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- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Dan Stevens was born at Croydon in Surrey on 10th October 1982. His
parents are teachers. He was educated at Tonbridge School and trained
in acting at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. He studied
English Literature at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Whilst he was a
Cambridge undergraduate, he acted in several student drama productions.
He played the title role in the Marlowe Dramatic Society's production
of William Shakespeare's
play, "Macbeth". This was staged at the Cambridge Arts Theatre from
Tuesday 26th February to Saturday 2nd March 2002. The cast also
featured Rebecca Hall in the roles
of Lady Macbeth and Hecate. During one of his university summer
holidays in August 2003 he went to Slovakia where he filmed his scenes
for the Hallmark production of
Frankenstein (2004). Dan played
the part of Henry Clerval and the mini-series was first broadcast on
American television on 5th October 2004. Shortly after graduating from
Cambridge Dan was nominated for an Ian Charleson award for his
performance as Orlando in "As You Like It" at the Rose Theatre at
Kingston in Surrey. "As You Like It" was directed by
Peter Hall and ran from 30th November
to 18th December 2004. This production for the Peter Hall Company
subsequently went on a tour of America in the early months of 2005,
playing at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, the Curran Theater in
San Francisco and the Harvey Theater at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
in New York City. It featured
Rebecca Hall in the role of
Rosalind.
Dan was reunited with the director
Peter Hall when he played Claudio in
a new production of the Shakespeare play, "Much Ado About Nothing", for
the Peter Hall Company at the Theatre Royal in Bath from 29th June to
6th August 2005. In February 2006 Dan played the parts of Marban and
Maitland in a revival of Howard Brenton's
controversial play, "The Romans in Britain", directed by
Samuel West at the Crucible Theatre
in Sheffield. Then in May 2006 he played Nick Guest, the protagonist in
The Line of Beauty (2006).
This three part television mini-series was adapted by
Andrew Davies from the 2004 Booker
prize winning novel by
Alan Hollinghurst.
The Line of Beauty (2006)
is about Nick Guest's relationship with his university friend Toby
Fedden. The story takes place in the 1980s. It is set against the
backdrop of Margaret Thatcher's free market economic policies and the
spread of the acquired immunity deficiency syndrome, (AIDS). These two
social developments directly affect the characters in the story because
Toby's father Gerald is a Conservative member of parliament and Nick is
homosexual.
Whilst
The Line of Beauty (2006)
was being broadcast on BBC television, Dan was appearing as Simon Bliss
in the Noël Coward play, "Hay Fever". This
play was staged at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London from 11th
April to 5th August 2006 and the cast also included
Judi Dench in the role of Judith Bliss. At
the end of the year Dan played Lord Holmwood in a television
dramatization of
Dracula (2006), which was
broadcast on 28th December 2006. In 2007 Dan played the part of Michael
Faber in
Miss Marple: Nemesis (2007),
an Agatha Christie adaptation with
Geraldine McEwan in the role of Miss
Jane Marple. He also featured in the cast of
Maxwell (2007), a television
drama about the famous newspaper magnate.
Maxwell (2007) was first
broadcast on British television on 4th May 2007.
David Suchet played Robert Maxwell, and Dan
took the part of Basil Brookes, one of the press baron's financial
directors.
Dan played the part of Edward Ferrars in a television dramatization of
Jane Austen's novel,
Sense & Sensibility (2008).
This was broadcast in three episodes on BBC1 between Tuesday 1st and
Sunday 13th January 2008. The novel was adapted for television by
Andrew Davies, whom Dan had
previously worked with on
The Line of Beauty (2006).
Davies felt that the part of Edward Ferrars was underdeveloped in the
book, and so he deliberately added scenes not included in the novel to
help draw out the character. So, for instance, we saw Edward out horse
riding on the Norland estate and chopping logs at Barton Cottage. In
the DVD audio commentary Dan joked that this was the best example of
log chopping ever seen on British television! After
Sense & Sensibility (2008),
Dan featured in the cast of "The Tennis Court", a BBC Radio 4 Saturday
play broadcast on 19th January 2008. He also played Nicky Lancaster in
a revival of the Noël Coward play, "The
Vortex", at the Apollo Theatre in London from Wednesday 20th February
to Saturday 7th June 2008. This was another collaboration with the
stage director, Peter Hall. Dan
played the eponymous hero of "Dickens Confidential", a six part radio
drama series set in the 1830s which imagines what might have happened
if Charles Dickens had continued his
career as a journalist. This was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between
Monday 9th June and Monday 14th July 2008. He played the part of
Peregrine in 'Orley Farm', the BBC Radio 4 Classic Serial. This was a
three part adaptation of the novel by
Anthony Trollope broadcast between
Sunday 28th December 2008 and Sunday 11th January 2009. A month later
he played Duval in the BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour drama, 'The Lady of the
Camellias'. This was broadcast between Monday 2nd and Friday 6th
February 2009.- Actor
- Writer
- Art Department
Peter Wilton Cushing was born on May 26, 1913 in Kenley, Surrey,
England, to Nellie Maria (King) and George Edward Cushing, a quantity
surveyor. He and his older brother David were raised first in Dulwich
Village, a south London suburb, and then later back in Surrey. At an
early age, Cushing was attracted to acting, inspired by his favorite
aunt, who was a stage actress. While at school, Cushing pursued his
acting interest in acting and also drawing, a talent he put to good use
later in his first job as a government surveyor's assistant in Surrey.
At this time, he also dabbled in local amateur theater until moving to
London to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on
scholarship. He then performed in repertory theater in Worthing, deciding in 1939
to head for Hollywood, where he made his film debut in
The Man in the Iron Mask (1939).
Other Hollywood films included
A Chump at Oxford (1940) with
Stan Laurel and
Oliver Hardy,
Vigil in the Night (1940) and
They Dare Not Love (1941).
