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John Normington
John Normington (28 January 1937 – 26 July 2007) was an English actor primarily known for his work on television. Normington was also a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing in more than 20 RSC productions. He performed widely in the West End and at the National Theatre. Early life Normington was born 28 January 1937 in Dukinfield, Cheshire, in 1937, where he resided in Montrose Avenue with his parents and two younger sisters, Judith and Joan. He originally attended Victoria Road Infants School, before transferring to Globe Lane County Primary, then went to Crescent Road Boys School. He trained as an opera singer at the Northern School of Music. Following this, he did his national service, and while stationed in Aldershot joined Farnham rep. Normington joined the Repertory Theatre in Oldham in 1950, and from 1959 to 1962 he worked at the Library Theatre in Manchester. After a short spell at the Oxford Playhouse, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratford-upon-Avon, and on tour across the UK and internationally. The company's home is in Stratford-upon-Avon, where it has redeveloped its Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatre (Stratford), Swan theatres as part of a £112.8-million "Transformation" project. The theatres re-opened in November 2010, having closed in 2007. As well as the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, the RSC produces new work from living artists. Company history The early years There have been theatrical performances in Stratford-upon-Avon since at least Shakespeare's day, though the first recorded performance of a play written by Shakespeare himself was in 1746 when Parson Joseph Greene, master of Stratford Grammar School, organise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nearest And Dearest
''Nearest and Dearest'' is a British television sitcom that ran from 1968 to 1973. A total of 45 episodes were made, 18 in monochrome (black & white) and 27 in colour. The series, produced by Granada Television for the ITV network, starred Hylda Baker and Jimmy Jewel as squabbling middle-aged siblings Nellie and Eli Pledge who ran a family pickle business in Colne, Lancashire, in the North West of England. Series premise and history The first episode set up the premise: in his will, Joshua Pledge bequeathed a large sum of money to his middle-aged son and daughter... but only if they stay together for five years at his small pickle business, Pledge's Purer Pickles. However, hard-working spinster Nellie and her ne'er-do-well womanising brother Eli, rarely saw eye to eye. Nellie was played by comedian Hylda Baker, who was born and bred in Farnworth, eleven miles north of Manchester. Eli was played by Jimmy Jewel, a Yorkshire-born contemporary of Baker; he had made his name with Be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Thirty Nine Steps (1978 Film)
''The Thirty Nine Steps'' is a British 1978 thriller film directed by Don Sharp, with screenplay by British playwright Michael Robson, based on the novel ''The Thirty-Nine Steps'' by John Buchan. It was the third film version of the 1915 novel. This version of Buchan's tale stars Robert Powell as Richard Hannay, Karen Dotrice as Alex, John Mills as Colonel Scudder, and a host of other well-known British actors in smaller parts. It is generally regarded as the closest to the novel, being set before the Great War. The early events and overall feel of the film bear much resemblance to Buchan's original story, albeit with a few changes such as the re-casting of Scudder as a more immediately sympathetic character and the introduction of a love interest. It also introduces a different meaning for the "thirty-nine steps", although unlike its filmed predecessors it returns to Buchan's original notion of being an actual staircase. It is known for the Big Ben sequence near the end, inspire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Medusa Touch (film)
''The Medusa Touch'' (also known as ''La Grande Menace'') is a 1978 supernatural horror thriller film directed by Jack Gold. It stars Richard Burton, Lino Ventura, Lee Remick and Harry Andrews, and features Alan Badel, Derek Jacobi, Gordon Jackson, Jeremy Brett and Michael Hordern. The screenplay was by John Briley, based on the 1973 novel '' The Medusa Touch'' by Peter Van Greenaway.'' Variety'' film review; 8 February 1978; page 18. The film is a co-production between the United Kingdom and France. Plot Monsieur Brunel, a French detective on an exchange scheme in London, is assigned to investigate the apparent murder of novelist John Morlar. As they examine the crime scene, Brunel discovers the victim is still alive in spite of his severe head injuries and has him rushed to hospital. With the help of Morlar's journals and Dr Zonfeld, a psychiatrist Morlar was consulting, Brunel reconstructs Morlar's life. Seen in flashback, it is filled with seemingly inexplicable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rollerball (1975 Film)
''Rollerball'' is a 1975 American dystopian science-fiction sports film directed and produced by Norman Jewison, and starring James Caan, John Houseman, Maud Adams, John Beck, Moses Gunn and Ralph Richardson. The screenplay, written by William Harrison, adapted his own short story "Roller Ball Murder", which had first appeared in the September 1973 issue of ''Esquire.'' Set in a near future world ruled by a corporatocracy, the film centers on the titular sport — an often-brutal spectacle used to help placate the populace. Jonathan E. (Caan), the sport's top player, finds himself at odds with the ruling powers, when his popularity threatens to hurt their grip on power. The film was released by United Artists on June 25, 1975. ''Rollerball'' was a box office success, and critical reviews were initially mixed but have warmed somewhat over time, and the film inspired a wave of similar, dystopian-themed sports films. A remake of the same name was released in 2002. Plo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stardust (1974 Film)
