about Cleopatra. In 1958, his production company partnered with Twentieth Century Fox to produce the film. Following an extensive casting search, Elizabeth Taylor signed on to portray the title role for a record-setting salary of $1 million. Rouben Mamoulian was hired as director, and the script underwent numerous revisions from Nigel Balchin, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Taste Of Honey (film)
''A Taste of Honey'' is a 1961 British film adaptation of the 1958 play of the same name by Shelagh Delaney. Delaney wrote the screenplay with director Tony Richardson, who had directed the play on the stage. It is an exemplar of a gritty genre of British film that has come to be called kitchen sink realism. The film opened on 15 September 1961 at the Leicester Square Theatre in London's West End. Plot The film starts with girls playing a game of netball in a school playground. Jo and her mother then move across Manchester on a bus. The story is set in a run-down, post-industrial area of Salford. Jo (Rita Tushingham) is a 17-year-old schoolgirl with a self-centred, promiscuous, alcoholic mother, Helen (Dora Bryan). The two of them frequently argue, and rarely stay in one home for long, since the mother runs up rent arrears, and is either evicted, or elects to abandon the property without settling any debts. As they move into a shabby new flat, a young black sailor calle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Award For Best Actor In A Play
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality leading roles in a Broadway play. The awards are named after Antoinette Perry, an American actress who died in 1946. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, to "honor the best performances and stage productions of the previous year." Despite the award first being presented in 1947, there were no nominees announced until 1956. Winners and nominees 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Multiple wins ; 2 Wins * Alan Bates * Bryan Cranston * Brian Dennehy * José Ferrer * Judd Hirsch * James Earl Jones * Frank Langella * Fredric March * Mark Rylance Multiple nominat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
