Artist Descending A Staircase
''Artist Descending a Staircase'' is a radio play by Tom Stoppard, first broadcast by the BBC in 1972, and later adapted for live theatre. The play centres on a murder mystery involving an artist who dies from falling down a set of stairs. The play is a humorous exploration of the meaning and purpose of art. The title alludes to Marcel Duchamp's 1912 painting '' Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2''. Plot The play opens with the sound of the artist, Donner, falling down the stairs. The other two roommates, Martello and Beauchamp, enter and find him at the bottom of the staircase. Beauchamp, an artist whose focus is on the sounds of daily life, examines a recording of the sounds of Donner's fall. The pair decides that a murderer must have awakened Donner from his sleep and then pushed him down the stairs to his death. Martello and Beauchamp accuse each other of the crime. The following scenes flash back to several different years at least 50 years in the past. This part of the pla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and political freedom, often delving into the deeper philosophical bases of society. Stoppard has been a playwright of the Royal National Theatre, National Theatre and is one of the most internationally performed dramatists of his generation. He was Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, knighted for his contribution to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997. Born in First Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia, Stoppard left as a child refugee, fleeing German occupation of Czechoslovakia, imminent Nazi occupation. He settled with his family in Britain after the war, in 1946, having spent the previous three years (1943–1946) in a boarding school in Darjeeling in the Indian Himalayas. After being educated at schools in Nottingham and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Duke University
Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James Buchanan Duke established the Duke Endowment and the institution changed its name to honor his deceased father, Washington Duke. The campus spans over on three contiguous sub-campuses in Durham, and a Duke University Marine Laboratory, marine lab in Beaufort, North Carolina, Beaufort. The Duke University West Campus, West Campus—designed largely by architect Julian Abele—incorporates Collegiate Gothic in North America, Gothic architecture with the Duke Chapel at the campus' center and highest point of elevation, is adjacent to the Duke University Health System, Medical Center. Duke University East Campus, East Campus, away, home to all first-years, contains Georgian archit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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David Weston (actor)
David Weston (born 28 July 1938) is an English actor, director and author. Since graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 1961 (having won its Silver Medal for that year) he has acted in numerous film, television and stage productions, including twenty-seven Shakespeare plays and prominent guest roles in two ''Doctor Who'' serials. With Michael Croft, he was a founder member of the National Youth Theatre. Much of his directing work has been for that organisation; he has directed also at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and a number of other theatres in London. He wrote and narrated a series of non-fiction audio books, including ''Shakespeare His Life and Work'', which won the 2001 Benjamin Franklin Award for best audio non-fiction book. Early career Weston was born in London and educated at Dulwich Prep & Senior before attending Alleyn's School, during the time that Michael Croft, founder of the National Youth Theatre (NYT), worked there. In 1956, Croft d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Edward Petherbridge
Edward Petherbridge (born 3 August 1936) is an English actor, writer and artist. Among his many roles, he portrayed Lord Peter Wimsey in the 1987 BBC television adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayers' novels, and Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead''. At the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1980, he was a memorable Newman Noggs in the company's adaptation of Dickens's '' The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby''. Career Petherbridge was born in West Bowling, Bradford, the younger son of William and Hannah Petherbridge. He attended Newby Primary school in West Bowling, Bradford, before later attending Grange Grammar School in Little Horton, Bradford, where his favourite subjects were Art and English Literature. The composer Herbert Howells wrote of Petherbridge's boy soprano rendition, at the Wharfedale Festival, of Schubert's 'Trout': "A fine young musician with a fine gift of word delivery." Petherbridge trained as an actor at Esme Church's No ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Max Irons
Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons (born 17 October 1985) is an English and Irish actor. He is known for his roles in films such as ''Red Riding Hood (2011 film), Red Riding Hood'' (2011), ''The White Queen (miniseries), The White Queen'' (2013), ''The Host (2013 film), The Host'' (2013), ''Woman in Gold (film), Woman in Gold'' (2014), ''The Riot Club'' (2014), ''Bitter Harvest (2017 film), Bitter Harvest'' (2017), and ''The Wife (2017 film), The Wife'' (2018). He also starred in the spy thriller series ''Condor (TV series), Condor'' (2018–2020). Early life Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons was born in the London Borough of Camden''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com on 17 October 1985, the son of Irish actress Sinéad Cusack and English actor Jeremy Irons. He has an older brother, Samuel Irons, who is a photographer. Their mother's family was deeply involved with theatre: they are the grandsons of actors Cyril Cusack and Maureen Cusac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ryan Gage
Ryan Gage (born 17 January 1983) is an English actor who has worked in theatre, television, films, and video games. On television, he is best known for his roles as King Louis XIII in the BBC series ''The Musketeers'' and Ted Bundy in the TV film ''Serial Thriller: Angel of Decay''. In the cinema, he played the Master of Laketown's deputy Alfrid Lickspittle in '' The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'' and '' The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies'', and Ted Bundy again (identified as him in the cast list) in the film ''Angel of Decay'', which earned him a Best Actor Award at the British Independent Film Festival in 2016. In video games, Gage has portrayed Charibert in the ''Final Fantasy XIV'' expansion pack '' Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward''. In theatre, he has worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company on plays such as ''Hamlet'', ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', and ''Macbeth''. Early life Gage was born in Coventry. He attended BRIT School and went on to train at the Drama C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jeremy Child
