1.
Music hall
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Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era circa 1850 and lasting until 1960. It involved a mixture of songs, comedy, speciality acts. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place and these theatres were designed chiefly so people could consume food and alcohol and smoke tobacco in the auditorium while the entertainment took place. This differed somewhat from the type of theatre, which until then seated the audience in stalls with a separate bar-room. By the mid-19th century, the halls cried out for many new, as a result, professional songwriters were enlisted to provide the music for a plethora of star performers, such as Marie Lloyd, Dan Leno, Little Tich, and George Leybourne. Music hall did not adopt its own unique style, the halls had recovered by the start of the First World War and were used to stage charity events in aid of the war effort. Music hall entertainment continued after the war, but became popular due to upcoming Jazz, Swing. Licensing restrictions had also changed, and drinking was banned from the auditorium, a new type of music hall entertainment had arrived, in the form of variety, and many music hall performers failed to make the transition. Deemed old fashioned and with the closure of many halls, music hall entertainment ceased, Music hall in London had its origins in entertainment provided in the new style saloon bars of public houses during the 1830s. These venues replaced earlier semi-rural amusements provided by fairs and suburban pleasure gardens such as Vauxhall Gardens and these latter became subject to urban development and became fewer and less popular. The saloon was a room where for a fee or a greater price at the bar, singing, dancing. The most famous London saloon of the days was the Grecian Saloon, established in 1825, at The Eagle,2 Shepherdess Walk. According to John Hollingshead, proprietor of the Gaiety Theatre, London, this establishment was the father and mother, later known as the Grecian Theatre, it was here that Marie Lloyd made her début at the age of 14 in 1884. It is still famous because of an English nursery rhyme, with the somewhat mysterious lyrics, Up and down the City Road In and out The Eagle Thats the way the money goesPop goes the weasel. Another famous song and supper room of this period was Evans Music-and-Supper Rooms,43 King Street, Covent Garden and this venue was also known as Evans Late Joys – Joy being the name of the previous owner. Other song and supper rooms included the Coal Hole in The Strand, the Cyder Cellars in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, the music hall as we know it developed from such establishments during the 1850s and were built in and on the grounds of public houses. In a theatre, by contrast, the audience was seated in stalls, an exception to this rule was the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton which somehow managed to evade this regulation and served drinks to its customers. Though a theatre rather than a hall, this establishment later hosted music hall variety acts
2.
The Crazy Gang
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The Crazy Gang were a group of British entertainers, formed in the early 1930s. In the mature form the six men were Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen, Jimmy Nervo, Teddy Knox, Charlie Naughton. The group achieved considerable domestic popularity and were a favourite of the family, especially King George VI. Although George Black is often credited with the formation of the Crazy Gang, in 1931 three double acts were tentatively booked at the London Palladium. This caused Black to consider cancelling one of the couples, Nervo and Knox had a technique of entering other acts and Black was persuaded to overcome the difficulty by letting this happen. The show, which was called Crazy Week opened on 30 November 1931, other Crazy Weeks followed with Flanagan and Allen added. The name Crazy Gang was not used until 1937, the popularity of the Gang is seen through a reference to Crazy Week in Alfred Hitchcocks movie The 39 Steps, which has its conclusion at the Palladium. The members were, Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen, Jimmy Nervo, Teddy Knox, Charlie Naughton and Jimmy Gold, essentially the gang comprised three double acts, Flanagan and Allen, Naughton and Gold, and Nervo and Knox. They had all had entertainment success before the Crazy Gang but not of the same magnitude and it was natural for them to get together as they shared a similar style of comedy and worked on the same bills at theatres. The gang appeared first in their own stage show Crazy Week at the London Palladium, which became their adopted home. The first was O-Kay For Sound, in 1937, and the best remembered was their war-time film Gasbags and they kept people entertained during the war years with their irreverent comedy style, and Flanagan and Allens very popular songs also contributed to their success. All their films were directed by Marcel Varnel, the Frenchman who directed a long list of classic British comedies for Will Hay, George Formby, moore Marriott, who was a frequent co-star of Will Hay, often turned up in their films. Eddie Gray, their associate and equally crazy comic, appeared in the later Life Is a Circus only, later they made Life Is A Circus, starring Shirley Eaton, in which Flanagan and Allen again performed their biggest hit, Underneath the Arches. Chesney Allen withdrew from live performances in years due to ill health. The Gang made a series, The Gang Show, in 1956. The Gang was understudied by Peter Glaze, among the other acts who worked with The Crazy Gang was Teddy Brown, a very tall and enormously heavy American percussionist. His speciality was to perform on the xylophone and his relationship to the main members was similar to that of Eddie Gray. Another star who worked with the gang was the actor Stanley Holloway and they were asked to do many Royal Command performances, and they also did private performances for the royal family
3.
Juggling
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Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, Juggling can be the manipulation of one object or many objects at the same time, using one or many hands. Jugglers often refer to the objects they juggle as props, the most common props are balls, clubs, or rings. Some jugglers use more dramatic objects such as knives, fire torches or chainsaws, the term juggling can also commonly refer to other prop-based manipulation skills, such as diabolo, devil sticks, poi, cigar boxes, contact juggling, hooping, yo-yo, and hat manipulation. The words juggling and juggler derive from the Middle English jogelen, there is also the Late Latin form joculare of Latin joculari, meaning to jest. In the 21st century, the term juggling usually refers to toss juggling, david Levinson and Karen Christensen describe juggling as the sport of tossing and catching or manipulating objects keeping them in constant motion. Juggling, like music, combines abstract patterns and mind-body coordination in a pleasing way, the earliest record of juggling is suggested in a panel from the 15th Beni Hasan tomb of an unknown Egyptian prince, showing female dancers and acrobats throwing balls. Juggling has been recorded in early cultures including Egyptian, Nabataean, Chinese, Indian, Greek, Roman, Norse, Aztec. Juggling in ancient China was an art performed by some warriors, one such warrior was Xiong Yiliao, whose juggling of nine balls in front of troops on a battlefield reportedly caused the opposing troops to flee without fighting, resulting in a complete victory. In Europe, juggling was an acceptable diversion until the decline of the Roman Empire, Jugglers in this era would only perform in marketplaces, streets, fairs, or drinking houses. They would perform short, humorous and bawdy acts and pass a hat or bag among the audience for tips, some kings and noblemen’s bards, fools, or jesters would have been able to juggle or perform acrobatics, though their main skills would have been oral. In 1768, Philip Astley opened the first modern circus, a few years later, he employed jugglers to perform acts along with the horse and clown acts. Since then, jugglers have been associated with circuses, in the early 19th century, troupes from Asia, such as the famous Indian Jugglers referred to by William Hazlitt, arrived to tour Britain, Europe and parts of America. In the 19th century, variety and music hall theatres became more popular, performers started specializing in juggling, separating it from other kinds of performance such as sword swallowing and magic. The Gentleman Juggler style was established by German jugglers such as Salerno, rubber processing developed, and jugglers started using rubber balls. Previously, juggling balls were made from balls of twine, stuffed leather bags, wooden spheres, solid or inflatable rubber balls meant that bounce juggling was possible. Inflated rubber balls made ball spinning easier and more readily accessible, soon in North America, vaudeville theatres employed jugglers, often hiring European performers. In the early to mid-20th century, variety and vaudeville shows decreased in popularity due to competition from motion picture theatres, radio and television, Music and comedy transferred very easily to radio, but juggling could not
4.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. The plot displays many elements of farce, including puns, the slamming of doors, cases of mistaken identity. The title derives from an often used by vaudeville comedians to begin a story. The musicals original 1962 Broadway run won several Tony Awards, including Best Musical, a Funny Thing has enjoyed several Broadway and West End revivals and was made into a successful film starring the original lead of the musical, Zero Mostel. He is also quoted as turning down the role for being Sgt, milton Berle also passed on the role. During the out of town pre-Broadway tryouts the show was attracting little business, Jerome Robbins was called in to give advice and make changes. The biggest change Robbins made was a new opening number to replace Love Is in the Air and introduce the show as a bawdy, Stephen Sondheim wrote the song Comedy Tonight for this new opening. From that point on, the show was a success and it was directed by George Abbott and produced by Hal Prince, with choreography by Jack Cole and uncredited staging and choreography by Robbins. The scenic and costume design was by Tony Walton and this wardrobe is on display at the Costume World Broadway Collection in Pompano Beach, Florida. The lighting design was by Jean Rosenthal, along with Mostel, the musical featured a cast of seasoned performers, including Jack Gilford, David Burns, John Carradine, Ruth Kobart, and Raymond Walburn. The young lovers were played by Brian Davies and Preshy Marker, karen Black, originally cast as the ingenue, was replaced out of town. The show won several Tony Awards, Best Musical, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Book, and Best Director. The score, however, was received, it was Sondheims first musical on Broadway in which he wrote both the music and lyrics, and did not earn a nomination for Best Original Score. The show was presented two times in Londons West End and this production was nominated for the 2005 Olivier Award, Outstanding Musical Production. David Burns did not return for the role of Senex. Buster Keaton made his film appearance in the role of Erronius. A revival opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on April 4,1972, directed by co-author Burt Shevelove the cast starred Phil Silvers as Pseudolus, Lew Parker as Senex, Carl Ballantine as Lycus and Reginald Owen as Erronius. Larry Blyden, who played Hysterium, the created by Jack Gilford
5.
