Bernard Hill, the actor whose memorable tones and rugged visage brought to life a variety of fantastic performances, has died. He was 79.
Born in Manchester in 1944, Hill quickly gravitated towards stage work before taking the chance to make the jump to film and TV. Yet his early career was marked by few standout roles, mostly relegated to brief appearances on the likes of I, Claudius and the BBC's Tom Stoppard adaptation Professional Foul.
Still, he found one of the first parts that would define his career in Alan Bleasdale's The Black Stuff, a one-off TV play in 1980 that the writer would expand into classic comedy drama Boys From The Blackstuff. Hill scored a BAFTA nomination for his performance as the tragic, yet dimly self-aware Yosser.
Other TV work included Dennis Potter adaptation Lipstick On Your Collar, a huge swathe of Shakespeare adaptations including Wolf Hall, disability drama Skallagrigg,...
Born in Manchester in 1944, Hill quickly gravitated towards stage work before taking the chance to make the jump to film and TV. Yet his early career was marked by few standout roles, mostly relegated to brief appearances on the likes of I, Claudius and the BBC's Tom Stoppard adaptation Professional Foul.
Still, he found one of the first parts that would define his career in Alan Bleasdale's The Black Stuff, a one-off TV play in 1980 that the writer would expand into classic comedy drama Boys From The Blackstuff. Hill scored a BAFTA nomination for his performance as the tragic, yet dimly self-aware Yosser.
Other TV work included Dennis Potter adaptation Lipstick On Your Collar, a huge swathe of Shakespeare adaptations including Wolf Hall, disability drama Skallagrigg,...
- 5/5/2024
- by James White
- Empire - Movies
Ewan McGregor was “very reluctant” to play Obi Wan-Kenobi in “Star Wars,” he admitted.
“It wasn’t a done deal for me. I didn’t think it was at all who I was. I believed, at that point, I was a Danny Boyle actor. ‘The Beach’ was more important and I meant it, it wasn’t flippant. I did ask a lot of people for advice.”
“I am happy that I am this character for a lot of people, but when these films came out, they were so disliked. That was hard. The first one was panned and we still had to make another two! It was weird to be in a film that was hammered.”
He enjoyed making ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi,” though.
“I would love to do the second season, but there’s no talk of it yet. There is a lot going on at Disney.”
In Goteborg, he also...
“It wasn’t a done deal for me. I didn’t think it was at all who I was. I believed, at that point, I was a Danny Boyle actor. ‘The Beach’ was more important and I meant it, it wasn’t flippant. I did ask a lot of people for advice.”
“I am happy that I am this character for a lot of people, but when these films came out, they were so disliked. That was hard. The first one was panned and we still had to make another two! It was weird to be in a film that was hammered.”
He enjoyed making ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi,” though.
“I would love to do the second season, but there’s no talk of it yet. There is a lot going on at Disney.”
In Goteborg, he also...
- 1/31/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
With his new film, The Birthday Cake, out next week, we take a look at the best roles of the Scottish actor – and no, Phantom Menace is not on it
Lip-syncing in Dennis Potter’s 1993 musical drama Lipstick on Your Collar was all very well. Crooning for real opposite Nicole Kidman, McGregor looks and sounds strained to say the least. But then his entire floundering performance represents a mere fender bump in Baz Luhrmann’s car crash of a musical. “His idea of conveying high emotion is to let his mouth hang wide open,” noted the critic Anthony Quinn.
Lip-syncing in Dennis Potter’s 1993 musical drama Lipstick on Your Collar was all very well. Crooning for real opposite Nicole Kidman, McGregor looks and sounds strained to say the least. But then his entire floundering performance represents a mere fender bump in Baz Luhrmann’s car crash of a musical. “His idea of conveying high emotion is to let his mouth hang wide open,” noted the critic Anthony Quinn.
- 7/1/2021
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
In an exclusive interview with Closer Weekly, pop icon Connie Francis opens up about how she overcame adversity to find true happiness at age 80. The Where the Boys Are star scored 15 Top 10 hits in the '50s and '60s, including "My Happiness," "Lipstick on Your Collar," and "Among My Souvenirs," the song that shares a title with the massive (at 609 pages!) first volume of a new memoir she worked on "feverishly" for seven years. "I think there are very few people in this world who have experienced the kind of exhilaration that I have on many occasions," she tells Closer. Connie in 1960. (Photo Credit: Getty Images) Yet it all came with big setbacks, including four divorces, her brother Georgie’s 1981 murder and a controlling father who ended her relationship with her true love, Bobby Darin. But Connie is as resilient as they come. "If I had to take all...
- 3/9/2018
- by Closer Staff
- Closer Weekly
My friend Clare Douglas, who has died aged 73, was a Bafta award-winning film editor of memorable television programmes.
She worked on the adaptation of John le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979), Dennis Potter’s films Blackeyes (1989), Secret Friends (1991), Lipstick on Your Collar (1993), Karaoke (1996) and the four-parter Cold Lazarus (1996), directed by Renny Rye and starring Albert Finney as the writer Daniel Feeld.
