Early and forgotten British celebs

[Reverend]

His last film is Edward Scissorhands, and he was very unwell, but he puts in a great performance and has a heartbreaking end.

 

[thegirlscout]

They’ve got some old British films on iPlayer at the moment - Lavender Hill Mob, Passport to Pimlico, etc

 

[Purrrrrrr]

Patricia Hayes in Edna, the Inebriate Woman made a big impact on me

Same as John Hurt in the naked civil servant ( about Quentin Crisp)

 

[House of Tea]

I think a big issue with modern historical programmes is the actors and actresses invariably have had work done and it looks like an anachronism. I hate to say it but often it’s the ladies that are the worst offenders - I couldn’t watch the 10 Pound Poms because Michelle Keegan has so much obvious plastic surgery along with perfect teeth and eyebrows that aren’t of that period. Emily Blunt is verging on going to OTT, in some scenes in The English it was so obvious she had fillers.

That is so true - Blunt and Keegan looked ridiculously out of context.

I also think adding in an Asian or a black actress into a role where it clearly was not meant to be an actor of that ethnicity (period pieces) is jarring too. It takes you out of the story and into the casting directors mind. What will happen now is someone will say I am being racist etc, which is fine if they want to. Have no issue with using anyone of any background into any role, but only if it fits. If a white person turned up playing what you would think of as an Asian or black role, it would be the same. It stops you being fully absorbed in the story because the casting is an anachronism.

 

[Piff paff puff]

It's very good, disturbing indeed. Wasn't Charlotte Rampling just gorgeous? I love Georgy Girl too.

I was thinking about Charles Hawtrey of Carry On. He was a successful boy tenor and young actor but sadly a lot of his early work no longer exists in archives. He had a troubled personal life including a terrible alcohol addiction. News reports online state he wasn't popular in the community where he lived later (Deal, Kent) but who knows what he was like really.

Yes, Charlotte was stunning and yes Georgy girl was great, I'd only seen her in that before the night Porter. Poor Charles hawtrey people suffered so much pre 1980s

 

[Miss Lola]

Loving this thread. Sometimes, I definitely think I was born in the wrong era.
Just watched ‘the road to Coronation Street’ tonight on Britbox. Just wonderful. Miss those strong females as characterised by Pat Phoenix, Violet Carson, Doris Speed and Jean Alexander. I’ll never forget that classic episode when Stan died & his glasses were on the table whilst Hilda sobbed. I watched avidly back then. Fantastic writing. God bless Tony Warren.

Re: Theatre of Blood. One of my favourite films, ever. I went on a themed walking tour of the locations for the second time recently, and Madeline Smith, who played Ian Hendry’s secretary in the movie was a special guest. What a lovely woman. She had some wonderful anecdotes about making the film. She and Diana Rigg became firm friends on set.

PS: @dorydaryl - I remember you really well from DS! Loved your posts. I was Mommie Dearest on there.

 

[Mrs Moon]

These films are such a good watch. Janette Scott was so beautiful. Ian hunter starred in some good dramas, I find him very watchable. Also Carol White of Cathy come home and also other films, a great actress, they were her own kids in Kathy come home. Some of these films are so emotional although I often forget a lot of film titles I remember the films.
Sparrows can't sing? Babs Windsor, she was so petite and cute and I think she sang the theme tune. I would have loved to have seen her in many more dramas.

Kitchen Sink Dramas were all the rage in the late 60s also.

 

[MooBelle]

Has anyone mentioned my very favourite, the brilliant Beryl Reid yet?

I used to get Beryl Reid and Cynthia Payne mixed up!
(Sorry Beryl!)

 

[Purrrrrrr]

Boogie zithers, such a great name.

This was meant to be Googie Withers. Auto correct had other ideas!

She was in a great TV series "Within these walls"

 

[shellie]

Refusing to be rescued from a fire because he couldn't find his hairpiece is another favoured anecdote....

Yep, the story is that the night before, he had picked some guy up and took him home. No one knows exactly what happened next. The official story is he forgot about a ciggie on his sofa but another story doing the rounds was his younger friend deliberately started it as Charlie refused to pay him for his services. There's a pic of him standing outside the doorstep with a fireman minus the hairpiece.

 

[Mrs Moon]

Has anyone mentioned my very favourite, the brilliant Beryl Reid yet?