Pimlico
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Pimlico /ˈpɪmlᵻkoʊ/ is a small area within central London in the City of Westminster. Like Belgravia, to which it was built as an extension, Pimlico is known for its garden squares. At Pimlicos heart is a grid of streets laid down by the planner Thomas Cubitt beginning in 1825. The area has over 350 Grade II listed buildings and several Grade II* listed churches, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Manor of Ebury was divided up and leased by the Crown to servants or favourites. In 1623, James I sold the freehold of Ebury for £1,151 and 15 shillings, the land was sold on several more times, until it came into the hands of heiress Mary Davies in 1666. Marys dowry not only included The Five Fields of modern-day Pimlico and Belgravia, understandably, she was much pursued but in 1677, at the age of twelve, married Sir Thomas Grosvenor. The Grosvenors were a family of Norman descent long seated at Eaton Hall in Cheshire who until this auspicious marriage were, through the development and good management of this land the Grosvenors acquired enormous wealth. At some point in the seventeenth or early eighteenth century. While its origins are disputed, it is clearly of foreign derivation, supporting this etymology, Rev. Brewer describes the area as a district of public gardens much frequented on holidays. According to tradition, it received its name from Ben Pimlico and his tea-gardens, however, were near Hoxton, and the road to them was termed Pimlico Path, so that what is now called Pimlico was so named from the popularity of the Hoxton resort. In 1825, Thomas Cubitt was contracted by Lord Grosvenor to develop Pimlico, the land up to this time had been marshy but was reclaimed using soil excavated during the construction of St Katharine Docks. Cubitt developed Pimlico as a grid of white stucco terraces. The largest and most opulent houses were built along St Georges Drive and Belgrave Road, lupus Street contained similarly grand houses, as well as shops and, until the early twentieth century, a hospital for women and children. Smaller-scale properties, typically of three storeys, line the side streets, an 1877 newspaper article described Pimlico as genteel, sacred to professional men… not rich enough to luxuriate in Belgravia proper, but rich enough to live in private houses. Its inhabitants were more lively than in Kensington… and yet a cut above Chelsea, although the area was dominated by the well-to-do middle and upper-middle classes as late as Booths 1889 Map of London Poverty, parts of Pimlico are said to have declined significantly by the 1890s. Through the late century, Pimlico saw the construction of several Peabody Estates, charitable housing projects designed to provide affordable. Proximity to the Houses of Parliament made Pimlico a centre of political activity, prior to 1928, the Labour Party and Trades Union Congress shared offices on Eccleston Square, and it was here in 1926 that the general strike was organised. Completed in 1937, it became popular with MPs and public servants
6.
Harry Lauder
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Sir Henry Harry Lauder was a Scottish music hall and vaudeville theatre singer and comedian, and a substantial landowner. He was perhaps best known for his long-standing hit I Love a Lassie and he was described by Sir Winston Churchill as Scotlands greatest ever ambassador. He became a worldwide figure promoting images like the kilt. Other songs followed, including Roamin in the Gloamin, A Wee Deoch-an-Doris, by 1911, Lauder had become the highest-paid performer in the world, and was the first Scottish artist to sell a million records. He raised vast amounts of money for the war effort during World War I and he went into semi-retirement in the mid-1930s, but briefly emerged to entertain troops in World War II. By the late-1940s he was suffering from periods of ill-health. John Lauder, was a descendent of the barons, the Lauders of the Bass. Lauders father moved to Newbold, Derbyshire in early 1882 to take up a job designing china, upon his death, Isabella, left short of money, moved the family to Arbroath. Education beyond the age of 11 then requiring payment, Harry worked part-time at the flax mill to fund that. On 19 June 1891, at age 21, Lauder married Ann, daughter of James Vallance, Lauder often sang to the miners in Hamilton who encouraged him to perform in local music halls. While singing in nearby Larkhall, he received 5 shillings—the first time he was paid for singing and he received further engagements including a weekly go-as-you please night held by Mrs. Christina Baylis at her Scotia Music Hall/Metropole Theatre in Glasgow. She advised him to experience by touring music halls around the country with a concert party. The tour allowed him to quit the coal mines and become a professional singer, Lauder concentrated his repertoire on comedic routines and songs of Scotland and Ireland. By 1894 he had turned professional and performed local characterisations at small, Scottish and northern English music halls, but had ceased the repertoire by 1900. In March of that year, Lauder travelled to London and reduced the heavy dialect of his act which according to a biographer, Dave Russell and it was during this time that he became a Freemason. He was initiated on 28 January 1897 in Lodge Dramatic, No.571 and he remained an active Freemason for the rest of his adult life. Lauder then made a switch from music hall to variety theatre, the following year, he performed a private show before Edward VII at Sandringham, and in 1911, he again toured the United States where he commanded $1,000 a night. In 1912, he was top of the bill at Britains first ever Royal Command Performance, in front of King George V, during the First World War Lauder promoted recruitment into the services and starred in many concerts for troops at home and on the western front
7.
The Sydney Morning Herald
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The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily compact newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia, the newspaper is published six days a week. It is available at outlets in Sydney, regional New South Wales, Canberra, the Sydney Morning Herald includes a variety of supplements, including the magazines Good Weekend, and Sunday Life. By February 2016, average circulation had fallen to 104,000, similarWeb rates the site as the fifth most visited news website in Australia and as the 42nd newspapers website globally, attracting more than 15 million visitors per month. In 1931 a Centenary Supplement was published, the original four-page weekly had a print run of 750. In 1840, the newspaper began to publish daily, in 1841, an Englishman named John Fairfax purchased the operation, renaming it The Sydney Morning Herald the following year. Fairfax, whose family were to control the newspaper for almost 150 years, based his editorial policies upon principles of candour, honesty and we have no wish to mislead, no interest to gratify by unsparing abuse or indiscriminate approbation. During the decade 1890, Donald Murray worked there, the SMH was late to the trend of printing news rather than just advertising on the front page, doing so from 15 April 1944. Of the countrys metropolitan dailies, only The West Australian was later in making the switch, in 1949, the newspaper launched a Sunday edition, The Sunday Herald. Four years later, this was merged with the newly acquired Sun newspaper to create The Sun-Herald, in 1995, the company launched the newspapers web edition smh. com. au. The site has grown to include interactive and multimedia features beyond the content in the print edition. Around the same time, the organisation moved from Jones Street to new offices at Darling Park and built a new printing press at Chullora, the SMH has since moved with other Sydney Fairfax divisions to a building at Darling Island. In May 2007, Fairfax Media announced it would be moving from a format to the smaller compact or tabloid-size, in the footsteps of The Times. Fairfax Media dumped these plans later in the year, however, in June 2012, Fairfax Media again announced it planned to shift both broadsheet newspapers to tabloid size, in March 2013. Fairfax also announced it would cut staff across the group by 1,900 over three years and erect paywalls around the papers websites. The subscription type is to be a model, limiting readers to a number of free stories per month, with a payment required for further access. In July 2013 it was announced that the SMHs news director, Darren Goodsir, would become Editor-in-Chief, on 22 February 2014, the final Saturday edition was produced in broadsheet format with this too converted to compact format on 1 March 2014. Ahead of the decommissioning of the plant at Chullora in June 2014
8.
London Palladium
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The London Palladium is a 2, 286-seat Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London, the theatre has also hosted the Royal Variety Performance a record 40 times, most recently in 2014. Walter Gibbons, an early manager, built the Palladium in 1910 to compete with Sir Edward Mosss London Hippodrome. The facade, dates back to the 19th century, formerly it was a temporary wooden building called Corinthian Bazaar, which featured an aviary and aimed to attract customers from the recently closed Pantheon Bazaar on Oxford Street. It then became the National Skating Palace – a skating rink with real ice, however the rink failed and the Palladium was redesigned by Frank Matcham, a famous theatrical architect who also designed the Coliseum, on the site that had previously housed Hengler’s Circus. The building now carries Heritage Foundation commemorative plaques honouring Lew Grade, the theatre retains many of its original features and was Grade II* listed in September 1960. The Palladium had its own telephone system so the occupants of boxes could call one another and it also had a revolving stage. The theatre started out as The Palladium, a venue for variety performances. In 1926, the pantomime starred Lennie Dean as Cinderella, footage of remains to this day. The theatre is especially linked to the Royal Variety Performances, where many were, in 1928, for three months the Palladium also ran as a cinema. Following this Cine-Variety episode the theatre fell dark for a period in the autumn of 1928. From 3 September 1928, the Palladium reopened under the directorship of the impresario/producer George Black as part of the General Theatre Corporation, when Black took control the theatre was close to bankruptcy. Before too long, under Blacks management the Palladium was soon gaining praise again as The Worlds Leading Variety Theatre, in 1935, Black initiated the Crazy Gang revues at the Palladium with Life Begins at Oxford Circus. The revues continued at the Palladium as an event until they transferred to the Victoria Palace theatre in 1940. Black managed the Palladium until his death in 1945, the climax of the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock spy thriller The 39 Steps was filmed at the Palladium. The theatre was hit by an unexploded German parachute mine on 11 May 1941, the device had fallen through the roof, becoming lodged over the stage. A Royal Navy bomb disposal team was sent to deal with it, after the mine was located, the fuze locking ring had to be turned to allow access to the fuze itself. Rather disconcertingly, the fuze began ticking as soon as it was touched and this caused a rapid evacuation of the immediate area, but the mine did not detonate
9.