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She worked on the adaptation of John le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979), Dennis Potter’s films Blackeyes (1989), Secret Friends (1991), Lipstick on Your Collar (1993), Karaoke (1996) and the four-parter Cold Lazarus (1996), directed by Renny Rye and starring Albert Finney as the writer Daniel Feeld.
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- 7/30/2017
- by David Boardman
- The Guardian - Film News
Her breezy pop hits and beach party movies made Connie Francis one of the biggest stars of the ’50s and early ’60s, but her life has been far from sunny.
After a successful singing career with mega-hits like “Who’s Sorry Now,” “Lipstick on Your Collar,” and “Stupid Cupid,” plus a starring role in the 1960 spring break classic Where the Boys Are, the chanteuse suffered hardship and heartbreak in the decades to come—including rape, murder, and the death of her true love.
But all that was behind her on Wednesday night as she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from...
After a successful singing career with mega-hits like “Who’s Sorry Now,” “Lipstick on Your Collar,” and “Stupid Cupid,” plus a starring role in the 1960 spring break classic Where the Boys Are, the chanteuse suffered hardship and heartbreak in the decades to come—including rape, murder, and the death of her true love.
But all that was behind her on Wednesday night as she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from...
- 3/30/2017
- by Linda Marx
- PEOPLE.com
Over the past 20 years Ewan McGregor has transformed from young rebel hero to suave leading man. Now he is starring in Juan Antonio Bayona's new film as the father of a family caught in the 2004 Thai tsunami
Six months ago, Ewan McGregor strolled incognito down the Croisette at the tail end of the Cannes film festival. He was dressed in bright white, with a beard, shades and a wide-brimmed hat pulled down to the eyebrows. In the hubbub of the Cote D'Azur's garishly dressed, he somehow melted into the crowd. Intent, or accident? "I wasn't in disguise," he says, taking slight umbrage at the suggestion. "I'd just been given a really nice hat. So I thought I'd wear it. I think if you put a cap and a pair of shades on in an airport, of course everyone's gonna look at you. But I'm not worried about it. I...
Six months ago, Ewan McGregor strolled incognito down the Croisette at the tail end of the Cannes film festival. He was dressed in bright white, with a beard, shades and a wide-brimmed hat pulled down to the eyebrows. In the hubbub of the Cote D'Azur's garishly dressed, he somehow melted into the crowd. Intent, or accident? "I wasn't in disguise," he says, taking slight umbrage at the suggestion. "I'd just been given a really nice hat. So I thought I'd wear it. I think if you put a cap and a pair of shades on in an airport, of course everyone's gonna look at you. But I'm not worried about it. I...
- 12/28/2012
- by Damon Wise
- The Guardian - Film News
Eunice Gayson (Sylvia Trench in Dr. No & From Russia With Love) & Shane Rimmer (Captain Carter in The Spy Who Loved Me & The voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds) will be appearing at The Beaulieu National Motor Museum on Saturday 6th October 2012. Eunice will be signing the limited edition version of her new autobiography The First Lady Of Bond (not available in the shops) whilst Shane will be signing his autobiography (book & audio cd) From Thunderbirds to Pterodactyls. They will be joined by veteran stunt man Paul Weston.
For more information please visit: http://www.beaulieu.co.uk/news/book-signing-2012
Beaulieu Press Release:
Eunice Gayson who played James Bond’s girlfriend Sylvia Trench in both Dr No and From Russia With Love, will be at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, on Saturday, 6th October, to sign copies of her autobiography, The First Lady Of Bond, the inside story of an original...
For more information please visit: http://www.beaulieu.co.uk/news/book-signing-2012
Beaulieu Press Release:
Eunice Gayson who played James Bond’s girlfriend Sylvia Trench in both Dr No and From Russia With Love, will be at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, on Saturday, 6th October, to sign copies of her autobiography, The First Lady Of Bond, the inside story of an original...
- 10/2/2012
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Ewan McGregor, who recently turned 40 and became a father for the fourth time, says that he fondly remembers his days of being a maniac on the booze.The Perth-born Scot had parents who were both teachers. He was allowed to leave school early to pursue his ambitions of being an actor like his uncle Denis Lawson.McGregor moved to London in his teens to study drama at Guildhall. He was signed up to appear in Dennis Potter.s Lipstick On Your Collar while he was there. It brought him to the attention of Danny Boyle, who cast him in Shallow Grave and later Trainspotting.Released in 1996, Trainspotting transformed him into a poster boy of the Britpop era..It was unbelievable to feel part of it. I used to hang out a bit with Oasis, and Damon Albarn was always knocking about somewhere or other, and like a fan I felt part of it.
- 4/1/2012
- Filmicafe
Back in September, we reported on Anthony Hopkins getting approached to star as an ailing patriarch in Noah Baumbach's adaptation of The Corrections for Us cable network HBO. But while Hopkins has passed on the project, it has still scored some prime British acting talent, with Ewan McGregor signing on to play a key role in the drama.
Though the project - which Baumbach is scripting with novelist Jonathan Franzen - is still only at the pilot stage, it has already attracted Chris Cooper (to play the father figure Hopkins was approached for) and Diane Wiest as his wife.
