1.
Wimbledon, London
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Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes the electoral wards of Abbey, Dundonald, Hillside, Trinity, Village, Raynes Park and Wimbledon Park. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, Wimbledon has been inhabited since at least the Iron Age when the hill fort on Wimbledon Common is thought to have been constructed. In 1087 when the Domesday Book was compiled, Wimbledon was part of the manor of Mortlake, the village developed with a stable rural population coexisting alongside nobility and wealthy merchants from the city. The location of the station shifted the focus of the subsequent growth away from the original village centre. Since 2005, the north and west of the Borough has been represented in Westminster by Stephen Hammond, the eastern and southern of the Borough are represented by Siobhain McDonagh, a Labour MP. It has established minority groups, among the most prominent are British Asians, British Ghanaians, Wimbledon has been inhabited since at least the Iron Age when the hill fort on Wimbledon Common, the second-largest in London, is thought to have been constructed. The original nucleus of Wimbledon was at the top of the close to the common – the area now known locally as the village. The village is referred to as Wimbedounyng in a signed by King Edgar the Peaceful in 967. The name Wimbledon means Wynnmans hill, with the element of the name being the Old English dun. At the time the Domesday Book was compiled, Wimbledon was part of the manor of Mortlake, the ownership of the manor of Wimbledon changed hands many times during its history. The manor was held by the church until 1398 when Thomas Arundel, the manor was confiscated and became crown property. The manor remained crown property until the reign of Henry VIII when it was granted briefly to Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, until Cromwell was executed in 1540 and the land was again confiscated. The manor was held by Henry VIIIs last wife and widow Catherine Parr until her death in 1548 when it again reverted to the monarch. In the 1550s, Henrys daughter, Mary I, granted the manor to Cardinal Reginald Pole who held it until his death in 1558 when it again become royal property. Marys sister, Elizabeth I held the property until 1574 when she gave the house to Christopher Hatton who sold it in the same year to Sir Thomas Cecil. The lands of the manor were given to the Cecil family in 1588, the Cecil family retained the manor for fifty years before it was bought by Charles I in 1638 for his Queen, Henrietta Maria. On his death in 1677 the manor was sold on again to the Lord High Treasurer, Thomas Osborne, the Osborne family sold the manor to Sir Theodore Janssen in 1712. Janssen, a director of the South Sea Company, began a new house to replace the Cecil-built manor house but, due to the collapse of the company
2.
University of Oxford
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The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university located in Oxford, England. It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris, after disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge. The two ancient universities are frequently referred to as Oxbridge. The university is made up of a variety of institutions, including 38 constituent colleges, All the colleges are self-governing institutions within the university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities. Being a city university, it not have a main campus, instead, its buildings. Oxford is the home of the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the worlds oldest and most prestigious scholarships, the university operates the worlds oldest university museum, as well as the largest university press in the world and the largest academic library system in Britain. Oxford has educated many notable alumni, including 28 Nobel laureates,27 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, the University of Oxford has no known foundation date. Teaching at Oxford existed in form as early as 1096. It grew quickly in 1167 when English students returned from the University of Paris, the historian Gerald of Wales lectured to such scholars in 1188 and the first known foreign scholar, Emo of Friesland, arrived in 1190. The head of the university had the title of chancellor from at least 1201, the university was granted a royal charter in 1248 during the reign of King Henry III. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled from the violence to Cambridge, the students associated together on the basis of geographical origins, into two nations, representing the North and the South. In later centuries, geographical origins continued to many students affiliations when membership of a college or hall became customary in Oxford. At about the time, private benefactors established colleges as self-contained scholarly communities. Among the earliest such founders were William of Durham, who in 1249 endowed University College, thereafter, an increasing number of students lived in colleges rather than in halls and religious houses. In 1333–34, an attempt by some dissatisfied Oxford scholars to found a new university at Stamford, Lincolnshire was blocked by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge petitioning King Edward III. Thereafter, until the 1820s, no new universities were allowed to be founded in England, even in London, thus, Oxford and Cambridge had a duopoly, the new learning of the Renaissance greatly influenced Oxford from the late 15th century onwards. Among university scholars of the period were William Grocyn, who contributed to the revival of Greek language studies, and John Colet, the noted biblical scholar. With the English Reformation and the breaking of communion with the Roman Catholic Church, recusant scholars from Oxford fled to continental Europe, as a centre of learning and scholarship, Oxfords reputation declined in the Age of Enlightenment, enrolments fell and teaching was neglected
3.
Technical analysis
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In finance, technical analysis is a security analysis methodology for forecasting the direction of prices through the study of past market data, primarily price and volume. The efficacy of both technical and fundamental analysis is disputed by the efficient-market hypothesis which states that market prices are essentially unpredictable. The principles of analysis are derived from hundreds of years of financial market data. Some aspects of technical analysis began to appear in Joseph de la Vegas accounts of the Dutch markets in the 17th century. In 1948 Robert D. Edwards and John Magee published Technical Analysis of Stock Trends which is considered to be one of the seminal works of the discipline. It is exclusively concerned with analysis and chart patterns and remains in use to the present. Early technical analysis was almost exclusively the analysis of charts, because the power of computers was not available for the modern degree of statistical analysis. Charles Dow reportedly originated a form of point and figure chart analysis, Dow theory is based on the collected writings of Dow Jones co-founder and editor Charles Dow, and inspired the use and development of modern technical analysis at the end of the 19th century. Other pioneers of analysis techniques include Ralph Nelson Elliott, William Delbert Gann, more technical tools and theories have been developed and enhanced in recent decades, with an increasing emphasis on computer-assisted techniques using specially designed computer software. Fundamental analysts examine earnings, dividends, assets, quality, ratio, new products, research, Technicians employ many methods, tools and techniques as well, one of which is the use of charts. Using charts, technical analysts seek to identify patterns and market trends in financial markets. Technical analysts also widely use market indicators of many sorts, some of which are mathematical transformations of price, often including up and down volume, advance/decline data and other inputs. These indicators are used to assess whether an asset is trending, and if it is. Technicians also look for relationships between price/volume indices and market indicators, examples include the moving average, relative strength index, and MACD. Other avenues of study include correlations between changes in Options and put/call ratios with price, also important are sentiment indicators such as Put/Call ratios, bull/bear ratios, short interest, Implied Volatility, etc. There are many techniques in technical analysis, adherents of different techniques may ignore the other approaches, yet many traders combine elements from more than one technique. Some technical analysts use subjective judgment to decide which pattern a particular instrument reflects at a given time, others employ a strictly mechanical or systematic approach to pattern identification and interpretation. Contrasting with technical analysis is fundamental analysis, the study of factors that influence the way investors price financial markets
4.
Rokeby Preparatory School
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Rokeby School is an independent all male preparatory day school in Kingston upon Thames, London. The school offers an education from 4 to 13 years through the integration of a pre-preparatory school, the school was founded in Wimbledon on 18 September 1877 originally at Helmsley by Charles Olive, an Oxford graduate. The Helmsley site is just across the road from the current location of KCS, Wimbledon, in the first term, however, not a single pupil appeared. In the second term the first boy enrolled, who won a scholarship to Merchant Taylors and continued onto St Johns. By the end of the first year there were 15 boys attending the school, a year later numbers had increased sufficiently to warrant a larger premises, so the school was moved to another house known as Rokeby in 1879 – a site now occupied by Hall School Wimbledon. When the Association of Preparatory Schools was founded in 1892, Rokeby was one of the first members, in 1965 the then owner of the school stated his intent to close it, and a group of parents decided that it should be rescued. Rokeby Educational Trust Limited, a charity, was set up in 1966 to establish a school on its current site in George Road Kingston. The George Road building was one of a number of houses on George Road that had been owned by the Galsworthy family, although by this date it was no longer residential, the buildings were still largely laid out as a country house. Over the years, significant investments have been made, first, there was major conversion work in the main house, then the building of the hall and science block, and a kitchen. The 1990s saw the rebuilding of the accommodation, followed by the art wing. There has also been a significant refurbishment of the library, dining room and office accommodation, the new Lower School Building comprising 6 classrooms, a performing arts hall and outdoor play space for the junior boys was officially opened by HRH Princess Alexandra on 16 October 2013. For many years, the school use of external sports facilities that were hired from year to year. After nearly 10 years of searching, the school bought its own fields in Worcester Park in 2003, some 10 minutes from the school. The motto of the school is Smart, Skilful and Kind, Peck had been deputy headmaster to Michael Siegel, who authored a textbook, Latin, A Fresh Approach. There are four houses to which belong, Bazelgette, Galsworthy, Moody. A book by Peter Wicker, headmaster 1968–85, charting the history of the schools first 125 years, was published in late 2009, Rokeby, a white, short-sleeved shirt with a red and black striped tie was worn. The senior school wore grey trousers with a grey blazer, distinguishable from the Junior Rokeby blazer by its red. The tie carries grey, black and red stripes and he also scrapped the separate junior school uniform. A
5.
St Paul's School, London
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St Pauls School is a selective independent school for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by the River Thames, in Barnes, London. It is one of the original nine British Clarendon Schools public schools, however, The School successfully argued that the school should be omitted from the Public Schools Act 1868. Since 1881, St Pauls has had its own school, St Pauls Juniors. The school is currently being rebuilt and expanded, the work was scheduled to be completed in phases over the next thirty years. St Pauls School originally takes its name from St Pauls Cathedral in London, a cathedral school had existed since around 1103. By the 16th century however, it had declined, and in 1509 and he described himself in the statutes of the school as desyring nothing more thanne Educacion and bringing upp chyldren in good Maners and litterature. Originally, the school provided education for 153 children of all nacions and countries indifferently, primarily in literature and etiquette. The scholars were not required to make any payment, although they were required to be literate and had to pay for their own wax candles, Colet was an outspoken critic of the powerful and worldly Church of his day, a friend of Erasmus and Sir Thomas More. Erasmus wrote textbooks for the school and St Pauls was the first English school to teach Greek, Colet distrusted the Church as a managing body for his school, declaring that he found the least corruption in married laymen. For this reason, Colet assigned the management of the School and its revenues to the Mercers Company, the Mercers Company still forms the major part of the Schools governing body, and it continues to administer Colets trust. One of St Pauls early headmasters was Richard Mulcaster, famous for writing two influential treatises on education and his description in Positions of footeball as a refereed team sport is the earliest reference to organised modern football. For this description and his enthusiasm for the sport he is considered the father of modern football, between 1861 and 1864, the Clarendon Commission investigated the public school system in England and its report formed the basis of the Public Schools Act 1868. St Pauls was one of nine schools considered by the Clarendon Commission. According to Charles Dickens, Jr. writing in 1879 St Paul’s School, St Paul’s-churchyard — There are 153 scholars on the foundation, vacancies are filled up at the commencement of each term according to the results of a competitive examination. Candidates must be between 12 and 14 years of age, capitation scholars pay £20 a year. The governors of this school are appointed by the Mercers Company and the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, the school exhibitions are determined as to number and value by the governors from time to time, and the school prizes are of considerable importance. The following are the university exhibitions, an exhibition, founded by Mr Stock in 1780 at Corpus Christi, of the yearly value of £30, given to a scholar recommended by the high master. Four exhibitions, in the college, value £10 a year each, founded by Mr George Sykes in 1766, consolidated now in one exhibition
6.