Royal Variety Performance
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The Royal Variety Performance is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity It is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family. The Royal Variety Performance traditionally begins with the entrance of the members of the British Royal Family followed by singing of the national anthem, the first performance, on 1 July 1912, was called the Royal Command Performance, and this name has persisted informally for the event. This was held in the Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, in the presence of King George V and Queen Mary. It was planned to be in the Empire Theatre, Edinburgh, part of the vast Moss Empires group, after the death of Moss, Sir Alfred Butt was chosen as the impresario and it was staged in 1912. This was an occasion, and his London Palace Theatre was lavishly decorated. Top performers included Vesta Tilley, Sir George Robey, David Devant, Anna Pavlova, Harry Lauder, the organisers did not invite Marie Lloyd, because of a professional dispute. Her act was deemed too risqué and her three public, unsuccessful marriages were thought to make her unfit to perform in front of royalty and she held a rival performance in a nearby theatre, which she advertised was by command of the British public. The name of the event was changed to prevent possible royal embarrassment, the Royal Variety became an annual event at the suggestion of King George V from 1921 and the British Broadcasting Corporation began to broadcast it on radio. From 1928 through to 1938, the impresario-producer and manager of the London Palladium, George Black and he would also facilitate as compere at the shows. His first production was held on 1 March 1928 at the London Coliseum and his 1938 show returned to the London Coliseum. Throughout World War II from 1939 to 1944 no shows were presented, the show resumed in 1945 after the war ended. In both 1976 and 1978, the BBC broadcast the show live, the BBC usually staged the show in a West End theatre, and ITV in regional theatres outside London. From 2011, ITV have exclusive rights to televise the show, a wide range of acts has performed at the Royal Command Performance, including Laurel and Hardy in 1947, the Beatles in 1963, the Supremes in 1968 and the Blue Man Group in 2005. The orchestra was conducted by Edward Elgar, in 1921 it moved to the Hippodrome, and was held in November. It was the first time that the Royal Variety Performance became an annual event, in 1923 it moved to the Coliseum Theatre. Then after a gap in 1924, moved to the Alhambra Theatre in February 1925 and it was the first Royal Variety Performance to be broadcast, with the BBC providing live radio coverage. In 1927 there was another move, this time to the Victoria Palace Theatre, the 1928 show, on 13 December, was held at the Coliseum Theatre. The next show, on 22 May 1930, moved to the London Palladium with George Black and it was the start of seven successive years at the venue
10.
Burns and Allen
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Burns and Allen was an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen. They worked together as a comedy team that entertained vaudeville, film, radio. The duo met in 1922 and married in 1926, Burns was the straight man and Allen was a silly, addle-headed woman. The duo starred in a number of movies including Lambchops, The Big Broadcast, after their radio shows cancellation, Burns and Allen reemerged on television with a popular situation comedy, which ran from 1950 to 1958. Burns and Allens radio show was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1994 and their TV series received a total of 11 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and produced what TV Guide ranked No.56 on its 1997 list of the 100 greatest episodes of all time. Burns wrote most of the material and played the straight man, Allen played a silly, addle-headed woman, a role often attributed to the Dumb Dora stereotype common in early 20th-century vaudeville comedy. Early on, the team had played the roles until they noticed that the audience was laughing at Gracies straight lines. In later years, each attributed their success to the other, the Burns and Allen team was not an overnight sensation. We were a good act, Burns said, but we were not headliners or stars or featured attractions. We were on the bill with them, there would be a star or two stars and a featured attraction, and then we would come — fourth billing in an eight-act show. Their career changed direction when they made their first film, in the early days of talking pictures, the studios eagerly hired actors who knew how to deliver dialogue or songs. The most prolific of these studios was Warner Bros. whose Vitaphone Varieties shorts captured vaudeville headliners of the 1920s on film, Burns and Allen earned a reputation as a reliable disappointment act. So it went with their film debut and they were last-minute replacements for another act and ran through their patter-and-song routine in Lambchops. After a restoration, the film was released on DVD in October 2007, Paramount Pictures used its East Coast studio to film New York-based stage and vaudeville stars. Eddie Cantor, Fred Allen, Ethel Merman and Smith and Dale were among the top acts seen in Paramount shorts, in 1932, Paramount produced an all-star musical comedy, The Big Broadcast, featuring the nations hottest radio personalities. Burns and Allen were recruited, and made such an impression that they continued to make guest appearances in Paramount features through 1937, most of these used the Big Broadcast formula of an all-star comedy cast. In 1935 the team starred in a pair of low-budget features, Here Comes Cookie. At RKO, Fred Astaire succeeded in his efforts to make a musical feature without Ginger Rogers, and their names appeared with Astaires before the title
11.
Wilson, Keppel and Betty
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Wilson, Keppel and Betty formed a popular British music hall and vaudeville act in the middle decades of the 20th century. They capitalised on the fashion for Ancient Egyptian imagery following the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, the sand dance that formed the highlight of their act was a parody of postures from Egyptian tomb paintings, combined with references to Arabic costume. The dance itself was a routine performed on a layer of sand spread on the stage to create a rhythmic scratching with their shuffling feet. The act was performed to the familiar Egyptian Ballet, by Alexandre Luigini. Jack Wilson was born in Warrington in Lancashire as John William Wilson, during World War I Wilson served with the Royal Navy following which he travelled to Australia, where he joined Colleanos Circus in 1920. Joe Keppel was born in County Cork in Ireland as John Joseph Keppel, in 1912 he joined the Royal Navy, but was discharged after 5 months as being unfit. After making his way to Australia he joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1914 and was discharged as unfit after almost two years, on travelling to Australia he also joined Colleanos Circus, where he teamed up with Jack Wilson. In 1920 the duo travelled to Canada where they toured in a tap dancing act. By 1928 they were performing as The Bus Boys and in this year Kansas-born chorus girl Betty Knox joined the act at Des Moines, Iowa. She is said to have married mechanic Donald Knox in 1923 and to have divorced him after a brief marriage and their daughter Jean Patricia Knox was born in 1923 in Salina, Kansas. She was to be brought up by her grandparents for the next 14 years while her mother worked firstly in a line and then with Wilson. The act came to Britain to appear at the London Palladium for a few weeks in 1932 and she was among the first to report the suicide of Hermann Göring. Their Cleopatras Nightmare routine was performed in 1936 in Berlin and condemned by Joseph Goebbels as indecent, in the UK they were regarded as one of the best speciality acts – acts designed to balance and support the star of a variety programme. Typically these acts would last about ten minutes, and be repeated twelve times a week in variety theatres all over the country, a fine example of the Cleopatras Nightmare routine can be seen in the Harold Baim film Starlight Serenade. Knoxs daughter, Patsy Knox, took over as Betty in 1942, the trio, in its various line-ups, appeared at the Royal Variety Performance in 1933,1945 and 1947. In 1950 they appeared at the London Palladium on the bill as Frank Sinatra. They toured all over the world, performing at shows in London, Europe, Las Vegas, India and they finally retired in 1962 after a performance in Great Yarmouth. Betty Knox died in 1963 at her home in Düsseldorf in Germany, Jack Wilson moved into Brinsworth House, a retirement home for showbusiness personalities, where he died in 1970
12.
Evelyn Laye
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Evelyn Laye, CBE was an English actress who was active on the London light opera stage, and later in New York and Hollywood. Her first husband, actor Sonnie Hale, left her for Jessie Matthews and her second husband was actor Frank Lawton, with whom she often appeared in stage productions. Laye was born as Elsie Evelyn Lay in Bloomsbury, London and her parents were both actors and her father a theatre manager. For the first few years of her career she played in musical comedy and operetta. Among her successes during the 1920s were Phi-Phi, Madame Pompadour, The Dollar Princess, Blue Eyes and she made her Broadway debut in 1929 in the American première of Noël Cowards Bitter Sweet and appeared in several early Hollywood film musicals. She continued acting in such as The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. After the Second World War, she had success, but she returned to the West End in 1954. She also acted several times opposite her husband, actor Frank Lawton, including in the 1956 sitcom My Husband. Other stage successes included Silver Wedding, The Amorous Prawn and Phil the Fluter, married to the actor Sonnie Hale in 1926, Laye received widespread public sympathy when Hale left her for the actress Jessie Matthews in 1928. She was initially reluctant to abandon the marriage, but, despite a trial reconciliation. She subsequently wed actor Frank Lawton, with whom she remained married until his death, awarded a CBE in 1973, Laye continued acting well into her nineties. It was reported after Layes death that the Queen Mother had petitioned the then Prime Minister John Major for Laye to be awarded the DBE, Laye died in a nursing home in Pimlico, Central London from respiratory failure in 1996, aged 95
13.
Franglais
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Franglais is a French portmanteau referring to the macaronic mixture of the French and English languages. In English, Franglais means a mangled combination of English and French, produced either by poor knowledge of one or the language, native bilingualism. Some examples of Franglais are, Longtemps, pas voir, – Im going to drive downtown. Franglais may also mean a diplomatic compromise, such as the abbreviation UTC for Coordinated Universal Time, chaucers Prioress knew nothing of the French of Paris, but only that of Stratford-atte-Bow. Similar mixtures occur in the stages of Law French, such as the famous defendant who ject un brickbat a le dit Justice. Another example in English literature is found in Henry V by William Shakespeare, a French princess is trying to learn English, but unfortunately, foot as pronounced by her maid sounds too much like foutre and gown like con. She decides English is too obscene a language, a literary example of the delight in mélange occurs in Robert Surtees Jorrocks Jaunts and Jollities, You shall manger cinq fois every day, said she, cinq fois, she repeated. —Humph. Said Mr. Jorrocks to himself, what can that mean. —cank four—four times fives twenty—eat twenty times a day—not possible. The humourist Miles Kington wrote a regular column Parlez vous Franglais which, for a number of starting in the late 1970s. These columns were collected into a series of books, Lets Parler Franglais, Lets Parler Franglais One More Temps, The Franglais Lieutenants Woman and Other Literary Masterpieces. A somewhat different tack was taken in Luis van Rootens Mots dHeures, Gousses, Rames, another classic is Jean Loup Chiflets Sky My Husband. Ciel Mon Mari. which is a translation of French into English. However, in context, the correct translation of ciel. is heavens. In Monty Pythons 1975 movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the French castle guard orders, the other French guards respond with Quoi. and he repeats Fetchez la vache. The guards finally get it, fetch la vache, which they then catapult at the Britons, in French, franglais refers to the use of English words sometimes regarded as unwelcome imports or as bad slang. An example would be le week-end, Franglais also refers to nouns created from Anglo-Saxon roots or from recent English loanwords, often by adding -ing at the end of a popular word—e. g. Un parking, un camping, and shampooing, a term that has become standardized, a few words that have entered use in French are derived from English roots but are not found at all in English, such as un relooking, and un rugbyman. Others are based on ideas about English words, e. g
14.
