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- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Jennifer Saunders was born July 6, 1958 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, to Jane, a biology teacher, and Robert Thomas Saunders, an RAF pilot. She attended Central School of Speech and Drama where she met her comedy partner Dawn French. Like many of the early 80s groundbreaking "alternative" comedians she began her career as comedienne/actress/writer with Dawn French at "The Comedy Store" in London, where she met fellow comedians Adrian Edmondson (later her husband), Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Alexei Sayle and Peter Richardson, who later opened his own club, "The Comic Strip", where these comedians quickly formed a regular format.
The Comic Strip team were transferred to television screens with great success as they all starred alongside each other in The Comic Strip Presents (1982). After The Comic Strip she starred in a few episodes of The Young Ones (1982), Girls on Top (1985) and Happy Families (1985). Afterwards she and Dawn French wrote a TV show of their own, French and Saunders (1987), which was an immense success due to the double act's genius writing, brilliant acting performances and hilarious spoofs of world famous blockbusters and bands.
It was in one of the episodes of "French and Saunders" that the audience had the pleasure of watching a sketch about an uptight daughter and a crazy, neurotic mother that became a comedy classic sitcom. When the BBC next asked Saunders to write something, she just couldn't come up with any ideas, so she decided to expand on that sketch, making it more outrageous and therefore funnier - Absolutely Fabulous (1992) was born.
Perhaps by coincidence Saunders had created one of the most loved, funny, and creative TV Shows in BBC history. Three series were made, in 1995 the show was put on hold until Saunders began writing again and came back with a fourth series in 2001. She is always ready for charity as well, she has been doing "Comic Relief" with a lot of her comedy companions ever since 1986. Jennifer Saunders, one of the most loved TV faces in Britain, will hit the screens with her fifth series of Absolutely Fabulous in 2003.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
One of England's most versatile character actors, Jim Broadbent was born on May 24, 1949, in Lincolnshire, the youngest son of furniture maker Roy Laverick Broadbent and sculptress Doreen "Dee" (Findlay) Broadbent. Jim attended a Quaker boarding school in Reading before successfully applying for a place at an art school. His heart was in acting, though, and he would later transfer to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Following his 1972 graduation, he began his professional career on the stage, performing with the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and as part of the National Theatre of Brent, a two-man troupe which he co-founded. In addition to his theatrical work, Broadbent did steady work on television, working for such directors as Mike Newell and Stephen Frears. Broadbent made his film debut in 1978 with a small part in Jerzy Skolimowski's The Shout (1978). He went on to work with Frears again in The Hit (1984) and with Terry Gilliam in Time Bandits (1981) and Brazil (1985), but it was through his collaboration with Mike Leigh that Broadbent first became known to an international film audience. In 1990 he starred in Leigh's Life Is Sweet (1990), a domestic comedy that cast him as a good-natured cook who dreams of running his own business. Broadbent gained further visibility the following year with substantial roles in Neil Jordan's The Crying Game (1992) and Mike Newell's Enchanted April (1991), and he could subsequently be seen in such diverse fare as Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Widows' Peak (1994), Richard Loncraine's highly acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III (1995) and Little Voice (1998), the last of which cast him as a seedy nightclub owner. Appearing primarily as a character actor in these films, Broadbent took center stage for Leigh's Topsy-Turvy (1999), imbuing the mercurial W.S. Gilbert with emotional complexity and comic poignancy. Jim's breakthrough year was 2001, as he starred in three critically and commercially successful films. Many would consider him the definitive supporting actor of that year. First he starred as Bridget's dad (Colin Jones) in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), which propelled Renée Zellweger to an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Next came the multiple Oscar-nominated film (including Best Picture) Moulin Rouge! (2001), for which he won a Best Supporting Actor BAFTA award for his scene-stealing performance as Harold Zidler. Lastly, came the small biopic Iris (2001), for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as devoted husband John Bayley to Judi Dench's Iris Murdoch, the British novelist who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. The film hit home with Jim, since his own mother had passed away from Alzheimer's in 1995.- Actress
- Producer
- Music Department
Sheridan Smith was born on 25 June 1981 and grew up in Epworth. While Sheridan was growing up, her parents, Colin and Marilyn, performed as a Country and Western duo called The Daltons and it wasn't long before Sheridan got into it. She was dancing from the age of 4 and singing with her parents when she was about 7. At 14 she made her professional debut in the production of Annie, playing the lead role. She then went on to star in many big stage roles such as: The Go-Between, Little Red Riding Hood in the 1998 Donmar Warehouse production of Into The Woods, Talullah in National Youth Theatre's production of Bugsy Malone, Doll the Moll in Tin Pan Ali, Mrs Hardcastle in The Kissing Dance or She Stoops To Conquer, Pendragon and Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz.
