Early and forgotten British celebs

[ForeverMakingJibesWicked]

Siân Phillips is a goddess. She was in something when I was a kid, it may have been on ITV but I’m sure it was witchy… ANYWAY, even though she’d have been pushing 50 she _enchanted_ me.

I then saw footage of her as Livia in I, Claudius (not Up Pompeii as I thought it was) and man alive… stunning.

She and Kristen Scott Thomas had a massive effect on the very young me, and in my head I like to think I can achieve those levels of classic glamour (she says, picking Pringles off her wooly jumper from Shein).

 

[shellie]

I missed it but carry on camping was on weekend just gone,really made me laugh that one,it was the womens laugh.

They had them all on over the weekend. They are usually on every Easter and Xmas but you don't mind as they are the perfect films to just sit back and have a laugh at with a cuppa and some snacks. Most of them are on catch-up at the minute so you might get it there if you want to see it. I think Sky Cinema has a few as well.

 

[LucyEyelesbarrow]

I watched that film a couple of years ago on Talking Pictures channel. It was actually good and and the actor who played George Roper ( Brian something) was very funny. I heard that Yootha died early from alcoholism. Very sad.

Brian Murphy - still very much with us. Yes, Yootha's life in general seemed very sad - another one it would have been interesting to see in later years.

 

[MrsBsDayOff]

its scary how many famous people died in plane crashes

Yeah, I guess it's because there was a time when only the rich could afford to fly, and safety standards weren't as good in the 40s when Leslie Howard died.

And of course only rich folk can afford to train as private pilots and get their own planes, which exposes them to risk, thinking of JFK Jr in 1999. He made some poor decisions around flying despite the weather forecast, I believe.

 

[Lambeth Walk]

Glynis Johns the darling of 1940s and 50s British cinema is probably a good one to flag up on here. She is 99 now.

Glynis Johns - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"In 2016, with the death of Zsa Zsa Gabor, Johns became the oldest living Batman cast member. With the death of Dame Olivia de Havilland in 2020, she became the oldest living Academy Award nominee in any acting category. Similarly, Johns is currently the oldest living Disney Legend, having been honoured in 1998."

 

[Lalla]

I love Kind Hearts and Coronets, as well as Alec Guinness it also stars one of my favourite actresses (with the most amazing voice) Joan Greenwood.

She was also in another favourite film of mine, the Importance of Being Earnest.

 

[dorydaryl]

I loved Yootha Joyce and was fascinated by her when I was a kid. Something quite domineering but glamorous about her (though, I suppose her reality may not have been quite so).

I know exactly what you mean. Difficult to define but a striking woman. Not conventionally attractive but there was something about her that drew you in and held your attention. I was only young when she died but I did know, even then, what cirrhosis of the liver was and it seemed so incredibly sad when she died. She was just short of year older than I am now when she died.

 

[DanDanTheIceCreamMan]

This is a lovely read, Peter Butterworth from the Carry On films:

Carry On films: The star who helped World War II prisoners escape

Peter Butterworth, who appeared in 16 Carry On films, was an officer for MI9 planning prison escapes.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Dollylovesshoes]

if Anybody interestEd,talking pictures

• Frances Saturday 9th of July 9:05pm

1982. Biography. Director: Graeme Clifford. Stars Jessica Lange, Jonathan Banks & Bonnie Bartlett. Lange’s greatest performance in the story of Frances Farmer's rise to fame in Hollywood to the tragic turn of events in her life.

 

[Dollylovesshoes]

Looking at many previous comments and memories, there was that episode of Victoria Wood's 'Dinnerladies' when the staff had a 'Bring your parent' day. It was like a comedy masterclass. The 'parents' included Thora Hird, Dora Bryan, Eric Sykes and Elspet Grey. They were a hoot. I mean, there were also Thelma Barlow, Anne Reid, Duncan Preston, Julie Walters, Vic Wood herself and a young Maxine Peake. The other programme that used to showcase older, sometimes forgotten talent was 'Last of The Summer Wine', with it's varied permanent and guest actors. You could say it was the 'last saloon' of many an older, faded, actor but I love it and still watch repeats now. Didn't really discover it until after they'd finished filming in 2010. Most of the cast are gone now but many of the characters were iconic. I mean, where else would you find that Cato and Commandant Yamahuci from 'Tenko' becomes 'Entwistle, the wily electrician 'from the East' (Hull) in the form of Burt Kwouk?! I adored Burt Kwouk!

Yes,loved Dinner Ladies,Julie Walters always farting. I liked Burt Kwouk as well,always in the Peter Sellers Pink Panther films.

 

[Piff paff puff]

Just watched the night Porter with dirk bogarde disturbing but wow what a film

 

[Dollylovesshoes]

Many years ago my sister worked in Maidenhead at a company that made medications worked there for many years one of the women she worked with used to be an actress she starred in the film ‘His Majesty O’Keefe’ with Burt Lancaster who played the lead,her name was Joan Rice.

Joan Rice - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Dollylovesshoes]

Never heard of it!

The Grove Family - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Few well known names.

I find many things are on youtube. or other streaming services. I have Kodi and Stremio I know Kodi is very good for old films and series Stremio not so much.

Talking Pictures shows some old ones.

 

[LucyEyelesbarrow]

Wendy Hiller - loved her in Pygmalion. Not seen much of her other work though.

I Know Where I'm Going is a good film of hers and she was also in the 1974 Murder on the Orient Express

 

[wibble]

His diaries are worth a read. Deliciously waspish.

Yes, and should be read in conjunction with the Orton Diaries.

He gatecrashed Barbara Windsor’s honeymoon!

He says he did....

Yes,what was the tag name of playrights of that era?Or these kind of films as they were plays before films wasn’t they?

Another one this sporting life.

Kind of Loving was on Londonlive channel last week I think. They do have some old films on regular.

Thora Hird fab actress,her daughter was Janette Scott Also actress.

I Think it was called ‘Angry Young Men’ tag.

The Angry Young Men
Kingsley Amis, by combining the Movement’s straightforward approach and loathing for snobbery with a portrayal of lower-middle class opportunistic charm in the character of Jim Dixon, suddenly found himself at the forefront of a new group of writers, namely the Angry Young Men. The term ‘Angry Young Men’ was coined by the Royal Court Theatre’s press officer to promote Look Back in Anger, a 1956 play by the then-unknown playwright John Osborne. The label caught on and came to characterise young working-class and lower-middle-class writers disillusioned with conformity and the conservative values of the ruling classes. The most prominent writers in the group were Amis, Osborne and Colin Wilson, whose book The Outsider was a publishing sensation when it appeared in 1956. In truth none of those labelled as Angry Young Men liked the term. Nor did they know each other or have much time for each other’s work – all indications of the looseness and artificiality of the group. One thing they did have in common was the fact that they had all been born in the late 1920s and early 1930s, meaning that their years of potential teenage rebellion had been taken up with the war and national service. They were also the first generation of writers whose work came into print with British influence around the globe in decline. In that sense it is hardly surprising that they had so little time for authority. Amis dismissed the label ‘Angry Young Men’ as ‘a phantom creation of literary journalists’ but it caught the mood of the times and gained the writers thrust under its umbrella considerable newspaper coverage.[3]

They weren't really Angry Young Men.... they were more what was snootily labelled Kitchen Sink Dramas.

The films were adaptations novels mainly.

It was rather sad that some while ago Alan Sillitoe - Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, Lonleiness of the Long Distance Runner, etc - was at a literary festival I attended and hardly anyone showed up. It was their loss because he gave a very interesting talk.

He and writers like Stan Barstow - Kind of Loving and Joby - are largely overlooked these days.
About the only one that gets a look-in is Barry Hinds for Kes - which is part due to the cult of Ken Loach.

 

[House of Tea]

Yes very funny strange man,he had his cooker covered in polythene to keep it clean,I did enjoy them though.

He gatecrashed Barbara Windsor’s honeymoon!

 

[LucyEyelesbarrow]

She was a caricature character but I saw her in an old black and white movie Yield to the Night which was riveting.

She got lots of kudos for a change of direction in that role, as far as I can make out. It would have been interesting to see how her career would have been later in the 80s and 90s had she lived longer.

 

[Dollylovesshoes]

Not British but remember some of the horror films ‘60’s and 70’s I loved the actor Vincent Price,loved his voice,i remember I was about 15 and see my first X film,Fall of the house of Usher,loved it.He had a menacing way,he was supposed to be a lovely man,very friendly and knowledgable married for many years to actress Coral Browne(who had been in some good films herself)

 

[Mollywobbles]

Yes Julie Christie was fantastic in the role too.
Didn't mean to leave her out

She was in Darling, a classic film of the time.
Also with Dirke Bogarde and Laurence Harvey

 

[Dollylovesshoes]

Thank you for doing this.

I don’t remember her, not quite that old, but remember reading a few articles about her.

The sad last picture of Sabrina, British Marilyn Monroe

This is the sad last picture of Sabrina, the women who became famous as Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe. DailyMail.com can reveal she- died in agony in North Hollywood, drug addicted and in pain.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Not sure why, but the Mail link does not open. So trying this Express one.

Norma Ann Sykes: The sad decline of Britain’s Marilyn Monroe

SHE FOUND fame on hit 1950s comedy show Before Your Very Eyes and her breasts were insured for £100,000 but blonde bombshell Sabrina died a recluse.

www.express.co.uk

Remember her very well,how sad she ended up like that,remember the actress Anita Ekberg?Married to British actor Anthony Steele..god that was years ago.

Remember the actress Kay Kendall Married to Rex Harrison died in ‘59 of Leukemia.