Gert and Daisy
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Gert and Daisy were the two characters of a British female comedy act who are particularly remembered for their contribution to film and radio entertainment during World War II. They were stalwarts of the BBC radio variety programme Workers Playtime, where they would talk about anything and everything, but especially their fictional husbands, Bert and Wally. The characters of Gert and Daisy were played by Florence Elsie Waters and Doris Ethel Waters, Elsie and Doris were awarded OBEs in the Kings Birthday Honours List in 1946. They appeared in three films together Gert and Daisys Weekend, Gert and Daisy Clean Up and Its in the Bag, in 1959 they appeared in a television series Gert and Daisy which aired on ITV. They performed in radios Workers Playtime, and appeared in the series called Floggits in 1956 and 1957. It was written by Terry Nation, John Junkin and Dave Freeman and it was produced by Alastair-Scott Johnson and Bill Gates. Elsie and Doris Waters are perhaps the most influential social satirists of the period The Kray twins were nicknamed Gert, manchester United defenders Gary Pallister and Steve Bruce were nicknamed Gert & Daisy by their fans in the late 1990s. The radio adaptation of Bristow featured a comic duo named Gert, female double act Elsie and Doris Waters - Just Gert and Daisy Elsie and Doris Waters. Two digitally restored Gert and Daisy Sketches Song & Sketch Transcripts of British Music Hall Performers Elsie, imdb database listing, Florence Elsie Waters. East London history, Horace John Waters
15.
Pantomime
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Pantomime, is a type of musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, generally during the Christmas and New Year season and, to a lesser extent. It is a form of theatre, in which the audience is expected to sing along with certain parts of the music. Pantomime has a theatrical history in Western culture dating back to classical theatre. It developed partly from the 16th century commedia dellarte tradition of Italy, as well as other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th-century masques, an important part of the pantomime, until the late 19th century, was the harlequinade. Outside Britain the word pantomime is used to mean miming. The Roman pantomime drew upon the Greek tragedy and other Greek genres from its inception, although the art was instituted in Rome, the English word came to be applied to the performance itself. Music was supplied by flute and the pulse of an iron-shod shoe, performances might be in a private household, with minimal personnel, or else lavish theatrical productions involving a large orchestra and chorus and sometimes an ancillary actor. The dancer danced all the roles, relying on masks, stock poses and gestures, Pantomime differed from mime by its more artistic nature and relative lack of farce and coarse humour, though these were not absent from some productions. Precursors of pantomime also included the masque, which grew in pomp, the development of English pantomime was also strongly influenced by the continental commedia dellarte, a form of popular theatre that arose in Italy in the Early Modern Period. Each scenario used some of the stock characters. These included the innamorati, the vecchi such as Pantalone, and zanni such as Arlecchino, Colombina, Scaramouche, Italian masque performances in the 17th century sometimes included the Harlequin character. In the 17th century, adaptations of the characters became familiar in English entertainments. From these, the standard English harlequinade developed, depicting the eloping lovers Harlequin and Columbine, pursued by the girls father Pantaloon and his comic servants Clown, in English versions, by the 18th century, Harlequin became the central figure and romantic lead. The basic plot of the harlequinade remained essentially the same for more than 150 years, tavern Bilkers, by John Weaver, the dancing master at Drury Lane, is cited as the first pantomime produced on the English stage. The same year he produced a pantomime on the subject of Perseus, after this, pantomime was regular feature at Drury Lane. In 1717 at Lincolns Inn, actor and manager John Rich introduced Harlequin into the theatres pantomimes under the name of Lun and he gained great popularity for his pantomimes, especially beginning with his 1724 production of The Necromancer, or, History of Dr. Faustus. These early pantomimes were silent, or dumb show, performances consisting of only dancing, spoken drama was only allowed in London only in the two patent theatres until Parliament changed this restriction in 1843
16.
Puss in Boots
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The oldest record of written history dates from Italian author Giovanni Francesco Straparola, who included it in his The Facetious Nights of Straparola in XIV–XV. Another version was published in 1634, by Giambattista Basile with the title Cagliuso, the tale was written in French at the close of the seventeenth century by Charles Perrault, a retired civil servant and member of the Académie française. The book was an instant success and remains popular, Perraults Histoires has had considerable impact on world culture. Puss in Boots has provided inspiration for composers, choreographers, the cat appears in the third act pas de caractère of Tchaikovskys ballet The Sleeping Beauty, for example, and makes appearances in other media, most famously the sequels to the animated film Shrek. Puss in Boots is a pantomime in the UK. The tale opens with the third and youngest son of a miller receiving his inheritance—a cat, at first, the youngest son laments, as the eldest brother gains the mill, and the middle brother gets the mules. The feline is no cat, however, but one who requests. Determined to make his masters fortune, the cat bags a rabbit in the forest and presents it to the king as a gift from his master, the cat continues making gifts of game to the king for several months. One day, the king decides to take a drive with his daughter, the cat persuades his master to remove his clothes and enter the river which their carriage passes. The cat disposes of his masters clothing beneath a rock, as the royal coach nears, the cat begins calling for help in great distress. When the king stops to investigate, the cat tells him that his master the Marquis has been bathing in the river and robbed of his clothing. The king has the man brought from the river, dressed in a splendid suit of clothes, and seated in the coach with his daughter. The cat then happens upon a castle inhabited by an ogre who is capable of transforming himself into a number of creatures, the ogre displays his ability by changing into a lion, frightening the cat, who then tricks the ogre into changing into a mouse. The cat then pounces upon the mouse and devours it, the king arrives at the castle that formerly belonged to the ogre, and, impressed with the bogus Marquis and his estate, gives the lad the princess in marriage. Thereafter, the cat enjoys life as a lord who runs after mice only for his own amusement. The Italian translation by Carlo Collodi notes that the tale gives useful advice if you happen to be a cat or a Marquis of Carabas and this is the theme in France, but other versions of this theme exist in Asia, Africa, and South America. Perraults The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots is the most renowned tale in all of Western folklore of the animal as helper, however, the trickster cat was not Perraults invention. In the Panchatantra, a collection of Hindu tales from the fifth century A. D. a tale follows a cat who fares much less well than Perraults Puss as he attempts to make his fortune in a kings palace
17.
Chesney Allen
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Chesney Allen was a popular English entertainer of the Second World War period. He is best remembered for his act with Bud Flanagan, Flanagan. He was born William Ernest Chesney Allen in Battersea, London, married Aleta Cosette Turner in Leeds in 1926 and died in Midhurst, Sussex and he began his career in straight acting, making his debut in stock at the Wimbledon Theatre, London, in 1912. Serving in Flanders in the First World War, he made friends with Bud Flanagan, as music hall comedians, they would often feature a mixture of comedy and music in their act and this led to a successful recording career and roles in film and television. Flanagan and Allen were also members of the Crazy Gang and worked together in that team for many years, songs like Were Going to Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line mocked the German defences, while others like Miss You sang of missing ones sweetheart during enforced absences. Other songs such as their best known Underneath the Arches had universal themes such as friendship, the music was usually melodic, following a binary verse–verse–chorus structure, with a small dance band or orchestra providing the backing. The vocals were distinctive because while Flanagan was at least a competent singer and sang the melody lines and his last recording was for the album of the stage show Underneath the Arches in 1982. Chesney Hawkes is named after Chesney Allen, wild Boy O-Kay for Sound Alfs Button Afloat Well Smile Again Theatre Royal Dreaming Here Comes the Sun Dunkirk Life Is a Circus Chesney Allen at the Internet Movie Database
18.
Douglas Byng
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Douglas Coy Byng was an English comic singer and songwriter in West End theatre, revue and cabaret. Billed as Bawdy but British, Byng was famous for his female impersonations and his songs are full of sexual innuendo and double entendres. An openly gay performer, Byng was noted for his performances in the music halls. Byng made a number of recordings, many of which have been transferred to CD. Byng was also a pantomime dame and appeared in over 30 pantomimes. Byng was born 17 March 1893 in Basford, Nottinghamshire and his father was a bank manager and his mother was a former school teacher. They did not encourage his early theatrical leanings, and when he was ten, they sent him to live in Germany with his elder brother, Byng studied music and German, but following the trade of his brother he concentrated on fashion. After his return to Britain, he worked for the costume designer Charles Alias in London, in 1914 Byng answered an advertisement for a light comedian for a seaside concert party and made his first appearance on stage at Hastings. At the age of 21, playing a middle-aged diplomat, he toured more than a hundred towns in the musical comedy The Girl in the Taxi and he continued his theatre work throughout the war, playing character parts in touring comedies and eventually achieving a juvenile lead in 1920. In 1925 Byng appeared at the London Pavilion in C. B, cochrans revue On with the Dance, written by Noël Coward. Byng remained with Cochran for five years in a succession of revues, an example is his Mexican Minnie, Come where the heat from the suns burning rays Gets you so gaga you tear off your stays. Im Mexican Minnie, all jolly and ginny I loll in the all day. Though Im well off the map, Im just covered in slap, Luring brigands to come, but they get very reckless, and will stay to breakfast Then go off refusing to pay. I say, Well you can go, Im sick of the gang, byngs skill in performance was said to vanquish prudery, but in reality his material was never crude. His famous numbers included, Sex Appeal Sarah, Milly the Messy Old Mermaid and his Doris, the Goddess of Wind was revived in Alan Bennetts 2010 play The Habit of Art. In 1931 Byng appeared in cabaret at the Club Lido, in New York and he pursued his career of revue, cabaret and pantomime in London throughout the 1930s, and was the first cabaret artiste to have his name in neon lights in the West End. In 1938 he played his role in a musical, Prince Zorpan. Byng wrote all his own words for the piece and also some extra music, in one scene he impersonated a lady violinist, singing Im the pest of Budapest that turned the Danube so blue in which The Times said he shone intensely
19.
