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John Sessions
John Sessions (born John Marshall; 11 January 1953 – 2 November 2020) was a British actor and comedian. He was known as a regular performer on comedy improvisation show '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', as co-creator, co-writer and co-star of the sitcom '' Stella Street'', as a panellist on '' QI'', and as a character actor in numerous films, both in the UK and Hollywood. Early life John Sessions was born as John Marshall on 11 January 1953 to John and Esme (née Richardson) Marshall. His family was Scottish; his father was a gas engineer from Largs, Ayrshire, and his mother was from Glasgow. He had an older brother, Bill, and a twin sister, Maggie. He was raised in Bedford and St Albans. Education Sessions was educated at Bedford Modern School, an independent school for boys (now co-educational), and Verulam School, St Albans, followed by the University College of North Wales in Bangor, from which he graduated with an MA in English literature. At university, he had begun to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Largs
Largs () is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" (''An Leargaidh'') in Scottish Gaelic. A popular seaside resort with a pier, the town markets itself on its historic links with the Vikings and an annual festival is held each year in early September. In 1263 it was the site of the Battle of Largs between the Norwegian and the Scottish armies. The Royal National Mòd, National Mòd has also been held here in the past. History There is evidence of human activity in the vicinity of Largs which can be dated to the Neolithic era. The Stones of Scotland, Haylie Chambered Tomb in Douglas Park dates from c. 3000 BC. Largs evolved from the estates of North Cunninghame over which the Montgomeries of Skelmorlie became Lords Temporal, temporal lords in the seventeenth century. Sir Robert Montgomerie built Skelmorlie Aisle in the ancient kirk of Largs in 1636 as a family mausoleum. Today the monument is all that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Literature
English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Ango-Saxon settlers in the fifth century, are called Old English. ''Beowulf'' is the most famous work in Old English. Despite being set in Scandinavia, it has achieved national epic status in England. However, following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, the written form of the Old English, Anglo-Saxon language became less common. Under the influence of the new aristocracy, French became the standard language of courts, parliament, and polite society.Baugh, Albert and Cable, Thomas. 2002. ''The History of the English Language''. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. pp. 79–81. The English spoken after the Normans came is known as Middle English. This form ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clive Anderson
Clive Stuart Anderson (born 10 December 1952) is an English television and radio presenter, comedian, writer and former barrister. Winner of a British Comedy Award in 1991, Anderson began experimenting with comedy and writing comedic scripts during his 15-year legal career. He then became host of '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', initially a radio show on BBC Radio 4 in 1988, before moving to television on Channel 4 from 1988 to 1999. He was also host of his own chat show ''Clive Anderson Talks Back'', which changed its name to ''Clive Anderson All Talk'' in 1996, from 1989 to 1999. He has also hosted many radio programmes and made guest appearances on '' Have I Got News for You'', '' Mock the Week'' and '' QI''. Early life Anderson's mother was English and his parents met while serving in the RAF. He was educated at Stanburn Primary School and Harrow County School for Boys then a grammar school which closed in 1975. His group of contemporaries included Geoffrey Perkins and Mich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Fry
Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'' (1989–1995) and ''Jeeves and Wooster'' (1990–1993). He also starred in the sketch series ''Alfresco (TV series), Alfresco'' (1983–1984) with Laurie, Emma Thompson, and Robbie Coltrane, and in ''Blackadder'' (1986–1989) alongside Rowan Atkinson. Since 2011 he has served as president of the mental health charity Mind (charity), Mind. In 2025, he was Knight Bachelor, knighted for services to mental health awareness, the environment and charity. Fry's film acting roles include playing Oscar Wilde in the film ''Wilde (film), Wilde'' (1997), for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor; Inspector Thompson in Robert Altman's murder mystery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West End Of London
The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, Central London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster. It is west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings and entertainment venues, including West End theatres, are concentrated - and as such the term "West End" is used internationally as a metonym for London's theatre district and associated performing arts scene - just as "Broadway theatre, Broadway" is used to describe that of New York City. The term was first used in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross.Mills, A., ''Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) While the City of London is the main financial district in London, the West End is the main commercial and entertainment centre of the city. It is the largest c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castaway (film)