However, after a short stay, he returned to England by way of New York
(making brief appearances on Broadway) and Canada. Back in his
homeland, he contributed to the war effort during World War II by
joining the Entertainment National Services Association.
After the war, he performed in the West End and had his big break
appearing with Laurence Olivier in
Hamlet (1948), in which Cushing's future
partner-in-horror
Christopher Lee had a bit part.
Both actors also appeared in
Moulin Rouge (1952) but did not meet
until their later horror films. During the 1950s, Cushing became a
familiar face on British television, appearing in numerous teleplays,
such as 1984 (1954) and Beau Brummell (1954), until the end of the
decade when he began his legendary association with Hammer Film
Productions in its remakes of the 1930s Universal horror classics. His
first Hammer roles included Dr. Frankenstein in
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957),
Dr. Van Helsing in Horror of Dracula (1958), and
Sherlock Holmes in
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959).
Cushing continued playing the roles of Drs. Frankenstein and Van
Helsing, as well as taking on other horror characters, in Hammer films
over the next 20 years. He also appeared in films for the other major
horror producer of the time, Amicus Productions, including
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)
and its later horror anthologies, a couple of Dr. Who films (1965,
1966), I, Monster (1971), and others.
By the mid-1970s, these companies had stopped production, but Cushing,
firmly established as a horror star, continued in the genre for some
time thereafter.
Perhaps his best-known appearance outside of horror films was as Grand
Moff Tarkin in George Lucas'
phenomenally successful science fiction film
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).
Biggles: Adventures in Time (1986) was Cushing's last film
before his retirement, during which he made a few television
appearances, wrote two autobiographies and pursued his hobbies of bird
watching and painting. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of
the British Empire in recognition of his contributions to the acting
profession in Britain and worldwide. Peter Cushing died at age 81 of
prostate cancer on August 11, 1994.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Adam Pearson is an award-winning campaigner, actor, presenter and speaker. Adam was nominated as UK Documentary Presenter of the Year at the 2016 Grierson Awards.
Adam worked as a researcher for the BBC and Channel 4 before becoming a strand presenter on the first series of Beauty And The Beast: The Ugly Face Of Prejudice on Channel 4. He was also one of the team who developed Beauty And The Beast and consulted on the Dutch version of the series. Adam has worked on all series of The Undateables (Channel 4) as the casting researcher.
Adam has fronted the critically-acclaimed documentaries Horizon: My Amazing Twin (BBC Two), Adam Pearson: Freak Show (BBC Three) and The Ugly Face Of Disability Hate Crime (BBC Three), as well as being a reporter on Tricks Of The Restaurant Trade Series 1-3 (Channel 4) and The One Show (BBC One).
Adam appeared in the BAFTA-nominated film, Under The Skin, directed by Jonathan Glazer and starring Scarlett Johansson. He also played himself in the independent feature, DRIB, which premiered at SXSW in 2017.
Adam is an experienced speaker and has given a TEDx talk. He is also an ambassador for Jeans For Genes and The Childhood Tumour Trust. Adam won a RADAR Award and a Diana Award for his campaigning work.- Editor
- Director
- Writer
An important British filmmaker, David Lean was born in Croydon on March 25, 1908 and brought up in a strict Quaker family (ironically, as a child he wasn't allowed to go to the movies). During the 1920s, he briefly considered the possibility of becoming an accountant like his father before finding a job at Gaumont British Studios in 1927. He worked as tea boy, clapper boy, messenger, then cutting room assistant. By 1935, he had become chief editor of Gaumont British News until in 1939 when he began to edit feature films, notably for Anthony Asquith, Paul Czinner and Michael Powell. Amongst films he worked on were Pygmalion (1938), Major Barbara (1941) and One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942).
By the end of the 1930s, Lean's reputation as an editor was very well established. In 1942, Noël Coward gave Lean the chance to co-direct with him the war film In Which We Serve (1942). Shortly after, with the encouragement of Coward, Lean, cinematographer Ronald Neame and producer 'Anthony Havelock-Allan' launched a production company called Cineguild. For that firm Lean first directed adaptations of three plays by Coward: the chronicle This Happy Breed (1944), the humorous ghost story
Blithe Spirit (1945) and, most notably, the sentimental drama Brief Encounter (1945). Originally a box-office failure in England, "Brief Encounter" was presented at the very first Cannes film festival (1946), where it won almost unanimous praises as well as a Grand Prize.
From Coward, Lean switched to Charles Dickens, directing two well-regarded adaptations: Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948). The latter, starring Alec Guinness in his first major movie role, was criticized by some, however, for potential anti-Semitic inflections. The last two films made under the Cineguild banner were The Passionate Friends (1949), a romance from a novel by H.G. Wells, and the true crime story Madeleine (1950). Neither had a significant impact on critics or audiences.
The Cineguild partnership came to an end after a dispute between Lean and Neame. Lean's first post-Cineguild production was the aviation
drama The Sound Barrier (1952), a great box-office success in England and his most spectacular movie so far. He followed with two sophisticated comedies based on theatrical plays: Hobson's Choice (1954) and the Anglo-American co-production Summertime (1955). Both were well received and "Hobson's Choice" won the Golden Bear at the 1954 Berlin film festival.
Lean's next movie was pivotal in his career, as it was the first of those grand-scale epics he would become renowned for. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) was produced by Sam Spiegel from a novel by 'Pierre Boulle', adapted by blacklisted writers Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman. Shot in Ceylon under extremely difficult conditions, the film was an international success and triumphed at the Oscars, winning seven awards, most notably best film and director.