Cranleigh School
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Cranleigh School is an independent English boarding school in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. The Good Schools Guide described the school as a Hugely popular school with loads on offer, improving academia, ideal for the sporty, energetic, sociable, independent and lovely child. It grew rapidly and by the 1880s had more than 300 pupils although, as many similar schools, it declined over the next 30 years. Two powerful headmasters - Herbert Rhodes and David Loveday restored Cranleighs fortunes, Cranleigh started to admit girls in the early 1970s and became fully co-educational in 1999. The current headmaster is Martin Reader with former East Housemaster, Simon Bird, the schools Trevor Abbott Sports Centre was opened by Sir Richard Branson and the West House was opened by Baroness Greenfield. New building projects include the completed extension onto Cubitt House as well as an environmentally friendly Woodland Workshop]. Named after David Emms, this was opened by Lord Patten of Barnes in 2009, the building includes new facilities for Science and Modern Languages as well as a lecture theatre. A £2 million renovation of the chapel in 2009 included the installation of a £500,000 Mander organ, about 6,500 past pupils are currently members. The Old Cranleighan Sports Club in Thames Ditton in Surrey is owned by the Society, the thirty seventh steam locomotive in the Southern Railways Class V, built in 1934 was named Cranleigh after the school
7.
Wadham College, Oxford
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Wadham College /ˈwɒdəm/ is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy Wadham, according to the will of her late husband Nicholas Wadham, a member of an ancient Devon and Somerset family. The central buildings, an example of Jacobean architecture, were designed by the architect William Arnold. They include a large and ornate Hall, adjacent to the central buildings are the Wadham Gardens, notable for their collection of trees and one of the largest gardens amongst Oxford colleges. Amongst Wadhams most famous alumni is Sir Christopher Wren, Wren was one of a brilliant group of experimental scientists at Oxford in the 1650s, the Oxford Philosophical Club, which included Robert Boyle and Robert Hooke. This group held meetings at Wadham College under the guidance of the warden, John Wilkins. Wadham is a liberal and progressive college which aims to maintain the diversity of its student body, in 1974 it was among the first of the former mens colleges to admit women, and the college has been a promoter of gay rights and equal rights for women. As of 2014, it had a financial endowment of £80.8 million, and in 2014/2015 ranked 3rd in the Norrington Table. The college was founded by Dorothy Wadham in 1610, according to the set out in the will of her husband Nicholas Wadham. Although she never visited Oxford, she kept control of her new college. The wardenship of John Wilkins is a significant period in the history of the college, Wilkins was a member of a group which had met for some years in London to discuss problems in the natural sciences. Many of the moved to Oxford and held regular meetings in the Wardens lodgings at Wadham. Among them were Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke, John Locke, William Petty, John Wallis, Wadham provided the largest contingent, some twelve of the fifty names mentioned. These included Christopher Brookes, John Mayow, Lawrence Rooke, Thomas Sprat, Seth Ward, Sir Christopher Wren was an undergraduate at Wadham before he became a fellow of All Souls and then succeeded Rooke as astronomy professor at Gresham College, London. He eventually returned to occupy rooms at Wadham while he was the Savilian Professor of Astronomy from 1661, Wren had notable achievements in pure and applied mathematics, astronomy, physics and biology to his credit before, in his thirties, turning to architecture. Alone in mathematical ability Wren was ranked by competent authorities second only to Newton among the men of his time, the Wardens lodgings were stuffed with ingenious instruments, and powerful telescopes were mounted on the college tower. Wilkins was the first president of the body, and became the first secretary of the Royal Society itself. These were the beginnings of organised scientific research in Britain, Maurice Bowra was Warden of the College from 1938 until 1970, and was influential in determining the character of the College as open and meritocratic
8.
Stand-up comedy
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Stand-up comedy is a comic style in which a comedian performs in front of a live audience, usually speaking directly to them. The performer is known as a comic, stand-up comic, stand-up comedian. In stand-up comedy, the comedian usually recites a grouping of humorous stories, jokes and one-liners typically called a monologue, routine, some stand-up comedians use props, music, or magic tricks to enhance their acts. Stand-up comedy is often performed in clubs, bars and pubs, nightclubs. Outside of live performance, stand-up is often distributed commercially via television, DVD, CD, in stand-up comedy, the feedback of the audience is instant and crucial for the comedians act. Audiences expect a stand-up comic to provide a stream of laughs. Will Ferrell has called stand-up comedy hard, lonely and vicious, a stand-up comedy show may involve only one comedian, or feature a headline or a showcase format. This is followed by one or two middle or featured acts, who perform 15- to 20-minute sets, followed by a headliner who performs for longer, a showcase format may still feature an MC. Bringer shows are another opportunity for amateur performers, the performer must bring a specified number of paying guests in order to get stage time. The guests usually have to pay a charge and there is often a minimum number of drinks that must be ordered. These shows usually have a showcase format and this type of show gives comedians better exposure than open mics because there is usually better audience turnout and industry professionals sometimes go to watch. Different comedy clubs have different requirements for their bringer shows, gotham Comedy Club in New York City, for example, usually has ten-person bringers, while Broadway Comedy Club in New York City usually has six-person bringers. As the name implies, stand-up comedians usually perform their material while standing, stand-up comedy has its origin in classic Parrhesia in 400 BC used for cynics and epicureans in order to tell the reality without censorship. Stand-up comedy in the United Kingdom began in the halls of the 18th and 19th centuries. The heavy censorship regime of the Lord Chamberlains Office required all comedians to submit their acts for censorship, the act would be returned with unacceptable sections underlined in blue pencil. The comedian was then obliged not to deviate from the act in its edited form, the rise of the post-war comedians coincided with the rise of television and radio, and the traditional music hall circuit suffered greatly as a result. By the 1970s, music hall entertainment was virtually dead, alternative circuits had evolved, such as working mens clubs. The alternative comedy scene began to evolve
9.
On the Hour
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On the Hour was a British radio programme that parodied current affairs broadcasting, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1991 and 1992. On the Hour featured the first appearance of Coogans character Alan Partridge as the Sports Desk reporter and it did fool many people, with some listeners ringing in to complain about how the anchor treated his guests. The programme also utilised editing of out-of-context sound-clips and prank phone calls, episodes would often feature a main storyline interspersed between the various news items. Twelve episodes were made and broadcast in 1991 and 1992, the final episode of On the Hour closed with Morris introducing a set of headlines with the line And there is still just time to part the beef curtains on tomorrows news. Running throughout the episode was the announcement that On the Hour would be taking over all of Radio 4 to transmit 24-hour Perma-News. On the Hour was named Best Radio Comedy at the 1992 British Comedy Awards, the On the Hour team subsequently made a television series called The Day Today, which retained the same regular cast and several characters from On the Hour. Combative and overly zealous, h believes in the infallibility of the news, bombastically delivering slogans like Man is only 90% water, and These facts are ear-shaped, lets ram them home. Morris frequently talks over his guests and does not realise or will not admit when he has the person on the other end of the phone. Morris reprised his newsman persona for The Day Today and Brass Eye, Roger Blatt/Michael Blatt, Roger Blatt is the Disaster correspondent for a train crash report, the identically-voiced Michael Blatt is the Strategy correspondent for the On the Hour War Special. Wayne Carr, Cloyingly-upbeat and smug DJ with a penchant for contracting words, waynes reports include inappropriately-upbeat coverage of a train crash disaster, an exposé on hidden messages in pop records, and a chinnywag about endangered animals. The character of Wayne Carr was retained from Morriss previous radio projects and his name is a reference to the abusive term wanker. Morris later used the Continuity Announcers voice for the national emergencies propaganda reel in the episode of The Day Today. Lionel Cosgrave, An Everyman who appears in news reports. Lionels age varies according to each report – sometimes he is a youngster, lionel is usually presented as a victim. Rosy presents absurd environmental-themed news in the segment Green Desk and this segment is accompanied by new-age music, including synthesised whale song. Rosy later appeared in The Day Today, although her segment was re-titled Enviromation, jacques Œuf, Appears in two episodes as a French counterpart to Wayne Carr. Like Carr, his name is a slang term for masturbation. Highly incompetent, reporting dubious facts and figures before being forced by Morris to admit that he hasnt actually read the reports he is ostensibly presenting and he later appeared in The Day Today
10.
The Day Today
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The Day Today is a British comedy television show which parodies television current affairs programmes, broadcast in 1994 on BBC2. For The Day Today, Peter Baynham joined the writing team, the principal cast of On the Hour was retained for The Day Today. The Day Today is composed of six episodes and a selection of shorter. The six half-hour episodes were originally broadcast from 19 January to 23 February 1994 on BBC2, the Day Today has won many awards, including Morris winning the 1994 British Comedy Award for Best Newcomer. All six episodes are available on BBC DVD, having previously issued on VHS. Each episode is presented as a news programme, and the episodes rely on a combination of ludicrous fictitious news stories, covered with a serious. Each episode revolves around one or two stories, which are pursued throughout the programme, along with a host of other stories usually only briefly referred to. The final episode features reports from the fictitious documentary The Office, other non-news segments of the programme include the occasional physical cartoons of current events set in the studio. The programme occasionally features producer Armando Iannucci and writer Peter Baynham, John Thomson, Graham Linehan, Tony Haase, and Minnie Driver also appear. Michael Alexander St John provides the voiceover stings, as he did in On the Hour, much of the programmes humour derives from its excessively brash style of reporting, and its unnecessarily complex format. Morris presents aggressively, often arguing with reporters and guests on-air, the programme frequently lambasts Conservative government politicians in office at the time of the programmes production. Those repeatedly lampooned by the series include John Major, Michael Heseltine, Chris Patten, Douglas Hurd, Virginia Bottomley, Michael Portillo, each episode ends in a familiar style for news reports, with the camera panning out as the studio lights dim on Morris. The programme features surreal news items, examples include, Reports that explosive-packed terrorist dogs were being released in London by the IRA. These bomb dogs wreak havoc, and prompt the British police to begin executing any dog on sight and this story is accompanied by a clip of Steve Coogan impersonating a Gerry Adams-esque Sinn Féin leader, spouting rhetoric while inhaling helium to subtract credibility from his statement. Coverage of a feud between John Major and the Queen, coverage of an ongoing rail crisis, following a train trapped on the tracks in Hampshire. Trapped by a signal post, the stranded train rapidly becomes the scene of anarchy and paganism. In the fifth episode, Morris provokes a war between Hong Kong and Australia, and much of the episode revolves around the resulting conflict, subsequent reports of the war, delivered from Eastmanstown in the Upper Cataracts on the Australio-Hong-Kong border, are humorously blown out of proportion. Morris has several computers giving him the news instantly from around the world and he is always confrontational and aggressive, frequently picking fights with his staff and guests while on-air, and his efforts to resolve problems frequently make bad situations even worse
11.