Sheridan appeared on Blue Peter, Newsround, Children in Need, Olivier Awards and Theatreland with the NYMT (National Youth Music Theatre) of which she was a member.
Sheridan's first TV appearance came in 1999 when she played Matilda in ITV's Dark Ages (1999). Since then Sheridan has made many guest appearances, including roles in Wives and Daughters, Anchor Me, Peaches, Hawk, Heartbeat, Doctors, Where the Heart Is (1997), Holby City, Blood Strangers, Fat Friends, The Royal, Mile High and The Bill.
She is perhaps best known for her roles in The Royle Family (1998) from 1999-2000 were she played Emma, Anthony Royle's (Ralf Little) girlfriend, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001), again playing Ralf's girlfriend, and Rudi in three series of Gavin & Stacey (2007).
Sheridan lives in London with flatmate Jason. Her brother Damien is a member of the band Indie Manned.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Sean Foley was born on 21 November 1964 in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England, UK. He is an actor and director, known for Mindhorn (2016), Halloween Comedy Shorts (2016) and Wild West (2002).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dame Joan Ann Plowright, the Baroness Olivier, is one of the most distinguished actors of her generation. She may be best remembered as the third wife and widow of Laurence Olivier, generally considered the greatest anglophone actor of the 20th Century, but she had a distinguished career of her own on stage and screen spanning six decades.
Born in Brigg, Lincolnshire on October 28, 1929, she received her training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and made her professional stage debut at Croydon in 1948. Her London debut came in 1954, and two years later, she joined George Devine's English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre, which would change her life just as the drama at the Royal Court revolutionized the English theater.
The Royal Court's 1956 production of John Osborne's _Look Back In Anger' was a watershed in English theatrical history, ushering in the 'Angry Young Man" era in British cultural life. In 1957, Plowright first co-starred with her future husband Olivier in the Royal Court's production of Osborne's The Entertainer (1960) when she took over the role of Archie Rice's daughter Jean Rice when the play transferred to a commercial venue in the West End. She recreated the role in Tony Richardson's 1960 film of the play.
To escape the notoriety from Olivier's divorce from Vivien Leigh, Plowright and Olivier went to New York, where they appeared on Broadway, he in Becket (1964) and she in A Taste of Honey (1961). For her performance as Josephine, which Rita Tushingham played in the movie version, she won a 1961 Tony Award as Best Actress in a Play. (She had first appeared on Broadway in a twin bill of Eugène Ionesco's "The Chairs" and "The Lesson" in January 1958, a month before she appeared with Olivier in "The Entertainer".) When his divorce from Leigh came through, they were married in March 1961 in New York with Richard Burton as Larry's best man.
From 1963 onward, she was a member of the National Theatre, which was headed by Olivier. Plowright created a distinguished stage career and was acclaimed when she began appearing more frequently in movies and television starting in the the 1980s. She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire, the female equivalent of a knighthood, in the 2004 Queen's New Year Honours.
Plowright divorced her first husband, the actor Roger Gage, to marry Olivier in 1961 and they had three children, Richard Kerr Olivier, Tamsin Olivier and Julie Kate Olivier.- Eliza Butterworth was born on 24 July 1993 in Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for The Last Kingdom (2015), The Pod Generation (2023) and The North Water (2021).
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Kevin Doyle is an English actor. He was born in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England in 1961. He is better known as the perpetually unlucky butler-turned-footman Molesley in Downton Abbey (2010). He has appeared in shows such as Happy Valley (2014), Scott & Bailey (2011), and the 2016 ITV TV Mini-Series Paranoid (2016). He lives in West Yorkshire with his partner Olwen May.- Sheila Gish was born on 23 April 1942 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Highlander (1986), Mansfield Park (1999) and Highlander: Endgame (2000). She was married to Denis Lawson and Roland Curram. She died on 9 March 2005 in Camden, London, England, UK.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Patricia Hodge was born on 29 September 1946 in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for The Elephant Man (1980), Miranda (2009) and The Falklands Play (2002). She was previously married to Peter Douglas Owen.- Neil McCarthy was born on 26 July 1932 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Where Eagles Dare (1968), Zulu (1964) and Clash of the Titans (1981). He died on 6 February 1985 in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, England, UK.
- Turgoose is from Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire. He attended Wintringham School of the same town whilst filming This Is England (2006) and The The Innocence Project (2006)
Turgoose's mother Sharon died in 2005; This Is England is dedicated to her memory.
He has three older brothers, born Karl, Matthew and Jamie in descending order of age. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Eleanor David was born on 30 November 1955 in Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982), Topsy-Turvy (1999) and 84 Charing Cross Road (1987).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Michele Dotrice was born on 27 September 1948 in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Not Now, Comrade (1976), Vanity Fair (1998) and Captain Jack (1999). She was previously married to Edward Woodward.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Kelly Adams was born on 16 October 1979 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Bronson (2008), Hustle (2004) and Holby City (1999). She has been married to Chris Kennedy since February 2011.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Robert Webb was born on 29 September 1972 in Lincolnshire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for That Mitchell and Webb Look (2006), Peep Show (2003) and Back (2017). He has been married to Abigail Burdess since 2006. They have two children.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Sam Swainsbury was born on 23 August 1990 in Boston, Lincolnshire, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Mum (2016), Fisherman's Friends (2019) and Hanna (2019).- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Ronni Ancona was born on 4 July 1966 in Louth, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Penelope (2006), Big Impression (1999) and The Trip to Italy (2014). She has been married to Gerard Hall since 2004. They have three children.- Liz Smith found fame as an actress at an age when most people are considering retirement. It was a long road to eventual stardom, during which she struggled to raise a family after a broken marriage. She became best known for her roles in The Vicar of Dibley (1994) and The Royle Family but her talents encompassed serious drama too. And while she made something of a name playing slightly dotty old ladies, the real Liz Smith was far removed from these on-screen personas. She was born Betty Gleadle in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. Her early life was not happy. Her mother died in childbirth when she was just two years old and her father abandoned her when he remarried. "My father was a bit of a sod, really. He just went off with loads of women and then married one who said he had to cut off completely from his prior life and that meant me." She started going to the local cinema with her grandfather when she was four and she quickly gained a fascination for acting.
By the age of nine, she was appearing in local dramatic productions, often playing the part of elderly ladies. World War Two thwarted her plans and she joined the WRNS because, as she later told the BBC's Desert Island Discs, she loved the cut of the naval uniform. She continued appearing in plays and entertainments while serving in the Royal Navy. She met her future husband Jack Thomas while she was stationed in India and the couple married at the end of the war. Her grandmother had left her enough money to buy a house in London. Smith later remembered that she had picked it at random from a magazine and bought it without crossing the threshold.
But what had been an idyllic marriage failed shortly after the family moved to Epping Forest in Essex and she was left to bring up her two children alone. With money tight, she worked in a number of jobs including delivering post and quality control in a plastic bag factory. But her love for acting remained and she began buying the theatrical magazine, The Stage, and sending her photograph to casting agents. Eventually she became part of a group studying method acting under a teacher who had come to the UK from America.
She performed at the Gate Theatre in west London and spent many years in repertory, as well as spells as an entertainer in Butlins holiday camps. In 1970, she was selling toys in London's Regent Street when she got a call from the director Mike Leigh to play the downtrodden mother in his film Bleak Moments. Leigh cast her again in Hard Labour, part of the BBC's Play for Today series, a role that allowed her to shine. She received critical acclaim as the middle-aged housewife who endures a life of domestic drudgery, constantly at the beck and call of her demanding husband and daughter.
It was the breakthrough she had sought for years and, as she later recalled: "I never went back to grotty jobs again." She was seldom off the screen over the next 20 years, with appearances in a number of TV programmes including Last of the Summer Wine, The Sweeney, The Duchess of Duke Street and The Gentle Touch. She was cast as Madame Balls in the 1976 film The Pink Panther Strikes Again, but her scenes were left on the cutting-room floor. However, she did appear in the role six years later in The Curse of the Pink Panther. In 1984 she received a Bafta for Best Supporting Actress when she played Maggie Smith's mother in the film A Private Function.
Two years later she appeared as Patricia Hodge's alcoholic mother in the BBC drama The Life and Loves Of A She Devil. It was a part, she said, that she really enjoyed as it gave her the chance to wear more glamorous outfits than her usual roles required. And she was able to dress up again for her next film appearance, this time in the role of Grace in Peter Greenaway's film The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. She was still much in demand at the beginning of the 1990s, appearing in the sitcom 2point4 Children and in the series Lovejoy and Bottom.
In 1994 she became a household name with her portrayal of Letitia Cropley in the series The Vicar of Dibley (1994). The character was famous for her idiosyncratic recipes such as parsnip brownies and lard and fish paste pancakes, but was killed off in 1996. Two years later Liz Smith starred as Nana in The Royle Family, a sitcom that ran for nearly four years. She took the part again in 2006 in a special edition in which Nana died. Typically, she attributed her success to Caroline Aherne's scripts rather than her own talent.
"They were great roles," she later remembered. "I was so lucky that things did come my way then." Unlike some actors, she watched recordings of her own performances looking for ways in which she could improve her acting. She continued to appear in feature films, playing Grandma Georgina in Tim Burton's 2005 version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and she was the voice of Mrs Mulch in Wallace & Gromit -The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. In 2006 she published her autobiography Our Betty and moved into a retirement home in north London but continued acting. She appeared in the BBC's Lark Rise to Candleford, finally announcing her retirement in 2008 at the age of 87. It was a belief in her own talent that drove Liz Smith on when her life was at a low ebb. "All I wanted was a chance," she told the BBC. "It was wonderful when it did happen."
Smith died on Christmas Eve 2016. She was 95. - Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
An English actor active in the theater since 1961, having made few theatrical movies, none of which particularly outstanding, with the exception of John Boorman's Zardoz (1974) and Nigel Cole's popular Calendar Girls (2003), John Alderton has become famous thanks to British television. Appearing in approximately two hundred TV series episodes, TV movies or specials, he is best remembered as the teacher facing the rowdy students in the series Please Sir! (1968), from 1968 to 1972, Thomas, the chauffeur, in Upstairs, Downstairs (1971), between 1971 and 1975, and the narrator and sole voice artist for the English dub of Fireman Sam (1987) from 1987 to 1994.- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Jonathan Kerrigan (born 14 October 1972 in Lincolnshire) is an English actor well known for various leading roles on TV including In The Club, Casualty, Heartbeat, Merseybeat, and Reach For The Moon. Films include 55 Steps, Diana, FLiM, The Somnambulists, The Best Possible Taste. He is also a musician and has composed for both television and film.- Amanda trained at R.A.D.A. She has appeared at the Royal Court, the RNT, the RSC, the Almeida, in the West End and on Broadway. Her television work includes A Very British Scandal, The Girl Before, The Outlaws, and Gangs of London. She was nominated for Outstanding Newcomer in 2003 at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards, and won the Clarence Derwent Award for her performance in "Eastward Ho!" for the RSC at the Gielgud Theatre.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Bernie Taupin was born on 22 May 1950 in Lincolnshire, England, UK. He is a composer and actor, known for Rocketman (2019), Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Gnomeo & Juliet (2011). He has been married to Heather Lynn Hodgins Kidd since 27 March 2004. They have two children. He was previously married to Stephanie Haymes-Roven, Toni Lynn Russo and Maxine Feibelman.- Actress
- Stunts
- Composer
Cecily Fay was born on 6 April 1978 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress and composer, known for Warrioress (2013), Babes with Blades (2018) and Snow White and the Huntsman (2012).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Julia Deakin was born in 1952 in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007) and Scoop (2006).- Actress
- Soundtrack
British stage and film actress Elizabeth Allan was born in Skegness, Lincolnshire. She made her stage debut at the age of 17; her movie debut came about four years later with an appearance in the Hercule Poirot mystery Alibi (1931).
At the beginning of her career, Allan mainly appeared in films for Julius Hagen's Twickenham Studios, but later signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 1935 was a good year for the actress, with roles in two Charles Dickens adaptations: - David Copperfield (1935) and A Tale of Two Cities (1935) - and the star-studded horror Mark of the Vampire (1935).