Lean and Spiegel followed with an even more ambitious film, Lawrence of Arabia (1962), based on "Seven Pillars of Wisdom", the autobiography of T.E. Lawrence. Starring relative newcomer Peter O'Toole, this film was the first collaboration between Lean and writer Robert Bolt, cinematographer Freddie Young and composer Maurice Jarre. The shooting itself took place in Spain, Morocco and Jordan over a period of 20 months. Initial reviews were mixed and the film was trimmed down shortly after its world première and cut even more during a 1971 re-release. Like its predecessor, it won seven Oscars, once again including best film and director.
The same team of Lean, Bolt, Young and Jarre next worked on an adaptation of Boris Pasternak's novel "Dr. Zhivago" for producer Carlo Ponti. Doctor Zhivago (1965) was shot in Spain and Finland, standing in for revolutionary Russia and, despite divided critics, was hugely successful, as was Jarre's musical score. The film won five Oscars out of ten nominations, but the statuettes for film and director went to The Sound of Music (1965).
Lean's next movie, the sentimental drama Ryan's Daughter (1970), did not reach the same heights. The original screenplay by Robert Bolt was produced by old associate Anthony Havelock-Allan, and Lean once again secured the collaboration of Freddie Young and Maurice Jarre. The shooting in Ireland lasted about a year, much longer than expected. The film won two Oscars; but, for the most part, critical reaction was tepid, sometimes downright derisive, and the general public didn't really respond to the movie.
This relative lack of success seems to have inhibited Lean's creativity for a while. But towards the end of the 1970s, he started to work again with Robert Bolt on an ambitious two-part movie about the Bounty mutiny. The project fell apart and was eventually recuperated by Dino De Laurentiis. Lean was then approached by producers John Brabourne and Richard Goodwin to adapt E.M. Forster's novel "A Passage to India", a book Lean had been interested in for more than 20 years. For the first time in his career; Lean wrote the adaptation alone, basing himself partly on Santha Rama Rau's stage version of the book. Lean also acted as his own editor. A Passage to India (1984) opened to mostly favourable reviews and performed quite well at the box-office. It was a strong Oscar contender, scoring 11 nominations. It settled for two wins, losing the trophy battle to Milos Forman's Amadeus (1984).
Lean spent the last few years of his life preparing an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's meditative adventure novel "Nostromo". He also participated briefly in Richard Harris' restoration of "Lawrence of Arabia" in 1988. In 1990, Lean received the American Film Institute's Life Achievement award. He died of cancer on April 16, 1991 at age 83, shortly before the shooting of "Nostromo" was about to begin.
Lean was known on sets for his extreme perfectionism and autocratic behavior, an attitude that sometimes alienated his cast or crew. Though his cinematic approach, classic and refined, clearly belongs to a bygone era, his films have aged rather well and his influence can still be found in movies like The English Patient (1996) and Titanic (1997). In 1999, the British Film Institute compiled a list of the 100 favorite British films of the 20th century. Five by David Lean appeared in the top 30, three of them in the top five.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
British actor Edward Woodward made a highly successful transition into Hollywood TV stardom in the mid 1980s thanks to a popular dramatic
series. Possessing a magnetic, yet coldly handsome demeanor in the same mold as Christopher Plummer, he was born Edward Albert Arthur Woodward on June 1, 1930, in London and received his early education at various schools before becoming a student at Commercial College.
Trained in acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), Woodward made his stage debut in a 1946 production of "A Kiss for Cinderella," and gained valuable experience in repertory companies throughout England and Scotland. He took his first London curtain call portraying "Ralph Stokes" in 1954 with "Where There's a Will," and subsequently made his movie debut recreating his stage part in the film version of Where There's a Will (1955). The actor continued grandly on stage in such Shakespearean productions as "Hamlet" (Laertes)," "Romeo and Juliet" (Mercutio), "Pericles" (Thaliard), "Much Ado About Nothing" (Claudio), and "Measure for Measure" (Lucio), but scored a major success portraying Percy in "Rattle of a Simple Man" in 1961, making his Broadway debut in the play two years later. Woodward would make fine use of his mastery of the spoken word by putting out a host of audio books.
A gifted singer who produced over a dozen musical recordings, Edward displayed his excellent singing pipes on Broadway as Charles Condomine in "High Spirits" (1963), the musical adaptation of Noël Coward's "Blithe Spirit," that also starred Tammy Grimes, Louise Troy and the legendary Beatrice Lillie. He also went on to win the Variety Award ("Best Performance in a Musical") for his lead role of Sydney Carton in a musical version of the Dickens classic "Two Cities." Other non-musical stage work would include the comedy "The Best Laid Plans," an acclaimed title role in "Cyrano de Bergerac," as well as noble appearances in "The White Devil," "Babes in the Wood" (as Robin Hood), "The Wolf," "The Male of the Species," "The Beggar's Opera" (as Macheath), "Private Lives" and "The Dead Secret."
Although in movies from 1955, it was TV that earned him his initial star in England. Feature film roles in such acclaimed period costumers as Becket (1964) and Young Winston (1972) were overshadowed by his more successful work on the smaller screen, especially his weary spy in the popular series Callan (1967). A brilliant performance in the film The Wicker Man (1973) and in a few others led to international stardom as court-martialed Lt. Harry Morant in the classic Aussie-made historical drama Breaker Morant (1980) directed by Bruce Beresford.
Woodward was finally granted some attention in the States at age 55, earning his own popular series, the noirish espionage series The Equalizer (1985). Served up best in crime, historical and political intrigue, he has been completely at home playing no-nonsense authoritarians and brooding loner types. Following the series' cancellation, he returned to British TV with the mystery In Suspicious Circumstances (1991), but was never far away from the US shores. Maturing roles in advancing years included a wide range of characters -- everything from Merlin to the Ghost of Christmas Present in mini-movie formats.
