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The Cool Mikado
''The Cool Mikado'' is a British musical film released in 1963, directed by Michael Winner starring Frankie Howerd, Lionel Blair and Stubby Kaye. It was produced by Harold Baim, with music arranged by Martin Slavin and John Barry. The script was written by Michael Winner from an adaptation by Maurice Browning. Plot Based on the 1885 Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera ''The Mikado'', the plot is reset into contemporary Japan as a comic gangster story. The dialogue is largely rewritten, and several of the well-known musical items are omitted. The music that remains is re-orchestrated into styles popular in the early 1960s, including the twist, and the Cha-Cha-Cha. Hank, the son of American judge Herbert Mikado, refuses to marry Katie Shaw, whom his father wishes him to marry, and so joins the army. He is stationed in Japan where he falls in love with a Tokyo art student, Yum-Yum. However, her fiancé, Ko-Ko, an American gangster operating in Japan, is determined to keep Hank and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Winner
Michael Robert Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was an English filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous action, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including several collaborations with actors Oliver Reed and Charles Bronson. Winner's best-known works include ''Death Wish'' (1974) and its first two sequels '' Death Wish II'' (1982) and '' Death Wish 3'' (1985), the World War II comedy '' Hannibal Brooks'' (1969), the hitman thriller '' The Mechanic'' (1972), the supernatural horror film '' The Sentinel'' (1977), the neo-noir '' The Big Sleep'' (1978), the satirical comedy '' Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood'' (1976), and the Revisionist Westerns '' Lawman'' (1971) and '' Chato's Land'' (1972). Winner was known as a media personality in the United Kingdom, appearing regularly on television talk programmes and publishing a restaurant review column for ''The Sunday Times''. He was also a found ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cha-cha-cha (dance)
The cha-cha-cha (also called cha-cha) is a dance of Cuban origin. It is danced to cha-cha-cha music introduced by the Cuban composer and violinist Enrique Jorrin in the early 1950s. This rhythm was developed from the danzón-mambo. The name of the dance is an onomatopoeia derived from the shuffling sound of the dancers' feet when they dance two consecutive quick steps that characterize the dance. In the early 1950s, Enrique Jorrín worked as a violinist and composer with the charanga group Orquesta América. The group performed at dance halls in Havana where they played danzón, danzonete, and danzon-mambo for dance-oriented crowds. Jorrín noticed that many of the dancers at these gigs had difficulty with the syncopated rhythms of the danzón-mambo. To make his music more appealing to dancers, Jorrín began composing songs where the melody was marked strongly on the first downbeat and the rhythm was less syncopated. When Orquesta América performed these new compositions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenji Takaki
Kenji Takaki (10 March 1894 – 5 May 1984) was a merchant seaman and actor in both the theatre and cinema. He was of Japanese descent and played small roles in a number of mainly British films as well as being a character extra in others. Life Kenji Takaki, also known as Kengi or Genji, was born in Ehime Ken, Japan, on the island of Shikoku. In 1906 he arrived at Liverpool as a passenger on board the a liner of the White Star Line from the United States in search of a better life. Takaki became a seaman some time prior to 1916 travelling to various ports around America and to and fro across the Pacific Ocean. His ships included the Tokai Maru in 1916, the Seiko Maru (previously HMAS Mallina) and the SS Portfield (1920). From 1926 he was employed by the Larrinaga Steamship Company of Liverpool which sailed to various destinations around the world.Keiko Ito (2013). The Japanese Community in Pre-War Britain. p24. Routledge, UK In 1935 he entered the British Merchant navy as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yvonne Shima
Yvonne Shima (1935 – 1 September 2023) was a Canadian-born British actress. Life and career Shima was born in British Columbia into a Japanese Canadian family and later settled in Toronto. Soon after arriving in the UK in 1958 she began playing the role of Lotus Blossom in the play ''The Teahouse of the August Moon'' on stage. To the general public, she was probably best known for playing receptionist Sister Lily in the very first James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ... film ''Dr. No'' in 1962.https://jamesbond007.se/eng/stars/yvonne-shima In the late 1960s, Yvonne decided to stop acting after suffering a car accident. Filmography Film Television References External links *The Subject(s) of Human Rights {{DEFAULTSORT:Shima, Yvonne 1935 births 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carole Shelley
Carole Augusta Shelley (16 August 1939 – 31 August 2018)Bartlett, Rhett"Carole Shelley, One of the Pigeon Sisters From 'The Odd Couple,' Dies at 79"''The Hollywood Reporter'', 1 September 2018"Carole Shelley Passes Away at 79" broadwayworld.com, 1 September 2018 was an English actress who made her career in the United States and United Kingdom. Her many stage roles included originating the roles of Gwendolyn Pigeon in '' The Odd Couple'' and Madame Morrible in '' Wicked''. She won the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dermot Walsh
Dermot Walsh (10 September 1924 – 26 June 2002) was an Irish stage, film and television actor, known for portraying King Richard the Lionheart in the 1962 television series '' ''Richard the Lionheart''''. Early life Born in Dublin, Ireland, Walsh was the son of a journalist and a civil servant. He attended St Mary's College, Rathmines, and on the wishes of his parents, read Law at University College Dublin. Walsh studied acting at the Abbey Theatre School and spent three years with Lord Longford's repertory company at the Gate Theatre, working as an assistant stage hand. Career In 1945, Walsh moved to Britain and briefly joined the Croydon Repertory. Upon his return to Dublin, he was spotted by a talent scout from the Rank Organisation. This led to parts in ''Bedelia'', ''Hungry Hill'' and ''The Mark of Cain'', and the beginning of Walsh's career in film. He appeared in seven films as a leading man, before returning to the theatre. Walsh later resumed his film career in a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glen Mason (singer)
