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William Anthony Furness, 2nd Viscount Furness
William Anthony Furness, 2nd Viscount Furness (31 March 1929 – 1 May 1995) was a British peer. He was the producer and financier of many West End plays, and an active member of the Royal Central Asian Society. He was also a knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Early life Furness was born in Melton Mowbray, England, the only child of Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness, and his second wife, Thelma Furness, Viscountess Furness (formerly Converse, née Morgan), an American socialite and mistress of King Edward VIII while he was still the Prince of Wales. He was the grandson of Christopher Furness, 1st Baron Furness, of Furness Withy Shipping, and a first cousin of the American fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt. Tony Furness, as he was known, was educated in England at Downside School and in America. He succeeded to the title in 1940 on the death of his father, his half brother Christopher Furness having been killed in action earlier that year at Arras whils ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Right Honourable
''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: The Rt Hon. or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire, and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is predominantly used today as a style associated with the holding of certain senior public offices in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and, to a lesser extent, Australia. ''Right'' in this context is an adverb meaning 'very' or 'fully'. Grammatically, ''The Right Honourable'' is an adjectival phrase which gives information about a person. As such, it is not considered correct to apply it in direct address, nor to use it on its own as a title in place of a name; but rather it is used in the Grammatical person, third person along with a name or noun to be modified. ''Right'' may be abbreviated to ''Rt'', and ''Honourable'' to ''Hon.'', or both. ''The'' is sometimes dropped in written abbreviated form, but is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest extant institutions in the world, its origins lie in the early 11th century and the emergence of bicameralism in the 13th century. In contrast to the House of Commons, membership of the Lords is not generally acquired by Elections in the United Kingdom, election. Most members are Life peer, appointed for life, on either a political or non-political basis. House of Lords Act 1999, Hereditary membership was limited in 1999 to 92 List of excepted hereditary peers, excepted hereditary peers: 90 elected through By-elections to the House of Lords, internal by-elections, plus the Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain as members Ex officio member, ''ex officio''. No members directly inherit their seats any longer. The House of Lords also includes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Central Asian Society
The Royal Society for Asian Affairs (RSAA) is a learned society based in London (United Kingdom). Its objective is to advance public knowledge and understanding of Asia through its worldwide networks, its public events, its publications and its support to research. It is independent of governments and political bodies and does not take institutional positions on issues of policy at its meetings or in its publications. The Society was founded in 1901 as the Central Asian Society to "promote greater knowledge and understanding of Central Asia and surrounding countries". The geographical extent of the society's interest has since expanded to include the whole of Asia. Taylor & Francis publishes the society's journal, ''Asian Affairs'', which has been in print since 1914. History The society was founded in 1901 to promote greater knowledge and understanding of Central Asia and surrounding countries. But although Central Asia dominated the Society’s early interests, from the outs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Easy Rider
''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern. It was produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and the South, carrying money made from a cocaine deal. Other actors in the film include Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, and Toni Basil. The success of ''Easy Rider'' helped spark the New Hollywood era of filmmaking during the early 1970s. A landmark counterculture film, and a "touchstone for a generation" which "captured the national imagination," ''Easy Rider'' explores the societal landscape, issues, and tensions towards adolescents in the United States during the 1960s including the rise of the hippie movement, drug use, and communal lifestyle. Real drugs were used in scenes showing the use of marijuana and other substances. An independent production, the film was released by Columbia Pictures on July 14, 1969, and earned $60 million worldwide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Livesey
Roger Livesey (25 June 1906 – 4 February 1976) was a British stage and film actor. He is most often remembered for the three Powell and Pressburger, Powell & Pressburger films in which he starred: ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'', ''I Know Where I'm Going!'' and ''A Matter of Life and Death (film), A Matter of Life and Death''. Tall and broad with a mop of chestnut hair, Livesey used his highly distinctive husky voice, gentle manner and athletic physique to create many notable roles in his theatre and film work. Early life Livesey was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Barry, Wales. Although most articles about him indicated that his parents were Sam Livesey, Samuel and Mary Catherine ( Edwards) Livesey, later research has shown that his father was actually Joseph Livesey. The confusion may have arisen because his mother Mary married Samuel (Joseph's brother) after Joseph's death and the death of Samuel's wife, Mary's sister. Samuel and Mary had a child of their own, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c. 1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916. It was designed to seat 759 patrons on three levels; later refurbishment increased this to four seating levels. The theatre was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in September 1960. History Wyndham had always dreamed of building a theatre of his own, and through the admiration of a patron and the financial confidence of friends, he was able to realise his dream. Wyndham's Theatre opened on 16 November 1899, in the presence of the Prince of Wales. The first play performed there was a revival of T. W. Robertson's ''David Garrick''. A number of successes followed, including Lena Ashwell playing the lead role in '' Mrs Dane's Defence'' in 1900, upon which Wyndham said that “''the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heartbreak House
''Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes'' is a play written by Bernard Shaw during the First World War, published in 1919 and first performed in November 1920 at the Garrick Theatre, New York, followed by a West End production the following year. The play reflects Shaw's disillusion with post-war Britain. It contrasts cultured but self-absorbed and politically irresponsible people on the one hand and aggressive philistines on the other. ''Heartbreak House'' contains a self-mocking depiction of Shaw himself in the central character, Captain Shotover. Background By 1920, Shaw was in his sixties and had been writing for the theatre for nearly thirty years. His plays included '' Arms and the Man'', '' The Devil's Disciple'', '' Man and Superman'', ''Major Barbara'' and '' Androcles and the Lion''. His last play before the First World War had been the highly successful '' Pygmalion''. He was internationally famous, and commented "I have advertized my ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeremy Brett
Peter Jeremy William Huggins (3 November 1933 – 12 September 1995), known professionally as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes from 1984 to 1994 in 41 episodes of a Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV series), Granada TV series. He also played the smitten Freddy Eynsford-Hill in the 1964 Warner Bros. production of ''My Fair Lady (film), My Fair Lady''. His career spanned stage, television and film, to Shakespeare and musical theatre. Early life Jeremy Brett was born Peter Jeremy William Huggins at Berkswell Grange in Berkswell, then in Warwickshire. His birthdate was actually 3 November 1933,Birth Record on 3 November 1933 for Peter Jeremy William Huggins in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2005 but it has also been stated as December 1933 or 1935, according to many sources. He was the son of Lieutenant Colonel (United Kingdom), Lieutenant Colonel Henry William Huggins, Distinguished Service Order, DSO, Milita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Visit To A Small Planet
''Visit to a Small Planet'' is a 1960 American black-and-white science fiction comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Jerry Lewis, Joan Blackman, Earl Holliman, and Fred Clark. Distributed by Paramount Pictures, it was produced by Hal B. Wallis. ''Visit to a Small Planet'' debuted as an original television production by Gore Vidal, then was reworked by Vidal as a Broadway play starring Cyril Ritchard and Eddie Mayehoff. The film was released on February 4, 1960. It was re-released in 1966 on a double bill with another Jerry Lewis film, '' The Bellboy''. Plot Kreton is an alien from the planet X-47 who is fascinated by human beings. Against the wishes of his teacher, he repeatedly visits Earth. During his latest visit, his teacher reluctantly agrees to allow him to stay and study the humans. Kreton becomes friends with a suburban family and stays with them after they agree to keep his alien status a secret. Along the way, he falls in love with their daughter. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gore Vidal
Eugene Luther Gore Vidal ( ; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his acerbic epigrammatic wit. His novels and essays interrogated the Social norm, social and sexual norms he perceived as driving American life. Vidal was heavily involved in politics, and unsuccessfully sought office twice as a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party candidate, first in 1960 to the United States House of Representatives (for New York), and later in 1982 to the United States Senate (for California). A grandson of U.S. Senator Thomas Gore, Vidal was born into an upper-class political family. As a political commentator and essayist, Vidal's primary focus was the History of the United States, history and society of the United States, especially how a militaristic Foreign policy of the United States, foreign policy reduced the country to a American imperialism, decadent empire. His political and cultural essays w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Saunders (playwright)
James Saunders (8 January 1925 – 29 January 2004) was a prolific English playwright born in Islington, London. His early plays led to him being considered one of the leading British exponents of the Theatre of the Absurd. (intro), , (1965) Personal life He was educated at Wembley County Grammar School, which now forms part of a ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed radio, theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "one of the most accomplished actors of the century". A lifetime member of the Actors Studio, he won a Primetime Emmy Awards, Primetime Emmy Award, was the first male actor to win the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, and was nominated for two Academy Awards. Meredith established himself as a leading man in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood with critically acclaimed performances as Mio Romagna in ''Winterset (film), Winterset'' (1936), Of Mice and Men, George Milton in ''Of Mice and Men (1939 film), Of Mice and Men'' (1939), and Ernie Pyle in ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945). Meredith was known later in his career for his appearances on ''The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series), The Twilight Zone'' and for portraying Pengu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