Woodward continued to work here and abroad up until his death. Later feature films included a top-billed role in the horror film The Appointment (1982); a top brass role in the action thriller The Final Option (1982); a featured role in the horse-racing biopic Champions (1984); as King Saul in the biblical story King David (1985); another Bruce Beresford directed film with Mister Johnson (1990); the ghost of a murderer in the black comedy Deadly Advice (1994); the 18th century patriarch of The House of Angelo (1997), which he produced and also featured his three children; a lord in the action adventure The Abduction Club (2002); a featured part in the comedy action Hot Fuzz (2007) and, his last, a reverend in the drama A Congregation of Ghosts (2009). TV appearances included recurring/regular roles in the British series: Nice Work (1980), Five Days (2007) and EastEnders (1985); plus the American series Over My Dead Body (1990) and the Canadian series La Femme Nikita (1997).
Woodward married actress Venetia Barrett (nee Collett) in 1952 and had three children, all of whom went into acting: Tim Woodward,
Peter Woodward and Sarah Woodward. After his tabloid divorce (after over 30 years) from his first wife, he quickly married lovely actress Michele Dotrice in 1987, the sister of former 1960s' Disney child star Karen Dotrice of Mary Poppins (1964) fame. He and Michele produced one child, Emily. The subject of This Is Your Life (1955) on two separate occasions, the actor survived two major heart attacks before dying of pneumonia at age 79 on November 16, 2009, in Cornwall, England.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
James Buckley was born on 14 August 1987 in Croydon, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for The Inbetweeners 2 (2014), The Inbetweeners (2011) and Charlie Countryman (2013). He has been married to Clair Buckley since 2 November 2012. They have two children.- Rohan Nedd was born on 17 November 1994 in Croydon, London, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Harry Wild (2022), Safe (2018) and Blue Story (2019).
- Trevor Goddard was born in Croydon, Surrey, England on October 14,
1962. His parents, Eric and Clara, and baby Trevor moved to Bromley,
Kent, where he grew up. As a natural athlete, Trevor was highly
interested in sports. As a youngster, he played football (soccer) and
cricket and enjoyed running as well as many other recreational
activities. But his greatest passion was boxing. He was a light
heavyweight with a 58-1-1 record out of a total of 60 fights. He had
also been invited to fight in the U.S.
And come to America he did, in 1986, with a couple of his friends.
Trevor and his mates enjoyed a great deal during their stay in New
York. Trevor even bought a car. After three weeks of entertainment and
relaxation, Trevor phoned his father and, with a heavy heart, told him
"I'm going to try to make it here, Dad. I like it very much. I'm in
love with the country, I like the people." His friends returned home,
and Trevor remained in the U.S.
In the early '90s, he began a career as an actor. Trevor worked
regularly on TV. He made guest appearances on such TV series as
"Baywatch" (1989) and "Silk Stalkings" (1991). Eventually he landed a
leading role as the villainous, psychotic, yet charismatic, "Keefer" in
Men of War (1994), opposite action star Dolph Lundgren, as well as
Kevin Tighe, Catherine Bell, Tom Wright and BD Wong. From that moment
on, Trevor was usually typecast as crazy, offbeat villains. That was
borne out again in the popular video-game-based motion picture Mortal
Kombat (1995), in which Trevor played a criminal called "Kano". With
his rugged looks, muscular physique and gruff voice, he made this
"Kano" internationally famous, even providing him with an Australian
accent. Although he was English-born, Trevor had quite an ability to
disguise his accent as Australian, which he continued to do in voice
acting roles for subsequent video games.
Trevor played supporting roles in such movies (usually action films) as
Illegal in Blue (1995) (V), Yesterday's Target (1996) (TV), Fast Money
(1996), Prey of the Jaguar (1996) (V), and Assault on Devil's Island
(1997) (TV) in which he costarred with Hulk Hogan, Carl Weathers, Billy
Drago and Martin Kove. He appeared in a few dramatic comedies such as
She's Too Tall (1999) as a crazy-in-love parking lot attendant and in
Some Girl (1998) as "Ravi". He appeared in an uncredited role in Gone
in Sixty Seconds (2000), opposite such famous names as Nicolas Cage,
Angelina Jolie, Robert Duvall, Vinnie Jones, Timothy Olyphant and
Delroy Lindo, and also in When Billie Beat Bobby (2001) (TV).
Once again, Trevor achieved international fame with the popular TV
series "JAG" (1995), where he appeared from 1998 to 2001 as "Lt. Cmdr.
Mic Brumby". This show made Trevor a well-known personality to the
world audience and greatly increased his fan base.
Trevor played his first and only leading role in Hollywood Vampyr
(2002) as a gothic vampire called "Blood". His last film was the
blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
(2003), where he utters the line "Say good-bye" to Orlando Bloom's
character. Alas, "Grapple" (Goddard) was dispensed of pretty rapidly in
the film.
Prior to his death, Trevor was considered to replace Pierce Brosnan as
James Bond in Casino Royale (2006).
On June 7, 2003, Goddard was found dead in his home in North Hollywood,
Los Angeles, California. He was 40 years old. Initial reports indicated
that Goddard was in the process of getting a divorce and that suicide
was suspected. An autopsy later showed that Goddard died from a drug
overdose of heroin, cocaine, temazepam and vicodin. However, his death
was ruled accidental. - Sardonic-looking English character actor, often seen in sullen or nefarious roles. John Michael Frederick Castle was born one of four siblings in Croydon, Surrey, and educated at Brighton College and Trinity College, Dublin. He did not, at first, pursue acting as his chosen profession. Instead, he held down diverse short-term jobs, including as clerks, a hotel waiter, travel agent, salesman, landscape gardener and geography teacher. Eventually persuaded by his wife to resume acting training, he enrolled at RADA on a scholarship, graduating in 1964. Castle made his theatrical debut that year as Westmoreland in Henry V and as Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew, both at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London. He then went on a six months-long tour of the Far East with the New Shakespeare Company. Upon his return, he acted for a season with the Royal Court Theatre (1965-1966) and, in later years, with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Bristol Old Vic. He headlined as Gandhi in a 1982 stage production at the Tricycle Theatre (Richard Attenborough's motion picture was also released that same year). On screen from 1965, Castle has appeared in many a prestige production. However, despite his considerable screen presence and acting acumen, he has not been able to attain the stature of a Derek Jacobi or a Michael Gambon.