Glen Mason (born Tom Lennon;Lewisohn (2013) 16 September 1930 – 25 August 2014) was a Scottish-born singer of popular music. Career Glen Mason was born in Stirling, Scotland, UK, on 16 September 1930. After three years in the mines, Mason spent eleven months at the Forth Vale Rubber Works, six months in the Army and fifteen months with a dry-cleaning firm. He appeared on the stage for the first time in a local amateur revue, "The Shipmates", singing "You Made Me Love You". In the spring of 1951, he was offered his first professional engagement, with a three-month summer show at St. Andrews. After that, Glen had several appearances at Scottish theatres and in 1952 sang in another summer show at Montrose, also doing Sunday-night concerts in Arbroath. He headed next to London where, after some months, got a job in cabaret and sang for two weeks at the Churchill Club. Norman Newell, manager for the Philips recording company noticed Mason and after an audition recorded Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tsai Chin (actress)
Tsai Chin (; born 1 September 1933) is a Chinese-British actress, singer, director, and teacher. Her career spans more than six decades and three continents. The daughter of Peking Opera star Zhou Xinfang, Chin was born in Shanghai and educated there and in British Hong Kong. She became the first Chinese-born student of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, of which she is an Associate Member. Initially under the stage name Irene Chow, she starred onstage in London's West End in '' The World of Suzie Wong'' and on Broadway in '' Golden Child''. Chin appeared in two James Bond films, 39 years apart, as a Bond girl in '' You Only Live Twice''; and in '' Casino Royale''. In the United States, Chin is best known for her role as Auntie Lindo in the film '' The Joy Luck Club'' (1993). She also appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' episode " The Only Light in the Darkness" (2014) as Lian May and in the feature film '' Shang-Chi an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Bishop
George Victor Bishop (June 11, 1932 – June 8, 2005), known professionally as Ed Bishop or Edward Bishop, was an American actor, predominantly based in the UK. He was known for playing Commander Ed Straker in '' UFO'', Captain Blue in '' Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'' and for voicing Philip Marlowe in a series of BBC Radio adaptations of the Marlowe novels by Raymond Chandler. Early life George Victor Bishop was born on June 11, 1932, the son of a Manhattan banker, in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Peekskill High School before a brief spell at teacher training college. Bishop served in the United States Army as a disc jockey with the Armed Forces Radio at St. John's in Newfoundland where he was introduced to acting with the St John's Players. After leaving the army, Bishop enrolled at Boston University where he initially studied business administration but halfway through the course, transferred to drama, much against his parents' wishes. After graduating in T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pete Murray (DJ)
Peter Murray James, (born 19 September 1925), known professionally as Pete Murray, is a British radio and television presenter and actor. He is known for his career with the BBC, including stints on the Light Programme, Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 4. In the 1950s, Murray became one of Britain's first pop music television presenters, hosting the rock and roll programme ''Six-Five Special'' (1957–1958) and appearing as a regular panellist on ''Juke Box Jury'' (1959–1967). He was a recurring presence in the BBC's coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest. Murray returned to broadcasting for a Boom Radio special on Boxing Day 2021, over 70 years after his career began. He returned to the station on Boxing Day 2022 where he presented a two-hour show alongside his friend David Hamilton. Early life Murray was born in Hackney, London on 19 September 1925. Career Murray first joined the English service of Radio Luxembourg in 1949 or 1950 as one of its resident announcers in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burt Kwouk
Herbert Tsangtse Kwouk ( Kwouk; ; ; 18 July 1930 – 24 May 2016) was a British actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Cato in the '' Pink Panther'' films. He made appearances in many television programmes, including a portrayal of Imperial Japanese Army Major Yamauchi in the British drama series '' Tenko'' and as Entwistle in ''Last of the Summer Wine''. Early life Kwouk was born on 18 July 1930 in Warrington, Lancashire, to Chinese parents; his parents were on a business trip touring Europe. He was brought up in Shanghai; his father was a textile tycoon descended from a Tang dynasty general. Between the ages of 12 and 16, he attended the Shanghai Jesuit Mission School, which he described as "the Far East equivalent" of Eton College. He left China in 1947 when his parents returned to Britain, and was sent to the United States to complete his education. In 1953, he graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. The Kwouk family fortune was lost in the Chinese c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Barkworth
Peter Wynn Barkworth (14 January 1929 – 21 October 2006) was an English actor. He twice won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor; for ''Crown Matrimonial'' in 1975 and for '' Professional Foul'' and ''The Country Party'' in 1978. He also starred in the ITV series '' Manhunt'' (1970) and the BBC series '' Telford's Change'' (1979). His film appearances included ''Where Eagles Dare'' (1968), '' Patton'' (1970), '' International Velvet'' (1978) and '' Champions'' (1984). Early life Peter Barkworth was born 14 January 1929 in Margate, Kent. Soon after his birth, the family moved to Bramhall in Cheshire and Barkworth was educated at Stockport School. His headmaster wanted him to go to university but Barkworth had set his heart on a career in acting. In 1946 he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He spent the next few years in repertory in Folkestone, with the Arthur Brough company, and also in Sheffield. From the mid-1950s to the early 1960s he taught a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
