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Anna Karen
Ann Harrison McCall (19 September 1936 – 22 February 2022), professionally known as Anna Karen, was a British actress best known for playing Olive Rudge in the ITV sitcom ''On the Buses'' from 1969 to 1973 including its film spin-offs and stage version and Aunt Sal in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' on a recurring basis from 1996 to 2017. She also reprised the role of Olive Rudge in ''The Rag Trade'' from 1977 to 1978, while her film roles included parts in two '' Carry On'' films: ''Carry On Camping'' (1969) and '' Carry On Loving'' (1970). Early life Karen was born in Durban, South Africa, on 19 September 1936 as Ann Harrison McCall to John and Muriel McCall (née Harrison). Her father was an accountant from Ireland, while her mother was English. Karen developed an interest in acting at a young age, and joined the South African National Theatre at the age of fifteen. She starred in several touring productions over the next two years. According to Karen, the South African ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aunt Sal
Aunt Sal is a recurring fictional character in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Anna Karen Introduced in 1996, she appeared sporadically from 21 March 1996 until 29 December 1997, then from 28 September 2001 until 17 September 2004, 19 July 2007 until 4 April 2011 and 22 November 2013 to 20 January 2017. She appears for just a few episodes at a time and has been collectively featured in 58 episodes of the show. The character has, on occasion, been credited as Sal Martin, which has been referenced at different times as both her maiden and married surname. In November 2023, it was reported that the character would be killed-off, off-screen, following Karen's death in February 2022. Aunt Sal died off-screen on 10 January 2024, and an episode featuring the character's funeral was broadcast on 15 January 2024. David Sterne made a guest appearance as Aunt Sal's bereaved husband, Harold Martin. Creation and development In February 1996, it was announced that comedy ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sandwich Man (1966 Film)
''The Sandwich Man'' is a 1966 British comedy film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis starring Michael Bentine, with support from a cast of British character actors including Dora Bryan, Harry H. Corbett, Bernard Cribbins, Diana Dors, Norman Wisdom, Terry-Thomas and Ian Hendry. It was written by Hartford-Davis and Bentine. Plot synopsis Horace Quilby is a mild-mannered widower living in the Port of London. His job as a sandwich-board man requires him to wander around London wearing immaculate morning dress (top hat and tails) carrying advertisements. However, his real interest in life is pigeon racing – especially his bird Esmerelda, which is racing from Bordeaux to London – so he keeps calling at places on his route to see if there is any news. During the course of one day, Quilby encounters a host of eccentric characters and becomes involved in a series of capers. He helps reunite a young model Sue with her errant boyfriend Steven. Quilby's homing pigeon Esmerelda w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamonds Are Forever (film)
''Diamonds Are Forever'' is a 1971 spy film and the seventh film in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth and final Eon film to star Sean Connery, who returned to the role as the fictional MI6 agent Portrayal of James Bond in film, James Bond, having declined to reprise the role in ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film), On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (1969). The film is based on Ian Fleming's 1956 Diamonds Are Forever (novel), novel of the same name and is the second of four ''James Bond'' films directed by Guy Hamilton. The story has Bond impersonating a diamond smuggler to infiltrate a smuggling ring and uncovering a plot by his old enemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld to use the diamonds to build a space-based laser weapon. Bond sets out to stop the smuggling but discovers he must defeat Blofeld before he destroys Washington, D.C., Washington D.C. in his plan to blackmail the world with nuclear supremacy. After George L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
On The Buses (film)
''On the Buses'' is a 1971 British comedy film directed by Harry Booth and starring Reg Varney, Doris Hare, Michael Robbins, Anna Karen, Stephen Lewis and Bob Grant. It was the first spin-off film from the TV sitcom ''On the Buses'' and was followed by two further films, '' Mutiny on the Buses'' (1972) and ''Holiday on the Buses'' (1973). The film was produced by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe for Hammer Films. The films are set within a slightly different canon from the TV series: Stan and Jack work for a different bus company (Town & District instead of Luxton & District), and the three films form a loose story arc where Arthur and Olive become parents (despite their apparently sexless marriage). Plot Stan Butler, a bus driver for the Town & District bus company, becomes worried that the overtime he is making – which his family is using to buy expensive items such as a washing machine – will soon end when the company rectifies its current lack of employees. His co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 until 1982) to Monday mornings at 6:00. From 1968 until 1992, when LWT's weekday counterpart was Thames Television, there was an on-screen handover to LWT on Friday nights (there was no handover back to Thames on Mondays, as from 1968 to 1982 there was no programming in the very early morning, and from 1983, when a national breakfast franchise was created, LWT would hand over to TV-am at 6:00am, which would then hand over to Thames at 9:25am). From 1993 to 2002, when LWT's weekday counterpart was Carlton Television, the transfer usually occurred invisibly during a commercial break, for Carlton and LWT shared studio and transmission facilities (although occasionally a Thames-to-LWT-style handover would appear). Like most ITV ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dixon Of Dock Green
''Dixon of Dock Green'' is a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 1955 to 1976. The central character, George Dixon, first appeared in the film ''The Blue Lamp'' (1950). Dixon is a mature and sympathetic police constable, who was played by Jack Warner (actor), Jack Warner in all of the 432 episodes. Dixon is the supposed embodiment of a typical "bobby" who would be familiar with the area in which he patrolled and its residents and often lived there himself. The series contrasted with later programmes such as ''Z-Cars'', which more realistically reflected a more aggressive policing culture. It retained a faithful following throughout its run and was voted second-most popular programme on British television in 1961. Character and name origins The character of Police Constable George Dixon was based on an old- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Robbins
Michael Anthony Robbins (14 November 1930 – 11 December 1992) was an English actor best known for his role as Arthur Rudge in the television sitcom '' On the Buses'' (1969–73) and its film spinoffs. Early life Michael Robbins was born in Croydon, Surrey, to Percival W. Robbins (1899–1956) and Bertha May ''née'' Sindall (1900–1997), who outlived him. From 1939 to 1944 Robbins was a pupil at St Michael's College, a Catholic school for boys, in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. He then went on to work as a bank clerk and later became an actor after appearing in amateur dramatic performances also in Hitchin, where he and his family lived at the time. Career Robbins made his television debut as the cockney soldier in ''Roll-on Bloomin' Death''. Primarily a comedy actor, he is best remembered for the role of Arthur Rudge, the persistently sarcastic husband of Olive ( Anna Karen), in the popular sitcom '' On the Buses'' (1969–73). Robbins and Karen provided the secondary comic stor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reg Varney
Reginald Alfred Varney (11 July 1916 – 16 November 2008) was an English actor, entertainer and comedian. He is best remembered for having played the lead role of bus driver Stan Butler in the London Weekend Television, LWT sitcom ''On the Buses'' (1969–1973) and its three spin-off feature films. Having performed as a music hall entertainer, Varney first came to national recognition as factory foreman Reg Turner in the BBC sitcom ''The Rag Trade'' (1961–1963). He appeared in further sitcoms including ''Beggar My Neighbour (TV series), Beggar My Neighbour'' (1966–1968) and ''On the Buses'' stardom facilitated overseas cabaret tours. Early life Varney was born in Canning Town, Essex (but now part of the London Borough of Newham), to Sidney Thomas Varney and his wife Annie (née Needham). His father worked in a rubber factory in Silvertown and he was one of five children who grew up in 27 Addington Road, Canning Town. He was educated at the nearby Star Lane DLR station, Star ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronald Chesney
Chesney and Wolfe, were a British television comedy screenwriting duo consisting of Ronald Chesney (born René Lucien Cadier; 4 May 1920 – 12 April 2018) and Ronald Wolfe (born Harvey Ronald Wolfe-Luberoff; 8 August 1922 – 18 December 2011). They were best known for their sitcoms ''The Rag Trade'' (1961–1963, 1977–1978), '' Meet the Wife'' (1963–1966), ''On the Buses'' (1969–1973) and ''Romany Jones'' (1972–1975). When their partnership began in the mid-1950s, Chesney was already known to the public as a harmonica player. Early life Ronald Chesney Chesney, was born in London of French descent, the son of Marius, a silk trader, and Jeanne (''née'' Basset). He left the French Lycée school in London at the age of 16, and began using his English name. Chesney initially learned piano, but decided instead a career as a chromatic harmonica player, performing professionally from the age of 17. Touring the ABC Cinema chain, he played on BBC Radio broadcasts from 1937, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wild, Wild Women
''Wild, Wild Women'' is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC from 1968 to 1969. Shot in black-and-white, it starred Barbara Windsor and was written by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney. Cast Pilot *Barbara Windsor – Millie *Derek Francis – Mr Harcourt *Penelope Keith – Daisy *Sonia Fox – Ruby *Jennie Paul – Blossom * Ronnie Stevens – Clarence *David Stoll – Lord Hurlingham *Zena Howard – Lady Hurlingham Series *Barbara Windsor – Millie *Paul Whitsun-Jones – Mr Harcourt *Pat Coombs – Daisy *Ken Platt – Albert *Toni Palmer – Ruby *Jessie Robins – Blossom *Daphne Heard – Ginny *Yvonne Paul – Flo *Anna Karen – Maude *Joan Sanderson – Mrs Harcourt Outline This period sitcom, set in 1902, was a variation of ''The Rag Trade'', which was also written by Chesney and Wolfe. Barbara Windsor, who also starred in ''The Rag Trade'', played Millie, a cockney woman who led the women in a milliner's shop. The storylines focused around the conflict be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''." Ten Things You Never Knew About Barbara Windsor" ''Digital Spy'' 23 May 2007 She joined the cast of ''EastEnders'' in 1994 and won the 1999 British Soap Award for Best Actress, before leaving the show in 2016 when her character was killed off. Windsor began her career on stage in 1950 at the age of 13, and made her film debut as a schoolgirl in ''The Belles of St. Trinian's'' (1954) while studying shipping management at Bow Technical College. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
