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Ian Gardiner (Actor)
Ian Gardiner (October 2, 1928 – August 17, 2021) was a British actor whose career included stage, television, and commercial work. He is best known for playing the character Reginald Molehusband in a 1967 public information film promoting safe driving. The character became widely recognized in British popular culture. Early life and education Ian Gardiner was born in Brentwood, Essex, the third of four children. His parents, Annie and Archibald Gardiner, were both doctors. His father died of pneumonia when Ian was three years old. The family later relocated to Maidstone, Kent, where Gardiner attended school. At age 14, he played the title role in a school production of Henry V. After completing national service, he trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Career Gardiner made his West End debut in 1953 at the Palace Theatre in ''The Love Match'', playing the son of characters portrayed by Thora Hird and Arthur Askey. He went on to work extensively i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reginald Molehusband
Reginald Molehusband was a fictional character who starred in a public information film commissioned by the Central Office of Information and shown on British TV during the 1960s. The role of Molehusband was played by Ian Gardiner. No copy of the film is known to still exist. Molehusband was depicted as the country's worst driver when it came to parallel-parking his Austin 1100 car. The film concluded with Reginald finally able to park the car successfully and so demonstrate the technique for the benefit of viewers. The script reads: :"This is the story of Reginald Molehusband, married, two children, whose reverse parking was a public danger. People came from miles just to see it. Bets were laid on his performance. What he managed to miss at the back, he was sure to make up for at the front. Bus drivers and taxis changed their routes to avoid him. Until the day that Reginald Molehusband did it right. Not too close, far enough forward... come on Reggie... and reverse in slowly.. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. Opening in 1870, the theatre staged mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. The theatre was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous structure. The current building dates from 1926, and the capacity is now 690 seats. Early stage mechanisms, including rare thunder drums and lightning sheets, survive in the theatre. History Origins The theatre was designed by prolific architect C. J. Phipps, and decorated in a Romanesque style by George Gordon. It opened on 16 April 1870 with Andrew Halliday's comedy, ''For Love Or Money'' and a burlesque, ''Don Carlos or the Infante in Arms''. A notable innovation was the concealed footlights, which would shut off if the glass in front of them was broken. The owner, William Wybrow Robertson, had run a failing billiard hall on the site but saw more opportunity in theatre. He leased the new theatre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Office Of Information
The Central Office of Information (COI) was the UK government's marketing and communications agency. Its chief executive reported to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. It was a non-ministerial department, and became an executive agency and a trading fund subject to the Government Trading Funds Act 1973, recovering its costs from the other departments, executive agencies and publicly funded bodies which used its services. History The COI was established in 1946 as the successor to the wartime Ministry of Information, when individual government departments resumed responsibility for information policy. It worked with Whitehall departments and public bodies to produce information campaigns on issues that affected the lives of British citizens, from health and education to benefits, rights and welfare. COI celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2006 with several events including a film season at the National Film Theatre and a poll to find Britain's favourite public information ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Z-Cars
''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978. ''Z-Cars'' ran for 801 episodes, of which fewer than half have survived. Regular stars included Stratford Johns (Detective Inspector Barlow), Frank Windsor (Det. Sgt. Watt), James Ellis (Bert Lynch), and Brian Blessed ("Fancy" Smith). Barlow and Watt were later spun into a separate series '' Softly, Softly''. Origin of the title The title comes from the radio call signs allocated by Lancashire Constabulary. Lancashire police divisions were lettered from north to the south: "A" Division (based in Ulverston) was the detached part of Lancashire at the time around Barrow-in-Furness, "B" Division was Lancaster, and so on (see Home Office radio). The TV series took the n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compact (TV Series)
''Compact'' is a British television soap opera shown by BBC Television from January 1962 to July 1965, created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling. Production and release The idea came to Hazel Adair when she submitted a commissioned feature article for '' Woman's Own''. Adair and Ling devised the long-running soap '' Crossroads'' while ''Compact'' was still running. In contrast to the kitchen sink realism of ''Coronation Street'', ''Compact'' was a distinctly middle-class serial, set in the more "sophisticated" arena of magazine publishing. The show took viewers into the office, and aligned the professional lives of the characters with more personal storylines. The show was scheduled for broadcast on Tuesdays and Thursdays, thus avoiding a clash with ITV's ''Coronation Street'' on Mondays and Wednesdays. After the BBC decided to produce the project, she formed a working partnership with Peter Ling. When ''Compact'' began, the editor was female, Joanne Minster (Jean Harvey); she w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land border, as well as List of islands of Italy, nearly 800 islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares land borders with France to the west; Switzerland and Austria to the