Alastair Scott Johnston
Alastair Ninian Scott Johnston (10 November 19177 October 1992) was a British radio producer working for the BBC, mainly on comedy programmes. Born in London, he started work in a bank before successfully applying for a junior post at the BBC. His first job was in creating and using sound effects for radio shows. During the Second World War he served with distinction in the Grenadier Guards in Burma and India, and on returning to Britain became a producer in the Variety department at the BBC. His early productions included ''All Star Bill'', ''Variety Playhouse'', and ''Floggit's''. He helped launch the careers of such performers as Tony Hancock, Anthony Newley, Semprini, Frankie Howerd, Leslie Phillips, and Ronnie Barker. His longest-lasting role was as producer of ''The Navy Lark'', which he developed with writer Lawrie Wyman, and which ran from 1959 until 1977. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sound Effects
A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditionally, in the twentieth century, they were created with foley. In motion picture and television production, a sound effect is a sound recorded and presented to make a specific storytelling or creative point ''without'' the use of dialogue or music. The term often refers to a process applied to a recording, without necessarily referring to the recording itself. In professional motion picture and television production, dialogue, music, and sound effects recordings are treated as separate elements. Dialogue and music recordings are never referred to as sound effects, even though the processes applied to such as reverberation or flanging effects, often are called "sound effects". This area and sound design have been slowly merged since t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ronnie Barker
Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as '' Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and ''Open All Hours''. Barker began acting in Oxford amateur dramatics whilst working as a bank clerk, having dropped out of higher education. He moved into repertory theatre with the Manchester Repertory Company at Aylesbury and decided he was best suited to comic roles. He had his first success at the Oxford Playhouse and in roles in the West End including Tom Stoppard's ''The Real Inspector Hound''. During this period, he was in the cast of BBC radio and television comedies such as ''The Navy Lark''. He got his television break with the satirical sketch series ''The Frost Report'' in 1966, where he met future collaborator, Ronnie Corbett. He joined David Frost's production company and starred in ITV shows. After rejoining the BBC, Barker achieved signific ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1992 Deaths
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Mesopotamia is partitioned into two Roman provinces divided by the Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Osroene. * Emperor Septimius Severus lays siege to the city-state Hatra in Central-Mesopotamia, but fails to capture the city despite breaching the walls. * Two new legions, I Parthica and III Parthica, are formed as a permanent garrison. China * Battle of Yijing: Chinese warlord Yuan Shao defeats Gongsun Zan. Korea * Geodeung succeeds Suro of Geumgwan Gaya, as king of the Korean kingdom of Gaya (traditional date). By topic Religion * Pope Zephyrinus succeeds Pope Vic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1917 Births
Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's Desert Column. * January 10 – Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: Seven survivors of the Ross Sea party were rescued after being stranded for several months. * January 11 – Unknown saboteurs set off the Kingsland Explosion at Kingsland (modern-day Lyndhurst, New Jersey), one of the events leading to United States involvement in WWI. * January 16 – The Virgin Islands, Danish West Indies is sold to the United States for $25 million. * January 22 – WWI: United States President Woodrow Wilson calls for "peace without victory" in Germany. * January 25 ** WWI: British armed merchantman is sunk by mines off Lough Swilly (Ireland), with the loss of 354 of the 475 aboard. ** An anti-prostitution drive in Prostitution in t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berkshire in 1957 because of the presence of Windsor Castle, and letters patent were issued in 1974. Berkshire is a county of historic origin, a ceremonial county and a non-metropolitan county without a county council. The county town is Reading. The River Thames formed the historic northern boundary, from Buscot in the west to Old Windsor in the east. The historic county, therefore, includes territory that is now administered by the Vale of White Horse and parts of South Oxfordshire in Oxfordshire, but excludes Caversham, Slough and five less populous settlements in the east of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. All the changes mentioned, apart from the change to Caversham, took place in 1974. The towns of Abingdon, D ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stanford Dingley