''Castaway'' is a 1986 British biographical-drama film directed by Nicolas Roeg and starring Amanda Donohoe and Oliver Reed. The screenplay was by Allan Scott, adapted from the eponymous 1984 book by Lucy Irvine, telling of her experiences of staying for a year with writer Gerald Kingsland on the isolated island of Tuin, between New Guinea and Australia. Real life inspiration In 1981, Lucy Irvine responded to an advertisement placed by writer Gerald Kingsland, and they became self-imposed castaways for a year on the isolated and uninhabited island of Tuin, in the Torres Strait between New Guinea and Australia. Chosen by Kingsland from over 50 applicants, Irvine agreed to marry him to satisfy immigration restrictions before they travelled to Tuin. She was 25 years old, and he was 49. After a year, they returned home, and in 1983, she published her account of the experience in ''Castaway'', which was later used as the basis for the film. When Irvine met director Nicolas Ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bounty (1984 Film)
''The Bounty'' is a 1984 British epic historical drama film directed by Roger Donaldson. It depicts the voyage and mutiny of HMS ''Bounty'', with Robert Bolt's screenplay adapting the 1972 book ''Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian'' by Richard Hough. It stars Mel Gibson as Fletcher Christian and Anthony Hopkins as William Bligh, with supporting roles played by Laurence Olivier, Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson, Bernard Hill and Edward Fox. ''The Bounty'' began production in late 1978 under director David Lean as a long-time passion project, but multiple complications, including a prohibitively high budget and screenwriter Robert Bolt suffering from a heart attack, led to a period of development hell that ended with the hiring of newcomer director Donaldson. Filming took place primarily on-location in Donaldson's home country of New Zealand, French Polynesia and England. The film was made by Dino De Laurentiis Productions and Bounty Productions Ltd. and distributed by Thor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sender
''The Sender'' is a 1982 British-American supernatural horror film directed by Roger Christian (filmmaker), Roger Christian, written by Tom Baum, Thomas Baum, and starring Kathryn Harrold, Željko Ivanek (in his film debut), Shirley Knight, and Paul Freeman (actor), Paul Freeman. The plot follows a therapist attempting to help a disturbed telepathy, telepathic man able to transmit his dreams and visions into the minds of those around him. Plot A young, disheveled-looking man is awakened on the side of a road by passing traffic. He walks to a nearby lake and attempts to drown himself by filling his clothing with rocks and walking into the water, but is pulled out and taken to a nearby mental hospital for treatment. He is suffering from retrograde amnesia, unable to remember his name or details of his personal life, other that he lives in a house within several miles and has no father to speak of. Without any form of identification, the patient is designated “John Doe #83”, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French And Saunders
''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is also the name by which the performers are known when they appear elsewhere as a double act. The show was given one of the highest budgets in BBC history to create detailed spoofs and satires of popular culture, movies, celebrities, and art. French and Saunders continued to film holiday specials for the BBC, and both have been individually successful starring in other shows. In a 2005 poll to find ''The Comedian's Comedian'', the duo were voted among the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. Their last special, ''French and Saunders Christmas Celebrity Special'', aired on 27 December 2005 on BBC One. In 2006, both French and Saunders announced their sketch show was dead and that they had moved on to more age-approp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue (also known as monolog in North American English) (in , from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media (plays, films, etc.), as well as in non-dramatic media such as poetry. Monologues share much in common with several other literary devices including soliloquies, apostrophes, and asides. There are, however, distinctions between each of these devices. Similar literary devices Monologues are similar to poems, epiphanies, and others, in that, they involve one 'voice' speaking but there are differences between them. For example, a soliloquy involves a character relating their thoughts and feelings to themself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters. A monologue is the though ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Actors' Equity Association
Equity, formerly officially titled the British Actors' Equity Association, is the trade union for the performing arts and entertainment industries in the United Kingdom. Formed by a group of West End performers in 1930, the union grew to include performers and stage management nationwide, as well as gaining recognition in audio, film, and television. Equity incorporated the Variety Artistes' Federation in 1967, and now represents most professionals whose work is presented on stage or screen. As of 2021, it had just over 46,000 members, including actors, singers, dancers, variety artistes and other performers, models, theatre directors, choreographers, designers, and stage management. Equity requires its members to have unique professional names to avoid confusion with other artists and entertainers. History Equity was created in 1930 by a group of West End performers, including Godfrey Tearle, May Whitty and Ben Webster. They were advised by Robert Young, the "Actors' MP ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in its journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