Castle's early screen credits included the powerful Oscar-winning acting piece The Lion in Winter (1968), in which he excelled as the cold, manipulative Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, fourth of the five sons of Peter O'Toole's Henry II. He portrayed Octavius in Charlton Heston's unsuccessful adaptation of Antony and Cleopatra (1972) and the brutish Agrippa Postumus (grandson of Octavius) in BBC's I, Claudius (1976). A natural casting choice for the classics and for period drama, Castle has appeared in Man of La Mancha (1972) (as the student Sanson Carrasco, who joins in the 'quest'), The Shadow of the Tower (1972) (as Thomas Flamank, co-leader of the 1497 Cornish rebellion), Lillie (1978) (as Prince Louis of Battenberg), The Life and Death of King John (1984) (the Earl of Salisbury) King David (1985) (as Abner, the cousin of King Saul and commander-in-chief of his army) and Gods and Generals (2003) (Confederate Brigadier General William N. Pendleton, nicknamed 'Old Penn').
Castle has been most typically cast in cold, unsympathetic parts, best exemplified by the likes of lecherous art teacher Teddy Lloyd (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1978)), hit man Peter Crabbe (The Professionals (1977)), ruthless 'Rehab' commander Paul Mc Daggett (RoboCop 3 (1993)) and as the scowling, hard-hearted stage conjurer Nick Ollanton (Lost Empires (1986)) (a character whom the actor himself described as "a ghastly desolate creature whose only redeeming qualities are his love for his nephew and his total rejection of any authority other than his own." More recently, Castle appeared in a leading role as a rival heir to the estate of a deceased clergyman in The Tractate Middoth (2013), adapted from a short ghost story by M.R. James. He has, on occasion, worn the white hat, notably as Detective Inspector Craddock in Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: A Murder Is Announced (1985) and Miss Marple: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (1992). Very much the serious, dramatic thespian, he has rarely ventured into comedy.
Castle retired from acting in 2016. He has been married since 1963 to the novelist and screenwriter Maggie Wadey. - Actress
- Producer
The intriguing thing about Tehmina Sunny is that she seamlessly fits into a plethora of ethnicities from around the world. Her ethnically ambiguous looks and super sharp skills with accents gives her an international appeal. Born in London, Sunny has played characters from the Middle East, South America, North America, Native American, Spain, Italy, North Africa and the Indian sub continent.- Actress
- Soundtrack
One of the more controversial supermodels, primarily because of her
unusually low weight during the early part of her career. (she typified
the "waif" models). Her unusual appearance (and possibly her
willingness to appear nude, "It's just work") have, in a very short
time, made her almost as widely recognized as Cindy Crawford.- Lucy Speed was born on 31 August 1976 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Shakespeare in Love (1998), The Bill (1984) and EastEnders (1985). She has been married to Spencer Austin since 12 September 2009. They have two children.
- Clive Wood was born in Croydon, Surrey in 1954 and studied drama at the
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He first came to notice in
the late 1970s at the Bristol Old Vic, playing such diverse roles as a
singing gangster in "Guys and Dolls" and the titular hero of "Henry V".
In 1982, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, touring with them in
North America in the mid-1980s and he has returned to the company at
intervals throughout his career. In 2008, he was part of the ensemble
group staging the entire canon of
William Shakespeare's
history plays. On television, he gained attention as the "angry young
man" anti-hero, "Vic Brown", in
A Kind of Loving (1982) and
has had continuing roles in populist ongoing dramas, such as
The Bill (1984) and
London's Burning (1988), in
which he was joined by his son,
Daniel Maiden-Wood. - Remmie Milner was born on 1 August 1989 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for His Dark Materials (2019), Save Me (2018) and A Christmas Carol (2019).
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Kellie started her career via The National Youth Theatre and trained at The BRIT School. She was selected for the BAFTA Elevate actors cohort 2020 - to support Working-Class talent progressing in their careers on screen.
Recent TV includes series regular 'Kirsty De La Croix' in Idris Elba's, award-winning, returning, comedy series 'In The Long Run' (Sky One, Now TV and Starz) and the Emmy-nominated and BAFTA-Winning mini series 'Joe All Alone' (BBC) as Stacey.
Her recent Film work includes; Paul Andrew Williams' feature 'Bull', Terence Davies' Benediction (Emu Films) King of Thieves (Studio Canal) Girl on a Bicycle (Warner Bros) & Everyone's Going to Die, (Dinard Awarded)
On stage Kellie has worked for: The National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Haymarket, West End, Royal Court, Soho Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, The Menier Chocolate Factory, Park Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company. She appeared in over 700 performances of One Man, Two Guvnors (National Theatre/West End)
As a writer Kellie was shortlisted for the Script search award for Greenacre Films. She has written all 6 episodes of podcast drama ROAR for Spirit Studios.
Kellie is an ambassador for the charities Anthony Nolan & Mencap. She is Patron for Magpie Dance.- Actress
- Producer
Lily Travers is an actress, known for playing Duchess Sophie of Monmouth in Victoria (2016), Pamela Mounbatten in Viceroy's House (2017), Lady Sophi in Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), Karen in Me Before You (2016), Elodie in Late Shift (2016) and the Doctor's companion Polly in Doctor Who (2005).