Fist of Fun
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Fist of Fun was a British comedy enterprise, initially a BBC Radio 1 series in 1993 and then a BBC2 television series in 1995. It was written by and starred Lee and Herring, each episode of Fist of Fun consisted of disparate sketches, stand-up comedy segments, dialogues, and situations. It was broadcast at 9pm on Tuesday nights, and was successful, the second series was aired on Friday nights, and although its ratings were relatively good, the show suffered from network interference and poor promotion. The show was not given a series, but Lee and Herring went on to create This Morning with Richard Not Judy. Simon Quinlank, a self-proclaimed Hobby Lion and King of All Hobbies and Duke of Hobby, in each episode, he presents a slot related to his latest invented hobby. He is known for his maniacal laughter, frequent cries of Answer me, and loathing for never-seen rival Neil Petark. He also has a fondness for weak lemon drink, the character reappeared in Lee and Herrings later show This Morning with Richard Not Judy. Rod Hull, a character who claims to be the genuine Rod Hull but is in fact an obvious fraud. He has an obsession with jelly, and has a false arm and he persistently claims that the false arm is real despite the fact that he has an actual real arm tucked inside his shirt. Also played by the actor Kevin Eldon, Peter, a 31-year-old Welsh virgin from Balham who provides lifestyle tips from his unique perspective, usually cheap alternatives to well known recipes. The first series was released in early December 2011 and the series in November 2012 albeit with slight edits made for editorial reasons at the request of the BBC. This included material regarding Princess Diana and Morris Mitchener, whose parents attempted to sue the West Yorkshire playhouse after a production of Peter Pan scared the infant Mitchener. Ironically the material excised from the complete episodes is included as part of the unedited studio sessions presented elsewhere on the DVD set. Fist of Fun. net fansite, includes downloads of their shows and live performances, episode guides. Fist of Fun at the Internet Movie Database Lee and Herring. com Official Stewart Lee website Official Richard Herring website
12.
Stewart Lee
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Stewart Graham Lee is an English stand-up comedian, writer, director and musician. He made his name in the mid-1990s as one half of the radio duo Lee and Herring, alongside Richard Herring, a success followed through with extensive touring to build up a live following. After a return to the circuit, and through BBC and Channel 4 specials and series, Lee has rebuilt an audience. Lee remains a significant draw in UK stand up, in recent years, Lee has been successful in selling out large venues including the ICC in his home city of Birmingham as well as larger venues in London. In December 2011 he won British Comedy Awards for best male television comic, a 2009 article in The Times referred to him as the comedians comedian, and for good reason and named him face of the decade. In June 2012 Lee was placed at number 9 in the Top 100 Most Influential People in UK Comedy and his stand-up features frequent use of repetition, call-backs, nonchalant delivery and deconstruction, a device he often self-consciously refers to on stage. Lee has written reviews for publications including The Sunday Times. Through the early 2000s he was a presenter on Resonance FM. Asked in 2003 what his favourites were, he said Most of my favourites are still going like The Fall, Giant Sand, I listen to a lot of jazz, 60s and folk music but I really like Ms. Dynamite, and The Streets. His debut novel, The Perfect Fool, includes an audio bibliography – a list of recommended listening, Lee mentions that it was his love of the band Giant Sand that first attracted him to visit the Southwestern United States. Lee was born in Wellington, Shropshire and he was adopted as a child and grew up in Solihull in the West Midlands. He attended the public school Solihull School on a part scholarship. As a teenager he suffered from ulcerative colitis and he is married to fellow comic Bridget Christie, with whom he has two children. He is a patron of the British Humanist Association, an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and his influences include Ted Chippington, Simon Munnery, Kevin McAleer and Johnny Vegas. Having moved to London and begun performing stand up comedy after university, he rose to prominence in 1990. Throughout the late nineties he continued performing solo stand-up and has collaborated with, amongst others, Julian Barratt, Lee returned the favour by going on to direct their 1999 Edinburgh show, Arctic Boosh, which remains the template for their live work. In 2001, Lee published his first novel, The Perfect Fool, in the same year he performed Pea Green Boat, a stand-up show which revolved around the deconstruction of the Edward Lear poem The Owl and the Pussycat and a tale of his own broken toilet. This would later be condensed to focus mainly on the poem itself, in 2007, Go Faster Stripe released a 25-minute edit on CD &10 Vinyl
13.
Jane Horrocks
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Barbara Jane Horrocks is an English stage, film and television actress, voice artist, musician and singer, who played the roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. Her other film roles include The Witches, Life Is Sweet, Corpse Bride, Horrocks, the youngest of three children, was born in Rawtenstall, Lancashire, the daughter of Barbara, a hospital worker, and John Horrocks, a sales representative. Horrocks became a name with the role of Bubble in Absolutely Fabulous, while working on Road, a play directed by Jim Cartwright, Horrocks warmed up by doing singing impressions of Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey and Ethel Merman. Cartwright was so impressed with her mimicry he wrote The Rise and she was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1992 West End production, directed by her boyfriend Sam Mendes. In 2000, Horrocks made the CD Further Adventures of Little Voice, the recording includes duets with Ewan McGregor, Robbie Williams and Dean Martin. Horrocks collaborated once more with Robbie Williams the following year, for a cover of the Bobby Darin song Things on Williamss album Swing When Youre Winning, Horrocks has appeared on stage in Ask for the Moon, A Colliers Friday Night, Valued Friends, and The Debutante Ball. She appeared in Catherine Cooksons The Fifteen Streets, alongside Sean Bean and Owen Teale in 1989, Our Own Kind, Deadly Advice, Cabaret, Macbeth and she has voiced Donner in all three Robbie the Reindeer films in aid of Comic Relief. She was the subject of an episode of the documentary series Who Do You Think You Are. in 2006. That year she played the role in The Amazing Mrs Pritchard. For 10 years, Horrocks appeared with Prunella Scales in commercials for the UK supermarket chain Tesco and she narrated BBC Twos television series The Speaker in April 2009. Also in 2009, Horrocks took the lead in the BBC TV production Gracie, a drama portraying the life of Gracie Fields during World War II and her relationship with the Italian-born director Monty Banks. On Tuesday 14 January 2014, Horrocks appeared as a contestant in The Great Sport Relief Bake Off on BBC Two. This programme is the celebrity version of The Great British Bake Off, whose purpose is to raise money for the charity Sport Relief. The other contestants were, TV and radio presenter Kirsty Young, choreographer Jason Gardiner, in October 2014, Horrocks will play Ella Khan in the London revival of East is East at Trafalgar Studios as part of Jamie Lloyds Trafalgar Transformed season. On 9 May 2015 she gave a reading at VE Day 70, A Party to Remember in Horse Guards Parade, in 2015 she supplied the voice of the Tubby Phone in the reboot of the popular British childrens television series Teletubbies. Horrocks lives with playwright Nick Vivian in Twickenham with their children, son Dylan, in 2011, Horrocks caused minor controversy by admitting to no longer shopping in Tesco, stating that heres always a set type of people doing their shopping. Whether its pensioners holding everyone up or screeching kids, or sometimes you can have rather a lot of chavs in, and that gets a bit scary
14.
Dealer's Choice (play)
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It is set in a restaurant in London in the mid-1990s. The action takes place over three acts, the third act centres on a game of poker. The original cast included Nicholas Day, Nigel Lindsay, Phil Daniels, Tom Georgeson, David Bark-Jones, Stephen owns a small restaurant which employs Sweeney, Mugsy and Frankie. A third waiter, Tony, is mentioned but never appears in the play, every Sunday after closing, the staff and Stephens son, Carl, play a poker game in the basement. At the start of the play, we learn Mugsy is attempting to buy a toilet in Mile End. Mugsy doesnt have the money - he lost £3,000 at poker to Stephen several weeks ago, Mugsy is hoping to convince Carl to get the money from his father, and plans to dump Carl once the restaurant is open. He has a gambling addiction, which he believes he has kept hidden from his father. He currently owes £4,000 to Ash, his poker mentor, in the second act, Ash comes to the restaurant to get his money. Carl, having again lost the money he had saved, convinces Ash to join the game under cover of being a former schoolteacher. The staff, believing Ashs story, accept his inclusion, the absence of Tony has left a seat available, Frankie spends much of the first act convincing Sweeney to play in the game that night. Sweeney has permission to see his daughter the following morning and doesnt want to stay up all night getting drunk, Frankie is thought the best poker player in the group, and believes he is going to become a professional in Las Vegas. The second half of the play is the poker game, as the game goes on, Ash wins every game. Each player in turn ends up losing all their money to Ash until finally only Carl, Ash, Mugsy, Carl has some winnings and is able to repay Mugsy for a debt incurred earlier however Mugsy immediately prepares to blow this on another hand of poker. Only Stephen remains in the game and claims to have an inferior hand allowing Mugsy to win, as Mugsy has only a small amount of money left he is convinced by Stephen to walk away with what he has got. Carl threatens to expose Stephens deception because he believes his own father has treated Mugsby better than himself and he doesnt carry out this threat and Mugsy leaves happy and none the wiser. Carl, Ash and Stephen are left alone and Stephen sends Carl out of the room to fetch some coffee, once he has left, a heated interrogation starts and Stephen finds out who Ash really is. As the tension rises, the two men argue over which of them is truly addicted to gambling - Stephen, who plays poker every Sunday with his son and employees or Ash who owes £10,000 to other gamblers. Stephen has stated that he return the £4,000 he just won from Ash in the previous round
15.