north; Slovenia to the east; and the two enclaves of Vatican City and San Marino. It is the List of European countries by area, tenth-largest country in Europe by area, covering , and the third-most populous member state of the European Union, with nearly 59 million inhabitants. Italy's capital and List of cities in Italy, largest city is Rome; other major cities include Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Bologna, Florence, Genoa, and Venice. The history of Italy goes back to numerous List of ancient peoples of Italy, Italic peoples—notably including the ancient Romans, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of List of islands of the United Kingdom, the smaller islands within the British Isles, covering . Northern Ireland shares Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. It maintains sovereignty over the British Overseas Territories, which are located across various oceans and seas globally. The UK had an estimated population of over 68.2 million people in 2023. The capital and largest city of both England and the UK is London. The cities o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rocky Horror Show
''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to various B movies associated with the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror genres from the 1930s to the early 1960s, the musical tells the story of a newly engaged couple getting caught in a storm and coming to the home of a mad transvestite scientist, Dr Frank-N-Furter, unveiling his new creation, Rocky, a sort of Frankenstein's monster, Frankenstein-style monster in the form of an artificially made, fully grown, physically perfect Strongman (strength athlete), muscle man complete "with blond hair and a tan". The show was produced and directed by Jim Sharman. The original London production of the musical was premiered at the Royal Court Theatre (Upstairs) on 19 June 1973 (after two previews on 16 and 18 June 1973). It later moved to several other locations in London and closed on 13 September 1980. The show ran for a total of 2,96 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arts Theatre
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It opened on April 20, 1927. History It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamberlain's office. It was one of a small number of committed, independent theatre companies, including the Hampstead Everyman, the Gate Theatre Studio and the Q Theatre, which took risks by producing a diverse range of new and experimental plays, or plays that were thought to be commercially non-viable on the West End. The theatrical producer Norman Marshall referred to these as 'The Other Theatre' in his 1947 book of the same name. The theatre opened with a revue by Herbert Farjeon entitled ''Picnic'', produced by Harold Scott and with music by Beverley Nichols. Its first important production was '' Young Woodley'' by John Van Druten, staged in 1928, which later transferred to the Savoy Theatre when the Lord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Present Laughter
''Present Laughter'' is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 but not produced until 1942 because the Second World War began while it was in rehearsal, and the British theatres closed. The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare's ''Twelfth Night'' that urges ''carpe diem'' ("present mirth hath present laughter"). The play has been frequently revived in Britain, the US and beyond. The plot depicts a few days in the life of the successful and self-obsessed light comedy actor Garry Essendine as he prepares to travel for a touring commitment in Africa. Amid a series of events bordering on farce, Garry has to deal with women who want to seduce him, placate both his long-suffering secretary and his wife, cope with a crazed young playwright, and overcome his impending mid-life crisis (he has recently turned forty). The character is a caricature of the author's real-life persona, as Coward acknowledged. Coward starred as Garry during the original run, which began with a long ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Information Film
Public information films (PIFs) are a series of government-commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the United Kingdom. The name is sometimes also applied, ''faute de mieux'', to similar films from other countries, but the US equivalent is the public service announcement (PSA). Public information films were commonplace from the 1950s until the 2000s. However, they became obsolete with the closure of the Central Office of Information. Subjects The films advise the public on what to do in a multitude of situations ranging from crossing the road to surviving a nuclear attack. They are sometimes thought to concern only topics related to safety, but there are PIFs on many other subjects, including animal cruelty, protecting the natural environment, environment, crime prevention, how to vote at a general election or how to fill in a census form. Many of these films were aimed at children and were shown during breaks in children's programmes during holida ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Askey
Arthur Bowden Askey (6 June 1900 – 16 November 1982) was an English comedian and actor. Askey was known for his short stature (5' 2", 1.58 m) and distinctive horn-rimmed glasses, and his playful humour incorporating improvisation and catchphrases including "Hello, playmates", "I thank you" (pronounced "Ay-thang-yaw") and "Before your very eyes". Askey achieved prominence in the 1930s in the BBC's first radio comedy series ''Band Waggon'' and subsequently starred in several Gainsborough Pictures comedy films during the Second World War including ''Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt'' (1940) and ''The Ghost Train (1941 film), The Ghost Train'' (1941). His Novelty song, novelty recordings for the His Master's Voice (British record label), His Master's Voice include "The Bee Song" (1938), a lasting part of his act. From the 1950s, Askey was a prominent television presence and made regular appearances on the BBC's long-running music hall programme ''The Good Old Days (UK TV ser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