Arthur Askey
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Arthur Bowden Askey, CBE was an English comedian and actor. Askeys humour owed much to the playfulness of the characters he portrayed, his improvisation, and his use of catchphrases, I thank you, and Before your very eyes. Six months after his birth the family moved to 90 Rosslyn Street, Askey was educated at St. Michaels Council School and the Liverpool Institute for Boys. He was small in stature at 52, with a breezy, smiling personality and he served in the armed forces in World War I and performed in army entertainments. Band Waggon began as a variety show, but had been unsuccessful until Askey and his partner, Richard Murdoch, make mine a million last film was Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse, starring Debbie Ash. In the early 1930s Askey appeared on a form of BBC television—the spinning disc invented by John Logie Baird that scanned vertically and had only thirty lines. Askey had to be made up for his face to be recognisable at such low resolution. When television became electronic, with 405 horizontal lines, Askey was a performer in variety shows. When television returned after World War II, he made the transition well and his first TV series was Before Your Very Eyes. named after his catchphrase. On 3 May 1956 Askey presented Meet The People, a launch programme for Granada Television. In 1957 writers Sid Colin and Talbot Rothwell revived the Band Waggon format for Living It Up and he also appeared on the comedy panel game Jokers Wild. He made many TV appearances in variety, not least BBC TVs long running show, during the 1950s and 60s, he appeared in many sitcoms, including Love and Kisses, Arthurs Treasured Volumes and The Arthur Askey Show. He appeared in the popular West End musical Follow the Girls and he also made many stage appearances as a pantomime dame. His recording career included The Bee Song, which was a part of his stage and television act for many years, The Thing-Ummy Bob and his theme tune. In 1941 a song he intended to record, Its Really Nice to See You Mr Hess, was banned by the War Office, a collection of Askeys wartime recordings appear on the CD album Band Waggon/Big Hearted Arthur Goes To War. He was awarded the OBE in 1969 and the CBE in 1981 and he was married to Elizabeth May Swash in 1925 until her death in 1974, he was the father of actress Anthea Askey. Askey carried on working until just before he was hospitalised in July 1982 due to poor circulation resulted in gangrene. He died in Londons St Thomass Hospital on 16 November 1982 and is buried in Putney Vale Cemetery, radio comedy Cinema of the United Kingdom List of British actors and actresses ASCII Arthur Askey
20.
Jimmy Edwards
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James Keith ONeill Edwards, DFC was an English comedy writer and actor on radio and television, best known as Pa Glum in Take It From Here and as headmaster Professor James Edwards in Whack-O. Edwards was born in Barnes, Surrey, the son of a professor of mathematics and he was educated at St Pauls Cathedral School, at Kings College School in Wimbledon and at St Johns College, Cambridge. He served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and he served with No.271 Squadron RAF, based in Doncaster, which took part in the D-Day landings. His Dakota was shot down at Arnhem in 1944, resulting in injuries requiring plastic surgery—he disguised the traces with the huge handlebar moustache that became his trademark. He was a member of the Guinea Pig Club, Edwards was a feature of London theatre in post-war years, debuting at Londons Windmill Theatre in 1946 and on BBC radio the same year. He later did a season with Tony Hancock, having performed in the Cambridge Footlights review. He gained wider exposure as a performer in Take It From Here, co-starring Dick Bentley. Also on radio he featured in Jim the Great and My Wildest Dream and he appeared in Whack-O on television, also written by Muir and Norden, and the radio panel game Does the Team Think. In 1960 a film of Whack-O called Bottoms Up was written by Muir and he was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1958 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBCs Piccadilly 1 Studio. This was shown on Fridays at 8, 30pm on LWT, in April 1966, he played at the last night of Melbournes Tivoli Theatre. His final words closed a tradition of Australian music hall, I dont relish the distinction of being the man who closed the Tiv. Now this ones dead, theres nowhere to go, ill either become a character comedian or a pauper. The films were not silent but had no other than grunts. He also appeared in the The Bed Sitting Room as Nigel, Edwards and Sykes toured British theatres with their farce Big Bad Mouse which, while scripted, let them ad lib, involve the audience and break the fourth wall. The show initially had a run at the Palace Theatre, Manchester during which Edwards and Sykes had followed the script. However the new, more improvised version proved a success with audiences, Sykes was replaced by Roy Castle in later runs in its three-year residency at the Shaftesbury Theatre in Londons West End and in tours of the Middle East and Australia. Edwards also starred in the revival of Maid of the Mountains. Jimmy Edwards published his autobiography, Six of the Best, in 1984 and he was vice-president of the City of Oxford Silver Band, and an accomplished player of tuba and euphonium
21.
Gracie Fields
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Dame Gracie Fields, DBE was an English actress, singer and comedian and star of both cinema and music hall. She spent the part of her life on the isle of Capri. Fields was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to entertainment in 1938, Fields was born Grace Stansfield, over a fish and chip shop owned by her grandmother, Sarah Bamford, in Molesworth Street, Rochdale, Greater Manchester. She made her first stage appearance as a child in 1905, joining childrens repertory theatre groups such as Haleys Garden of Girls and her two sisters, Edith and Betty and brother, Tommy, all went on to appear on stage, but Gracie was the most successful. Fields met the comedian and impresario Archie Pitt and they began working together, Pitt gave Fields champagne on her 18th birthday, and wrote in an autograph book to her that he would make her a star. Pitt began to manage her career and they began a relationship and their first revue was called Yes I Think So in 1915 and the two continued to tour Britain together until 1924. That year they appeared in the revue Mr Tower of London, with other shows By Request, Its A Bargain, Fields and Holloway first worked together on her film Sing As We Go in 1934 and the two remained close friends for the rest of their lives. Fields came to public notice in Mr Tower of London. Her career accelerated from this point with legitimate dramatic performances and the beginning of a recording career, at one point, Fields was playing three shows a night in Londons West End. She appeared in the Pitt production SOS with Gerald Du Maurier, Fields most famous song, which became her theme, Sally, was worked into the title of her first film, Sally in Our Alley, which was a major box office hit. She went on to several films initially in Britain and later in the United States. Regardless, she never enjoyed the process of performing without a live audience and she tried to opt out of filming, before director Monty Banks persuaded her otherwise, landing her the lucrative Hollywood deal. Fields demanded that the four films be filmed in Britain and not Hollywood, a reference to two other of her well-known songs, Walter, Walter, and Its the Biggest Aspidistra in the World. The famous opera star Luisa Tetrazzini heard her murdering an aria, Gracie decided to stay where I knew I belonged. She donated her house, The Towers,53 The Bishops Avenue, London, in 1939, she became seriously ill with cervical cancer. The public sent over 250,000 goodwill messages and she retired to her villa on Capri, after she recovered, she recorded a very special 78rpm record simply called Gracies Thanks, in which she thanks the public for the many cards and letters she received while in hospital. During World War II, she paid for all servicemen/women to travel free on public transport within the boundaries of Rochdale, Fields also helped Rochdale F. C. in the 1930s when they were struggling to pay fees and buy sports equipment. In 1933 she set up the Gracie Fields Childrens Home and Orphanage at Peacehaven and she kept this until 1967, when the home was no longer needed
22.
Laurel and Hardy
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Laurel and Hardy were a comedy double act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema. The team was composed of thin Englishman Stan Laurel and heavyset American Oliver Hardy and they became well known during the late 1920s through the mid-1940s for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy and childlike friend of the pompous Hardy. The duos signature tune is known variously as The Cuckoo Song, Ku-Ku and it was played over the opening credits of their films and has become as emblematic of the duo as their bowler hats. Prior to their being teamed up, both actors had well-established film careers, Laurel had appeared in over 50 films while Hardy had been in more than 250 productions. The two comedians had previously worked together as cast members on the film The Lucky Dog in 1921. However, they were not a team at that time and it was not until 1926 that they appeared in a movie short together. Laurel and Hardy officially became a team in 1927 when they appeared together in the silent short film Putting Pants on Philip and they remained with the Roach studio until 1940 and then appeared in eight B movie comedies for 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1941 to 1945. After finishing their movie commitments at the end of 1944, they concentrated on performing in shows and embarked on a music hall tour of England, Ireland. In 1950, before retiring from the screen, they made their last film and they appeared as a team in 107 films, starring in 32 short silent films,40 short sound films, and 23 full-length feature films. They also made 12 guest or cameo appearances included the Galaxy of Stars promotional film of 1936. On December 1,1954, the pair made one American television appearance when they were surprised and interviewed by Ralph Edwards on his live NBC-TV program This Is Your Life. Since the 1930s, the works of Laurel and Hardy have been released in numerous theatrical reissues, television revivals, 8-mm and 16-mm home movies, feature-film compilations, in 2005, they were voted the seventh-greatest comedy act of all time by a UK poll of fellow comedians. The official Laurel and Hardy appreciation society is known as The Sons of the Desert which was named after a fictitious fraternal society featured in the Laurel, Stan Laurel was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson in Ulverston, Lancashire, England into a theatrical family. His father Arthur Joseph Jefferson was an entrepreneur and theatre owner in northern England and Scotland who. Arthur Jefferson secured Laurel his first acting job with the theatrical company of Levy and Cardwell. In 1909, Laurel was employed by Britains leading comedy impresario Fred Karno as a supporting actor, Laurel said of Karno, There was no one like him. In 1912, Laurel left England with the Fred Karno Troupe to tour the United States, Laurel had expected the tour to be merely a pleasant interval before returning to London, however, he migrated to the U. S. during the trip. In 1917, Laurel was teamed with Mae Dahlberg as an act for stage and film, they were living as common law husband
23.