Royal National Theatre
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The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdoms three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. Internationally, it is known as the National Theatre of Great Britain, from its foundation in 1963 until 1976, the company was based at the Old Vic theatre in Waterloo. The current building is located next to the Thames in the South Bank area of central London, in addition to performances at the National Theatre building, the National Theatre company tours productions at theatres across the United Kingdom. Since 1988, the theatre has been permitted to call itself the Royal National Theatre, the theatre presents a varied programme, including Shakespeare and other international classic drama, and new plays by contemporary playwrights. Each auditorium in the theatre can run up to three shows in repertoire, thus widening the number of plays which can be put on during any one season. In June 2009, the theatre began National Theatre Live, a programme of simulcasts of live productions to cinemas, first in the United Kingdom, the programme began with a production of Phèdre, starring Helen Mirren, which was screened live in 70 cinemas across the UK. NT Live productions have since been broadcast to over 1,000 venues in 35 countries around the world, the NT had an annual turnover of approximately £87 million in 2012–13, of which earned income made up 80%. Support from Arts Council England provided 20% of income, and the remaining 7% came from a mixture of companies, individuals, trusts, in 1847, a critic using the pseudonym Dramaticus published a pamphlet describing the parlous state of British theatre. Production of serious plays was restricted to the patent theatres, at the same time, there was a burgeoning theatre sector featuring a diet of low melodrama and musical burlesque, but critics described British theatre as driven by commercialism and a star system. There was a demand to commemorate serious theatre, with the Shakespeare Committee purchasing the playwrights birthplace for the nation demonstrating a recognition of the importance of serious drama, the following year saw more pamphlets on a demand for a National Theatre from London publisher Effingham William Wilson. The situation continued, with a renewed call every decade for a National Theatre, attention was aroused in 1879 when the Comédie-Française took a residency at the Gaiety Theatre, described in The Times as representing the highest aristocracy of the theatre. This still left the capital without a national theatre and this work was interrupted by World War I. The play was part of the campaign to build a National Theatre. Still, the Government tried to apply unacceptable conditions to save money, attempting to force the amalgamation of the publicly supported companies. In July 1962, with agreements reached, a board was set up to supervise construction. The National Theatre Company opened on 22 October 1963 with Hamlet, the current building was designed by architects Sir Denys Lasdun and Peter Softley and structural engineers Flint & Neill and contains three stages, which opened individually between 1976 and 1977. The construction work was carried out by Sir Robert McAlpine, the Company was to remain at the Old Vic until 1977, when construction of the Olivier was complete. The National Theatre building houses three separate auditoria, additionally, a temporary structure was added in April 2013 and closed in May 2016
16.
London Evening Standard
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The London Evening Standard is a local, free daily newspaper, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant local/regional evening paper for London and the area, with coverage of national and international news. In October 2009, the paper ended a 180-year history of paid circulation and became a free newspaper, the newspaper was founded by barrister Stanley Lees Giffard on 21 May 1827, as the Standard. The early owner of the paper was Charles Baldwin, under the ownership of James Johnstone, The Standard became a morning paper from 29 June 1857. The Evening Standard was published from 11 June 1859, by the end of the 19th century, the evening edition eclipsed its morning counterpart. Both The Standard and the Evening Standard were acquired by C. Arthur Pearson in 1904, in May 1915, Edward Hulton purchased the Evening Standard from Davison Dalziel. Dalziel had purchased both papers in 1910, and closed The Standard, the paper, in 1916. Hulton introduced the gossip column Londoners Diary, originally billed as a written by gentlemen for gentlemen. It became a staunchly Conservative paper, harshly attacking Labour in 1945 in a campaign that backfired. In the 1960s, the paper was now upstaged by The Evening News, during the decade, the paper also began to publish the comic strip Modesty Blaise that bolstered the papers sales throughout the 1970s. In 1987 the Evening News was briefly revived to compete with Robert Maxwells London Daily News, in 1988 it incorporated the byline Incorporating the Evening News, which remained until the papers sale in 2009. A few years earlier,12 percent of the paper was sold to Justin Shaw, Associated News keeps the remaining 24 percent. In November 2009, it was announced that the London Evening Standard would drop its midday News Extra edition from 4 January 2010 with the first edition being the West End Final, previously there were three editions each weekday, excluding Bank holidays. The first, News Extra, went to print at 10,00 am and was available around 11 am in central London, slightly later in more outlying areas. The page changes were indicated by stars in the bottom corner of each page. In January 2010, circulation was increased to 900,000, in May 2009, the newspaper launched a series of poster ads, each of which prominently featured the word Sorry in the papers then-masthead font. These ads offered various apologies for past editorial approaches, such as Sorry for losing touch, none of the posters mentioned the Evening Standard by name, although they featured the papers Eros logo. Ex-editor Veronica Wadley criticised the Pravda-style campaign saying it humiliated the papers staff, the campaign was designed by McCann Erickson
17.
After Miss Julie
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After Miss Julie is a play by Patrick Marber which relocates August Strindbergs naturalist tragedy, Miss Julie, to an English country house in July 1945. The re-imagining of the events of Strindbergs original are transposed to the night of the British Labour Partys landslide election victory. There are only three characters in After Miss Julie, Miss Julie, a lady in her 20s. The action takes place in the kitchen of a country house outside London. After Miss Julie, written and directed by Patrick Marber, was screened by BBC Two on 4 November 1995 as part of the Performance season, Miss Julie was played by Geraldine Somerville, John was played by Phil Daniels and Christine was played by Kathy Burke. The Stage Premiere was at the Donmar Warehouse in London on 20 November 2003, the three characters were played by Kelly Reilly, Richard Coyle and Helen Baxendale. The production was directed by Michael Grandage and it received generally very positive reviews, Kelly Reilly particularly praised for her performance. The Telegraph said it was a night of white-hot theatrical intensity. The Young Vic revived After Miss Julie in March 2012 as its first production of Classics for A New Climate and it was directed by Natalie Abrahami. Natalie Dormer played the role, Kieran Bew John. The production was a sell-out with Natalie Dormer receiving particularly high praise and its run ended on1 November 2006. The characters were played by Juliette Goodman, Guy Parry and Polly Lister and it was directed by Simon H West. The production was praised for its impact, acting and sexual charge, salisbury Playhouse produce a production of After Miss Julie from 1–24 October 2009, directed by Tom Daley. Clementine Theatre Company produced a production of After Miss Julie in 2015 at the Teachers Club in Dublin, in the production there were subtle design references to the 2015 election in England and the Irish Equality referendum. This production was directed by Sarah Munro with design by David Doyle, cast consisted of Miss Julie, John, and Christine. The Roundabout Theatre Company produced the Broadway premiere on 22 October 2009 at the American Airlines Theatre to mixed reviews and it starred Sienna Miller, Jonny Lee Miller and Marin Ireland, and was directed by Mark Brokaw. Sienna Miller in After Miss Julie on Broadway, What did the critics think, Donmar Warehouse After Miss Julie Page After Miss Julie. Theatre review, After Miss Julie at Donmar Warehouse, samuel French Script Information CurtainUp, Lizzie Loveridge
18.
August Strindberg
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Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. From his earliest work, Strindberg developed innovative forms of action, language. He is considered the father of modern Swedish literature and his The Red Room has frequently described as the first modern Swedish novel. In Sweden, Strindberg is known as an essayist, painter, poet, and especially as a novelist and playwright, but in other countries he is known mostly as a playwright. The Royal Theatre rejected his first major play, Master Olof, in 1872, it was not until 1881, at the age of thirty-two, that its première at the New Theatre gave him his theatrical breakthrough. In Miss Julie, characterisation replaces plot as the predominant dramatic element and the role of heredity. During the 1890s he spent significant time abroad engaged in scientific experiments, a series of psychotic attacks between 1894 and 1896 led to his hospitalization and return to Sweden. Under the influence of the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, he resolved after his recovery to become the Zola of the Occult, in 1898 he returned to play-writing with To Damascus, which, like The Great Highway, is a dream-play of spiritual pilgrimage. He also returned to writing historical drama, the genre with which he had begun his play-writing career and he helped to run the Intimate Theatre from 1907, a small-scale theatre, modeled on Max Reinhardts Kammerspielhaus, that staged his chamber plays. Strindberg was born on 22 January 1849 in Stockholm, Sweden, in his autobiographical novel The Son of a Servant, Strindberg describes a childhood affected by emotional insecurity, poverty, religious fanaticism and neglect. When he was seven, Strindberg moved to Norrtullsgatan on the northern, a year later the family moved near to Sabbatsberg, where they stayed for three years before returning to Norrtullsgatan. He attended a school in Klara for four years, an experience that haunted him in his adult life. He was moved to the school in Jakob in 1860, which he found far more pleasant, in the autumn of 1861, he was moved to the Stockholm Lyceum, a progressive private school for middle-class boys, where he remained for six years. As a child he had a keen interest in science, photography. His mother, Strindberg recalled later with bitterness, always resented her sons intelligence and she died when he was thirteen, and although his grief lasted for only three months, in later life he came to feel a sense of loss and longing for an idealized maternal figure. Less than a year after her death, his father married the childrens governess, according to his sisters, Strindberg came to regard them as his worst enemies. He passed his exam in May 1867 and enrolled at the Uppsala University. Strindberg spent the few years in Uppsala and Stockholm, alternately studying for exams
19.
Miss Julie
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Miss Julie is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg. It is set on Midsummers Eve on the estate of a Count in Sweden, the young woman of the title is drawn to a senior servant, a valet named Jean, who is particularly well-traveled, well-mannered and well-read. The action takes place in the kitchen of Miss Julies fathers manor, where Jeans fiancée, on this night the relationship between Miss Julie and Jean escalates rapidly to feelings of love and is subsequently consummated. Over the course of the play Miss Julie and Jean battle until Jean convinces her that the way to escape her predicament is to commit suicide. One theme of the play is Darwinism, a theory that was a significant influence on the author during his naturalistic period, the play is preceded by a remarkable author’s preface, which concerns itself with Strindberg’s ideas of naturalism and how they apply to his play, Miss Julie. With the preface Strindberg talks about ideas of the aristocracy and classism arguably even more so than the play itself, in the preface he describes both Jean and Julie as stereotypical representation of their class and society. Miss Julie is especially condemned by Strindberg as a character which does not mean that the man-hating half-woman has not existed in every age. Zola’s term for naturalism is la nouvelle formule, the three primary principles of naturalism are first, that the play should be realistic, and the result of a careful study of human behavior and psychology. The characters should be flesh and blood, their motivations and actions should be grounded in their heredity, the presentation of the play in terms of the setting and performances should be realistic and not flamboyant or theatrical. The single setting of Miss Julie, for example, is a kitchen, second, the conflicts in the play should be issues of meaningful, life-altering significance — not small or petty. And third, the play should be simple — not cluttered with complicated sub-plots or lengthy expositions, Strindberg was keenly aware that the French playwrights had been unable to achieve naturalism, and he felt that he could do it. The play was written as Strindberg was creating a new theatre of his own, The Scandinavian Naturalistic Theatre, Miss Julie would be the premier offering. Strindberg’s wife, Siri von Essen, would star in the title role, after Strindberg agreed to a small amount of censorship, the play was published a few weeks before the first production. With disastrous timing for the new theatre, the censors announced during the dress rehearsal, however, Strindberg managed to get around the censors by having Miss Julie premiered a few days later at the Copenhagen University Student Union. Miss Julie, Strong-willed daughter of the Count who owns the estate, raised by her late mother to think like and act like a man, she is a confused individual. She is aware of the power she holds but switches between being above the servants and flirting with Jean and she longs to fall from her pillar, an expression symbolically put across as a recurring dream she has. He tells a story of seeing Miss Julie many times as a child and loving her even then, there is good evidence both for and against its veracity. He left the town and traveled widely, working different jobs as he went
20.