Stanford Dingley is a small village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, between Newbury and Theale. Geography Stanford Dingley fills part of both sides of the valley of the upper River Pang, on the minor roads between the A4 Bath Road and the M4 motorway. The parish mostly consists of farmland, with some woodland in the upland regions. The southern parish boundary runs along the edge of the woodland on the northern slopes of Clay Hill. The official and actual northern boundary is the motorway which is buffered by the area's only area of woodlands, covering about a fifth of the total area. Bucklebury lies to the west and Bradfield to the east. The village spreads north–south along Cock Lane, which runs between Bradfield Southend and Yattendon. Slightly detached to the south is the hamlet of Jennetts Hill and to the north is 'The Buildings'. The pond complex around the 'Blue Pool', containing artesian aquifers, though generally thought of as part of Stanford Ding ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lawrie Wyman
Lawrie is a (patronymic or paternal) family name of Scottish origin which means "crafty." Variants of which include: Laurie, Lorrie, Larry, Laury, Lawry and Lowrie. It is also used as a given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Lawrence. Surname * Allan Lawrie (1886–1915), Scottish footballer * Andy Lawrie (born 1978), Scottish footballer * Bobby Lawrie (born 1947), Scottish footballer * Brett Lawrie (born 1990), Canadian baseball player * Corey Lawrie (born 1980), New Zealand rugby league player * Deborah Lawrie (born 1953), Australian aviator * Ellis Lawrie (1907–1978), Australian politician * Gawen Lawrie (fl. 1675–1687), American politician * Gerald Lawrie, (born 1945), Australian-born American surgeon * James Lawrie (born 1990), Northern Irish footballer * John Lawrie (1875–1952), Scottish-born Canadian politician * Lee Lawrie (1877–1963), American sculptor * Margaret Lawrie (1917–2003), anthropologist of the Torres Strait * Nate Lawrie (born 1981), American ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Navy Lark
''The Navy Lark'' is a radio sitcom about life aboard a British Royal Navy frigate named HMS ''Troutbridge'' (a play on HMS ''Troubridge'', a Royal Navy destroyer) based in HMNB Portsmouth. In series 1 and 2, the ship and crew were stationed offshore at an unnamed location known simply as "The Island". In series 2 this island was revealed to be owned by Lt. Cdr. Stanton. The programme was transmitted on the BBC Light Programme and subsequently BBC Radio 2. It was produced by Alastair Scott Johnston. Jon Pertwee is frequently quoted as having suggested the idea of a forces comedy based on the Royal Navy, but Alastair Scott Johnston and writer Lawrie Wyman both contemplated an Air Force- and an Army-themed sitcom before going to the BBC with ''The Navy Lark''. Wyman included ideas based on excuses for late return from leave and other misdemeanours from HMS ''Troubridge'' bulletins. He worked with George Evans (Pertwee's personal scriptwriter) from quite early on, but Alast ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Leslie Phillips
Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor, director, producer and author. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. He appeared in the '' Carry On'' and ''Doctor in the House'' film series as well as the long-running BBC radio comedy series '' The Navy Lark''. In his later career, Phillips took on dramatic parts including a BAFTA-nominated role alongside Peter O'Toole in ''Venus'' (2006). He provided the voice of the Sorting Hat in several of the ''Harry Potter'' films. Early life Leslie Samuel Phillips was born in Tottenham on 20 April 1924, the third child of Cecelia Margaret (''née'' Newlove) and Frederick Samuel Phillips, who worked at Glover and Main, manufacturers of cookers in Edmonton. Phillips described his street as "beyond the sonic reach of the Bow Bells but within the general footprint of cockneydom." In 1931, the family moved to Ch ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million Military personnel, personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Air warfare of World War II, Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in hu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Death Index: 1916–2005 and Edith Florence Howard (née Morrison, 1888–1962), at the City Hospital in York, England, in 1917 (not 1922 as he later claimed). His mother worked at the Rowntree's chocolate factory. For his first two and a half years, Howerd lived in a terraced house at 53, Hartoft Street. He described it as "a poorish area of the city near the River Ouse". He later said he had only one memory of living in York and that was of falling down the stairs, an experience which left him with a life-long dread of heights. He returned to York on many occasions for family holidays, however, and later in life spoke of his fondness for the city. His family moved to Eltham, London when he was a young child, and he was educated at Shooter' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Semprini
Alberto Fernando Riccardo Semprini (27 March 1908 – 19 January 1990), known as Alberto Semprini (), or by his stage name Semprini, was an English pianist, composer and conductor, known for his appearances on the BBC, mainly on radio. Early life Born in Bath, Somerset, England, of Italian ancestry, Semprini showed early talent for both the piano and cello. The second of three sons, his parents were Arturo Riccardo Fernando Semprini, a musician from Rimini, Italy, and his wife, Elizabeth Tilley, a opera singer from Dudley, Worcestershire. Alberto graduated from the Verdi Conservatory in Milan in 1929, having studied composition and conducting, as well as honing his skills at the piano. Career In Italy, he performed a broad range of music, from pop to jazz and classical, and in 1938 led his first radio orchestra there. In the late 1950s he also featured regularly at the Sanremo Music Festival. Semprini recorded for Telefunken in the early 1940s, with a dance orchestra. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |