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Robert Flemyng
Benjamin Arthur Flemyng (3 January 1912 – 22 May 1995), known professionally as Robert Flemyng, was a British actor. The son of a doctor, and originally intended for a medical career, Flemyng learned his stagecraft in provincial repertory theatre. In 1935 he appeared in a leading role in the West End, and the following year had his first major success, in Terence Rattigan's comedy ''French Without Tears''. Between then and the Second World War he appeared in London and New York in a succession of comedies. On the outbreak of war in 1939 Flemyng volunteered for the Royal Army Service Corps, and served with distinction, winning the Military Cross. After the war he continued to appear in light comedies, but also took on more serious roles in plays by T. S. Eliot, Graham Greene, John Whiting and others. He toured Australia, Britain, Canada, India, South Africa and the US in a wide range of parts, from comedy to classic drama. Flemyng's broadcasting was principally in two tele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Constant Wife
''The Constant Wife'', a play written in 1926 by W. Somerset Maugham, is a comedy whose modern and amusing take on marriage and infidelity gives a quick-witted, alternative view on how to deal with an extramarital affair. A "sparkling comedy of ill manners", ''The Constant Wife'' features the resourceful and charming Constance Middleton, who has long known that her husband had been having an affair with her best friend, Marie-Louise. When the affair is publicly acknowledged, rather than reprimanding or divorcing him, she embraces the opportunity to create an independent life, starting a new job, paying her husband for room and board, and taking on her own lover. ''The Constant Wife'' was later published for general sale in April 1927. ''The Constant Wife'' was most recently on Broadway in 2005, where '' Variety'' described it as "an antecedent to the women of 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Sex and the City. The production's Kate Burton (Constance) and Lynn Redgrave (her mother) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westminster Theatre
The Westminster Theatre was a theatre in London, on Palace Street in Westminster. History The structure on the site was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, by William Dodd with money from his wife Mary Perkins. Through Peter Richard Hoare it came into the hands of the family owning Hoare's Bank, and was called St Peter's Chapel. It was altered and given a new frontage, by John Stanley Coombe Beard for use as a cinema, St James's Picture Theatre, opened in 1924. The conversion was by a group with court connections including Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood. The film shown at the opening was '' Rob Roy''. The Picture Theatre then became a venue for live drama in 1931 after radical alterations, at the hands of Alderson Burrell Horne (1863–1953). Horne was known in the theatrical world as Anmer Hall, and also used the stage name Waldo Wright. In the mid 1930s Kathleen Mary Robinson came from Australia to study theatre production and she helped the produ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banana Ridge (play)
''Banana Ridge'' is a farce by Ben Travers. It opened at the Strand Theatre on 27 April 1938 and ran for 291 performances. The play revolves round the question of the paternity of a young man, and the worry of each of the two principal characters that he may be the young man's father. Background In the 1920s and 30s Travers had written nine farces which, with three by other authors, were known collectively as the ''Aldwych farce''s. The series had run in uninterrupted succession at the Aldwych Theatre between 1923 and 1933 After this Travers attempted a serious play on a religious theme, but it was not a success. He did better with his next play, ''O Mistress Mine'' (1936), a romantic Ruritanian comedy. ''Banana Ridge'' was his return to the genre for which he was celebrated. It starred Robertson Hare, one of the best-loved members of the regular Aldwych team, and Alfred Drayton, an experienced and popular comic actor. Travers, who did not usually act, played the role of Wun, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Travers
Ben Travers (12 November 188618 December 1980) was an English writer. His output includes more than 20 plays, 30 screenplays, 5 novels, and 3 volumes of memoirs. He is most notable for his long-running series of farces first staged in the 1920s and 1930s at the Aldwych Theatre. Many of these were made into films and later television productions. After working for some years in his family's wholesale grocery business, which he detested, Travers was given a job by the publisher John Lane in 1911. After service as a pilot in the First World War, he began to write novels and plays. He turned his 1921 novel, '' The Dippers'', into a play that was first produced in the West End in 1922. His big break came in 1925, when the actor-manager Tom Walls bought the performing rights to his play '' A Cuckoo in the Nest'', which ran for more than a year at the Aldwych. He followed this success with eight more farces for Walls and his team; the last in the series closed in 1933. Most of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hubert Gregg
Hubert Robert Harry Gregg (19 July 1914 – 29 March 2004) was a British broadcaster, writer and actor. In his later years, he was known for the BBC Radio 2 "oldies" shows ''A Square Deal'' and ''Thanks for the Memory''. He was also a novelist, theatre director and hit songwriter. Biography Gregg was born in Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ..., north London. He attended St Dunstan's College and the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art. Gregg worked as an announcer for the BBC World Service, BBC Empire Service in 1934 and 1935, while intermittently performing in repertory theatre. He appeared on Broadway theatre, Broadway in Terence Rattigan's comedy ''French Without Tears'' from 28 September 1937 to January 1938. In the Second World War, Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St James's Theatre
The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham (tenor), John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A succession of managements over the next forty years also failed to make it a commercial success, and St James's acquired a reputation as an unlucky theatre. It was not until 1879–1888, under the management of the actors John Hare (actor), John Hare and Madge Kendal, Madge and William Hunter Kendal, W. H. Kendal that the theatre began to prosper. The Hare-Kendal management was succeeded, after brief and disastrous attempts by other lessees, by that of the actor-manager George Alexander (actor), George Alexander, who was in charge from 1891 until his death in 1918. Under Alexander the house gained a reputation for programming that was adventurous without going too far for the tastes of London society ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gladys Cooper
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper (18 December 1888 – 17 November 1971) was an English actress, theatrical manager and producer, whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television. Beginning as a teenager in Edwardian musical comedy and pantomime, she starred in dramatic roles and silent films before the First World War. She managed the Playhouse Theatre from 1917 to 1934, where she starred in many roles. From the early 1920s Cooper won praise in plays by W. Somerset Maugham and others. In the 1930s she starred steadily in productions both in London's West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Moving to Hollywood in 1940, Cooper found success in a variety of character roles. She received three Academy Awards, Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress, for performances in ''The Song of Bernadette (film), The Song of Bernadette'' (1943), ''My Fair Lady (film), My Fair Lady'' (1964) and, most famously, ''Now, Voyager'' (1942). Thro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raymond Massey
Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 – July 29, 1983) was a Canadian actor known for his commanding stage-trained voice. For his lead role in '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' (1940), Massey was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He reprised his role as Lincoln on television and in '' How the West Was Won'' (1962). Among his other well-known roles were Dr. Gillespie in the NBC television series '' Dr. Kildare'' (1961–1966), John Brown in ''Santa Fe Trail'' (1940), '' Seven Angry Men'' (1955), Abraham Farlan in '' A Matter of Life and Death'' (1946), and Jonathan Brewster in '' Arsenic and Old Lace'' (1944). Early life Massey was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna Vincent, who was American-born, and her husband Chester Daniel Massey, the wealthy co-owner of the Massey-Harris tractor company. He was the grandson of businessman Hart Massey and great-grandson of company founder Daniel Massey. His branch of the Massey family immigrated to Canada from New Engl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diana Wynyard
Diana Wynyard (born Dorothy Isobel Cox; 16 January 1906 – 13 May 1964) was an English stage and film actress. Life and career Born in Lewisham, South London, Wynyard began her career on the stage. After performing in Liverpool and London with the Liverpool Repertory Company and the Hamilton Deane, Hamilton Deane Repertory Company, she performed on Broadway theatre, Broadway, appearing first in ''Rasputin and the Empress'' in 1932, with Ethel Barrymore, Ethel, John Barrymore, John, and Lionel Barrymore. She appeared in the film version, beginning her brief Hollywood career. 20th Century Fox#Fox Film Corporation, Fox Film Corporation then borrowed her for their lavish film version of Noël Coward's stage spectacle ''Cavalcade (1933 film), Cavalcade'' (1933). As the noble wife and mother she aged gracefully against a background of the Second Boer War, Boer War, the sinking of the RMS Titanic, ''Titanic'', the First World War, and the arrival of the Jazz Age. With this performan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Redgrave
Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English actor and filmmaker. Beginning his career in theatre, he first appeared in the West End in 1937. He made his film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Lady Vanishes'' in 1938. Redgrave received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Electra'' (1947), as well as two BAFTA nominations for Best British Actor for his performances in '' The Night My Number Came Up'' (1955) and ''Time Without Pity'' (1957). At the 4th Cannes Film Festival, he won Best Actor for his performance in '' The Browning Version'' (1951). Youth and education Redgrave was born in Bristol, England, the son of actress Margaret Scudamore and the silent film actor Roy Redgrave. Roy left when Redgrave was six months old to pursue a career in Australia. He died when Redgrave was 14. His mother subsequently married Captain James Anderson, a tea planter. Redgrave greatly disliked his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play '' French Without Tears'', in what was his breakthrough role. He won his first Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance as Henry VIII in the Broadway play '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' in 1949. He returned to Broadway portraying Professor Henry Higgins in ''My Fair Lady'' (1956) where he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. In addition to his stage career, Harrison also appeared in numerous films. His first starring role was opposite Vivien Leigh in the romantic comedy '' Storm in a Teacup'' (1937). Receiving critical acclaim for his performance in ''Major Barbara'' (1941), which was shot in London during the Blitz, his roles since then included '' Blithe Spirit'' (1945), '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1946), '' The G ... [...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] |