Stephen Sondheim
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Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist known for more than a half-century of contributions to musical theatre. Sondheim has received an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards, eight Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, the Laurence Olivier Award, and he has been described by Frank Rich of The New York Times as now the greatest and perhaps best-known artist in the American musical theater. He also wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy, Sondheim has also written film music, contributing Goodbye for Now to Warren Beattys 1981 Reds. He wrote five songs for 1990s Dick Tracy, including Sooner or Later by Madonna, the composer was president of the Dramatists Guild from 1973 to 1981. To celebrate his 80th birthday, the former Henry Millers Theatre was renamed the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on September 15,2010, Cameron Mackintosh has called Sondheim possibly the greatest lyricist ever. Sondheim was born into a Jewish family in New York City and his father manufactured dresses designed by his mother. The composer grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and, after his parents divorced, on a farm near Doylestown, Pennsylvania. As the only child of parents living in the San Remo on Central Park West. When he lived in New York, Sondheim attended ECFS, the Ethical Culture Fieldston School known simply as Fieldston, Sondheim spent several summers at Camp Androscoggin. He traces his interest in theatre to Very Warm for May, the curtain went up and revealed a piano, Sondheim recalled. A butler took a duster and brushed it up, tinkling the keys, when Sondheim was ten, his father left his mother for another woman. Herbert sought custody of Stephen but was unsuccessful, Sondheim explained to biographer Secrest that he was what they call an institutionalized child, meaning one who has no contact with any kind of family. Youre in, though its luxurious, youre in an environment that supplies you with everything, No brothers and sisters, no parents, and yet plenty to eat, and friends to play with and a warm bed, you know. Sondheim detested his mother, who was said to be abusive and projected her anger from her failed marriage on her son, When my father left her. And she used me the way she used him, to come on to and to berate, beat up on, what she did for five years was treat me like dirt, but come on to me at the same time. She once wrote him a letter saying that the only ever had was giving him birth. When his mother died in the spring of 1992, Sondheim did not attend her funeral, when Sondheim was about ten years old, he became friends with James Hammerstein, son of lyricist and playwright Oscar Hammerstein II. The elder Hammerstein became Sondheims surrogate father, influencing him profoundly, Sondheim met Hal Prince, who would direct many of his shows, at the opening of South Pacific, Hammersteins musical with Richard Rodgers
24.
The Observer
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The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the worlds oldest Sunday newspaper, the first issue, published on 4 December 1791 by W. S. Bourne, was the worlds first Sunday newspaper. Believing that the paper would be a means of wealth, Bourne instead soon found himself facing debts of nearly £1,600, though early editions purported editorial independence, Bourne attempted to cut his losses and sell the title to the government. When this failed, Bournes brother made an offer to the government, as a result, the paper soon took a strong line against radicals such as Thomas Paine, Francis Burdett and Joseph Priestley. In 1807, the decided to relinquish editorial control, naming Lewis Doxat as the new editor. Seven years later, the brothers sold The Observer to William Innell Clement, the woodcut pictures published of the stable and hayloft where the conspirators were arrested reflected a new stage of illustrated journalism that the newspaper pioneered during this time. Clement maintained ownership of The Observer until his death in 1852, during that time, the paper supported parliamentary reform, but opposed a broader franchise and the Chartist leadership. After Doxat retired in 1857, Clements heirs sold the paper to Joseph Snowe, under Snowe, the paper adopted a more liberal political stance, supporting the North during the American Civil War and endorsing universal manhood suffrage in 1866. These positions contributed to a decline in circulation during this time, in 1870, wealthy businessman Julius Beer bought the paper and appointed Edward Dicey as editor, whose efforts succeeded in reviving circulation. Though Beers son Frederick became the owner upon Juliuss death in 1880, henry Duff Traill took over the editorship after Diceys departure, only to be replaced in 1891 by Fredericks wife, Rachel Beer, of the Sassoon family. Though circulation declined during her tenure, she remained as editor for thirteen years, combining it in 1893 with the editorship of The Sunday Times, upon Fredericks death in 1901, the paper was purchased by the newspaper magnate Lord Northcliffe. After maintaining the editorial leadership for a couple of years. Garvin quickly turned the paper into an organ of political influence, yet the revival in the papers fortunes masked growing political disagreements between Garvin and Northcliffe. These disagreements ultimately led Northcliffe to sell the paper to William Waldorf Astor in 1911, during this period, the Astors were content to leave the control of the paper in Garvins hands. Under his editorship circulation reached 200,000 during the interwar years, politically the paper pursued an independent Tory stance, which eventually brought Garvin into conflict with Waldorfs more liberal son, David. Their conflict contributed to Garvins departure as editor in 1942, after which the paper took the step of declaring itself non-partisan. Ownership passed to Waldorfs sons in 1948, with David taking over as editor and he remained in the position for 27 years, during which time he turned it into a trust-owned newspaper employing, among others, George Orwell, Paul Jennings and C. A. Lejeune. Under Astors editorship The Observer became the first national newspaper to oppose the governments 1956 invasion of Suez, in 1977, the Astors sold the ailing newspaper to US oil giant Atlantic Richfield who sold it to Lonrho plc in 1981
25.
Bamber Gascoigne
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Arthur Bamber Gascoigne FRSL is a British television presenter and author, best known for being the original quizmaster on University Challenge. His great-grandfathers include Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, and Edward ONeill and he is a nephew of Sir Julian Gascoigne who was in charge of the Household Division during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. He is a descendant of the 18th-century Lord Mayor of London Sir Crisp Gascoyne. Isaacs son General Ernest Frederick Gascoyne, of Raby Hall, was his great-great-great-grandfather, Gascoigne was born in London and educated at Sunningdale School in Berkshire before winning scholarships to both Eton College, and Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he read English literature. While at Magdalene he wrote a musical, Share My Lettuce, which was produced in London in 1957 by Michael Codron and he then spent a year as a Commonwealth Fund scholar at Yale University. After National Service in the Grenadier Guards he became a theatre critic, Gascoigne came to national fame as the original presenter of the popular television quiz show University Challenge, based on the US series College Bowl. He held the position for 25 years, until the end of the run in 1987. Although he has several books, mostly works of history. His questioning manner was firm yet polite, phrases he often used which became catchphrases include, Your starter for ten, fingers on the buzzers, and Ill have to hurry you. In 1977, Gascoigne wrote and presented The Christians, a 13-hour television documentary series on the history of Christianity, produced by Granada Television and he wrote a companion book, under the same title, with photography by his wife, Christina Gascoigne, published by Jonathan Cape. He wrote Quest for the Golden Hare, a 1983 account of the internationally publicised treasure hunt associated with the publication in 1979 of Kit Williams book, Masquerade. On 8 August 1979, Gascoigne was witness to the burial by Williams of a unique jewelled, the book documents the search and a scandal associated with finding it. He was the writer and presenter for the TV series The Great Moghuls, the series was based on Gascoignes 1971 book of the same name, which features photographs by his wife. Gascoigne has established an online encyclopaedia, HistoryWorld, and TimeSearch which presents multiple searchable timelines collected from various websites. In August 2014, Gascoigne was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to Septembers referendum on that issue, Gascoigne has been selling some of the late Duchesss possessions in order to invest in restoring the house. An original pencil and chalk study for the well known painting Flaming June by the Pre-Raphaelite artist, Sir Frederic Leighton, was found on the back of a bedroom door. Art historians had known a sketch existed as it had included in an art magazine in 1895. Gascoigne is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and he is a patron of the Museum of Richmond
26.
Frankie Howerd
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Francis Alick Frankie Howerd, OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as a series of comebacks, spanned six decades. Howerd was born the son of soldier Francis Alfred William and Edith Florence Howard, at the City Hospital in York, England and he was educated at Shooters Hill Grammar School in Woolwich, London. His first stage appearance was at age 13 but his hopes of becoming a serious actor were dashed when he failed an audition for RADA. He began to entertain during World War II service in the British Army and it was at this time that he adapted his surname to Howerd to be different. In 1944 he became a bombardier in Plymouth, was promoted to sergeant, despite suffering from stage fright, he continued to work after the war, beginning his professional career in the summer of 1946 in a touring show called For the Fun of It. His act was soon heard on radio, when he made his debut, in early December 1946 and his profile rose in the immediate postwar period. In 1954, he made his debut opposite Petula Clark in The Runaway Bus. The film was so low-budget that it could not afford scenery, the film, however, was an immediate hit, even though Howerd never established a major film presence thereafter. After suffering a breakdown at the start of the 1960s, he began to recover his old popularity. He was boosted further by success on That Was the Week That Was in 1963 and on stage with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which led into regular television work. In 1966 and 1967, he co-hosted a 90-minute Christmas show called The Frankie and Bruce Christmas Show with Bruce Forsyth, during the 1960s and 1970s, he was involved in shows for the BBC and Thames Television. Ray Galton and Alan Simpson wrote for him from 1964 to 1966 when he worked for the BBC and also for a show for Thames, Frankie Howerd meets the Bee Gees. He was famous for his seemingly off-the-cuff remarks to the audience, which was a direct follow-up from Forum. His television work was characterised by direct addresses to camera and by his littering monologues with verbal tics such as Oooh, no missus, a later sale of his scripts, however, showed that the seemingly off-the-cuff remarks had all been meticulously planned. Barry Cryer said of his technique, What he could do with a script was amazing and he knew exactly what he was doing. Another feature of his humour was to feign innocence about his obvious and risqué double entendres, Howerd appeared as Francis Bigger, one of the lead characters in 1967s Carry On Doctor. The success of the version of Up Pompeii in 1971 saw British exhibitors vote him the ninth most popular star at the British box office that year. He would play versions of the character Lurkio in Up the Chastity Belt, also in 1971, the song was included in the 2004 CD re-issue of Oh
27.