The Corrections finds the parents gathering together their dysfunctional family (including middle child Chip, played by McGregor) for a final Christmas as the head of the household reveals that his brain is beginning to fail him. You might think that would lead to a short series, but since the book...
Though the project - which Baumbach is scripting with novelist Jonathan Franzen - is still only at the pilot stage, it has already attracted Chris Cooper (to play the father figure Hopkins was approached for) and Diane Wiest as his wife.
The Corrections finds the parents gathering together their dysfunctional family (including middle child Chip, played by McGregor) for a final Christmas as the head of the household reveals that his brain is beginning to fail him. You might think that would lead to a short series, but since the book...
- 11/24/2011
- icelebz.com
He's turned 40, moved his family to Los Angeles and spends his time tinkering with motorbikes. Midlife crisis? No fear
In the corner of his regular haunt, a bustling restaurant in the posh suburb of Brentwood, Los Angeles, Ewan McGregor takes a break from his shrimp salad to consider the apocalypse.
"I'm not remotely worried," he says. "For all of the hurtling towards climate change, there's also a lot more understanding of it than there was when we were kids. They don't call environmentalists tree huggers any more, so there's hope!"
Doomsday would be an odd fixation for McGregor. After all, life is rather good. He has five movies coming down the pipe, and promising ones, too. There's Bryan Singer's sword-swinging fantasy Jack the Giant Killer and The Impossible, in which he and Naomi Watts face the 2004 tsunami. He also plays a stuffy scientist who falls for Emily Blunt in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,...
In the corner of his regular haunt, a bustling restaurant in the posh suburb of Brentwood, Los Angeles, Ewan McGregor takes a break from his shrimp salad to consider the apocalypse.
"I'm not remotely worried," he says. "For all of the hurtling towards climate change, there's also a lot more understanding of it than there was when we were kids. They don't call environmentalists tree huggers any more, so there's hope!"
Doomsday would be an odd fixation for McGregor. After all, life is rather good. He has five movies coming down the pipe, and promising ones, too. There's Bryan Singer's sword-swinging fantasy Jack the Giant Killer and The Impossible, in which he and Naomi Watts face the 2004 tsunami. He also plays a stuffy scientist who falls for Emily Blunt in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,...
- 10/3/2011
- by Sanjiv Bhattacharya
- The Guardian - Film News
...One: Musical Ewan
[photo src]
Moulin Rouge! may have showcased his vocal abilities to best and most acclaimed effect so far, but back in 1993 when he was starting out Ewan forswore the Suez Crisis for girls and guitars in Dennis Potter’s musical-drama TV throwback Lipstick on Your Collar. The first time I saw him in anything he was shrugging off clerk work and leaping on his desk in gold Elvis get-up miming to ‘Don’t Be Cruel’. And of course four years later the karaoke resurfaced in A Life Less Ordinary, where Ewan’s spontaneous serenading of Cameron Diaz was the only thing that wasn’t lifeless and ordinary. Belting out the tunes came second to his lascivious Iggy Pop-meets-Kurt Cobain routines in Velvet Goldmine, but he gamely sang every song himself. He’s an under-praised cinematic crooner – it’s one of his most dependable attributes.
Come What May,...
[photo src]
Moulin Rouge! may have showcased his vocal abilities to best and most acclaimed effect so far, but back in 1993 when he was starting out Ewan forswore the Suez Crisis for girls and guitars in Dennis Potter’s musical-drama TV throwback Lipstick on Your Collar. The first time I saw him in anything he was shrugging off clerk work and leaping on his desk in gold Elvis get-up miming to ‘Don’t Be Cruel’. And of course four years later the karaoke resurfaced in A Life Less Ordinary, where Ewan’s spontaneous serenading of Cameron Diaz was the only thing that wasn’t lifeless and ordinary. Belting out the tunes came second to his lascivious Iggy Pop-meets-Kurt Cobain routines in Velvet Goldmine, but he gamely sang every song himself. He’s an under-praised cinematic crooner – it’s one of his most dependable attributes.
Come What May,...
- 4/1/2010
- by Craig Bloomfield
- FilmExperience
The hot new pop hit musical comedy, and current Off-Broadway sensation written by Roger Bean, is a cotton candy colored, non-stop pop musical blast from the past! Featuring favorite songs from the ‘50s and ‘60s, The Marvelous Wonderettes takes you to the 1958 Springfield High School prom where we meet the Wonderettes - Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy, four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts and voices to match! As we learn about their lives and loves over ten years, the girls perform such classic ‘50s and ‘60s songs as "Lollipop," "Dream Lover," "Stupid Cupid," "Lipstick on your Collar," "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me," "It's My Party," "It's In His Kiss," "Rescue Me," "Respect," and so many more!
Dates: Now - November 1, 2009
Performances will be held Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Previews began Wednesday, September 30th and Thursday,...
Dates: Now - November 1, 2009
Performances will be held Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Previews began Wednesday, September 30th and Thursday,...
- 11/2/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
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