Donmar Warehouse
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The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977, Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and now Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director. The theatre has an artistic policy that includes new writing, contemporary reappraisals of European classics, British and American drama. As well as presenting at least six productions a year at its home in Covent Garden, theatrical producer Donald Albery formed Donmar Productions around 1953, with the name derived from the first three letters of his name and the first three letters of his wifes middle name, Margaret. His son Ian Albery, a producer and theatre design consultant, in 1977, the Royal Shakespeare Company acquired it as a theatre and renamed it the Warehouse, converting and equipping at immense speed. The first show, which opened on 18 July 1977, was Schweik in the Second World War, directed by Howard Davies, the electricity for the theatre was turned on just 30 minutes before curtain up, and the concrete steps up to the theatre were still wet. The RSC went on to stage numerous acclaimed productions, both original and transfers from The Other Place, Stratford, in 1980 nearly all the RSC company were involved in Nicholas Nickleby so a new two hander was found from the pile of submitted scripts. Educating Rita, with Julie Walters and Mark Kingston directed by Mike Ockrent, went on to be one of the RSCs biggest successes, from 1983-89 it came under the artistic directorship of Nica Burns. In 1990, Roger Wingate was responsible for the acquisition of the Donmar Warehouse and he completely rebuilt and re-equipped it in the form it is known today. Prior to its reopening in 1992, Roger Wingate appointed Sam Mendes as the theatre’s first Artistic Director, as a board member and theatrical producer, Roger Wingate remains closely involved with the Donmar to the present day. The Donmar became an independent producing house in 1992 with Sam Mendes as artistic director and his opening production was Stephen Sondheims Assassins. He followed this with a series of classic revivals, in 2002 Michael Grandage succeeded Sam Mendes as Artistic Director. Grandage appointed Douglas Hodge and Jamie Lloyd as Associate Directors, in 2007 Rob Ashford succeeded Hodge, under the umbrella of Warehouse Productions, the theatre sometimes opened shows in the West End. Including 1999s Suddenly Last Summer and 2005s Guys and Dolls, many well-known actors have appeared at the theatre, including Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ian McKellen and Ewan McGregor. With only 250 seats, the tickets for Othello starring McGregor were in demand that Grandage feared it could become a bad news story. His response was to plan a one-year season at the 750-seat Wyndhams Theatre and it commenced on 12 September 2008, with Kenneth Branagh in the title role of Chekhovs Ivanov, given in a new version by Tom Stoppard and directed by Grandage. The West End season continued with Derek Jacobi in Twelfth Night, Judi Dench in Yukio Mishimas Madame de Sade and Jude Law in Hamlet, all directed by Grandage. Following the Donmar West End season, the Donmar held three productions internationally, transfers of Red, Piaf and Creditors, to Broadway, Madrid and the Brooklyn Academy of Music respectively
21.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
22.
Kelly Reilly
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Jessica Kelly Siobhán Reilly is an English actress. Her performance in After Miss Julie at the Donmar Warehouse made her a star of the London stage, Reilly was born and brought up in Chessington, Surrey, England, the daughter of a hospital receptionist mother, and Jack Reilly, a police officer. She attended Tolworth Girls School in Kingston, which was a school where she studied drama for GCSE. Six years later, she appeared alongside Helen Mirren in the film Last Orders. Her first professional role was followed by a series of parts on the English stage and she worked with Terry Johnson in four productions, Elton John’s Glasses, The London Cuckolds, The Graduate and Piano/Forte. Johnson wrote Piano/Forte for her and said, Kelly is possibly the most natural, dyed-in-the-wool, Reilly has stated that she learned the most as an actor from Karel Reisz, who directed her in The Yalta Game in Dublin in 2001. She said, He was my masterclass, there is no way I would have been able to do Miss Julie if I hadnt done that play. By 2000, Reilly felt she was being typecast in comedy roles and this was followed by a role in the Royal Courts 2001 rerun of Sarah Kanes Blasted. The Times called her theatrical Viagra, in 2002, Reilly starred alongside Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris as Wendy, an English Erasmus student, in the French comedy LAuberge espagnole. She resumed her role in the 2005 sequel, Les Poupées russes, also in 2005, Reilly had roles in such films as Mrs Henderson Presents and Pride & Prejudice. Reillys first lead came in 2008 in the horror film Eden Lake and, in 2009. Reilly also appeared in three films, Sherlock Holmes, Triage, and Me and Orson Welles. In 2011, Reilly reprised her role as Mary Watson in Sherlock Holmes, in 2012, Reilly appeared opposite Sam Rockwell in A Single Shot and had a leading role in Robert Zemeckis Flight opposite Denzel Washington. In 2014, Reilly starred with Greg Kinnear in the film Heaven is for Real, in 2015, Reilly starred in the second season of HBOs True Detective as Jordan Semyon, the wife of Vince Vaughns character Frank Semyon. The same year, Reilly made her Broadway debut opposite Clive Owen, reillys performance in After Miss Julie at the Donmar Warehouse made her a star of the London stage and earned her a nomination for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress of 2003. Aged 26, she was the youngest person nominated for that award. In 2005, she won Best Newcomer Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her role as Wendy in The Russian Dolls, in 2006, Reilly won the Empire Award for Best Newcomer for her role in the British comedy film, Mrs Henderson Presents. She was nominated again for an Olivier Award for her performance as Desdemona in the acclaimed production of Othello at the Donmar Warehouse in 2009
23.
Helen Baxendale
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Helen Victoria Baxendale is an English actress of stage and television, best known for her roles in Cold Feet, Friends, Cardiac Arrest and An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. Baxendale was born on 7 June 1970 in Pontefract, West Riding of Yorkshire and her sister is the screen writer Katie Baxendale. She grew up in Shenstone, Staffordshire and attended King Edward VI School and she wanted to be a ballet dancer when she was younger. She trained at the Elmhurst School for Dance but dropped out at 17 in favour of an acting career and she moved to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and then worked at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre from 1992–1995. It was via Glasgow Citizens Theatre that she was cast in the hospital TV series Cardiac Arrest and her role as Dr. Claire Maitland earned her a Scottish BAFTA nomination in 1995. She was one of the stars of the popular TV series Cold Feet, playing Rachel Bradley, other notable roles include Lorna Johnson in Truth or Dare, Caroline Meagher in The Investigator, and Julie Matthews in Curt Truningers Dead by Monday. She was nominated for another Scottish BAFTA in 1997 for her role as Lorna Johnson, Dead by Monday won the Angel Award for Best Film at the Monaco International Film Festival in 2003 and the Portland Festival of World Cinema award for best feature film in 2001. For her 1993 performance in Soldiers at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, in 2009 Baxendale played Lara in Amongst Friends alongside Aden Gillett and Emma Cunniffe at Hampstead Theatre. She played Pandora Braithwaite in Adrian Mole, the Cappuccino Years in 2001 and she also appeared in Saving Nellie, a physics programme running on Teachers TV. In 2007 to January 2008 she starred in Swimming with Sharks alongside Christian Slater at Londons Vaudeville Theatre, in 2008 and 2009 she has also appeared in several TV adverts for Morrisons, a British supermarket chain. In January 2011, she co-starred with Trevor Eve in the three-part ITV drama Kidnap and Ransom, later in the same year, she starred as DCI Marion Bettany in Val McDermids radio crime drama Village SOS. In 2010 Helen Baxendale appeared in the episode of Dirk Gently as Susan Harmison. In 2012 she reprised her role in the episode of the commissioned first. She then appeared in the Inspector George Gently episode The Lost Child alongside Mark Gatiss and she currently stars in Cuckoo as Lorna, the mother in-law of the titular Dale Cuckoo Ashbrick. Baxendale has been with her partner David L. Williams since her Glasgow days and her first pregnancy was written into An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and her second was written into the fourth series of Cold Feet. Her first pregnancy meant that her character was out of Friends earlier than the writers had originally intended. Baxendale appeared in only 14 episodes, despite her character dating, marrying, Helen Baxendale at the Internet Movie Database
24.
American Airlines Theatre
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The American Airlines Theatre, originally the Selwyn Theatre, is a historic Italian Renaissance style Broadway theatre in New York City built in 1918. It was designed by George Keister and built by the Selwyn brothers, used for musicals and other dramatic performances it was eventually converted for film. It was used briefly as a visitors center but stood vacant for years until a 1997 renovation and restoration and it is located at 227 West 42nd Street. Originally named the Selwyn Theatre, it was designed by the architect George Keister and constructed by the Selwyn brothers, Edgar and Archie and it was one of three theatres they built and controlled on 42nd Street, along with the Apollo and the Times Square Theater. It was decorated in the style of the Italian Renaissance, at the time of its opening, the design had several innovations. Its most novel feature was separate smoking rooms for men and women, additionally, each dressing room was equipped with a shower and telephone. It would return to legitimate theater several times over the six decades. It was used briefly in the early 1990s as a home for the Times Square Visitors Center and for a production of Eugene ONeills The Hairy Ape. The City and State of New York took possession of the Selwyn in 1990, in 1992, it was one of six 42nd Street theatres to fall under the protection of the New 42nd Street organization. The Roundabout Theatre Company committed to renovating the Selwyn in 1997 and it was restored to its former grandeur, renamed the American Airlines in honor of its principal sponsor, and reopened on June 30,2000. The American Airlines Theatre currently serves as the home of the Roundabout, the production grossed $477,030 for the week ending April 30,2006
25.
Broadway theatre
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Along with Londons West End theatres, Broadway theatres are widely considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. The Theater District is a popular tourist attraction in New York City, the great majority of Broadway shows are musicals. They presented Shakespeare plays and ballad operas such as The Beggars Opera, in 1752, William Hallam sent a company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg, Virginia and opened with The Merchant of Venice, the company moved to New York in the summer of 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like Damon and Phillida. The Revolutionary War suspended theatre in New York, but thereafter theatre resumed in 1798, the Bowery Theatre opened in 1826, followed by others. Blackface minstrel shows, a distinctly American form of entertainment, became popular in the 1830s, by the 1840s, P. T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in lower Manhattan. In 1829, at Broadway and Prince Street, Niblos Garden opened, the 3, 000-seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non-musical entertainments. In 1844, Palmos Opera House opened and presented opera for four seasons before bankruptcy led to its rebranding as a venue for plays under the name Burtons Theatre. The Astor Opera House opened in 1847, booth played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1865, and would later revive the role at his own Booths Theatre. Other renowned Shakespeareans who appeared in New York in this era were Henry Irving, Tommaso Salvini, Fanny Davenport, lydia Thompson came to America in 1868 heading a small theatrical troupe, adapting popular English burlesques for middle-class New York audiences. Thompsons troupe called the British Blondes, was the most popular entertainment in New York during the 1868–1869 theatrical season, the six-month tour ran for almost six extremely profitable years. Theatre in New York moved from downtown gradually to midtown beginning around 1850, in 1870, the heart of Broadway was in Union Square, and by the end of the century, many theatres were near Madison Square. Broadways first long-run musical was a 50-performance hit called The Elves in 1857, New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London, but Laura Keenes musical burletta The Seven Sisters shattered previous New York records with a run of 253 performances. It was at a performance by Keenes troupe of Our American Cousin in Washington, the production was a staggering five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length, it ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. The same year, The Black Domino/Between You, Me and the Post was the first show to call itself a musical comedy, Tony Pastor opened the first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881, where Lillian Russell performed. Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 and 1890, with book and lyrics by Harrigan and music by his father-in-law David Braham. They starred high quality singers, instead of the women of repute who had starred in earlier musical forms. Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences, leading to better profits, as in England, during the latter half of the century, the theatre began to be cleaned up, with less prostitution hindering the attendance of the theatre by women
26.
Closer (play)
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Closer is the second play by British playwright Patrick Marber. The play was premiered at the Royal National Theatres Cottesloe Theatre in London in 1997 and it was adapted by Marber as a 2004 film of the same name, produced and directed by Mike Nichols. Closer was first performed at the Royal National Theatre in London on 22 May 1997, Closer has drawn comparisons with Noël Cowards Private Lives, Harold Pinters Betrayal, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses in its intricate focus on the politics of four people trading partners for lust. A young man, Dan, takes a woman to hospital after she has been hit by a taxi. Larry, a doctor in dermatology, inspects her leg briefly, Dan and the young woman introduce themselves—he is Daniel Woolf, an obituary writer and failed novelist who tells her how he and his colleagues use euphemisms humorously in their work in obituaries. Upon the girls prompting, he says his euphemism would be reserved and she is Alice Ayres, a self-described waif who has a scar along her leg which is shaped like a question mark. Wanting him to spend the rest of the day with her, she calls his editor and tells his boss that hes sick and cant come in to work. More than a later, Dan is on the verge of publishing a book based on Alices past as a stripper. Dan falls in love with Anna, though he is in a relationship with Alice and he begs Anna to see him again, and she rejects him. Alice overhears his conversation with Anna and she asks Anna to take her photo, and when Dan has left, confronts her, Anna insists she is not a thief and snaps a photo of a tear-stricken Alice. Six months later, Dan and Larry meet in a chat room. Dan impersonates Anna and has sex with Larry. He tries to play a joke on Larry by arranging for Larry to meet him in the London Aquarium the next day. When Larry arrives, stunned to see Anna, he acts under the impression that she is the person from last night. Anna catches on and explains that it was probably Dan playing a joke on him. She reveals that it is her birthday and snaps a photo of Larry, at Annas showing, Alice stands in front of her photo, looking at it, Dan is watching her. They have an argument over Alices presentiment that Dan will leave her, Larry meets Alice, whom he recognises as the woman in the photo, and knows that she is Dans girlfriend. Meanwhile, Dan convinces Anna to carry on an affair with him and they cheat on their partners with each other, even through Anna and Larrys marriage
27.
Closer (2004 film)
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Closer is a 2004 American melodrama film written by Patrick Marber, based on his award-winning 1997 play of the same name. The movie was produced and directed by Mike Nichols and stars Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen. The film, like the play on which it is based, has seen by some as a modern and tragic version of Mozarts opera Così fan tutte. Owen starred in the play as Dan, the role played by Law in the film, the film was recognized with a number of awards and nominations, including Oscar nominations and Golden Globe wins for both Portman and Owen for their performances in supporting roles. Alice is a young American stripper who just arrived in London, Alice looks in the wrong direction as she crosses the street and is hit by a taxi cab right in front of Dans eyes. After he rushes to her side she smiles to him and says, Hello and he takes her to the hospital where Alice is treated and released. Afterward, on the way to his office, they stop by Postmans Park, the same park that he and his father visited after his mothers death. Pausing in front of the office before he leaves her and goes to work, Dan reminds her that traffic in England tends to come on from the right, a year later, though the two are in a relationship, Dan is straying. He has written a novel based on Alices life and while being photographed to publicize it, Anna shares a kiss with Dan before finding out that Dan and Alice are in a relationship. Alice arrives and uses Annas bathroom, leaving Anna and Dan alone again, Dan takes the chance to try to persuade Anna to have an affair with him but is cut short by Alices return. Alice asks Anna if she can have her portrait taken as well, Anna agrees and Alice asks Dan to leave them alone during the photo shoot. While being photographed, she reveals to Anna that she overheard them, Alice does not reveal what she overheard to Dan, even as he spends a year stalking Anna. Another year later, Dan enters a cybersex chat room and randomly meets Larry Gray, with Anna still on his mind, Dan pretends to be her, and using the pretense that they will be having sex, Dan convinces Larry to meet at the aquarium. Larry goes to the rendezvous and has his rude awakening there, Anna tells Larry that a man who had pursued her, Dan, was most likely to blame for the setup. Soon, Anna and Larry become a couple and they refer to Dan as Cupid from then on, four months later, at Annas photo exhibition, Larry meets Alice, whom he recognizes from the tearful photograph that is one of many being exhibited. Larry knows that Alice and Dan are a couple, from talking to Anna, meanwhile, Dan convinces Anna to become involved with him. They begin cheating on their lovers for a year, even though Anna. Eventually Anna and Dan each confess the affair to their respective partners, Alice goes back to being a stripper, heartbroken by her loss
28.
Mike Nichols
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Mike Nichols was an American film and theatre director, producer, actor and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres, Nichols began his career in the 1950s with the comedy improvisational troupe, The Compass Players, predecessor of The Second City, in Chicago. He then teamed up with his partner, Elaine May, to form the comedy duo Nichols. Their live improv acts were a hit on Broadway resulting in three albums, with their debut album winning a Grammy Award, after Nichols and May disbanded their act in 1961, Nichols began directing plays. He soon earned a reputation as a skilled Broadway director with a flair for creating innovative productions and his debut Broadway play was Neil Simons Barefoot in the Park in 1963, with Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. He next directed Luv in 1964 and in 1965 directed another Neil Simon play, Nichols received a Tony Award for each of those plays. Nearly five decades later, he won his sixth Tony Award as best director with a revival of Death of a Salesman in 2012, during his career, he directed or produced over twenty-five Broadway plays. In 1966, Warner Brothers invited Nichols to direct his first film, Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf. starring Elizabeth Taylor, the groundbreaking and acclaimed film led critics to declare Nichols the new Orson Welles. The film garnered 13 Academy Award nominations, winning five and it was also a box office hit and became the number 1 film of 1966. His next film was The Graduate in 1967, starring then unknown actor Dustin Hoffman, alongside Anne Bancroft, the film was another critical and financial success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1967 and receiving seven Academy Award nominations, winning Nichols the Academy Award for Best Directing. Among the other films he directed were Catch-22, Carnal Knowledge, Silkwood, Working Girl, Wolf, The Birdcage, Closer, along with an Academy Award, Nichols won a Grammy Award, four Emmy Awards and nine Tony Awards. He was also a three-time BAFTA Award winner and his other honors included the Lincoln Center Gala Tribute in 1999, the National Medal of Arts in 2001, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2003 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2010. His films garnered a total of 42 Academy Award nominations and seven wins, Mike Nichols was born Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky in Berlin, Germany, the son of Brigitte and Pavel Peschkowsky, a physician. His father was born in Vienna, Austria, to a Russian Jewish immigrant family, Nichols fathers family had been wealthy and lived in Siberia, leaving after the Russian Revolution, and settling in Germany around 1920. Nichols mothers family were German Jews and his maternal grandparents were anarchist Gustav Landauer and author Hedwig Lachmann. Nichols is a cousin twice removed of scientist Albert Einstein. His mother eventually joined the family, escaping through Italy in 1940, the family moved to New York City on April 28,1939. His father, whose original Russian name was Pavel Nikolaevich Peschkowsky and he had a successful medical practice in Manhattan, enabling the family to live near Central Park
29.
Julia Roberts
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Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress and producer. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman and she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie nomination for her performance in the HBO television film The Normal Heart. Roberts was the actress in the world throughout most of the 1990s. Her fee for 1990s Pretty Woman was US$300,000, in 2003, as of 2007 Robertss net worth was estimated to be US$140 million. She has been named one of People magazines 50 Most Beautiful People in the World eleven times, Roberts was born on October 28,1967, in Smyrna, Georgia, to Betty Lou Bredemus and Walter Grady Roberts. She is of English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, German and her father was a Baptist, her mother a Roman Catholic, and she was raised Catholic. Her older brother, Eric Roberts, from whom she was estranged until 2004, sister Lisa Roberts Gillan, Robertss parents, one-time actors and playwrights, met while performing theatrical productions for the armed forces. They later co-founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers Workshop in Atlanta and they ran a childrens acting school in Decatur, Georgia, while they were expecting Julia. The children of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King attended the school, as a thank-you for his service, Mrs. King paid Mrs. Robertss hospital bill when Julia was born. Robertss mother filed for divorce in 1971, the divorce was finalized in early 1972, from 1972, Roberts lived in Smyrna, Georgia, where she attended Fitzhugh Lee Elementary School, Griffin Middle School, and Campbell High School. In 1972, her mother married Michael Motes, who was abusive and often unemployed, the couple had a daughter, Nancy Motes, who died at 37 on February 9,2014, of an apparent drug overdose. The marriage ended in 1983, with Betty Lou divorcing Motes on cruelty grounds, Robertss own father died of cancer when she was ten. Roberts wanted to be a veterinarian as a child and she also played the clarinet in her school band. After graduating from Smyrnas Campbell High School, she attended Georgia State University and she later headed to New York City to pursue a career in acting. Once there, she signed with the Click Modeling Agency and enrolled in acting classes, Roberts made her first big screen appearance in the film Satisfaction, alongside Liam Neeson and Justine Bateman, as a band member looking for a summer gig. She had previously performed a role opposite her brother, Eric, in Blood Red, filmed in 1987. Her first television appearance was as a rape victim in the initial season of the series Crime Story with Dennis Farina, in the episode titled The Survivor. Her first critical success with moviegoers was her performance in the independent film Mystic Pizza in 1988, that same year, she had a role in the fourth-season finale of Miami Vice
30.
Jude Law
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David Jude Heyworth Law is an English actor. He has received nominations for two Academy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and two British Academy Awards, winning one. In 2007, he received an Honorary César and was named a Chevalier of the Order of Arts, in 2004, he received Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and British Academy Film Award nominations for his role in Anthony Minghellas epic war film Cold Mountain. Laws other notable films include Gattaca, Enemy at the Gates, artificial Intelligence, Road to Perdition, Alfie, Closer, The Holiday, Contagion, Hugo, Anna Karenina, Side Effects, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. He portrayed Dr. Watson in Guy Ritchies Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes, Law has also had an accomplished career on stage, and has received nominations for three Laurence Olivier Awards and two Tony Awards. He has performed in several West End and Broadway productions, Law was named after a bit of both in the book Jude the Obscure and the Beatles song Hey Jude. He grew up in Blackheath, an area in the Borough of Greenwich, in 1987, Law began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre. He played various roles in the Edinburgh Fringe-awarded play The Ragged Child, One of his first major stage roles was Foxtrot Darling in Philip Ridleys The Fastest Clock in the Universe. Law went on to appear as Michael in the West End production of Jean Cocteaus tragicomedy Les Parents terribles, for this play, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Newcomer, and he received the Ian Charleson Award for Outstanding Newcomer. Following a title change to Indiscretions, the play was reworked and transferred to Broadway in 1995 and this role earned him a Tony Award nomination and the Theatre World Award. In 1989, Law received his first television role, in a film based on the Beatrix Potter childrens book, in 1997, he became more widely known with his role in the Oscar Wilde bio-pic Wilde. Law won the Most Promising Newcomer award from the Evening Standard British Film Awards for his role as Lord Alfred Bosie Douglas, in Andrew Niccols science fiction film Gattaca, Law played the role of a disabled former swimming star living in a eugenics-obsessed dystopia. In Clint Eastwoods Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, the role earned him a Bafta award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2001, Law starred as Russian sniper Vasily Zaytsev in the film Enemy at the Gates, in 2002, he played a mob hitman in Sam Mendess 1930s period drama Road to Perdition. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Talented Mr. Ripley in 1999, both films were directed by Anthony Minghella. Law, an admirer of Sir Laurence Olivier, suggested the actors image be included in the 2004 film Sky Captain, using the science of computer graphics, footage of the young Olivier was merged into the film, playing Dr. Totenkopf, a mysterious scientific genius and supervillain. In 2006, he portrayed the role of Kate Winslets single-parent brother in the film The Holiday, after his appearances in a string of period dramas and science fiction films in the early to mid-2000s, Law said he found it tricky to approach the contemporary role in this film. Like Winslet, the stated, he felt more vulnerable about playing a character who fitted his own look and did not require an accent
31.
Natalie Portman
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Natalie Portman is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was in the 1994 action thriller Léon, The Professional and she was later cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Born in Jerusalem to an Israeli father and American mother, Portman grew up in the eastern United States from the age of three. She studied dancing and acting in New York, and starred in Star Wars, in 1999, Portman enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology, alongside her work as an actress, she completed a bachelors degree in 2003. During her studies she starred in a second Star Wars film and she played leading roles in the historical dramas Goyas Ghosts and The Other Boleyn Girl, and also appeared in Thor and its 2013 sequel. In 2010, Portman starred in the thriller film Black Swan. Her performance received critical acclaim and she earned her first Academy Award for Best Actress, her second Golden Globe Award, the SAG Award, the BAFTA Award. In 2016, she portrayed First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the biographical drama Jackie and she was nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and won the BFCA for Best Actress. In May 2008, Portman served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury, the same year she directed a segment of the collective film New York, I Love You. Her first feature film as a director, A Tale of Love, Portman was born on June 9,1981 in Jerusalem. Her original given name was Neta-Lee, a Hebrew name and she is the only child of Shelley, an American homemaker who works as Portmans agent, and Avner Hershlag, an Israeli fertility specialist and gynecologist. Her maternal grandparents, Bernice and Arthur Stevens, were from Jewish families who moved to the United States from Austria and Russia, Natalies paternal grandparents, Mania and Zvi Yehuda Hershlag, were Jewish immigrants to Israel. Zvi, born in Poland in 1914, moved to what was then Mandatory Palestine in 1938 and eventually became an economics professor, One of Natalies paternal great-grandmothers was born in Romania and was a spy for British Intelligence during World War II. Portmans parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University and they corresponded after her father returned to Israel and were married when her mother visited a few years later. In 1984, when Portman was three years old, the moved to the United States, where her father received his medical training. Portman, a citizen of the United States and Israel, has said that although she really love the States. Thats where I feel at home, Portman and her family first lived in Washington, D. C. but relocated to Connecticut in 1988 and then moved to Jericho, New York, on Long Island, in 1990. While living in the Washington, D. C. area, Portman attended Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland
32.
Clive Owen
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Clive Owen is an English actor who first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991. He then received critical acclaim for his work in the film Close My Eyes before earning international attention for his performance as a writer in Croupier. In 2005, he won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the drama Closer. Owen has since played leading roles in such as Sin City, Derailed, Inside Man, Children of Men. In 2012, he earned his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his role in Hemingway & Gellhorn. Since 2014, Owen has played Dr. John W. Thackery on the Cinemax medical drama series The Knick, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination. The fourth of five brothers, Owen was born in Coventry, West Midlands, in the United Kingdom, to Pamela and Jess Owen, a country and western singer. His father left the family when Owen was three years old, and despite a brief reconciliation when Owen was nineteen, the two have remained estranged, raised by his mother and stepfather, a railway ticket clerk, he has described his childhood as rough. While initially opposed to drama school, he changed his mind in 1984, after a long, Owen graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. After graduation, he won a position at the Young Vic, initially, Owen carved out a career in television. He won critical acclaim for his performances in the Stephen Poliakoff film Close My Eyes about a brother and sister who embark on a love affair. In 1996, he appeared in his first major Hollywood film The Rich Mans Wife alongside Halle Berry before finding international acclaim in a Channel 4 film directed by Mike Hodges called Croupier. In Croupier, he played the role of a struggling writer who takes a job in a London casino as inspiration for his work. In 1999, he appeared as a driver in Split Second. Owen starred in The Echo, a BBC1 drama, before starring in the film Greenfingers and he then appeared in the BBC1 mystery series Second Sight. Owen became well known to North American audiences in the summer of 2001 after starring as The Driver in The Hire and he then appeared in Robert Altmans Gosford Park. He appeared in the 2002 hit The Bourne Identity, in 2003, he reteamed with director Mike Hodges in Ill Sleep When Im Dead. He starred in Beyond Borders as well as King Arthur in King Arthur and he appeared in the Royal National Theatre debut of the hit play Closer, by Patrick Marber, which was produced as a film in 2004
33.
Alfred Molina
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He starred as DDA / Detective Ricardo Morales on the NBC police/courtroom drama Law & Order, LA and as Roger opposite Dawn French in the BBC television sitcom Roger & Val Have Just Got In. Molina was born in Paddington, London and his father, Esteban Molina, was a Spaniard immigrant from Madrid who worked as a waiter and chauffeur. His mother, Giovanna, was an Italian house-keeper who cleaned rooms in a hotel, Molina grew up in a working class district in Notting Hill that was inhabited by many other immigrant families. Molina decided to become an actor after seeing Spartacus at the age of nine and he also auditioned and was accepted as a member of National Youth Theatre. Molina appeared with Leonard Rossiter in the sitcom The Losers, Molina made his film debut with a minor role in Raiders of the Lost Ark as Indiana Jones ill-fated guide, Satipo, during its iconic opening sequence. However, his big break came with Letter to Brezhnev, which he followed with a role in Prick Up Your Ears. He was originally cast as Arnold Rimmer in the TV sitcom Red Dwarf, in the early 1990s, Molina was a ubiquitous presence on British television, with his highest profile role being the lead in the first two series of El C. I. D. Subsequent film roles included Species, Dudley Do-Right, Chocolat, Not Without My Daughter, with a mid-western American accent, Molina starred alongside Betty White in the US television series Ladies Man, which ran from 1999–2001. He has worked twice with Paul Thomas Anderson, first in Boogie Nights, Molina gained wide recognition for his portrayal of Diego Rivera alongside Salma Hayek in the biopic Frida, a role for which he gained BAFTA and SAG award nominations. For the latter, Molina was nominated for a Satellite award as Best Supporting Actor and he reprised his role in the video game adaption. In 2006, Molina portrayed Touchstone in Kenneth Branaghs film version of Shakespeares As You Like It, Molina provided the voice of the villain Ares in the 2009 animated film Wonder Woman. Molinas stage work has included two major Royal National Theatre productions, Tennessee Williams The Night of the Iguana and David Mamets Speed-the-Plow, in his Broadway debut, Molina performed in Yasmina Rezas Tony Award-winning play Art, for which he received a Tony nomination in 1998. In 2004, Molina returned to the stage, starring as Tevye in the Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof, for his performance he once again received a Tony Award nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Musical. Molina received his third Tony Award nomination for Red in 2010, in 2007, Molina narrated a 17-part original audiobook for Audible. com called The Chopin Manuscript. This serialized novel was written by a team of 15 best-selling thriller writers, including Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, Joseph Finder, the novel won the 2008 Audiobook Of The Year Award form Audio Publishers Association. On 1 April 2010, he opened at Broadways John Golden Theatre in the role of artist Mark Rothko in John Logans drama Red opposite Eddie Redmayne for a limited engagement through 27 June. He had played the role to critical success at the Donmar Warehouse in London in December 2009. In 2010 he starred opposite Dawn French in the six-part BBC sitcom Roger & Val Have Just Got In, in July 2010, it was announced that Molina had joined the cast of Law & Order, LA as Deputy District Attorney Morales
34.
Sydney Opera House
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The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, Australia. It is one of the 20th centurys most famous and distinctive buildings, designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the building was formally opened on 20 October 1973 after a gestation beginning with Utzons 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. The government of New South Wales, led by the premier, Joseph Cahill, performances are presented by numerous performing artists, including four resident companies, Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. As one of the most popular attractions in Australia, more than eight million people visit the site annually. The building is managed by the Sydney Opera House Trust, an agency of the New South Wales State Government, on 28 June 2007, the Sydney Opera House became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The building covers 1.8 hectares of land and is 183 m long and 120 m wide at its widest point and it is supported on 588 concrete piers sunk as much as 25 m below sea level. Although the roof structures are referred to as shells, they are precast concrete panels supported by precast concrete ribs. Though the shells appear uniformly white from a distance, they feature a subtle chevron pattern composed of 1,056,006 tiles in two colours, glossy white and matte cream. The tiles were manufactured by the Swedish company Höganäs AB which generally produced stoneware tiles for the paper-mill industry. Apart from the tile of the shells and the curtain walls of the foyer spaces. Significant interior surface treatments also include off-form concrete, Australian white birch plywood supplied from Wauchope in northern New South Wales, of the two larger spaces, the Concert Hall is in the western group of shells, the Joan Sutherland Theatre in the eastern group. The scale of the shells was chosen to reflect the internal requirements, with low entrance spaces. The smaller venues are within the podium, beneath the Concert Hall, a smaller group of shells set to the western side of the Monumental Steps houses the Bennelong Restaurant. The podium is surrounded by substantial open spaces, and the large stone-paved forecourt area with the adjacent monumental steps is regularly used as a performance space. The Sydney Opera House includes a number of venues, Concert Hall, With 2,679 seats. It contains the Sydney Opera House Grand Organ, the largest mechanical action organ in the world. Joan Sutherland Theatre, A proscenium theatre with 1,507 seats, until 16 October 2012 it was known as the Opera Theatre. Drama Theatre, A proscenium theatre with 544 seats, used by the Sydney Theatre Company and other dance, Playhouse, An end-stage theatre with 398 seats
35.
Dom Juan
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Dom Juan or The Feast with the Statue is a French play, a comedy in five acts, written by Molière, and based on the legend of Don Juan. The title of Molière’s play is commonly expressed as Don Juan. Dom Juan is the last part in Molières hypocrisy trilogy, which also includes The School for Wives and it was first performed on 15 February 1665 in the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, with Molière playing the role of Sganarelle. The play was a costly failure, as a result, Molière was ordered to delete a certain number of scenes and lines which, according to his censors, made a mockery of their faith. The play was published in a censored version for the first time in 1682. It was part of an edition, edited by La Grange and Vivot. The parts of Dom Juan that offended the censors were pasted over with strips of paper glued into almost all of the copies and this version was in prose, instead of the also censored version by Thomas Corneille which Corneille had versified. Nearly a century and a later, in 1813, a full. And then in 1847 the play was added to the repertoire of the Comédie-Française, in the twentieth century the play is performed often and has garnered great critical attention and admiration. An uncensored version appeared in Amsterdam in 1683, Molière drew his inspiration from the main character of a work by Tirso de Molina called El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra. However, the characters from the two differ in several aspects. However, his death comes sooner than expected and he finds that his attempts to repent, in both plays the main character is condemned to Hell. The story of this follows the last two days in the life of a young courtier, Dom Juan Tenorio, a libertine, a seducer of women. He is accompanied throughout the play by his valet, Sganarelle, the unrepentant Don Juan will not escape the vengeance of Heaven, and he is ultimately punished. The various settings are all in Sicily, in the garden of the palace, after a few words of appreciation for snuff tobacco, Sganarelle speaks with Gusman, who is the squire to Donna Elvire. Her primary concern is the departure of her new husband. Sganarelle, not without pride, paints for Gusman a terrible portrait of Don Juan as a fickle, cynical, disbeliever, Donna Elvire then enters to challenge him to explain the reasons for his departure. Pierrot then exits to go “wet his whistle”, Dom Juan and Sganarelle appear, and Dom Juan then tells Charlotte he is in love with her and he persuades her to marry him
36.
Rhys Ifans
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Rhys Ifans is a Welsh actor and musician. He is known for his portrayal of such as Spike in Notting Hill, Jed Parry in Enduring Love. He is also known as a member of the rock groups Super Furry Animals, Ifans appeared as Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, and as Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man. He played Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, in Anonymous, Ifans also has a recurring role as Mycroft Holmes in the CBS series Elementary. Ifans also appeared as Nigel Gruff, a football player who has a gambling addiction. As of autumn 2016, Ifans was a regular on the U. S. pay-cable Epix networks 10-episode CIA espionage thriller Berlin Station. Ifans was born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 1967, the son of Beti-Wyn, a school teacher, and Eirwyn Evans. He has a brother, actor Llŷr Ifans, Ifans grew up in Ruthin, Denbighshire, and received his primary education at Ysgol Pentrecelyn. He attended Ysgol Maes Garmon, a Welsh language secondary school in Mold, Flintshire and he also attended youth acting schools at Theatr Clwyd, Mold, and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Early stage work by Ifans included Hamlet at Theatre Clwyd, A Midsummer Nights Dream at the Regents Park Theatre and he appeared at the Donmar Warehouse in 2003s Accidental Death of an Anarchist. In 2006 he returned to the London stage in Michael Grandages production of Don Juan in Soho at the Donmar Warehouse, in 2016, Ifans played Fool alongside Glenda Jackson in Deborah Warners production of King Lear, at the Old Vic. In 1990, he presented Stwnsh, a childrens quiz programme. A total of 31 fifteen-minute programmes were broadcast on Welsh-language TV channel S4C and he narrated the childrens animated series Sali Mali for S4C in 2000. In 2008, he appeared in Six Days One June, one of three episodes of the TV series The Last Word Monologues, written by Hugo Blick and broadcast on BBC Two and he played a lonely Welsh farmer trying to free himself from a domineering mother. Following his role as Jeremy Lewis in the Swansea-based movie Twin Town, reportedly, in preparation for the role, Ifans did not wash himself or brush his teeth. He played Adrian, the pompous eldest brother in Little Nicky, other film roles include, Eyeball Paul in Kevin and Perry Go Large, Nigel in The Replacements, Iki in The 51st State, William Dobbin in Vanity Fair, and Vladis Grutas in Hannibal Rising. He played Jed Parry in the version of Ian McEwans Enduring Love. Ifans revealed in March 2009 that he was to appear in Harry Potter and he played Xenophillius Lovegood, editor of the wizarding magazine The Quibbler and father of the eccentric Luna Lovegood
37.
Asylum (2005 film)
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Asylum is a 2005 Anglo-Irish drama film directed by David Mackenzie and made by Mace Neufeld Productions, Samson Films, Seven Arts Productions, Zephyr Films Ltd and released by Paramount Classics. It is based on the novel Asylum by Patrick McGrath and was adapted for the screen by Patrick Marber and Chrysanthy Balis. It stars Natasha Richardson, Marton Csokas, Ian McKellen and Hugh Bonneville with a cast also including Sean Harris, Joss Ackland, Wanda Ventham, Maria Aitken, Asylum is set in Britain in the early 1950s. It tells the story of Stella Raphael, the bored and unfulfilled wife of Max, Stella starts a passionate affair with Edgar, one of the patients. Edgar is particularly dangerous, having murdered his wife in a jealous rage. Not deterred by Edgars violent past, Stella is beguiled by Edgars passion, although Max suspects nothing, Dr. Peter Cleave correctly guesses that the two are seeing each other. Cleave, who is fixated on Stella himself, attempts to get Edgar to admit to the affair – to no avail, Edgar, who has been denied release, can take it no longer and breaks out of the asylum. Stella attempts to continue life without her lover, playing mother to her son, Charlie, around Christmas time, she receives a call from a friend of Edgar who arranges a rendezvous in London. The affair resumes with Stella using shopping trips as a pretext for her trips to the city, Edgar soon tires of the subterfuge – as well as sharing Stellas sexual attentions with Max – and demands that she choose to stay with him permanently or not return for another visit. Shortly thereafter, Cleave confronts her, telling her that he knows that she has been going to London to see Edgar, after unsuccessfully attempting to bully Stella into revealing his whereabouts, Cleave reminds her that Max can have her committed to the hospital. Stella then runs away to join Edgar, and they begin a loose, somewhat bohemian life together, soon, the lust of the relationship begins to wear off and Stella begins to see a darker side to Edgars personality. He becomes obsessed with his work, to Stellas chagrin and he also starts to become aggressive and violent towards her, intensifying her fear of him. After shopping one day, Stella returns to the pairs squalid studio flat to be found by police and taken back to her husband and her husband struggles to forgive her but accepts that their son needs a mother figure. Edgar observes Stellas capture from the shadows and flees, Max, who has lost his position at the hospital, accepts a new job and moves the family to Wales. Stella struggles to settle back into life with her family. Edgar tracks her down and a meeting with him results in his capture. This sends Stella further into her depressed and distracted state, on a school outing with Charlie some weeks later, Stella takes her son away from the class teacher and other children and they go into the woods together. Stella perches on a rock while Charlie searches for fish in the river and he suddenly loses his footing, falling into the river and begins to drown
38.
Notes on a Scandal (film)
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Notes on a Scandal is a 2006 British psychological thriller-drama film, adapted from the 2003 novel of the same name by Zoë Heller. The screenplay was written by Patrick Marber and the film was directed by Richard Eyre and starred Judi Dench, the soundtrack was composed by Philip Glass. It was nominated for four Academy Awards – Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Barbara Covett is a history teacher at a comprehensive school in London. A spinster nearing retirement, her comfort is her diary, when a new art teacher, Sheba Hart, joins the staff, Barbara is immediately attracted to her. Sheba is married to the much older Richard, and is just entering the force after devoting herself to a special needs son. When Barbara discovers that Sheba is having a relationship with a 15-year-old student, Steven Connolly. Sheba eventually tells Steven that the affair is over, however, when she refuses to give in to Barbaras demands on her time, Barbara reveals the secret to a male teacher who tells her that he is attracted to Sheba and asks her to act as an intermediary. After the affair public, Barbara and Sheba both lose their jobs. Sheba is thrown out of her home by her husband and moves into Barbaras house, Sheba is unaware that Barbara is the reason she was found out, believing the affair became known because Steven confessed it to his mother. When Sheba finds Barbaras diary and learns it was Barbara who leaked the story of the affair, she confronts Barbara, a row ensues, and Sheba runs outside with Barbaras journal to a crowd of reporters and photographers. When she becomes hemmed in by them, Barbara rescues her, shebas emotions spent, she quietly tells Barbara that she had initiated the friendship with Barbara because she liked her and they could have been friends. She leaves Barbara, placing the journal on the table, Richard and Sheba face one another silently for several moments, and then Richard allows her to enter. Sheba is subsequently sentenced to 10 months in prison, in the final scene, Barbara meets another younger woman who is reading a newspaper about the Sheba Hart affair. Barbara says she used to know Sheba, but implies they hardly knew each other, Barbara introduces herself, invites her to a concert, and the pair continue to talk. The film was shot on location in the Parliament Hill, Gospel Oak. The film opened to positive reviews, with Blanchett and Dench receiving critical acclaim for their performances. The Times praised the film, saying, Notes on a Scandal, is screenwriting at its vicious best, Richard Eyre directs the film like a chamber play. He leans on Philip Glasss ever-present and insistent music like a crutch, but his natural gift for framing scenes is terrifically assured