She was fabulous in The Killing Of Sister George and many others too numerous to mention. I would like to see the above film on TV soon

 

[Flojo89]

I don’t know if anyones mentioned Margaret Rutherford yet? I watched Blithe Spirit a few weeks ago and thought she was fab. It wasn’t until I watched a documentary about her a few days ago that I truly appreciated what a true British institution she was and what an incredibly interesting life she led.

 

[HowlOwl]

She was great in that film Taste of Honey Rita Tushinghams first film.Always loved Dora

I love these old British films, eg Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, with Albert Finney and Rachel Roberts, and A Kind of Loving with Alan Bates; Thora Hird was also in it.

 

[MrsBsDayOff]

These films are such a good watch. Janette Scott was so beautiful. Ian hunter starred in some good dramas, I find him very watchable. Also Carol White of Cathy come home and also other films, a great actress, they were her own kids in Kathy come home. Some of these films are so emotional although I often forget a lot of film titles I remember the films.
Sparrows can't sing? Babs Windsor, she was so petite and cute and I think she sang the theme tune. I would have loved to have seen her in many more dramas.

Cathy Come Home is amazing, heartbreaking and unforgettable. It's on Youtube if anyone who hasn't seen it would like to check it out...I'd be keen on discussing it here

 

[LucyEyelesbarrow]

We were talking about Thora Hird the other day,remember the plays on Tv by Alan Bennet I believe,usually the actress was solitary,she played a fantastic part.

I do like her - a very underrated actress, in my view.

I hope a number of the Play for Today series (and similar) will come to the streaming services such as Britbox. They'll never be shown on terrestrial again and it would be great to see them again and spot stars in much earlier roles.

 

[Purrrrrrr]

John Le Mesurier was seemingly such a lovely guy but seemed to get walked over by the women in his life. He had to put up with Hattie flaunting it in front of him and when the divorce came, he fell on the sword and said he was the one who split the marriage up so no one would think badly of Hattie. Even when the younger guy ended up dumping her for a younger woman, rather than say what most would, he was still so warm and friendly to her.

His next wife Joan ended up cheating on him too. He was friends with the comic Tony Hancock who by then was a mess with alcoholism and his career was sliding. John took him into his home to help him recover, and he and Joan ended up starting an affair behind John's back. She left him for a while to be with Tony but went running back to John when he saw how bad Tony was. When Tony died, she left John again and it was Hattie of all people who told her what an idiot she was for leaving and she did go back, staying with him until he died in 1983. The final kick in the teeth was when she wrote a book about it a few years later, declaring her love for Hancock which caused a big fuss at the time.

I remember that he was a very heavy drinker and cannabis smoker.
Maybe the women in his life needed more.

I had a lovely uncle who was such fun to be around, sadly not for his wife I remember his wife as being called a slut who he was way too good for and she took a lot of stick. But the man she went off with was my dad ( her husband's brother) they lived a very happy life until his death.

My uncle was still the lovely guy who was best mates with everyone, he was like a kid, life and soul of any get-together but trying to get him to do anything practical was a nightmare he was so chilled, a great uncle and friend but a nightmare partner and dad They all lived together ( her and my dad upstairs, him downstairs) for many years until she finally made him leave and then once again she was the bad guy and he was the saint. I think he actually liked that he always came out of it as the good guy

Took me a long time to see the truth of the relationship.

 

[House of Tea]

Dorothy Squires, an ex of Roger Moore, another sad life. My dad didn’t like RM because of the way he treated DS. I am not old enough to know much about DS. RM, as charming as he was, was a bit cavalier with his many wives affections. His autobiography sort of glossed over his less than charming traits.

Dorothy Squires remembered 20 years on - BBC News

Memories of the singer who married Roger Moore and made Elvis cry with her voice.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Dollylovesshoes]

Lawrence Olivier,Vivian Leigh beautiful but so ill.

 

[Dollylovesshoes]

You should read The Kenneth Williams Diaries, he is quite caustic about lots of the srtars of the era. It is a really good read.

He liked having a touch of the ‘Barclays’

 

[wibble]

She was very good in Don't Look Now as one of the creepy clairvoyants.
It's always been a favourite film of mine and Donald Sutherland is perfect in that role.

It also exploits Julia Christie's brittle nervous energy perfectly.
The way Don't Look Now explores the silence that comes with losing child is excellent.