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Liverpool Playhouse
The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, England. It originated in 1866 as a music hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the early careers of many actors and actresses, some of whom went on to achieve national and international reputations. Architectural changes have been made to the building over the years, the latest being in 1968 when a modern-style extension was added to the north of the theatre. In 1999 a trust was formed, joining the management of the Playhouse with that of the Everyman Theatre. History The present theatre on the site was designed by Edward Davies, and opened in 1866. It replaced an earlier theatre called the Star Concert Hall. The present theatre was originally named the Star Music Hall. In 1895 its name was changed to the Star Theatre of Varieties. The theatre was improved in 1898 by Harry Percival with a new auditorium and foyer, and electricity was installed. In 1911 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Williamson Square
Williamson Square is in the city centre of Liverpool, England. It was initially laid out as a residential square in the 1745 by Mr Williamson. It originally only had buildings on the lower part and the other three parts were not covered. The Liverpool Playhouse stands on the east side of the square, and the other sides are occupied by shops. Formerly the north side was occupied by the Theatre Royal, but this was demolished in 1965. The square also contained a fountain, consisting of 20 jets of water that could rise to a height of up to four metres. The fountain was controlled by a computer, and during the evenings was illuminated with coloured lights. However, as of 2023, the fountain no longer functions. References Squares in Liverpool {{Merseyside-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Donat
Friedrich Robert Donat ( ; 18 March 1905 – 9 June 1958) was an English actor. Making his breakthrough film role in Alexander Korda's ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933), today he is best remembered for his roles in ''The Count of Monte Cristo (1934 film), The Count of Monte Cristo'' (1934), Alfred Hitchcock's ''The 39 Steps (1935 film), The 39 Steps'' (1935), and ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939 film), Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1939), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor as the gentle English schoolmaster Mr. Chips. Beginning his career in theatre, Donat made his stage debut in 1921 playing Lucius in Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar (play), Julius Caesar'', and in 1928 he appeared in productions at the Liverpool Playhouse, starring in plays by John Galsworthy, George Bernard Shaw among others, before moving to London in 1930. He appeared in the West End theatre, West End when he starred in ''A Sleeping Clergyman'' in 1933, and in 1936 he took on the management of the West ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Briers
Richard David Briers (14 January 1934 – 17 February 2013) was an English actor whose five-decade career encompassed film, radio, stage and television. Briers first came to prominence as George Starling in '' Marriage Lines'' (1961–66), but it was a few years later, when he narrated ''Roobarb'' (1974–76) and '' Noah and Nelly in... SkylArk'' (1976–77) and played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom '' The Good Life'' (1975–78), that he became a household name. He starred as Martin in ''Ever Decreasing Circles'' (1984–89), and had a leading role as Hector in '' Monarch of the Glen'' (2000–05). From the late 1980s, with Kenneth Branagh as director, he performed Shakespearean roles in ''Henry V'' (1989), ''Much Ado About Nothing'' (1993), ''Hamlet'' (1996) and ''As You Like It'' (2006), and also appeared in Branagh’s ''Swan Song'' (1992), ''Peter's Friends'' (1992), '' Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein'' (1994), and '' In the Bleak Midwinter'' (1995). Early life Briers was born on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for List of Anthony Hopkins performances, his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received numerous List of awards and nominations received by Anthony Hopkins, accolades, including two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award. He has also received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2005 and the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement in 2008. He was Knight Bachelor, knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama in 1993. After graduating from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in 1957, Hopkins trained at RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in London. He was then spotted by Laurence Olivier, who invited him to join the Royal National Theatre in 1965. Productions at the National included ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patricia Routledge
Dame Katherine Patricia Routledge ( ; born 17 February 1929) is an English actress and singer, best known for her comedy role as Hyacinth Bucket in the popular BBC sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance in 1992 and 1993. Routledge made her professional stage debut at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1952 and her Broadway debut in ''How's the World Treating You'' in 1966. She won the 1968 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in '' Darling of the Day'', and the 1988 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for ''Candide''. Her film appearances include '' To Sir, with Love'' (1967) and '' Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River'' (1968). On television, Routledge came to prominence during the 1980s in monologues written by Alan Bennett and Victoria Wood; appearing in Bennett's '' A Woman of No Importance'' (1982), as Kitty in '' Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV'' (1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Burton
Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memorable performance as Richard Burton's Hamlet, Hamlet in 1964. He was called "the natural successor to Laurence Olivier, Olivier" by critic Kenneth Tynan. Burton's perceived failure to live up to those expectations disappointed some critics and colleagues; his heavy drinking added to his reputation as a great performer who had wasted his talent. Nevertheless, he is widely regarded as one of the finest actors of his generation. Burton was nominated for an Academy Awards, Academy Award seven times but never won. He was nominated for his performances in ''My Cousin Rachel (1952 film), My Cousin Rachel'' (1952), ''The Robe (1953 film), The Robe'' (1953), ''Becket (1964 film), Becket'' (1964), ''The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (film), The Spy W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clive Brook
Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook (1 June 1887 – 17 November 1974) was an English stage and film actor. After making his first screen appearance in 1920, Brook emerged as a leading British actor in the early 1920s. After moving to the United States in 1924, Brook became one of the major stars for Paramount Pictures in the late silent era. During 1928–29 he successfully made the transition to sound film, sound and continued to be featured in many of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's most prestigious films. Career highlights include Josef Von Sternberg's ''Underworld (1927 film), Underworld'' (1927) and ''Shanghai Express (film), Shanghai Express'' (1932); as well as being the first actor to portray Sherlock Holmes in a 'talkie'. In the mid-1930s he returned to Britain where he appeared regularly in leading film roles until his retirement from movies in 1944. Early life Brook was born in Islington, London, the son of George Alfred Brook and Charlotte Mary Brook. He a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gregson
Harold Thomas Gregson (15 March 1919 – 8 January 1975), known professionally as John Gregson, was an English actor of stage, television and film, with 40 credited film roles. He was best known for his crime drama and comedy roles. Gregson was credited in 40 films between 1948 and 1971, and on television from 1960 until his death. He was often cast as a police inspector or as a navy or army officer, or in comedy roles in British films. Biography Early life and military service Born in Liverpool of Irish descent, Gregson grew up in the city's Wavertree area, where he was educated at Greenbank Road Primary School and later at St Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool. He left school at 16, working first for a telephone company, then for Liverpool Corporation, as the city council was then known, before the Second World War. During this time, Gregson became interested in amateur dramatics, joining first the local Catholic church theatre group at St Anthony's in Mossley Hill. Whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cecil Parker
Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe; 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between 1928 and 1969. Career Parker was born in Hastings, Sussex, the second son (and fifth of six children) of German-born Charles August Schwabe, manager of the Albany Hotel, Hastings, and his English wife, Kate (née Parker), a church organist. He was educated at St Francis Xavier College, and at Bruges in Belgium.Who's Who in the Theatre by John Parker (11th Edition) (1952) (London) He served with the Royal Sussex Regiment in the First World War, reaching the rank of sergeant. He began his theatrical career in London in 1922, adopting the surname "Parker" from his mother's maiden name. He made his first film appearance in 1933 and subsequently became a familiar face in British and occasionally American films until his death. He appeared les ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lilian Braithwaite
Dame Florence Lilian Braithwaite (9 March 1873 – 17 September 1948) was an English actress, primarily of the stage, although she appeared in both silent and talkie films. Early life She was born in Ramsgate, Kent, the daughter of the Revd John Masterman Braithwaite (1846–1889), then a curate and later vicar of Croydon, and his wife, Elizabeth Jane, daughter of Colonel Thomas Sidney Powell, CB. Educated at Croydon High School, she was the eldest of seven children, having five brothers, two of whom—Colonel Francis Powell Braithwaite and Vice-Admiral Lawrence Walter Braithwaite—served with distinction in the military.Dame Lilian Braithwaite - '' |
Gertrude Lawrence
Gertrude Lawrence (4 July 1898 – 6 September 1952) was an English actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End of London and on Broadway in New York. Early life Lawrence was born in 1898 in Newington, London, of English and Danish descent. Her name at birth was registered as Gertrude Alice Dagmar Klasen. Other variants of her birth name include Alexandra Dagmar Lawrence-Klasen, and Gertrude Alexandra Dagmar Klasen. Her father was a basso profondo who performed under the name Arthur Lawrence. His heavy drinking led her mother Alice to leave him soon after Gertrude's birth. In 1904, her stepfather took the family to Bognor on the Sussex coast for the August bank holiday. While there, they attended a concert where audience members were invited to entertain. At her mother's urging, young Gertrude sang a song and was rewarded with a gold sovereign for her effort. It was her first public performance. In 1908, to augment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise"."Noel Coward at 70" ''Time'', 26 December 1969, p. 46 Coward attended a dance academy in London as a child, making his professional stage début at the age of eleven. As a teenager he was introduced into the high society in which most of his plays would be set. Coward achieved enduring success as a playwright, publishing more than 50 plays from his teens onwards. Many of his works, such as ''Hay Fever (play), Hay Fever'', ''Private Lives'', ''Design for Living'', ''Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