Kenneth Connor
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Kenneth Connor, MBE was an English comedy stage, radio, film and TV actor, best known for his appearances in the Carry On films. By 11 years old, he had his own act and he attended the Central School of Speech and Drama, where he was a Gold Medal winner. Connor made his debut in J. M. Barries The Boy David, at His Majestys Theatre. During World War II he served as a gunner with the Middlesex Regiment but continued acting by touring Italy. While waiting to be demobbed in Cairo, Connor received a telegram from William Devlin asking him to join the newly formed Bristol Old Vic and he moved on to the London Old Vic Company for a 1947–48 season at the New Theatre. His most notable performances there were as Chaplain de Stogumber in Saint Joan and Dobchinsky in The Government Inspector, realising he was not a tall, impressive juvenile lead or a young lover type, he decided to specialise in comedy. He took over from Peter Sellers in Ted Rays radio show Rays a Laugh – launched by the BBC in 1949 as a successor to Tommy Handleys ITMA and he played the brother-in-law and other oddball characters such as Sidney Mincing. Ray took Connor with him to his TV shows, and the pair would star together in the third Carry On film, on occasion he appeared in The Goon Show, standing in for regular cast members struck down by illness. He also appeared in the anarchic, Goon-style TV series The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d, in 1955, Connor gained a small role in the film The Ladykillers as a taxi driver. Alongside Kenneth Williams and Eric Barker, Connor was one of three actors to appear in both the first and last of the original sequence of Carry On films. In Carry On Nurse, his real-life son Jeremy appeared as his character Bernie Bishops son, in 1961, he starred with fellow Carry On stars Sid James and Esma Cannon in the comedy film What a Carve Up. In fact, in the 1959 –1961 period, he was one of the most prominent leading men in British comedy films. As well as What a Carve Up. and the Carry On films, other films he starred in during this period included Watch Your Stern, Nearly a Nasty Accident, in 1960, he appeared as various characters in the Four Feather Falls puppet series. Connor had a tenor voice, which he occasionally used to good effect. In contrast with some of his Carry On co-stars, Connor found further success on the London stage, between 1971 and 1973, Connor joined Dads Army stars Arthur Lowe and Ian Lavender on the BBC radio comedy Parsley Sidings. On television he appeared in The Black and White Minstrel Show, as Whatsisname Smith in the childrens show Rentaghost and he was honoured by the Queen with appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1991. He was still working just two days before his death, with an appearance on Noel Edmonds Telly Addicts and his final TV appearance, as Mr Warren in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes episode The Adventure of the Red Circle, was broadcast posthumously in 1994. Connor died of cancer at his home in Harrow, London in 1993, Kenneth Connor at the Internet Movie Database
28.
Jon Pertwee
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John Devon Roland Jon Pertwee was an English actor, entertainer and cabaret performer. Pertwee is most known for starring as the Third Doctor in the science-fiction series Doctor Who between 1970 and 1974, Pertwee also spent 18 years playing Chief petty officer Pertwee in The Navy Lark on BBC Radio. He later played the character in the series Worzel Gummidge from 1979 to 1981. As an actor, Pertwee appeared in comedy roles and was once described as having rubbery features. Earlier in his career, Pertwee had worked as a comedian, performed at the Glasgow Empire Theatre and shared a bill with Max Wall. Towards the end of his life, he performed to audiences in a show called Who Is Jon Pertwee. Born in Chelsea, London, and having Huguenot ancestry, Jon was the son of noted screenwriter and actor Roland Pertwee, pertwee’s mother, Avice Scholtz, separated from his father Roland when Pertwee was young. His father remarried, and his mother found a new partner, avice’s sister Daphne married Captain Philip Cecil Clowes and became the mother of Pertwees cousin, the writer St. John Legh Clowes. The actor Henry Ainley, a friend of his father, was his godfather. Coincidentally, Ainleys son Anthony appeared as The Master – a renegade Time Lord who was The Doctors greatest enemy – alongside Pertwee in the 1983 Doctor Who anniversary story The Five Doctors. His first marriage was in 1955, to Jean Marsh, whom he divorced in 1960, later that year he married Ingeborg Rhoesa. Together they had two children, both of whom were to actors, a daughter, Dariel, in 1961. He was also accused of writing graffiti about the tutors on the lavatory walls, during the Second World War, Pertwee spent six years in the Royal Navy. He was a member of HMS Hood and was transferred off the ship for officer training shortly before she was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck, losing all. In an interview conducted in 1994, he said, I did all sorts, teaching commandos how to use escapology equipment, compasses in brass buttons, secret maps in white cotton handkerchiefs, pipes you could smoke that also fired a.22 bullet. During his time in the Navy, Pertwee woke up one morning after a night out while in port to find a tattoo of a cobra on his right arm. On 15 November 1948, at the Wood Green Empire, he was billed as The Most Versatile Voice in Radio – Jon Pertwee from the Radio Shows Merry-go-Round and Up the Pole. From 1959 to 1977, he had a role as the conniving Chief Petty Officer Pertwee in The Navy Lark on BBC Radio
29.
Robertson Hare
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John Robertson Hare was an English actor, who came to fame in the Aldwych farces. He is remembered by audiences for his performances as the Archdeacon in the popular BBC sitcom, All Gas. Short in stature and of unheroic appearance, Hare made his career in character roles. From his early days as an actor he was cast as older men, one of his favourite parts, which he played in the provinces before achieving West End success, was Grumpy, a retired lawyer, in which he toured before the First World War. After war service in the army, Hare got his big break and he was cast in a long-running farce with Ralph Lynn and Tom Walls. His meek and put-upon character was repeated in various incarnations in the eleven Aldwych farces presented by Walls between 1923 and 1933 and he also appeared in film versions of most of the farces. After the Aldwych series came to an end, Hare continued to be cast in roles in new plays by Ben Travers. Occasionally Hare took a break from farce, appearing in revue with Benny Hill and his final major role was on television in the late 1960s, as the Archdeacon of St Oggs in the BBC comedy series All Gas and Gaiters. Hare was born in Islington, London, the child and only son of Frank Homer Hare, an accountant. He was educated at Margate College in Kent and then studied drama with the actor, in 1911 Hare made his professional stage debut, playing the Duke of Gallminster in a provincial production of The Bear Leaders. The following year he made his London début as one of the crowd in Gilbert Murrays version of Oedipus Rex at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In 1913 he had his first role in a West End production, as Kaufman in a play, The Scarlet Band. He then toured the provinces for a number of years and his first leading part was the title role of Grumpy, by Horace Hodges and T. Wigney Percyval, which was one of his favourite roles. Even at this stage of his career Hare was playing old men. In December 1915 he married Irene Mewton (1890/91–1969, they had one daughter, the play ran for nearly two years, after which Walls recruited Lynn and Hare to join him in a series of new farces at the Aldwych Theatre. There were eleven plays in this series, which came to be known as Aldwych farces, in concert with the worldly wise Tom Walls and the affable Ralph Lynn … he became one of the premier exponents of English farce. Hare appeared in films of most of the Aldwych farces, for the rest of his stage career he was usually cast in similar roles. After the last Aldwych farce in 1933 he played his customary types in more than twenty new farces over the three decades
30.
Royal Hippodrome Theatre
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The Royal Hippodrome Theatre is a theatre in Eastbourne which dates back to 1883 making it the oldest theatre in the town. It was designed and built for the manager and impresario George Beaumont Loveday by the eminent theatre architect C J Phipps. The venue has been host to one of the longest running summer seasons in the country for years, opening in March. The Royal Hippodrome Theatre opened on Thursday 2 August 1883, at the time Eastbourne was emerging as a highly fashionable destination, encouraged by regular visits from the Prince of Wales. Its original name Theatre Royal and Opera House survived for about 20 years, the reason for the name change is unclear, but it seems to mirror a change in style and use. In the early plays and light opera were presented but these gradually gave way to music hall. Music hall programmes had been staged in the Bourne Inn in nearby Pevensey Road until around 1900, and it is true that the Royal Hippodrome Theatre was, the music hall star Vesta Tilley appeared on a bill here in May 1903. Although the foyer was substantially remodelled during the 1930s, the auditorium remains much as it was in 1883. From 1933 summer repertory variety flourished with the Eastbourne Players – there was a resident orchestra of 13 under the baton of Mr Alfred Brocklebank, the theatre closed for part of the Second World War, though not before a young Hylda Baker had graced its boards in early 1942. The streets to the east became known as Hellfire Corner as they were bombed by the Luftwaffe. Many local people remember with fondness seeing the likes of Elsie and Doris Waters, Harry Secombe, Tod Slaughter, Frankie Vaughan, Norman Wisdom, Russ Conway. They recall It was our theatre, the toffs went to the Devonshire Park, but the Hip was our theatre. The theatre continued in private ownership until 1958 when, with declining audience numbers, around that time Southern TV were interested in purchasing the building for a TV studio but negotiations fell through and the building was bought by Eastbourne Borough Council. At the end 2007 Eastbourne Borough Council took the back from Matthews Productions. In 2008 Eastbourne Borough Council spent an amount of money on the theatre to bring it up to date with current legislation. The venue was completely rewired and numerous improvements were made backstage and it also had a brand new emergency lighting and fire detection system installed. Eastbourne Theatres bought in a new producer to stage a show for the season that year. The shows producer was Thats Entertainment Productions who staged the show Those Variety Days, in December 2008 Noel Edmunds and the television channel Sky1 came to the theatre to record the programme Noels Christmas Presents which was broadcast on Christmas Day
31.