Lily Travers studied English at Durham University and lives in London.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Lionel Atwill was born into a wealthy family and was educated at
London's prestigious Mercer School to become an architect, but his
interest turned to the stage. He worked his way progressively into the
craft and debuted at age 20 at the Garrick Theatre in London. He acted
and improved regularly thereafter, especially in the plays of
Henrik Ibsen and
George Bernard Shaw. Atwill came to
the US in 1915 and would appear in some 25 plays on Broadway between
1917 and 1931, but he was already trying his hand in silent films by
1918. He had a sonorous voice and dictatorial British accent that
served him well for the stage and just as well for sound movies. He did
some Vitaphone short subjects in 1928 and then his first real film role
in The Silent Witness (1932) (also
titled "The Verdict").
That voice and his bullish demeanor made Atwill a natural for a
spectrum of tough-customer roles. As shady noblemen and mad doctors,
but also gruff military men and police inspectors (usually with a
signature mustache), he worked steadily through the 1930s. He had the
chance to show a broader character as the tyrannical but unforgettable
Col. Bishop in
Captain Blood (1935). It's hard to
forget his Inspector Krogh in
Son of Frankenstein (1939),
wherein he agrees to a game of darts with
Basil Rathbone and proceeds to impale the
darts through the right sleeve of his uniform (the character sported a
wooden right arm). And he sends himself up with rolling and blustering
dialogue as the glory-hog ham stage actor Rawitch in the classic
To Be or Not to Be (1942) with
Jack Benny. However, Atwill effectively
ruined his burgeoning film career in 1943 after he was implicated in
what was described as an "orgy" at his home, naked guests and
pornographic films included--and a rape perpetrated during the
proceedings. Atwill "lied like a gentleman," it was said, in the court
proceedings to protect the identities of his guests and was convicted
of perjury and sentenced to five years' probation.
He was thereafter kept employed on Poverty Row with only brief periods
of employment by Universal Pictures, while the rest of Hollywood turned
its collective back on him. He is more remembered for the horror films
generally than for better efforts, but they have fueled his continued
popularity and a bid by the Southern California Lionel Atwill Fan Club
to petition for a Hollywood Blvd. star (he never received one).- Moira Brooker was born in 1957 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Frank (2014), As Time Goes By (1992) and Out of Sight (1996). She was previously married to Anthony Milner.
- Matt Bardock was born in 1969 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Cassandra's Dream (2007), The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1997) and Bollywood Queen (2002).
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
James Booth was born on 19 December 1927 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Zulu (1964), American Ninja 4: The Annihilation (1990) and Airport '77 (1977). He was married to Paula Delaney. He died on 11 August 2005 in Hadleigh, Essex, England, UK.- Academy Award-winning, legendary English actress - who maintained her
status in the British acting elite for decades. Made a Dame of the
British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II
in 1956. Almost always on stage, she appeared rarely in film, her first
being
The Wandering Jew (1933).
On stage she was cast in many a Shakespearean role, but in film she
usually played sympathetic characters. She won an Oscar for
A Passage to India (1984), and
her last TV film was
She's Been Away (1989).
She died from a stroke. - Cynthia Cleese was born on 17 February 1971 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for A Fish Called Wanda (1988), Fierce Creatures (1997) and I'm on Fire (1998). She was previously married to Ed Solomon.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Mick Ford was born on 1 August 1952 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Scum (1979), William and Mary (2003) and Ashes to Ashes (2008). He was previously married to Ruth Roberts.- Nicole Merry was born in 1980 in Croydon, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for The Fifth Element (1997). She was previously married to Thierry Henry.
- Marian McLoughlin was born on 9 December 1952 in Croydon, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Spice World (1997), Party Animals (2007) and The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson (2009).
- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
After his mother committed suicide, he lived with his grandmother. When he was 12, he joined Sir Philip Game Boys Club in Croydon, run by an ex-pro music hall performer, where his interest in theatre began. His grandmother took him to the theatre and the first show he remembers was with G.H. Elliott at the Croydon Empire. He worked at a market stall for pocket money, then at 15, in a boys' club concert where he was seen by Michael Bentine, who advised him to take up show business as a career - but first he had to do his military service. After that, he took his first step on the show business ladder by forming a double act with a friend from the boys club. Much later in his career, he became the chairman of the Entertainment Artists Benelovent Association. His first marriage was to Ann, whom he divorced in 1983, then married Debbie.- Seraphina Beh was born on 4 June 1994 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for EastEnders (1985), Polite Society (2023) and Top Boy (2011).
- Steve Nicolson was born in March 1966 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He is an actor, known for K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Criminal (2016) and Space Race (2005).
- Actor, playwright and screenwriter Miles Malleson's list of credits
reads like a history of British cinema in the first half of the 20th
century. Born in Croydon in Surrey, he was educated at Brighton College in
Sussex and Emmanuel College Cambridge. He had intended to become a schoolmaster but he opted instead for the stage and
went into repertory theatre in Liverpool and then onto the Royal Academy
of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.
He wrote his first play in 1913 and, in contrast to the characters he
often portrayed on screen, held socially progressive views which were
often reflected in his work. His output included two plays about the
First World War, "D Company" and "Black Eill", and one about the
Tolpuddle Martyrs. He also worked as a screenwriter on two documentaries
for Paul Rotha, Land of Promise (1946) and World of Plenty (1943).
Following the outbreak of The Great War in July 1914 Malleson enlisted in the British Army as a Private (No. 2227) in the 1/1st (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers). He served from 5th September 1914 until receiving a medical discharge in 1915, which included a period spent in Egypt. Malleson made no secret of his objection to the war as both a member of the Independent Labour Party and a supporter of the No-Conscription Fellowship.
His most prolific period as a screenwriter was in the 1930s and 1940s,
initially on historical subjects like Nell Gwyn (1934),
Rhodes (1936), and Victoria the Great (1937). In many of these films he also
began appearing in supporting roles, and from the mid-'30s onward he
found himself in increasing demand as an actor as well as a writer. Over
the next 30 years he appeared in nearly 100 films, featuring in
everything from Alfred Hitchcock thrillers and Ealing comedies to Hammer
horrors.
Usually cast as a befuddled judge or a doddering old doctor, academic or
other local eccentric, he first caught audiences' imagination as the
hearse driver in the Ealing chiller compendium Dead of Night (1945), after
which he began to get bigger and better parts. He was particularly
memorable as the philosophical hangman in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Canon
Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), Dr. McAdam in Folly to Be Wise (1952), the
barrister Grimes in Brothers in Law (1957) and as Windrush Sr. in
Private's Progress (1956) and I'm All Right Jack (1959).
Towards the end of his career he continued to appear in cameo roles in
comedy films, and made several appearances in Hammer horror films
including Horror of Dracula (1958) and The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), before failing eyesight
forced him into retirement in his late 70s. - Prunella Ransome was born on 18 January 1943 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Who Can Kill a Child? (1976), Far from the Madding Crowd (1967) and Man in the Wilderness (1971). She died in March 2002 in Suffolk, England, UK.
- Tana Ramsay was born on 23 August 1974 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. She has been married to Gordon Ramsay since 21 December 1996. They have six children.
- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Brian Clemens left school at the age of 14. After national service with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, he worked his way up from messenger boy to copywriter at an advertising agency, writing in his spare time. One of his scripts was accepted by the BBC in 1955. He joined a production company, literally writing scripts to order. With tight deadlines and plots often based on the availability of sets, props or location, he churned out scripts for B-films and TV series.
Clemens is best remembered for his work on British television in the 1960s and 1970s, especially on Danger Man (1960), The Avengers (1961) (for which he wrote many episodes, including the pilot in 1961), The Baron (1966), The Persuaders! (1971) and creating The Professionals (1977). He also wrote for the stage; his play "Strictly Murder" was performed by a cast including Brian Capron in 2017.
Clemens was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to Broadcasting and to Drama. According to his son Samuel, the last thing he did before he died was to watch an episode of The Avengers (1961) and his last words were: "I did quite a good job".- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Script and Continuity Department
Lucy Porter was born on 27 January 1973 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Headcases (2008), EastEnders (1985) and Being Sold (2011). She has been married to Justin Edwards since 19 December 2009. They have two children.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Adrian Shergold was born on 24 March 1948 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He is a director and actor, known for Mad Dogs (2011), Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman (2005) and Goodbye Cruel World (1992).- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Born in London, England, Harry moved with his family at the age of ten to Sydney, Australia where he combined his school studies with acting classes at both NBYT, NIDA and Sydney Talent Company.
Prior to leaving the UK, Harry starred as The Artful Dodger in the Stagecoach London production of Oliver! and the title role of Bugsy Malone the following year.
Signing with a young talent agent at age 13, Harry worked in various commercials and theatre shows until 2009, when he made his film debut starring opposite Academy Award winner Geena Davis as her on-screen son in acclaimed film Accidents Happen (2009), proving him to be one of Australia's most exciting new young actors.
Further highlights of his career so far include starring alongside Peter Phelps and Ben Oxenbould as Archie Cox in cult thriller Caught Inside (2010), playing Susie Porter's nephew in the Logie Award winning children's series My Place (2009), working alongside Sam Neill and Bryan Brown in ABC TV Series Old School, and recently winning the Best Supporting Actor award at the prestigious FilmOut San Diego Film Festival for his role in feature film Drown (2015). In 2019, Harry also appeared in the ABC TV series Diary of an Uber Driver (2019).
His theatre work includes playing Banquo in Macbeth, the lead role of Tom in the Australian premiere of Mark Ravenhill's groundbreaking play Citizenship at Studio 1 at The Wharf in Sydney which was directed by Lee Lewis, Mark Cohen in Sydney's limited season of the Broadway smash hit RENT, and Duncan Brookes in Russetts at the International Playwright Festival in Cambridge, England. Harry also was part of Playlist 2018 & 2019 readings directed by Kate Gaul.
Harry's writing work includes contributions to The Huffington Post, The Big Smoke and The Guardian and his debut memoir, Pink Ink, was released by Finch/Harper Collins in September 2018 to rave reviews.
His young adult fiction novel: Fin & Rye & Fireflies released in August 2020 to rave reviews and is the first LGBTQI+ themed novel from Black and White Publishing's YA imprint Ink Road.- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Derren Brown was born on 27 February 1971 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He is a producer and writer, known for Derren Brown: The Experiments (2011), Ghost Stories (2017) and Crooked House (2008).- Sophie Wilcox was born on 2 January 1975 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe (1988), Dark Blue World (2001) and Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989).
- Actor
- Art Department
Christopher Patrick Nolan is a Film, TV and Theatre actor born 16th April 1971.
Recent work in Film and TV include playing opposite Mackenzie Crook and Shirley Henderson in "Worzel Gummidge" for BBC Christmas Special, Timothee Chalamet and Joel Edgerton in "The King" for Plan B/ Netflix, Series 2 of the comedy "White Gold" for BBC, as well as appearing in "Lynn + Lucy" for BBC/Sixteen Films and "The Ballad of Billy McCrae" for Cymru Films, opposite David Hayman.
He can also be seen playing Toshma Jefkin, the Rebel Alderaanian consular guard escaping with the Death Star plans from Darth Vader in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" final scene, "Stan Lee's Lucky Man 2" series 5, "Humans" series 1, "That Deadwood Feeling" opposite Dexter Fletcher and Jack Davenport as well as The Porter in BBC's film version of "Macbeth" opposite Patrick Stewart.