''Stardust'' is a 1974 British musical drama film directed by Michael Apted and starring David Essex, Adam Faith, and Larry Hagman. It is the sequel to the 1973 film ''That'll Be the Day'', which introduced the characters of Jim MacLaine and his street-smart friend Mike Menary. It chronicles Jim's rise and fall as an international rock star during the 1960s and early 1970s, with Mike as his personal manager. It features a number of pop/rock performers, including Essex, Faith, Keith Moon, Marty Wilde, Dave Edmunds, Paul Nicholas and Edd Byrnes. Plot On the evening of the Kennedy assassination, Jim MacLaine visits his friend Mike Menary at the funfair where Mike works. Jim tells Mike he's joined a touring rock group called the Stray Cats and invites Mike to come along as their road manager, pointing out that Mike could make millions if the group succeeds. Mike accepts and proves to be a shrewd operator, arranging a better van, accommodations, and a recording session for the group. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Reckoning (1969 Film)
''The Reckoning'' is a 1970 British drama film released by Columbia Pictures directed by Jack Gold and starring Nicol Williamson, Ann Bell, Rachel Roberts and Zena Walker. It was based on the 1967 novel ''The Harp that Once'' by Patrick Hall and features music by Malcolm Arnold. Plot Michael "Mick" Marler has risen through the ranks at a large British company. Despite his polish, Mick comes from a working-class background, and has worked hard to fit into the world in which he and his social-climbing wife Rosemary live. His marriage consists of animalistic lovemaking between traded insults and long silences. One morning, while Mick is trying to save his boss, Hazlitt, from mistakes and sagging sales, he convinces him to persuade the company to make computers, something they had rejected. After Hazlitt agrees, Rosemary calls to say that Mick's father, John Joe, is dying. Mick wants to leave, but is coerced by Hazlitt into completing a report. Mick remains a tough, but sentim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968 Film)
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a 1968 British film of William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', directed by Peter Hall. Production It stars Derek Godfrey as Theseus, Barbara Jefford as Hippolyta, Diana Rigg as Helena, Helen Mirren as Hermia, David Warner as Lysander, Ian Holm as Puck, Ian Richardson as King Oberon, Judi Dench as Queen Titania, and Paul Rogers as Bottom, as well as other members of the Royal Shakespeare Company. The film premiered in theatres in Europe in September 1968. In the U.S., it was sold directly to television rather than playing in theatres, and premiered as a Sunday evening special, on the night of 9 February 1969. It was shown on CBS (with commercials). The film was only the second, after Max Reinhardt's 1935 film, sound film adaptation of the play. It portrayed the fairies as "wild, near-naked creatures in a primitive, sinister wood." and "the subsidiary fairies were bedraggled child actors; the artisans authentic, almost co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inadmissible Evidence (film)
''Inadmissible Evidence'' is a 1968 British drama film directed by Anthony Page and starring Nicol Williamson and Jill Bennett. John Osborne wrote the screenplay, adapting his own 1964 play ''Inadmissible Evidence''. The film portrays the collapse of an angry but sad man who cannot maintain decent standards in his life and antagonises everybody. As with other Osborne plays, it is possible to see his descent as representative of his class, culture and nation. Plot The film follows a couple of days in the life of Bill Maitland, a 39-year-old Englishman who is head of small law firm in London and is tortured by his inadequacies as a lawyer, as an employer, as a husband, as a father, as a friend (he has none) and as a lover (for though women succumb quickly to him, he cannot maintain a relationship). Punctuated by interior monologues and imagined scenes, it shows him being abandoned by everybody as they come to realise that they cannot rely on him. He first loses his secretary and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ITV Playhouse
''Playhouse'', also known as ''ITV Playhouse'', is a British television anthology series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a format that would inspire '' Dramarama''. The series would mostly include original material from writers, but adaptations of existing works were also produced (such as the 1979 production of M.R. James' horror story '' Casting the Runes''). Actors Actors appearing in the series included: Leslie Anderson, Gwen Nelson, Ricky Alleyne, Pat Heywood, Michael Elphick, Ian Hendry, Edward Woodward, Margaret Lockwood, Jessie Matthews, Basdeo Panday, Lloyd Peters, Anna Massey, Peter Sallis, Kim Fortune, Wanda Ventham, Gillian Martell, Glory Annen, Christine Shaw and Christopher Driscoll. Selected episodes * '' Entertaining Mr. Sloane'' (196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV Series)
''Upstairs, Downstairs'' is a British drama television series produced by London Weekend Television (LWT) for ITV. It ran for 68 episodes divided into five series on ITV from 1971 to 1975. Set in a large townhouse at 165 Eaton Place in Belgravia in central London, the series depicts the servants—"downstairs"—and their masters, the family—"upstairs"—between the years 1903 and 1930, and shows the slow decline of the British aristocracy. Great events feature prominently in each episode but minor or gradual changes are also noted. The show may be regarded as a documentary of the social and technological changes that occurred during those 27 years, including the Edwardian period, women's suffrage, the First World War, the Roaring Twenties, and the Wall Street crash. It was a ratings success for ITV and received outstanding acclaim worldwide, winning multiple awards. The BBC Wales and ''Masterpiece''-produced continuation '' Upstairs Downstairs'' was broadcast by BBC O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