Shoreham-by-Sea
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Shoreham-by-Sea is a seaside town and port in West Sussex, England. The town has a population of 48,487 according to the 2011 census, the town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on the English Channel. The town lies in the middle of the ribbon of development along the English south coast between the city of Brighton and Hove and the town of Worthing. Shoreham civil parish covers an area of 984.88 hectares and has a population of 19,175, Old Shoreham dates back to pre-Roman times. St Nicolas Church, inland by the River Adur, is partly Anglo-Saxon The name of the town has an Old English origin, the town and port of New Shoreham was established by the Norman conquerors towards the end of the 11th century. St Mary de Haura Church was built in the decade following 1103, the church is only half the size of the original – the former nave was ruinous at the time of the civil war although remnants of the original west façade survive in the churchyard to some height. Muslim scholar Muhammad al-Idrisi, writing c.1153, described Shoreham as a fine and cultivated city containing buildings, Shoreham Harbour remains in commercial operation to this day. Southdown Golf Club, Shoreham-by-Sea was founded in 1902, but ceased to operate in the 1940s, Shoreham Beach, to the south of the town, is a shingle spit deposited over millennia by longshore drift, as an extension to Lancing parish in the west. This blocks the flow of the River Adur which turns east at this point to discharge into the English Channel further along the coast at a point that has varied considerably over time. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the mouth of the river shifted eastwards which restricted trade to the port, in 1816, work had been completed to fix the position of the river in its present position, flowing into the sea between two piers. Once the harbour mouth was stabilised it was defended by Shoreham Fort which was built in 1857, converted railway carriages became summer homes around the start of the 20th century, and Bungalow Town, as it was then known, became home to the early British film industry. Shoreham Beach officially became part of Shoreham-by-Sea in 1910, the Church of the Good Shepherd, built in 1913, still stands. Along the Adur mud flats adjacent to Shoreham Beach sits a large collection of houseboats made from converted barges, tugs, mine sweepers, Motor Torpedo Boats etc. The seaside shingle bank of Shoreham beach extends further east past the mouth, forming the southern boundary of the commercial harbour in Southwick, Portslade. Transversed by the River Adur and with the downs and the sea nearby the area supports a diverse wildlife flora, the mudflats support wading birds and gulls, including the ringed plover which attempts to breed on the coastal shingle. The pied wagtail is common in the town in the winter months, insects include dragonflies over the flood plains of the river. The south and west facing downs attract at least 33 species of butterflies including an important population of the chalkhill blue butterfly on Mill Hill. The underlying rock is chalk on the downs, with alluvium in the old river channels, Shoreham Airport lies to the west of the main town and has been in private ownership since 2006
32.
Sussex
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Sussex, from the Old English Sūþsēaxe, is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. Brighton and Hove was created as an authority in 1997. Until then, Chichester was Sussexs only city, Sussex has three main geographic sub-regions, each oriented approximately east to west. In the south-west is the fertile and densely populated coastal plain, North of this are the rolling chalk hills of the South Downs, beyond which is the well-wooded Sussex Weald. The name derives from the Kingdom of Sussex, which was founded, according to legend, in 825, it was absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex and subsequently into the kingdom of England. It was the home of some of Europes earliest hominids, whose remains have been found at Boxgrove, in 1974, the Lord-Lieutenant of Sussex was replaced with one each for East and West Sussex, which became separate ceremonial counties. Sussex continues to be recognised as a territory and cultural region. It has had a police force since 1968 and its name is in common use in the media. In 2007, Sussex Day was created to celebrate the rich culture. Based on the emblem of Sussex, a blue shield with six gold martlets. In 2013, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles formally recognised and acknowledged the existence of Englands 39 historic counties. The name Sussex is derived from the Middle English Suth-sæxe, which is in turn derived from the Old English Suth-Seaxe which means of the South Saxons, the South Saxons were a Germanic tribe that settled in the region from the North German Plain during the 5th and 6th centuries. The earliest known usage of the term South Saxons is in a charter of 689 which names them and their king, Noðhelm. The monastic chronicler who wrote up the entry classifying the invasion seems to have got his dates wrong, the New Latin word Suthsexia was used for Sussex by Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu in his 1645 map. Three United States counties, and a former division of Western Australia, are named after Sussex. The flag of Sussex consists of six gold martlets, or heraldic swallows, on a background, blazoned as Azure. Officially recognised by the Flag Institute on 20 May 2011, its design is based on the shield of Sussex. The first known recording of this emblem being used to represent the county was in 1611 when cartographer John Speed deployed it to represent the Kingdom of the South Saxons
33.
The Fast Lady
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The Fast Lady is a 1962 British comedy film, directed by Ken Annakin. The screenplay was written by Henry Blyth and Jack Davies, based on a story by Keble Howard and it was Julie Christies second film. The film opened at the Odeon Marble Arch on December 1962 Murdoch Troon is a dour Scot living and working for a government authority somewhere in the south of London. A shy young man, his main excitement comes from cycling, after hes forced off the road by an impatient car driver, he tracks down the owner, only to find that he is Commander Chingford, the domineering and acerbic owner of a sportscar distributorship. Chingford reluctantly pays for the damage to Troons cycle, but more significantly, Troon meets Claire, fox sees a chance to ingratiate himself with Chingford and also to sell Troon a car. The car is a 1927 vintage Bentley 4. 5-litre engined Red Label Speed model, painted in British Racing Green, Troon has his first driving lesson in a less exciting car, an Austin A40 Farina, which proves to be a comedy of disasters with a nervous instructor. Fox then makes a deal with Troon and offers to teach him, unwilling to give up and determined to prove his love for Claire, Troon bets her father that he can drive the car. An experienced racing driver, Chingford is convinced that Troon has no hope of achieving this —, Troon takes Chingford for a drive in the Bentley and loses the bet. But the tables are turned when Chingford loses Troons counter-bet that Chingford cannot drive back home in less than 30 minutes and he reluctantly allows Claire to go out with Troon in the car. The day comes for Troons driving test, fox has set him up with a bent examiner, but Troon draws the wrong examiner. As the test comes to an end, the car is commandeered by police to chase a Jaguar car driven by escaping bank robbers, the high speed chase takes them through town and country, across a golf course and eventually the robbers are caught. Chingford so admires his driving skill that he allows the couple to get engaged, a racing sequence also features brief appearances by drivers John Surtees and Graham Hill, along with Raymond Baxter and celebrated automotive journalist John Bolster. Note, The Fast Lady, a 1927 Bentley 4. 5-litre Red Label Speed model with Vanden Plas short chassis fabric body, registration number TU5987, the Fast Lady was brought to Region 2 DVD in the U. K. on 2 February 2004. Currently no word on when it will be brought to DVD in the U. S, the Fast Lady at the Internet Movie Database
34.
The Guardian
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The Guardian is a British daily newspaper, known from 1821 until 1959 as the Manchester Guardian. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, the Scott Trust became a limited company in 2008, with a constitution to maintain the same protections for The Guardian. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than to the benefit of an owner or shareholders, the Guardian is edited by Katharine Viner, who succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. In 2016, The Guardians print edition had a daily circulation of roughly 162,000 copies in the country, behind The Daily Telegraph. The newspaper has an online UK edition as well as two international websites, Guardian Australia and Guardian US, the newspapers online edition was the fifth most widely read in the world in October 2014, with over 42.6 million readers. Its combined print and online editions reach nearly 9 million British readers, notable scoops include the 2011 News International phone hacking scandal, in particular the hacking of murdered English teenager Milly Dowlers phone. The investigation led to the closure of the UKs biggest selling Sunday newspaper, and one of the highest circulation newspapers in the world, in 2016, it led the investigation into the Panama Papers, exposing the then British Prime Minister David Camerons links to offshore bank accounts. The Guardian has been named Newspaper of the Year four times at the annual British Press Awards, the paper is still occasionally referred to by its nickname of The Grauniad, given originally for the purported frequency of its typographical errors. The Manchester Guardian was founded in Manchester in 1821 by cotton merchant John Edward Taylor with backing from the Little Circle and they launched their paper after the police closure of the more radical Manchester Observer, a paper that had championed the cause of the Peterloo Massacre protesters. They do not toil, neither do they spin, but they better than those that do. When the government closed down the Manchester Observer, the champions had the upper hand. The influential journalist Jeremiah Garnett joined Taylor during the establishment of the paper, the prospectus announcing the new publication proclaimed that it would zealously enforce the principles of civil and religious Liberty. Warmly advocate the cause of Reform, endeavour to assist in the diffusion of just principles of Political Economy and. Support, without reference to the party from which they emanate, in 1825 the paper merged with the British Volunteer and was known as The Manchester Guardian and British Volunteer until 1828. The working-class Manchester and Salford Advertiser called the Manchester Guardian the foul prostitute, the Manchester Guardian was generally hostile to labours claims. The Manchester Guardian dismissed strikes as the work of outside agitators –, if an accommodation can be effected, the occupation of the agents of the Union is gone. CP Scott made the newspaper nationally recognised and he was editor for 57 years from 1872, and became its owner when he bought the paper from the estate of Taylors son in 1907. Under Scott, the moderate editorial line became more radical, supporting William Gladstone when the Liberals split in 1886