He has appeared in many Theatre productions in London's West End, Broadway, Royal Court Theatre, National Theatre and Almeida Theatre including 1984, War Horse, Stones in his Pockets, Macbeth (with Patrick Stewart) and The Seagull (with Carey Mulligan, Kristen Scott Thomas, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ann Dowd, Zoe Kazan, Peter Sarsgaard and Mackenzie Crook).
Christopher started in the film business in Hollywood behind the camera in the Art Department as an On-Set Dresser on such films as "Pulp Fiction" and "The Usual Suspects".- Barri Ghai was born on 10 February 1979 in Croydon, London, England, UK.
- Music Artist
- Composer
- Music Department
English songwriter and singer Kristy MacColl had hits with such albums
as "Kite" (1989), "Titanic Days" (1994) and "Tropical Brainstorm"
(2000). Her first hit as a songwriter was "They Don't Know" for
Tracey Ullman in 1983. Her trademark style
is a sharp wit allied to strong melodies. Her work combines these with
Cuban and Brazilian rhythms, creating her most upbeat collection yet.
She has written and performed theme songs for three British TV series.
Surprisingly for such a gifted writer, her biggest single hits have
been cover versions, notably "Days" by
Ray Davies,
Billy Bragg's "New England" and of
course "Fairytale of New York" with
The Pogues.- Pamela Cundell was born on January 15, 1920 in Croydon, Surrey, England as Pamela Isabel Cundell. She was an actress, known for TwentyFourSeven (1997), Big Deal (1984) and Dad's Army (1968). She was married to Bill Fraser, Leslie Newport-Gwilt and Robert O'Connor. She died on February 14, 2015 in Finchley, North London, England.
- Director
- Production Designer
- Writer
Well regarded for his stylish genre work of the 1970s, Robert Fuest may
not have a very extensive list of feature film credits, but the quality
of his output is what matters, not the quantity.
He certainly came to the business with a real talent for art. Born in
London in 1927, he would spend some time serving in the Royal Air
Force. After his service he would teach art as well as turning out his
own paintings, which would be displayed at the Royal Academy. He moved
into copywriting, with an eye towards getting into the movie business.
In the late 1950s he joined the art department of Associated British
Television, and became the art director for the legendary TV series
The Avengers (1961). His first
feature film was a low-budget production titled
Just Like a Woman (1967), which
got him some good notices, but other directorial offers did not start
flooding in. At that point he went back to "The Avengers", albeit in
the new capacity of a director. Two producers of the series,
Brian Clemens and
Albert Fennell, wanted to move into
movies themselves, and chose Fuest to direct their debut effort, the
incredible, chilling, rural thriller
And Soon the Darkness (1970),
which proved to be a success. After that came the literary adaptation
Wuthering Heights (1970), made
for American-International Pictures; the studio would cut a lot from
the picture, only concerned with how much money it made, and it made
enough to keep them happy. This would lead to Fuest's directing the
revered Vincent Price vehicle
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971),
which critics admired for its dark humor, sets and nasty but inventive
murder sequences. A sequel proved to be inevitable, and
Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)
followed two years later. It was intended to be more blatantly comedic
and a send-up the original, but the studio reduced the comedy content
and, unfortunately, it was not so successful.
Next for Fuest came the cult favorite
The Final Programme (1973),
for which he himself wrote the script and convinced investors he could
make it for 600,000 pounds or less. It would be a critical but not
commercial success.
The Devil's Rain (1975) was
offered to him by producer
Sandy Howard. Filmed in Mexico, it
cost approximately $1.5 million to make and took about 29 days to
shoot. However, the resources available weren't really enough, and it
became quite a difficult shoot for the director, who says he nearly
suffered a nervous breakdown. He would then return to TV for
The New Avengers (1976) and
spent three years in America shooting such TV movies as
Revenge of the Stepford Wives (1980).
His last theatrical movie to date was the 1982 French-made
Aphrodite (1982). After more TV work,
he became semi-retired, returning to painting and also lecturing at the
London International Film School.
Years later, his movies continue to earn their share of admirers.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Roy Boyd was born on 18 August 1938 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Wicker Man (1973), The Omen (1976) and A Bridge Too Far (1977).- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Alison Carroll is an actress known for her role of the Official Lara Croft for the prestigious
Tomb Raider: Underworld video game. She had to undertake a series of courses which included SAS survival,
combat and semi-automatic weapons training in Eastern Europe, and a
crash course in world archaeology to prepare her for the action heroine
role that would be Lara Croft.
Alison has been featured in films alongside Noel Clarke, Danny Dyer and Michael Madsen and has worked on numerous genres of the film industry making her a very versatile actress.- Timothy Reynolds was born on 20 May 1938 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Thames Tug (1953) and BBC Sunday-Night Play (1960). He died on 26 June 2006 in Camden, London, England, UK.
- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Max Faulkner was born in 1931 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Willow (1988), Far and Away (1992) and Nightbreed (1990). He was married to Ann Gow. He died on 13 February 2010 in Havefordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK.- Ninette Finch was born in 1933 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Cruella (2021), Juliet, Naked (2018) and I Am Bob (2007).
- Actor
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Christopher Sandford was born on 6 June 1939 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Dombey and Son (1969), Half a Sixpence (1967) and Notorious Woman (1974).- Actor
- Writer
Harcourt Williams was born on 30 March 1880 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Roman Holiday (1953), Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and Hamlet (1948). He was married to Jean Sterling MacKinlay. He died on 13 December 1957 in London, England, UK.- Simon Prebble was born on 13 February 1942 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Home Tonight (1961), High Road to China (1983) and The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970).