Sir Coles John Jeremy Child, 3rd Baronet (20 September 1944 – 7 March 2022) was a British actor. Early life Coles John Jeremy Child was born on 20 September 1944 in Woking, Surrey, son of Foreign Office diplomat Sir Coles John Child, 2nd Baronet, DL, a Major in the Coldstream Guards and aide-de-camp to the Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada from 1931 to 1933, and Sheila, daughter of Hugh Mathewson, of Pine Avenue, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Coles family were lords of the manor of Bromley, and lived at Bromley Palace. He was educated at Wellesley House School, a preparatory school in the coastal town of Broadstairs in Kent and at Eton College and Aiglon College, then spent a year at Poitiers University, followed by training as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Career Having for a short time been a "reluctant" City broker, after appearing in repertory theatre, Child was cast in a significant role in the 1967 film '' Privilege''. Followin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Old Red Lion Theatre
The Old Red Lion (ORL), also known as the Old Red Lion Theatre (ORLT) and The Old Red, is a pub and fringe theatre, at Angel, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre was founded in 1979 as the Old Red Lion Theatre Club. The pub was Grade II listed in 1994 by Historic England. History Previous buildings The pub in itself is one of the oldest in London, having first been built in 1415 in what was then the rural village of Islington in open countryside and fields. A house called Goose Farm and some nearby cattle pens (for herds being driven to Smithfield Market) were the only structures to adjoin it, and St John Street (then called Chester Road) was a country lane. In the late 18th century Chester Road became notorious for highwaymen, with patrols being provided to protect those travelling along it at night. At this time descriptions state that the Old Red Lion was a small brick house with three trees in its forecourt, visited by William Hogarth (who portrayed it in th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paxton Whitehead
Francis Edward Paxton Whitehead (17 October 1937 – 16 June 2023) was an English actor and theatre director. He was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Pellinore in the 1980 revival of '' Camelot''. Whitehead had many Broadway roles. He was also known for his film roles and for his many guest appearances on several U.S. television shows: he portrayed Bernard Thatch on ''The West Wing'', and in the 1990s often appeared in recurring and guest roles on major sitcoms, such as ''Frasier'', ''Caroline in the City'', '' Ellen'', ''3rd Rock from the Sun'', ''The Drew Carey Show'', '' Mad About You'', and ''Friends''. Early life Paxton Whitehead was born in East Malling and Larkfield, Kent on 17 October 1937, the son of Louise (''née'' Hunt) and Charles Parkin Whitehead. His father was a lawyer. He trained at London's Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art beginning when he was 17 years old. Career Whitehead worked in repertory, small touring co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John McMartin
John Francis McMartin (August 21, 1929 – July 6, 2016) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. He made his off-Broadway debut in '' Little Mary Sunshine'' in 1959, and acted on Broadway for more than 50 years. He won a Theatre World Award in 1960 and was nominated for a Tony for his role in ''Sweet Charity'' in 1966. On television, McMartin appeared on the soap opera ''As the World Turns,'' and the TV shows '' East Side West Side,'' ''Beauty and the Beast,'' ''The Golden Girls'',''The Bob Newhart Show, and'' ''Murder, She Wrote''. He also had film roles in ''All the President's Men'' (1976), '' Blow Out'', and '' Legal Eagles''. Life and career McMartin was born in Warsaw, Indiana, on August 21, 1929, and raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota. After graduating from high school, he joined the United States Army and became a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division. He attended Columbia College Chicago, but did not graduate and later attended college in New York. He ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Harold Gould
Harold Vernon Goldstein (December 10, 1923 – September 11, 2010), better known as Harold Gould, was an American character actor. He appeared as Martin Morgenstern on the sitcom ''Rhoda'' (1974–78) and Miles Webber on the sitcom ''The Golden Girls'' (1985–92). A five-time Emmy Award nominee, Gould acted in film and television for nearly 50 years, appearing in more than 300 television shows, 20 major motion pictures, and over 100 stage plays. He was known for playing elegant, well-dressed men (as in ''The Sting''), and he regularly played Jewish characters and grandfather-type figures on television and in film. Early life Gould was born in Schenectady, New York. He was the son of Louis Goldstein, a postal worker, and Lillian, a homemaker who did part-time work for the New York State Health Department. Gould was raised in Colonie, New York and was valedictorian of his high school class. He enrolled at Albany Teachers College upon graduation and studied to become a social stu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jim Fyfe
James "Jim" Fyfe is an American teacher, public speaking coach, and a former actor, writer theatre director, and acting coach from Haddon Township NJ. Beginning in 2003, he worked at Rockland Country Day School in Congers, New York. He started as a history teacher before becoming the school's Admissions Director, later its Assistant Headmaster, Upper Division Head, and then the school's Operations Administrator while continuing to teach History. In 2015, he began working alongside comedic television host Stephen Colbert, as a producer on the CBS program ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert''. Since 2017 he has taught at EF International Academy and Homestead CCHS in Hurleyville, NY. As an actor, Fyfe was known for appearing on Broadway, TV and film, most notably on Dark Shadows (91), The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The X-Files, Law and Order, and in Peter Jackson's film, The Frighteners. Former children may know him from HBO's Encyclopedia, and as the co-host from 1988-89 on '' T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |