1.
Robert De Niro
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Robert Anthony De Niro is an American actor, producer and director who has both Italian and American citizenship. He was cast as the young Vito Corleone in the 1974 film The Godfather Part II and his longtime collaboration with director Martin Scorsese earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake La Motta in the 1980 film Raging Bull. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003, the Golden Globe Cecil B, deMille Award in 2010, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016. De Niros first major roles were in the sports drama, Bang the Drum Slowly. He earned Academy Award nominations for the psychological thrillers Taxi Driver and Cape Fear, De Niro received additional nominations for Michael Ciminos Vietnam war drama, The Deer Hunter, Penny Marshalls drama Awakenings, and David O. Russells romantic comedy-drama, Silver Linings Playbook. His portrayal of gangster Jimmy Conway in Scorseses crime film, Goodfellas, other notable performances include roles in Once Upon a Time in America, Brazil, The Untouchables, Heat, and Casino. He has directed and starred in such as the crime drama A Bronx Tale. Robert Anthony De Niro was born in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan, New York, the son of Virginia Admiral and Robert De Niro Sr. Both of his parents were painters, his father was of half Italian and half Irish descent, while his mother was of half German ancestry, with her other roots being French, English and Dutch. De Niros parents, who had met at the classes of Hans Hofmann in Provincetown, Massachusetts. De Niro was raised by his mother in the Greenwich Village and his father lived within walking distance and De Niro spent much time with him as he grew up. His mother was raised Presbyterian but became an atheist as an adult, against his parents wishes, his grandparents had him secretly baptized into the Catholic Church while he was staying with them during his parents divorce. De Niro attended PS41, an elementary school in Manhattan. He then went to Elisabeth Irwin High School, the upper school of the Little Red School House. He was accepted into the High School of Music and Art for the ninth grade, De Niro began high school at the private McBurney School and later attended the private Rhodes Preparatory School, although he never graduated from either. Nicknamed Bobby Milk for his pallor, De Niro hung out with a group of kids as a youth in Little Italy. The direction of his future had already been foreshadowed by his debut at age 10. Along with finding relief from shyness through performing, he was also fixated by cinema and he studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory, as well as Lee Strasbergs Actors Studio
Robert De Niro
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De Niro at the 2011
Tribeca Film Festival
Robert De Niro
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De Niro in 1971
Robert De Niro
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De Niro at the
2011 Cannes Film Festival
Robert De Niro
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De Niro with
Matt Damon in Berlin in February 2007 for the premiere of
The Good Shepherd
2.
Billy Crudup
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William Gaither Billy Crudup is an American actor. In 2017 Crudup is set to appear in Ridley Scotts science-fiction film Alien, Covenant and he has also had an extensive stage acting career, appearing mostly on Broadway. He has been nominated four times for a Tony Award for his acting, from 1998 to 2005, Crudup was the narrator for Priceless, a popular U. S. television ad campaign for MasterCard. Crudup was born in Manhasset, New York and his parents, Georgann and Thomas Henry Crudup III, divorced during his childhood, and later remarried, before divorcing a second time. His maternal grandfather was William Cotter Billy Gaither, Jr. a well-known Florida trial lawyer, Crudup has two brothers, Tommy, an executive producer, and Brooks, also a producer. He left New York with his family when he was eight years old, first living in Texas. He graduated from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Crudup attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received an undergraduate degree, and he continued his passion for acting with the undergraduate acting company, LAB. He also acted for UNC-STVs most popular show, General College and he was a member of the Beta Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon. He then studied at the Graduate Acting Program at New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts, Crudup began acting in films such as 1996s Sleepers, 1997s Inventing the Abbotts and 1998s Without Limits, where he played the role of running legend and Olympian Steve Prefontaine. His first role in a feature was in 1999s English release of Princess Mononoke. He then played Russell Hammond, the guitar player of the fictional band Stillwater in Cameron Crowes Almost Famous. In 2006s The Good Shepherd, he played British spy Arch Cummings, the same year, he played a supporting role in Mission, Impossible III. Crudup completed Watchmen with director Zack Snyder in Vancouver, British Columbia and he portrayed the superhero Doctor Manhattan. He portrayed former U. S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner in a TV film about 2008s financial crisis, a year after graduating, he made his debut on Broadway in the Lincoln Center Theater production of Tom Stoppards Arcadia. He starred in The Metal Children, a play written. In 2011, Crudup received a Tony Award nomination for Featured Actor in a Play for his role in the Broadway revival of Arcadia. In August 2013, he co-starred with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in the Harold Pinter play No Mans Land as well as in Waiting for Godot at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The shows transferred to The Cort Theatre in New York City, from 1998 to 2005, Crudup was the narrator for the Priceless television ads for MasterCard
Billy Crudup
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Crudup at the
PEN Gala, May 2015.
Billy Crudup
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Crudup in New York City, January 2011
3.
Claire Danes
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Claire Catherine Danes is an American actress. She is the recipient of three Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2012, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world, Danes gained recognition with her role as Angela Chase in the acclaimed 1994 teen drama series My So-Called Life. The role won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and she made her film debut the same year in Little Women. From 1998 to 2000, Danes attended Yale University before dropping out to return to acting and she appeared in an Off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues in 2000, and made her Broadway debut playing Eliza Doolittle in the 2007 revival of Pygmalion. She is married to actor Hugh Dancy, with whom she has one child, Danes was born in Manhattan, New York, the daughter of a sculptor and printmaking artist, Carla Danes, and a photographer, Christopher Danes. She has a brother, Asa, who is a lawyer. Danes parents met when they were studying at the Rhode Island School of Design, during Danes childhood her father worked as a general contractor for 20 years, working on residential buildings in a company he ran called Overall Construction in New York. He also worked as a photographer and computer consultant and he is the son of Gibson Andrew Danes, a former dean of the Yale School of Art and Architecture from 1958 to 1968. Danes is named after her grandmother, Claire Danes, who died in 1953. The family lived in a loft on Crosby Street. 3 and PS11 for elementary school and Professional Performing Arts School for junior high school, Danes attended the New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies in New York City. She attended The Dalton School for one year of school before moving with her parents to Santa Monica. Danes said they moved two days after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Danes graduated from the Lycée Français de Los Angeles in 1997. In 1998, Danes went to Yale University, director Oliver Stone wrote a letter of recommendation. After studying for two years as a major, she dropped out to focus on her film career. Danes started studying dance when she was six years old, Danes took dance classes from Ellen Robbins at Dance Theater Workshop and acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute at the age of ten. She appeared in theater and video productions in New York City, although she continued to dance, Danes said that her focus shifted to acting by the time she was nine years old
Claire Danes
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Danes at the 2015
PaleyFest
Claire Danes
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Danes in Toronto, for a
MuchOnDemand promotion of
Stardust, 2007
Claire Danes
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Danes at the
2012 Time 100
4.
Rupert Everett
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Rupert James Hector Everett is an English actor and writer. He co-starred with Eva Green in Tim Burtons film Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children, Everett was born in Burnham Deepdale, Norfolk, to Major Anthony Michael Everett, who worked in business and served in the British Army, and wife Sara. He has a brother, Simon Anthony Cunningham Everett and his maternal grandfather, Vice Admiral Sir Hector Charles Donald Maclean, was a nephew of Scottish military man Hector Lachlan Stewart MacLean, who received the Victoria Cross. His maternal grandmother, Opre Vyvyan, was a descendant of the baronets Vyvyan of Trelowarren and he is of English, Irish, Scottish, and more distant German and Dutch, ancestry. Everett was brought up as a Roman Catholic, in order to support himself during this time, he worked as a prostitute for drugs and money—he disclosed this information in an interview for US magazine in 1997. After being dismissed from the Central School of Speech and Drama for insubordination, he travelled to Scotland, everetts break came in 1981 at the Greenwich Theatre and later West End production of Another Country, playing a gay schoolboy opposite Kenneth Branagh. His first film was the Academy Award-winning short A Shocking Accident, directed by James Scott and this was followed by a film version of Another Country in 1984 with Cary Elwes and Colin Firth. Following on with Dance With a Stranger, Everett began to develop a film career until he co-starred with Bob Dylan in the huge flop Hearts of Fire. Around the same time, Everett recorded and released an album of pop songs entitled Generation of Loneliness, despite being managed by the largely successful pop svengali Simon Napier-Bell, the public didnt take to his change in direction. In 1989, Everett moved to Paris, writing a novel, Hello, Darling, and coming out as gay, a disclosure which he has said may well have damaged his career. Returning to the eye in The Comfort of Strangers, several films of variable success followed. The Italian comics character Dylan Dog, created by Tiziano Sclavi, is inspired by him. Everett, in turn, later appeared in an adaptation based on Sclavis novel, in 1995 he released a second novel, The Hairdressers of St. Tropez. Around the same time, he starred as the villainous Sanford Scolex/Dr, claw in Disneys Inspector Gadget with Matthew Broderick. For the 21st century, Everett has decided to write again and he has been a Vanity Fair contributing editor, has written for The Guardian and wrote a film screenplay on playwright Oscar Wildes final years, for which he sought funding. In 2006 Everett published a memoir, Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins, since the revelation of his sexuality, Everett has participated in public activities, played a double role in the film St. Trinians, and has appeared on TV several times. He has also garnered attention for his shocking comments and remarks during interviews that have caused public outrage. In May 2007, he delivered one of the eulogies at the funeral of fashion director Isabella Blow and he stated as part of his speech, “Have you gotten what you wanted, Issie
Rupert Everett
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Everett at the 2007
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Rupert Everett
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Rupert Everett at the
2004 Cannes Film Festival.
Rupert Everett
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Everett at a speed dating event with
When The Music Stops, for Channel 4's The Friday Night Project in July 2007
5.
Tom Wilkinson (actor)
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Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson OBE is an English actor. He has twice been nominated for an Academy Award, for his roles in In the Bedroom, in 2009, he won Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Film for playing Benjamin Franklin in John Adams. Wilkinson was born in Wharfedale, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of Marjorie and Thomas Wilkinson, at the age of four, he moved with his family to Canada, where they lived for several years before returning to the United Kingdom and running a pub in Cornwall. Wilkinson graduated from the University of Kent, where he was a member of T24 Drama Society, Wilkinson made his acting debut in 1976 and worked on several British television series, most notably the mini-series First Among Equals. He first gained acclaim with his appearance as Mr Pecksniff. Wilkinson made only the film, including a brief appearance in 1995s Sense and Sensibility and a villain in The Ghost. He also starred with Jackie Chan in the 1998 film Rush Hour and his portrayal of Matt Fowler, in Todd Fields In the Bedroom, received international praise from critics. For the role, he was named Best Actor of the Year by the New York Film Critics Circle and that success was followed up by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Normal, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Batman Begins, and Separate Lies. In 2007, Wilkinson played Arthur Edens, an attorney with bipolar disorder, in Michael Clayton and garnered critical acclaim. The same year, he played an uncle planning for murder in Woody Allens Cassandras Dream, in 2008, Wilkinson portrayed American patriot Benjamin Franklin in the HBO mini-series John Adams. In the HBO film, Recount, Wilkinson portrayed American political adviser and lawyer, James A. Baker, presidential Election, receiving an Emmy Award for the former and a nomination for the latter. He also received a Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his role in John Adams and he also portrayed Friedrich Fromm, Commander in Chief of the German Reserve Army, alongside Tom Cruise in the 2008 World War II thriller Valkyrie. Wilkinson starred in the horror comedy Burke and Hare, which is directed by John Landis and he portrayed a covert CIA agent in Roman Polanskis The Ghost Writer. He and his wife portrayed husband and wife Joe and Rose Kennedy, earlier that year, he appeared in The Green Hornet and Mission, Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Wilkinson lives in north London with his wife, actress Diana Hardcastle, Wilkinson received a Doctor of Letters honorary degree from the University of Kent in July 2001. In the 2005 New Year Honours, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to Drama, Tom Wilkinson at the Internet Movie Database Tom Wilkinson at the British Film Institutes Screenonline
Tom Wilkinson (actor)
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Wilkinson at the premiere of
Belle at the
Toronto International Film Festival in 2013
6.
George Fenton
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George Fenton is an English composer best known for his work writing film scores and music for television such as for the BBC series The Blue Planet and Planet Earth. Fenton was born in London and attended St Edwards School in Oxford where he learnt his music from Peter Whitehouse and he has no further formal training in music. Fentons involvement with St Edwards continued as an adult and he has been a governor of the school since 1998, initially Fenton worked as an actor, getting an early break in 1968 with a part in Alan Bennetts first West End play Forty Years On. In 1969 Fenton tried his hand as a recording artist with a cover of The Beatles song Maxwells Silver Hammer, in 1973 he dabbled in band management helping to get the folk-rock band Hunter Muskett a recording contract with Bradleys Records. While working as an actor Fenton was frequently asked by directors to play an instrument, in 1974 Fenton received his first major commission, as composer and musical director for Peter Gills theatre production of Twelfth Night by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. Throughout the rest of the 1970s and early 1980s Fenton worked frequently as a composer for theatre productions and he continued to collaborate regularly with Peter Gill. Since the mid 1980s Fentons theatre work has become sporadic, just 7 productions since 1987, as opposed to over 100 television, from time to time he still composes for the theatre, often when working with long term collaborators such as Richard Eyre, and Nicholas Hytner. In 2015, he teamed up with Simon Chamberlin, to compose the music for Mrs Henderson Presents, Fenton wrote his first television score in 1976. This was a continuation of his collaboration with Peter Gill and it was for Gills production of Hitting Town written by Stephen Poliakoff, by the late 1970s Fenton was working regularly in television, becoming a popular choice of composer for dozens of television productions. These included Shoestring, a BBC police drama which ran for 21 episodes in 1979-1980, and Bergerac, which ran for a decade from 1981-1991, and for which he won a BAFTA in 1982. He composed the music for all six of the LWT television plays by Alan Bennett and their collaboration continued with the TV series Objects of Affection in 1982. A year later he composed the score of Bennetts TV film An Englishman Abroad which was directed by John Schlesinger, Fenton also composed for all of the episodes of Bennetts highly acclaimed Talking Heads series in 1988 and, a decade later, Talking Heads 2 in 1998. During this period Fenton also frequently collaborated with the director Stephen Frears, composing for his productions of Bloody Kids, Going Gently, Walter and Saigon. By the mid-1980s Fenton was composing for big budget TV series including the multi BAFTA winning The Jewel in the Crown, Fenton has composed for a number of notable wildlife television programmes, often collaborating with the wildlife broadcaster David Attenborough and nature documentary filmmaker Alastair Fothergill. He started on the BBCs long-running series Wildlife on One and Natural World and he has spoken of how much he likes composing for wildlife programmes. In 2012 he said with reference to The Blue Planet, The minute I heard the title I was sold, I just thought it was so great that I turned down the offer of doing another film in the States and flew straight back home. Since 1990 he has written the music for a number of acclaimed big budget wildlife series, Fenton has composed the jingles or theme music to dozens of British television and radio programs, mostly for the BBC. For the radio, he composed the old theme for BBC Radio 4s PM programme, George Fenton is best known as a composer of film scores
George Fenton
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George Fenton in 1969
7.
Andrew Dunn (cinematographer)
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Andrew William Dunn, BSC, is a British cinematographer. He received the British Academy of Film and Television Arts best cameraman award three times in the 1980s, Andrew Dunn was born in London, England. He started making films in his teens and joined the BBC as a film editor. Dunn’s first film credit was in 1981 for cinematography on the BBC film Andrina,65, Thomson Gale, Detroit, ISBN 978-0-7876-9042-7 Andrew Dunn at the Internet Movie Database
Andrew Dunn (cinematographer)
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Andrew Dunn
8.
BBC Films
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BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. Banks, My Week with Marilyn, Jane Eyre, In the Loop, An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, iris, Notes on a Scandal, Billy Elliot and Brooklyn. BBC Films co-produces around eight films a year, working in partnership with major international, christine Langan is of BBC Films, responsible for the development and production slate, strategy and business operations. BBC Films has been based at Broadcasting House in London since 2013, prior to 2007, it was based nearby in Mortimer Street, while still under full control of the BBC. A restructuring of the division integrated it into the main BBC Fiction department of BBC Vision, as a result, it moved out of its independent offices into BBC Television Centre, and its head David M. Thompson left to start his own film production company. Holmes X+Y Bill Brooklyn The Lady in the Van Chef Mrs. Browns Boys DMovie A Little Chaos A Long Way Down The Invisible Woman What We Did on Our Holiday Lilting Philomena Saving Mr
BBC Films
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BBC Films
9.
Lions Gate Entertainment
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Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. doing business as Lionsgate, is an American, Canadian-domiciled entertainment & media company. The company was formed on July 10,1997, in Vancouver, British Columbia and it owns a variety of subsidiaries such as the American film production company Summit Entertainment, and Debmar-Mercury, a television syndication company acquired by Lionsgate in 2006. Giustra had recently retired as CEO from Yorkton, an investment bank, Giustra then merged Lionsgate with Toronto Stock Exchange listed Beringer Gold Corp. to take the company public. Beringers mining assets were sold off. Lionsgate then began a series of acquisitions to get into the film industry, the company bought a number of small production facilities and distributors, starting with Montreal-based Cinépix Film Properties and North Shore Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia. Mandalay Television was acquired by Lionsgate from Peter Guber for a 4% Lionsgate stake, in 1998, Lionsgate helped Guber form Mandalay Pictures with a 45% investment in Mandalay. Lionsgate followed that up with a June purchase of International Movie Group, Inc. a bankrupt film distributor previously invested in by Guber and Yorktown Securities, iMGs CEO Peter Strauss became president of Lions Gate Entertainment, Inc. Lionsgates U. S. film & TV production & distribution subsidiary, Lions Gate Media subsidiary was also formed to produce for television. Completing its first year of operation, Lionsgate had revenue of $42.2 million with loss of $397,000, the company share price dropped to a low of $1.40. This limited the ability to make acquisitions via stock swaps. Lionsgate instead made its acquisition of Termite Art Productions, a reality-based television production company. Lionsgate created US based Avalanche Films and acquired half of Sterling Home Entertainment, again, Lionsgate registered losses in its second year of $9.3 million on revenues of $78.3 million with most of the losses were from its stake in Mandalay Pictures. Thus in the summer, Lionsgate placed its studios up for sale with no buyers, TV operations were changed to non-network hourlong series over riskier network shows and ended its relationship with Mandalay Television. The corporation sought out more capital and cash with a filing of a prospectus for the sale of preferred stock and common stock warrants. This led to Feltheimer taking over as CEO from Giustra thus the passed over Doroniuk left the company, Feltheimer increased film making including several $1 million films at Avalanche. However, Federgreen still remains one of the owners of the company and is extremely involved in the making of all their major movies. In June, Lionsgate acquired Trimark Holdings, Inc. for approximately $50 million in stock, Lionsgate continued making acquisitions during the decade to boost distribution and its film library. On December 15,2003, Lionsgate acquired Artisan Entertainment for $220 million, in 2004, Erik Nelson reacquired Termite Art and renamed it to Creative Differences
Lions Gate Entertainment
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The 2005-present logo
10.
Tribeca Film Festival
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The mission of the festival is to enable the international film community and the general public to experience the power of film by redefining the film festival experience. The Tribeca Film Festival was founded to celebrate New York City as a filmmaking center. In 2006 and 2007, the Festival received over 8600 film submissions, the Festivals program line-up includes a variety of independent films including documentaries, narrative features and shorts, as well as a program of family-friendly films. The Festival also features panel discussions with personalities in the entertainment world, past artists of the Artists Awards program have included Chuck Close, Alex Katz, and Julian Schnabel. The festival now draws an estimated three million people—including often-elusive celebrities from the worlds of art, film, and music—and generates $600 million annually, the inaugural festival launched after 120 days of planning with the help of more than 1,300 volunteers. It was attended by more than 150,000 people and featured several up-and-coming filmmakers, the 2003 festival brought more than 300,000 people. It became one of the venues of the festival, in an effort to serve its mission of bringing independent film to the widest possible audience, in 2006, the Festival expanded its reach in New York City and internationally. In New York City, Tribeca hosted screenings throughout Manhattan as the Festivals 1, internationally, the Festival brought films to the Rome Film Fest. As part of the celebrations in Rome, Tribeca was awarded the first ever Steps and Stars award, presented on the Spanish Steps. A total of 169 feature films and 99 shorts were selected from 4,100 film submissions, the festival featured 90 world premieres, nine international premieres,31 North American premieres,6 U. S. premieres, and 28 New York City premieres. In 2009, Rosenthal, Hatkoff and De Niro were named number 14 on Barrons list of the worlds top 25 philanthropists for their role in regenerating TriBeCas economy after September 11, as of 2010, the festival is run as a business by Tribeca Enterprises. Andrew Essex has been the CEO of Tribeca Enterprises since January,2016, in 2011, L. A. Noire became the first video game to be recognized by the Tribeca Film Festival. com,02.23.2013
Tribeca Film Festival
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New York Governor
David Paterson opens the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
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Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
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Festival founders
Jane Rosenthal and
Robert De Niro.
Tribeca Film Festival
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The marquee of Tribeca Cinemas
11.
Romance film
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Romance films make the romantic love story or the search for strong and pure love and romance the main plot focus. Occasionally, romance lovers face obstacles such as finances, physical illness, various forms of discrimination, as in all quite strong, deep, and close romantic relationships, tensions of day-to-day life, temptations, and differences in compatibility enter into the plots of romantic films. In romantic television series, the development of romantic relationships may play out over many episodes. Historical romance - A romantic story with a period setting and this includes films such as Gone with the Wind, Doctor Zhivago and Titanic. Romantic drama usually revolves around an obstacle which prevents deep and true love between two people. Music is often employed to indicate the mood, creating an atmosphere of greater insulation for the couple. The conclusion of a romantic drama typically does not indicate whether a final union between the two main characters will occur. Chick flick is a term associated with romance films as many are targeted to a female audience. As such, the terms cannot be used interchangeably, films of this genre include Dirty Dancing, The Notebook, Dear John, A Walk to Remember, and Romeo + Juliet. Romantic comedies are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as true love is able to surmount most obstacles. Humour in such films tends to be of a verbal, low-key variety or situational, films within this genre include Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually, Moonstruck, As Good as It Gets, Somethings Gotta Give, It Happened One Night, When Harry Met Sally. Romantic fantasies describe fantasy stories using many of the elements and conventions of the romance genre, romantic action comedies are films that blend romantic comedy and action. Examples include Killers, Knight and Day, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, This Means War, romantic thriller is a genre of film which has a storyline combining elements of the romance film and the thriller genre. Some examples of romantic thriller films are The Adjustment Bureau, The Phantom of the Opera, The Tourist, The Bodyguard, Unfaithful, and Wicker Park
Romance film
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Tyrone Power passionately, lovingly, embraces
Alice Faye in the
1938 film Alexander's Ragtime Band.
12.
Costume drama
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The term, historical period drama refers to a work set in an earlier time period, usually used in the context of film and television. It is an informal term that can apply to several genres and is often heard in the context of historical fiction and romances, adventure films. A period piece may be as long and general as the ages or as limited as one decade, for example. Historical drama film stories are based upon events and famous people. A period film is a film that attempts to depict a specific time period. Examples include movies like Cinderella Man, Schindler’s List, Les Misérables or Lincoln, the most common type of period piece is the historical period piece, both on stage and in movies. This category includes Robin Hood, Barry Lyndon, Amadeus, The Young Victoria, films that are set in the 1930s and 1940s, such as Last Man Standing, can also be placed in this category. Other examples include Marie Antoinette, Middle march, and Pride, many highly successful television series have been known as period pieces. Notable examples include The Tudors, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Call the Midwife, Downton Abbey, Deadwood, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and Little House on the Prairie
Costume drama
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Filming of a 19th-century scene in London
13.
Edward Kynaston
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Edward Kynaston was an English actor, one of the last Restoration boy players, young male actors who played womens roles. He also played the role in Ben Jonsons Epicoene. Pepys had dinner with Kynaston after this production on 18 August 1660, simultaneously, Kynaston played male roles as well. He filled the role of Otto in Rollo Duke of Normandy on 6 December 1660, on 7 January 1661, Kynaston played three roles in a performance of Jonsons Epicoene, one female and two male. Part of Kynastons appeal may have been his ambiguous sexuality, the actor Colley Cibber recalled, the Ladies of Quality prided themselves in taking him with them in their Coaches to Hyde-Park in his Theatrical Habit, after the Play. Cibber also reported that a performance of a tragedy attended by Charles II was once delayed because, as explained, Kynaston. In the 1660s women were permitted to appear on stage and male actors playing roles in serious drama was strongly discouraged. Kynastons last female role was as Evadne in Beaumont and Fletchers The Maids Tragedy with Thomas Killigrews Kings Company in 1661. Described by Samuel Pepys as the prettiest woman in the house and the handsomest man. When already in his thirties, lampoons circulated that made him out to be the lover of George Villiers, Kynaston went on to make a successful career in male roles and was noted for his portrayal of Shakespeares Henry IV. Kynaston is played by Billy Crudup in the 2004 film Stage Beauty directed by Sir Richard Eyre and he is represented as a foppish bisexual, who slowly reveals more complexity in his personality and sexuality. The film is an adaptation of the play Compleat Female Stage Beauty by Jeffrey Hatcher, in 2012, the Houston Grand Opera announced a new opera by Carlisle Floyd, with the actor as protagonist, is to be premiered in March 2016. He also appeared as a character in Nell Gwynn, played by Greg Haiste in the production in 2015. Restoration theatre Mezzotint of Edward Kynaston
Edward Kynaston
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1889
mezzotint engraving of Edward Kynaston.
14.
Samuel Pepys
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Samuel Pepys FRS was an administrator of the navy of England and Member of Parliament who is most famous for the diary that he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man. Pepys had no experience, but he rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles II and King James II through patronage, hard work, and his talent for administration. His influence and reforms at the Admiralty were important in the early professionalisation of the Royal Navy, the detailed private diary that Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 was first published in the 19th century and is one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period. It provides a combination of personal revelation and eyewitness accounts of events, such as the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War. Pepys was born in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London on 23 February 1633, the son of John Pepys, a tailor and his great uncle Talbot Pepys was Recorder and briefly Member of Parliament for Cambridge in 1625. His fathers first cousin Sir Richard Pepys was elected MP for Sudbury in 1640, appointed Baron of the Exchequer on 30 May 1654, Pepys was the fifth of eleven children, but child mortality was high and he was soon the oldest survivor. He was baptised at St Brides Church on 3 March, Pepys did not spend all of his infancy in London, for a while, he was sent to live with nurse Goody Lawrence at Kingsland, just north of the city. In about 1644, Pepys attended Huntingdon Grammar School before being educated at St Pauls School, London and he attended the execution of Charles I in 1649. In 1650, he went to Cambridge University, having received two exhibitions from St Pauls School and a grant from the Mercers Company. In October, he was admitted as a sizar to Magdalene College, he moved there in March 1651, later in 1654 or early in 1655, he entered the household of another of his fathers cousins, Sir Edward Montagu, who was later created 1st Earl of Sandwich. From a young age, Pepys suffered from stones in his urinary tract – a condition from which his mother and brother John also later suffered. He was almost never without pain, as well as other symptoms, by the time of his marriage, the condition was very severe. In 1657 Pepys decided to undergo surgery, not an option, as the operation was known to be especially painful. Nevertheless, Pepys consulted surgeon Thomas Hollier and, on 26 March 1658, Pepys stone was successfully removed and he resolved to hold a celebration on every anniversary of the operation, which he did for several years. However, there were long-term effects from the operation, the incision on his bladder broke open again late in his life. The procedure may have left him sterile, though there is no evidence for this. In mid-1658 Pepys moved to Axe Yard, near the modern Downing Street and he worked as a teller in the Exchequer under George Downing. On 1 January 1660, Pepys began to keep a diary and he recorded his daily life for almost ten years
Samuel Pepys
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Portrait of Samuel Pepys by
J. Hayls. Oil on canvas, 1666, 756 mm × 629 mm
National Portrait Gallery, London.
Samuel Pepys
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Bookplate c.1680–1690 with arms of Samuel Pepys:
Quarterly 1st & 4th: Sable, on a bend or between two nag's heads erased argent three fleurs-de-lis of the field (Pepys); 2nd & 3rd: Gules, a
lion rampant within a bordure engrailed or (Talbot). Samuel Pepys was descended from the John Pepys who married Elizabeth Talbot, the heiress of
Cottenham in Cambridgeshire. The Pepys arms are borne by the Pepys family,
Earls of Cottenham
Samuel Pepys
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Elisabeth de St Michel, Pepys' wife. Stipple engraving by
James Thomson, after a 1666 painting (now destroyed) by
John Hayls.
Samuel Pepys
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Samuel Pepys' bookplate. The motto reads "Mens cujusque is est Quisque" – "Mind Makes the Man"
15.
Desdemona
–
Desdemona is a character in William Shakespeares play Othello. Shakespeares Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, when her husband is deployed to Cyprus in the service of the Republic of Venice, Desdemona accompanies him. There, her husband is manipulated by his ensign Iago into believing she is an adulteress, the role has attracted notable actresses through the centuries and has the distinction of being the role performed by Margaret Hughes, the first actress to appear on an English public stage. Othello has its source in the 1565 tale, Un Capitano Moro in Gli Hecatommithi by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio, Cinthios tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508. The only named character in Cinthios story is Disdemona, the name derives from Greek δυσ + δαίμων, which means ill-fated, unfortunate, i. e. the antonym of Eudaimonia. Léone Teyssandier notes that it may indeed be how Othello views his wife, the other characters are identified only as the Moor, the ensign, the ensigns wife, and the squadron leader. In the original, the ensign lusts after Disdemona and is spurred to revenge when she rejects him, unlike Shakespeares Othello, the Moor in Cinthios story never repents the murder of his wife. Both he and the ensign escape immediate prosecution but are killed much later, Cinthio also drew a moral that European women are unwise to marry the temperamental males of other nations. While Shakespeare followed Cinthios tale very closely in composing Othello, he deviated significantly in some details and he invented Desdemonas father, Brabantio, and her dissolute Venetian admirer, Roderigo. He invented the entire first act in which Iago arouses Brabantios prejudices against Othello, Shakespeare considerably expanded the role of Cinthios ensigns wife. In Cinthio, she is simply Disdemonas companion but in Shakespeare she becomes Desdemonas attendant, in Cinthio, the ensign filches Disdemonas handkerchief from a sash at her waist, his wife is not involved in the mischief as is Shakespeares Emilia. Later, Cinthios ensigns wife learns of her husbands villainy in the handkerchief deception, unlike Shakespeares Emilia, Cinthos ensigns wife lives to tell what she knows of Disdemonas death long after her husband and the Moor are dead. Disdemonas death in Cinthio is strikingly different from Desdemonas death in Shakespeare, in the plays first act, Desdemona has eloped with Othello, a Moor in the service of the Venetian Republic. Before the Duke of Venice, his councilmen, and her father, she proclaims her love for Othello and her father reluctantly accepts the union, but warns Othello that she will some day deceive him. When Othello is sent to Cyprus in the line of duty, Desdemona accompanies him with his ensigns wife, in act 2, Othellos lieutenant, Cassio is disgraced in a brawl, and falls from Othellos favour. Lago suggests to Cassio that he importune Desdemona to intercede for him, meanwhile, Iago persuades Othello that Desdemona has formed an illicit relationship with Cassio. Yet the passion of her love both arouses and unnerves her husband too, adding to the seeds of fear and suspicion, when Emilias husband Iago sees Desdemonas handkerchief, he appropriates it and forbids Emilia to disclose its whereabouts to Desdemona. Iago plants the article in Cassios room, eventually, Othello sees Cassio with the handkerchief and accepts it as confirmation of Desdemonas infidelity
Desdemona
–
Desdemona by
Frederic Leighton
Desdemona
–
Brooklyn Museum - Desdemona Cursed by her Father (Desdemona maudite par son père) - Eugène Delacroix
Desdemona
–
Othello and Desdemona in Venice by
Théodore Chassériau (1819–1856)
Desdemona
–
Rodolfo Amoedo - Desdemona
16.
Othello
–
Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603. It is based on the story Un Capitano Moro by Cinthio, Roderigo is upset because he loves Desdemona and had asked her father for her hand in marriage. Iago hates Othello for promoting a younger man named Cassio above him, whom Iago considers less capable a soldier than himself, Iago convinces Roderigo to wake Brabantio and tell him about his daughters elopement. Meanwhile, Iago sneaks away to find Othello and warns him that Brabantio is coming for him. Brabantio, provoked by Roderigo, is enraged and will not rest until he has beheaded Othello, but he finds Othellos residence full of the Duke of Venices guards, who prevent violence. News has arrived in Venice that the Turks are going to attack Cyprus, Brabantio has no option but to accompany Othello to the Dukes residence, where he accuses Othello of seducing Desdemona by witchcraft. Othello defends himself before the Duke of Venice, Brabantios kinsmen Lodovico and Gratiano, Othello explains that Desdemona became enamoured of him for the sad and compelling stories he told of his life before Venice, not because of any witchcraft. Iago, still in the room, takes note of Brabantios remark, the party arrives in Cyprus to find that a storm has destroyed the Turkish fleet. Othello orders a celebration and leaves to consummate his marriage with Desdemona. In his absence, Iago gets Cassio drunk, and then persuades Roderigo to draw Cassio into a fight, Montano tries to calm an angry and drunk Cassio down, but end up fighting one another. Montano is injured in the fight, Othello reenters and questions the men as to what happened. Othello blames Cassio for the disturbance and strips him of his rank, Iago persuades Cassio to importune Desdemona to convince her husband to reinstate Cassio. Iago now persuades Othello to be suspicious of Cassio and Desdemona, when Desdemona drops a handkerchief, Emilia finds it, and gives it to her husband Iago, at his request, unaware of what he plans to do with it. Othello reenters and vows with Iago for the death of Desdemona and Cassio, after which he makes Iago his lieutenant. Act III, scene iii, is considered to be the point of the play as it is the scene in which Iago successfully sows the seeds of doubt in Othellos mind. Iago plants the handkerchief in Cassios lodgings, then tells Othello to watch Cassios reactions while Iago questions him. Iago goads Cassio on to talk about his affair with Bianca, a local courtesan, later, Bianca accuses Cassio of giving her a second-hand gift which he had received from another lover. Othello sees this, and Iago convinces him that Cassio received the handkerchief from Desdemona, enraged and hurt, Othello resolves to kill his wife and asks Iago to kill Cassio
Othello
–
The Russian actor and
theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski as Othello in 1896
Othello
–
Desdemona and Othello, by
Antonio Muñoz Degrain
Othello
–
Othello costume - illustration by Percy Anderson for Costume Fanciful, Historical and Theatrical, 1906
Othello
–
Painting by
William Salter of Othello weeping over Desdemona's body. Oil on canvas, ca. 1857.
17.
Puritan
–
Puritanism in this sense was founded as an activist movement within the Church of England. The founders, clergy exiled under Mary I, returned to England shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, Puritanism played a significant role in English history during the first half of the 17th century. One of the most effective stokers of anti-Catholic feeling was John Pym, Puritans were blocked from changing the established church from within and were severely restricted in England by laws controlling the practice of religion. They took on distinctive beliefs about clerical dress and in opposition to the episcopal system and they largely adopted Sabbatarianism in the 17th century, and were influenced by millennialism. Consequently, they became a political force in England and came to power as a result of the First English Civil War. Almost all Puritan clergy left the Church of England after the Restoration of 1660, the nature of the movement in England changed radically, although it retained its character for a much longer period in New England. Puritans by definition were dissatisfied with the extent of the English Reformation. They formed and identified with various groups advocating greater purity of worship and doctrine, as well as personal. Puritans adopted a Reformed theology and, in sense, were Calvinists. In church polity, some advocated separation from all other established Christian denominations in favor of autonomous gathered churches. The Puritans were never a formally defined sect or religious division within Protestantism, the Congregationalist tradition, widely considered to be a part of the Reformed tradition, claims descent from the Puritans. Historically, the word Puritan was considered a term that characterized Protestant groups as extremists. According to Thomas Fuller in his Church History, the dates to 1564. Archbishop Matthew Parker of that used it and precisian with the sense of the modern stickler. In modern times, the word puritan is often used to mean against pleasure, in this sense, the term Puritan was coined in the 1560s, when it first appeared as a term of abuse for those who found the Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559 inadequate. The term Puritan, therefore, was not intended to refer to strict morality, a common modern misunderstanding, the word Puritan was applied unevenly to a number of Protestant churches from the late 16th century onwards. Puritans did not originally use the term for themselves, the practitioners knew themselves as members of particular churches or movements, and not by a single term. Precise men and Precisians were other early derogatory terms for Puritans, seventeenth century English Puritan preacher Thomas Watson used the godly to describe Puritans in the title of one of his more famous works The Godly Mans Picture
Puritan
–
Gallery of famous 17th-century Puritan theologians:
Thomas Gouge,
William Bridge,
Thomas Manton,
John Flavel,
Richard Sibbes,
Stephen Charnock,
William Bates,
John Owen,
John Howe,
Richard Baxter.
Puritan
–
The
Westminster Assembly in a Victorian history painting by
John Rogers Herbert.
Puritan
–
The Snake in the Grass or Satan Transform'd to an Angel of Light, title page engraved by
Richard Gaywood, ca. 1660
Puritan
–
Cotton Mather, influential New England Puritan minister, portrait by
Peter Pelham.
18.
House of Stuart
–
The House of Stuart, originally Stewart and, in Gaelic, Stiùbhart was a European royal house that originated in Scotland. The dynastys patrilineal Breton ancestors had held the office of High Steward of Scotland since the 12th century, the royal Stewart line was founded by Robert II, and they were Kings and Queens of Scots from the late 14th century until the union with England in 1707. Mary I, Queen of Scots was brought up in France and her son, James VI of Scotland, inherited the thrones of England and Ireland upon the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. Except for the period of the Commonwealth, 1649–1660, the Stuarts were monarchs of England, Scotland and Ireland until 1707, then of Great Britain and Ireland, in total, nine Stewart/Stuart monarchs ruled Scotland alone from 1371 until 1603. James VI of Scotland then inherited the realms of Elizabeth I of England, following the Glorious Revolution in 1688, two Stuart queens ruled the isles, Mary II and Anne. Both were the Protestant daughters of James VII and II by his first wife, during the reign of the Stuarts, Scotland developed from a relatively poor and feudal country into a prosperous, modern and centralised state. They ruled during a time in European history of transition from the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, monarchs such as James IV were known for sponsoring exponents of the Northern Renaissance such as the poet Robert Henryson, and others. The name Stewart derives from the position of office similar to a governor. It was originally adopted as the surname by Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland. Prior to this, family names were not used, but instead they had patronyms defined through the father, the gallicised spelling was first borne by John Stewart of Darnley after his time in the French wars. During the 16th century, the French spelling Stuart was adopted by Mary, Queen of Scots, the FitzAlan family quickly established themselves as a prominent Anglo-Norman noble house, with some of its members serving as High Sheriff of Shropshire. It was the great-grandson of Alan named Walter FitzAlan who became the first hereditary High Steward of Scotland, another supporter of Matilda was her uncle David I of Scotland from the House of Dunkeld. After Matilda was pushed out of England into the County of Anjou, essentially failing in her legitimist attempt for the throne, many of her supporters in England fled also. It was then that Walter followed David up to the Kingdom of Scotland, where he was granted lands in Renfrewshire, the next monarch of Scotland, Malcolm IV, made the High Steward title a hereditary arrangement. While High Stewards, the family were based at Dundonald, South Ayrshire between the 12th and 13th centuries. The sixth High Steward of Scotland, Walter Stewart, married Marjorie, daughter of Robert the Bruce, in 1503, James IV attempted to secure peace with England by marrying King Henry VIIs daughter, Margaret Tudor. The birth of their son, later James V, brought the House of Stewart into the line of descent of the House of Tudor, and the English throne. Margaret Tudor later married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and their daughter, Margaret Douglas, was the mother of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
House of Stuart
–
Tombstone of the last members of the House of Stuart in the
St. Peter's Basilica – Work of
Antonio Canova.
House of Stuart
–
Last armorial of the Stuart monarch for use in Great Britain, 1707 to 1714
House of Stuart
–
James I of Scotland
House of Stuart
–
James IV of Scotland
19.
Margaret Hughes
–
Margaret Hughes, also Peg Hughes or Margaret Hewes, is often credited as the first professional actress on the English stage. Hughes was also famous as the mistress of the English Civil War general and later Restoration admiral, Hughes became an actress during a period of great change in English drama. English drama had suffered greatly during the English Civil War and the Interregnum and this ban was finally lifted upon the Restoration of King Charles. Charles was a keen theatre-goer, and promptly gave two royal patents to Sir Thomas Killigrew and Sir William Davenant. During the Renaissance women had been almost exclusively banned from appearing as actresses on the stage, one famous incident occurred when a play which King Charles II was watching suddenly stopped. When he sent servants to see what the problem was it was found that the male that was supposed to play one of the parts was still shaving. Killigrew and Davenant were casting women almost immediately following the Restoration and, once women began appearing professionally on the stage in the early 1660s, Killigrew staged an all-female-cast production of his own play The Parsons Wedding in 1664 and again in 1672. At the age of 30, Margaret marked theatre history by becoming the first woman to perform on an English stage at the Vere Street theatre, some historians identify Anne Marshall as the first actress to step onto the English stage. However, there has been analysis of the early recollections of John Downes. Pepys suggested that she was a lover of Sir Charles Sedley and it is believed that Hughes had an illegitimate son named Arthur, but there is no conclusive evidence that states otherwise. Most famously, however, Hughes became associated with Prince Rupert, Duke of Cumberland, Rupert fell in love with her in the late 1660s, although Hughes appears to have held out reciprocating his attentions with the aim of negotiating a suitable settlement. Despite being encouraged to do so, Rupert did not formally marry Hughes, Margaret continued to act even after Rupertas birth, returning to the stage in 1676 with the prestigious Dukes Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre, near the Strand in London. The next year Rupert established Hughes with a building worth £25,000 that he bought in Hammersmith from Sir Nicholas Crispe. Prince Rupert died in 1682, leaving most of his estate, worth some £12,000, equally to Hughes, Hughes had an uncomfortable widowhood without Ruperts support, allegedly not helped by her continuing gambling. Presents from Rupert such as Elizabeth of Bohemias earrings were sold to the Duchess of Marlborough and her daughter, Ruperta, ultimately married Emanuel Scrope Howe, future MP and English general. Hughes certainly played Desdemona in the performance of Othello seen by Samuel Pepys on 6 February 1669 and she also played, St. Catherine in John Drydens Tyrannick Love Panura in John Fletchers The Island Princess. She probably played, Theodocia in Drydens An Evenings Love Angellina in James Shirleys The Sisters, Hughes left the stage for Prince Rupert in 1669 or 1670. In 1676 she emerged from retirement for one year with the Dukes Company
Margaret Hughes
–
Portrait of Margaret Hughes by
Sir Peter Lely, c. 1670.
Margaret Hughes
–
The
Dorset Garden Theatre of the Duke's Company of actors, where Hughes spent a busy season in 1676.
Margaret Hughes
–
Margaret Hughes' lover and partner,
Prince Rupert,
Duke of Cumberland, by Simon Verelst
20.
Charles Sedley
–
Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet, was an English noble, dramatist and politician. He was principally remembered for his wit and profligacy and he was the son of Sir John Sedley, 2nd Baronet, of Aylesford in Kent, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Savile. The Sedleys had been prominent in Kent since at least 1337, Sedleys grandfather, William Sedley, was knighted in 1605 and created a baronet in 1611. He was the founder of the Sidleian Lectures of Natural Philosophy at Oxford, Sedley was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, but left without taking a degree. There his tutor was the poet Walter Pope, the second surviving son of Sir John Sedley and Elizabeth, William, succeeded to the baronetcy in 1645. Charles Sedley inherited the title in 1656 when his brother William died, by his first wife Lady Katherine Savage, daughter of John, 2nd Earl Rivers he had only one legitimate child, Catherine, Countess of Dorchester, mistress of James II. The couple lived in Great Queen Street, after his first wife had been sent to a convent in Ghent on account of a serious mental condition, Sedley in vain tried to obtain a divorce. He met Ann Ayscough, probably around 1670, by whom he had two sons, William and Charles Sedley. William died in infancy, the brother Charles was knighted by William III after the coronation in 1689, the relationship with Ann Ayscough lasted to the end of Sedleys life. Sedley died at Hampstead on 20 August 1701 and was buried at Southfleet Church on the 26th, the Sedley baronetcy became extinct on his death. Sedley is famous as a patron of literature in the Restoration period, however, it was above all Sedleys wit that his contemporaries admired him for. Sedley was reputed as a rake and libertine, part of the Merry Gang gang of courtiers which included the Earl of Rochester. In 1663 an indecent frolic in Bow Street, for which he was fined 2000 marks, from the balcony of Oxford Kates Tavern he, Lord Buckhurst and Sir Thomas Ogle shocked and delighted a crowd of onlookers with their blasphemous and obscene antics. Sedley was member of parliament for New Romney in Kent, and took an active, a speech of his on the civil list after the Revolution is cited by Macaulay as a proof that his reputation as a man of wit and ability was deserved. His bon mot at the expense of James II is well known, Sedley is also occasionally associated with a notorious gang of unbridled revellers who called themselves Ballers and who were active between 1660 and 1670. It was probably Sedley who wrote the Ballers Oath on behalf of them, Sedleys parliamentary career started in the 1660s but around 1677/78 he joined the Whig cause. When Charles II died in 1685, Sedley was illegally excluded from the parliament of his successor James II, there can be no doubt that Sedley opposed the Catholic James and supported William of Orange in the crucial year of 1688. Sedley was returned in the second Parliament of William, elected in March 1690, Sedleys speeches were included in the 1702 edition of The Miscellaneous Works
Charles Sedley
–
Sir Charles Sedley
Charles Sedley
–
Playwrights
21.
Richard Griffiths
–
Richard Thomas Griffiths, OBE was an English actor of film, television, and stage. For the 2006 film adaptation, Griffiths was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, earlier in his career, he had a prominent supporting role as British journalist Collins in Richard Attenboroughs Academy Award-winning film Gandhi. Griffiths was born in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Riding of Yorkshire, the son of Jane and his father was a steelworker who also fought in pubs for money, while his mothers occupation was described as bagger. He and his brother John were raised in the Roman Catholic faith and his parents were both deaf, and he learned sign language at an early age in order to communicate with them. During his childhood he attempted to run away from many times. He dropped out of Our Lady & St Bede School in Stockton-On-Tees at age 15 and worked as a porter for Littlewoods for a while and he decided to attend a drama class at Stockton & Billingham College. He continued his education in drama at Manchester Polytechnic School of Drama, after graduating, Griffiths earned a spot on BBC Radio. He also worked in theatres, sometimes acting and sometimes managing. He eventually settled in Manchester and began to get roles in plays. From there, he began to appear on television and then got his big break in film in It Shouldnt Happen to a Vet, by the early 1980s, he was selected for the lead role in Bird of Prey, an early computer-conspiracy thriller. His character Henry Jay was reprised in Bird of Prey 2, in 1981, he also gave a memorable performance as Chilean secret police victim William Beausire in an edition of the BBC Prisoners of Conscience series. Griffiths went on to supporting roles in a number of films, including The French Lieutenants Woman, Chariots of Fire. On stage, in 1985–86, he performed the role of Verdi in Julian Mitchells After Aida, in Wales and he appeared in The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends. Griffiths film roles were in contemporary and period pieces, such as Gorky Park, Withnail and I, King Ralph, The Naked Gun 2½, The Smell of Fear, Guarding Tess. He appeared as Inspector Henry Crabbe, disillusioned policeman and pie chef extraordinaire, in Pie in the Sky and he also made an extended appearance in the 2005 version of Charles Dickens Bleak House. In 2004, he originated the role of Hector in Alan Bennetts play The History Boys, directed by Nicholas Hytner, during the plays subsequent United States run, he added a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Tony Award. He reprised his role in the version, which was released in October 2006. Later, in 2009, he replaced Michael Gambon as W. H. Auden prior to the premiere of The Habit of Art at the National Theatre, once again directed by Hytner
Richard Griffiths
–
Richard Griffiths
Richard Griffiths
–
Griffiths at the 2007
BAFTA Awards ceremony
22.
Charles II of England
–
Charles II was king of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was king of Scotland from 1649 until his deposition in 1651, Charles IIs father, Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. A political crisis followed the death of Cromwell in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy. On 29 May 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim, after 1660, all legal documents were dated as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649. Charless English parliament enacted laws known as the Clarendon Code, designed to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England, Charles acquiesced to the Clarendon Code even though he favoured a policy of religious tolerance. The major foreign policy issue of his reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In 1670, he entered into the treaty of Dover. Louis agreed to aid him in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay him a pension, Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it. In 1679, Titus Oatess revelations of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charless brother, the crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories, and, following the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1681, and ruled alone until his death on 6 February 1685. He was received into the Roman Catholic Church on his deathbed, Charless wife, Catherine of Braganza, bore no live children, but Charles acknowledged at least twelve illegitimate children by various mistresses. He was succeeded by his brother James, Charles II was born in St Jamess Palace on 29 May 1630. His parents were Charles I and Henrietta Maria, Charles was their second son and child. Their first son was born about a year before Charles but died within a day, England, Scotland and Ireland were respectively predominantly Anglican, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic. At birth, Charles automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, at or around his eighth birthday, he was designated Prince of Wales, though he was never formally invested. During the 1640s, when Charles was still young, his father fought Parliamentary, by spring 1646, his father was losing the war, and Charles left England due to fears for his safety. Charles I surrendered into captivity in May 1646, at The Hague, Charles had a brief affair with Lucy Walter, who later falsely claimed that they had secretly married
Charles II of England
–
Charles II in the robes of the
Order of the Garter, by
John Michael Wright or studio, c. 1660–1665
Charles II of England
–
Charles II as an infant in 1630, painting attributed to
Justus van Egmont
Charles II of England
–
Portrait by
William Dobson, c. 1642 or 1643
Charles II of England
–
"The Scots Holding Their Young King's Nose To the Grindstone", from a satirical English pamphlet
23.
Nell Gwynn
–
Eleanor Nell Gwyn was a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England and Scotland. She was the most famous Restoration actress and possessed a prodigious comic talent, Gwyn had two sons by King Charles, Charles Beauclerk, and James Beauclerk. The surname of her sons is pronounced Bo-Clare, Charles was created Earl of Burford and later Duke of St. Albans. The details of Nells background are somewhat obscure and her mothers name was Ellen and she was referred to in her lifetime as Old Madam, Madam Gwyn, and Old Ma Gwyn. Madam Gwyn was born, according to an inscription, in the parish of St Martin in the Fields, London. She is also believed, by most Gwyn biographers, to have been low-born and her descendant and biographer Charles Beauclerk calls this conjecture, based solely on what is known of her later life. Madam Gwyn is sometimes said to have had the maiden surname Smith, however, this appears to be derived from a pedigree by Anthony Wood that shows signs of confusion between different Gwyn families and it has not been firmly established. There is some suggestion, from a poem dated to 1681, again of doubtful accuracy, Nells mother drowned, while drunk, in a ditch near Westminster and was buried on 30 July 1679, in her 56th year, at St Martin in the Fields. It has been claimed that Nell was the granddaughter of an Edward or Edmund Gwynn. Nell Gwynn used arms similar to the arms of Gwyn of Llansanwyr, the Gwyns of Llansanwyr are descended from Richard Gwyn of Llansanwyr, liv.1545 and his wife Ann f. The connection, if any, between Nell Gwynn and the Gwyns of Llansanwyr is unknown, three cities make the claim to be Nell Gwyns birthplace, Hereford, London, and Oxford. Evidence for any one of the three is scarce, London is the simplest choice, perhaps, since Nells mother was born there and that is where she raised her children. Alexander Smiths 1715 Lives of the Court Beauties says she was born in Coal Yard Alley in Covent Garden and other biographies, Beauclerk pieces together circumstantial evidence to favor an Oxford birth. One way or another, Nells father seems to have out of the picture by the time of her childhood in Covent Garden. Old Madam Gwyn was by most accounts an alcoholic whose business was running a bawdy house, there, or in the bawdy house of one Madam Ross, Nell would spend at least some time. It is possible she worked herself as a prostitute, Peter Thomson, in the Oxford Illustrated History of Theatre. Nell answered then, I was but one mans whore, though I was brought up in a bawdy-house to fill strong waters to the guests, and you are a whore to three or four, though a Presbyters praying daughter. However, it is not out of the question that Gwyn was merely echoing the satirists of the day, if she said this at all
Nell Gwynn
–
Nell Gwynn was one of the first
English actresses and a mistress of King
Charles II of England.
Nell Gwynn
–
Portrait of Nell Gwyn by
Simon Verelst, circa 1680
Nell Gwynn
–
Nell Gwyn as
Cupid c. 1672; engraving by Richard Thomson, of a painting by Peter Cross. Pepys owned a copy of this engraving and displayed it over his desk at the
Admiralty.
Nell Gwynn
–
Louise de Kérouaille. Painting by
Pierre Mignard, c. 1681.
24.
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
–
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros, KG, PC, FRS was an English statesman and poet. George was the son of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, favourite of James I and Charles I and he was only seven months old when his father was assassinated at Portsmouth by the renegade officer John Felton. Subsequently he was brought up in the household of Charles I, together with his younger brother Francis and the Kings own children. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained the degree of Master of Arts in 1642, for a time he was taught geometry by Thomas Hobbes. During this time he was acquainted with George Aglionby, whose influence he later accredited with persuading him to follow the English King in the Civil War. In the Civil War he fought for the King, and took part in Prince Rupert of the Rhines attack on Lichfield Close in April 1643, under the care of the Earl of Northumberland, George and his brother travelled abroad and lived in Florence and Rome. When the Second English Civil War broke out they joined Royalist combatant Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland in Surrey, Holland scraped together a small force of 600 men and appointed Buckingham as his General of the Horse. This force was scattered after an engagement near Kingston upon Thames in which Buckinghams brother Francis was killed. Buckingham himself escaped after a stand against six Roundhead opponents, his back against an oak tree. After another doomed combat at St Neots the Duke succeeded in escaping to the Netherlands, on 19 September 1649, Charles II conferred on him the Order of the Garter and admitted him to his Privy Council on 6 April 1650. He fought alongside Charles at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651 and his estrangement from the royal family was completed by his audacious courtship of the kings widowed sister Mary, Princess of Orange, and by a money dispute with Charles. Buckingham was soon suspected of organizing a Presbyterian plot against the government, an order was issued for his arrest on 9 October, despite Fairfaxs interest with Cromwell. He was placed under house arrest at York House in April 1658, escaped and he was then imprisoned in the Tower of London until 23 February 1659, being freed after promising not to assist the enemies of the government, and on Fairfaxs security of £20,000. He joined Fairfax in his march against General John Lambert in January 1660, the returning King Charles at first received Buckingham coldly, but Buckingham was soon back in favour. He was appointed a Gentleman of the Bedchamber, carried the Sovereigns Orb at the coronation on 23 April 1661, the same year, he accompanied Princess Henrietta to Paris to marry the Duke of Orleans, but made such shameless advances to her that he was recalled. On 28 April 1662 he was admitted to the Privy Council and his confiscated estates, amounting to £26,000 a year, were restored to him, and he was said to be the kings richest subject. He helped suppress the insurrection in Yorkshire in 1663, went to sea in the second Anglo-Dutch War in 1665. He was, however, debarred from high office by the influence of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, Buckingham now plotted to effect the Chancellors ruin
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
–
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham painted by Sir
Peter Lely, circa 1675
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
–
Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh (1630-1673).
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
–
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington (1618-1685).
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
–
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley of Wimborne St Giles (1621-1683).
25.
Duke of Buckingham
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Duke of Buckingham, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been Earls of Buckingham and Marquesses of Buckingham, the first creation of the dukedom was on 14 September 1444, when Humphrey Stafford, 6th Earl of Stafford, was made Duke of Buckingham. On his fathers side, Stafford was descended from Edmond de Stafford, the second Baron had been created Earl of Stafford in 1351. On his mothers side, Stafford was the son of Anne of Gloucester, Countess of Buckingham, daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, Earl of Buckingham, youngest son of King Edward III of England. Stafford was an important supporter of the House of Lancaster in the Wars of the Roses and his titles were forfeited along with the dukedom. At this time the title became extinct, it was posthumously attainted in 1523, the second creation of the dukedom was in 1623 for George Villiers, a favourite of James I of England. Buckingham, who continued in office as chief minister into the reign of Jamess son, Charles I, was responsible for a policy of war against Spain and France. In 1628 he was assassinated by John Felton, a army officer who had served under him. His son, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, was an advisor in the reign of Charles II. He started the first foxhunt in England, The Bilsdale Hunt in 1668, after digging for a fox above Kirkbymoorside, and being too far from his home in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, he died from a chill in the house of a tenant. With his death in 1687, the title became extinct. Several other members of the Villiers family have been elevated to the peerage, christopher Villiers, 1st Earl of Anglesey, and John Villiers, 1st Viscount Purbeck, were brothers of the first Duke of Buckingham. Also, Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey, was the great-nephew of the first Duke of Buckingham while Thomas Villiers, the dukedom was created in the Peerage of England. The full title was Duke of the County of Buckingham and of Normanby but in practice only Duke of Buckingham, on the death of the 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1735, the titles became extinct. The Sheffield family estates passed to the 2nd Dukes half-brother Charles Herbert Sheffield and he was created a Baronet in 1755 and is the ancestor of the Sheffield Baronets, of Normanby. The fourth creation of the dukedom, as Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, was in 1822 for Richard Temple-Grenville, 2nd Marquess of Buckingham, the 1st Marquess of Buckingham had married Lady Mary Nugent, daughter of Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent. Mary was in 1800 created Baroness Nugent in her own right in the Peerage of Ireland, after the 1st Marquess of Buckinghams death in 1813, his titles passed to his son Richard Temple-Grenville, 2nd Marquess of Buckingham. He married Lady Anne Eliza Brydges, the child of James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos
Duke of Buckingham
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John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby (1648–1721)
Duke of Buckingham
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Arms of
Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1402–1460)
Duke of Buckingham
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The 719
heraldic quarterings of the Dukes of Buckingham from the Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville family
26.
Othello (character)
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Othello is a character in Shakespeares Othello. The characters origin is traced to the tale Un Capitano Moro in Gli Hecatommithi by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio, there, he is simply referred to as the Moor. Othello is a brave and competent soldier of advanced years and Moorish background in the service of the Venetian Republic and he elopes with Desdemona, the beautiful daughter of a respected Venetian senator. After being deployed to Cyprus, Othello is manipulated by his Ancient Iago into believing Desdemona is an adulteress, Othello murders her and, upon discovering Iagos deceit, kills himself. Othello was first mentioned in a Revels account of 1604 when the play was performed on 1 November at Whitehall Palace with Richard Burbage almost certainly Othellos first interpreter. Modern notable performers of the role include Paul Robeson, Orson Welles, Richard Burton, James Earl Jones, Laurence Fishburne and Laurence Olivier, Othello is a Moorish prince living in Venice, as an ambassador of the Moors. After time in Venice, Othello is appointed general in the Venetian Army and his officer Iago tricks him into believing that his wife Desdemona is having an affair with his Lieutenant, Michael Cassio. Othello kills his wife out of jealousy by strangling her, only to realize that his wife was faithful after Emilia reveals the truth, Othello has its source in the 1565 tale Un Capitano Moro from Gli Hecatommithi by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. While no English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeares lifetime, Cinthios tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508. It also resembles an incident described in the tale of The Three Apples, one of the stories narrated in the One Thousand. Desdemona is the named character in Cinthios tale, his other characters being identified as the Moor, the squadron leader, the ensign. While Shakespeare closely followed Cinthios tale in composing Othello, he departed from it in some details, in Cinthio, the Moor commissions his ensign to bludgeon Desdemona to death with a sand-filled stocking. The Moor then misses his wife greatly, and comes to loathe the sight of his ensign and he demotes him, and refuses to have him in his company. The ensign then seeks revenge by disclosing to the squadron leader, the two men denounce the Moor to the Venetian Seignory. The Moor is arrested, transported from Cyprus to Venice, and tortured and he is condemned to exile, Desdemonas relatives eventually put him to death. The ensign escapes any prosecution in Desdemonas death but engages in other crimes and dies after being tortured, there is no consensus over Othellos race. E. A. J. Honigmann, the editor of the Arden Shakespeare edition, renaissance representations of the Moor were vague, varied, inconsistent, and contradictory. Various uses of the black are insufficient evidence for any accurate racial classification, Honigmann argues
Othello (character)
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"Othello and Desdemona in Venice" by
Théodore Chassériau (1819–56)
Othello (character)
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"Othello and Desdemona" by
Alexandre-Marie Colin, 1829
Othello (character)
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Portrait of
Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud, ambassador of
Ahmad al-Mansur to
Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, sometimes claimed as an inspiration for Othello.
Othello (character)
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Portrait of
Leo Africanus, another possible inspiration for Othello
27.
Thomas Betterton
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Thomas Patrick Betterton, the leading male actor and theatre manager during Restoration England, son of an under-cook to King Charles I, was born in London. He was apprenticed to John Holden, Sir William Davenants publisher, and possibly later to a bookseller named John Rhodes, who had been wardrobe-keeper at the Blackfriars Theatre. In 1659, Rhodes obtained a licence to set up a company of players at the Cockpit Theatre in Drury Lane, bettertons talents at once brought him into prominence, and he was given leading parts. On the opening of the new theatre in Lincolns Inn Fields in 1661, Davenant, Betterton, besides being a public favourite, was held in high esteem by Charles II, who sent him to Paris to examine stage improvements there. According to Cibber, after his return to England, it was the first time that the shifting scenes replaced tapestry in an English theatre, in 1662 he married the actress Mary Saunderson. She started her career playing some major female roles in Shakespeare’s plays. She and her husband Thomas Betterton shared the stage in a production of Hamlet, in which she played Ophelia, in the meantime, she was also her husband’s consultant and business partner. They were invited to teach the children from noble and royal families to perform John Crowne’s Calisto,1675, in the last Stuart court Masque. In appearance he was athletic, slightly above middle height, with a tendency to stoutness, his voice was rather than melodious. Pepys, Pope, Steele, and Cibber all bestow lavish praise on his acting and his repertory included a large number of Shakespearian roles, many of them presented in the versions adapted by Davenant, Dryden, Shadwell and Nahum Tate. Even though those adapted versions did not receive critical acclaim, they did not harm or shadow Betterton’s acting either, still, his performances were largely praised. He played Lear opposite Elizabeth Barrys Cordelia in Tates modified version of Shakespeares King Lear, Betterton was himself author of several adaptations which were popular in their day. The new company opened with the premiere of Congreves Love for Love with an all-star cast including Betterton as Valentine and Anne Bracegirdle as Angelica. But in a few years the profits fell off, and Betterton, laboring under the infirmities of age and gout, at his benefit performance, when the profits are said to have been over £500, he played Valentine in Love for Love. Betterton’s career not only spans the period of Restoration theatre, it marks its high point. He also built the first permanent theatre fully equipped with Italianate machinery, Betterton worked with all of the most significant playwrights of his age and the first generation of English actresses. In the age of seventy-five, he claimed, He was yet learning to be an actor, the first acting guide published in English was The Life of Mr Thomas Betterton, which was mainly a pastiche from French rhetoric manuals with passages borrowed from English plays. Bettersons innovation in scenery and theatre management, and his contributions to making shaped the culture of English theatre
Thomas Betterton
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Thomas Betterton painted by Sir
Godfrey Kneller
28.
Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet
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Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet, was an English noble, dramatist and politician. He was principally remembered for his wit and profligacy and he was the son of Sir John Sedley, 2nd Baronet, of Aylesford in Kent, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Savile. The Sedleys had been prominent in Kent since at least 1337, Sedleys grandfather, William Sedley, was knighted in 1605 and created a baronet in 1611. He was the founder of the Sidleian Lectures of Natural Philosophy at Oxford, Sedley was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, but left without taking a degree. There his tutor was the poet Walter Pope, the second surviving son of Sir John Sedley and Elizabeth, William, succeeded to the baronetcy in 1645. Charles Sedley inherited the title in 1656 when his brother William died, by his first wife Lady Katherine Savage, daughter of John, 2nd Earl Rivers he had only one legitimate child, Catherine, Countess of Dorchester, mistress of James II. The couple lived in Great Queen Street, after his first wife had been sent to a convent in Ghent on account of a serious mental condition, Sedley in vain tried to obtain a divorce. He met Ann Ayscough, probably around 1670, by whom he had two sons, William and Charles Sedley. William died in infancy, the brother Charles was knighted by William III after the coronation in 1689, the relationship with Ann Ayscough lasted to the end of Sedleys life. Sedley died at Hampstead on 20 August 1701 and was buried at Southfleet Church on the 26th, the Sedley baronetcy became extinct on his death. Sedley is famous as a patron of literature in the Restoration period, however, it was above all Sedleys wit that his contemporaries admired him for. Sedley was reputed as a rake and libertine, part of the Merry Gang gang of courtiers which included the Earl of Rochester. In 1663 an indecent frolic in Bow Street, for which he was fined 2000 marks, from the balcony of Oxford Kates Tavern he, Lord Buckhurst and Sir Thomas Ogle shocked and delighted a crowd of onlookers with their blasphemous and obscene antics. Sedley was member of parliament for New Romney in Kent, and took an active, a speech of his on the civil list after the Revolution is cited by Macaulay as a proof that his reputation as a man of wit and ability was deserved. His bon mot at the expense of James II is well known, Sedley is also occasionally associated with a notorious gang of unbridled revellers who called themselves Ballers and who were active between 1660 and 1670. It was probably Sedley who wrote the Ballers Oath on behalf of them, Sedleys parliamentary career started in the 1660s but around 1677/78 he joined the Whig cause. When Charles II died in 1685, Sedley was illegally excluded from the parliament of his successor James II, there can be no doubt that Sedley opposed the Catholic James and supported William of Orange in the crucial year of 1688. Sedley was returned in the second Parliament of William, elected in March 1690, Sedleys speeches were included in the 1702 edition of The Miscellaneous Works
Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet
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Sir Charles Sedley
Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet
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Playwrights