Allan's relationship with MGM became strained after they announced her for a leading part in The Citadel (1938), only to then replace her with Rosalind Russell. Not long following this incident, Allan was again replaced in a successful picture, this time by Greer Garson in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939). This was the final straw for Allan, and she successfully sued the studio, thus terminating her contract with them.
By the 1950s, Allan was taking on character roles. Notable movies of this period include No Highway in the Sky (1951), The Heart of the Matter (1953), and The Haunted Strangler (1958) (which turned out to be her final film). She also appeared on the UK version of the game show What's My Line (1951) as a panelist, which got her awarded with Great Britain's Top Female TV Personality of 1952.
Allan was married to agent Wilfred O'Bryen from 1932 to his death in 1977. She passed away on July 27, 1990 at the age of 80.- British character actor with radio and stage experience from 1951. Studied at University College in London and learned acting at the Old Vic Theatre School. Toured South Africa in 1952 and subsequently appeared in many Shakespearean roles in Stratford-upon-Avon. Busy television actor from the late 1950's, popular as ruthless tycoon John Wilder in The Plane Makers (1963). Also noted for his voice-overs for Winston Churchill in two documentary features.
- James Bradshaw was born on 20 March 1976 in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Endeavour (2012), Close to the Enemy (2016) and Primeval (2007).
- Additional Crew
Growing up in Grimsby, Gary spent many years as a bottle digger in the UK, digging old Victorian trash pits and "mud hopping" along the river banks in search of old bottles, clay pipes, doll heads, and marbles. Some of the bottles he found dated back to the early 1600s and the clay pipes from the 1500s. His oldest bottle find was a Roman perfume bottle dating from the Roman occupation! It was bottle digging that eventually led to his interest in metal detecting; every year Gary would find more and more coins while digging for bottles.
When Gary then moved across the pond to South Florida he decided one day to take his metal detector to the beach and on his first day out he dug up a Spanish Silver Piece of Eight. Then a few months later he found a 1715 Spanish Fleet Gold and Emerald Ring. His "outside the box" approach to metal detecting has lead Gary to explore various search techniques and different sites, always aided by his site reading and metal detecting technique to find treasure. Since then has found hundreds of Gold Rings, Jewelry of all types, Coins, Silver, Rolex's, Bronze Ship Spikes, War Artifacts and Spanish Treasure! Gary is a relentless beach hunter who has even been complimented by Famous Late Great 1715 Spanish Fleet Salvager Bob Weller for having the 3 P's - Patience, Persistence and Preservance.
Gary is fortunate enough to make a living doing something he loves, writing beach and water hunting related books and giving private treasure hunting lessons. His Spanish treasure finds even caught the eye of Hollywood producers which led to several appearances on TV shows before finally joining the cast of "The Curse of Oak Island", the top rated treasure hunting show in the US, as the resident metal detecting expert.
Gary utilizes a range of Minelab detectors. His first Minelab metal detector was the Excalibur, a metal detector he still uses today. Gary states that "As any long time Minelab user will tell you, the only way to beat a Minelab is by using another Minelab so I always have other specialist tools in the old tool shed". Searching for Spanish treasure on the beach Gary prefers the awesome, deep detection power of the GPX 5000 and large Commander search coils. While for traveling on metal detecting vacations he grabs the Equinox 800 and for the majority of tourist beach jewelry hunts he can't go past his CTX 3030.
Gary's most memorable find is the magnificent 300 year old Emerald Treasure Ring worth a cool $500,000, a true find of a lifetime! While the thrill of the hunt and that awesome moment as you recover something that was lost for hundreds of years from your scoop, has kept Gary hooked on detecting.
Gary has detailed his unique beach and water hunting methods and search techniques in his range of books so that all detectorists can learn from his many years of experience. He also has his own blog and YouTube channel, in addition to being featured in the History channel series The Curse of Oak Island.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Eric Thompson was born on 9 November 1929 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Dougal and the Blue Cat (1970), Serjeant Musgrave's Dance (1965) and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1970). He was married to Phyllida Law. He died on 30 November 1982 in Camden, London, England, UK.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Peter Martin is an English actor (born Gainsborough) who was known in the 1980s for his TV ads for Jewsons Hardware. He played the fish shop man in First of the Summer Wine. He also played 'Charlie the moonlighting gravedigger' in the Beiderbecke Tapes.
He was in The Royle Family as Joe Carroll and played the part of Len Reynolds in ITV's Emmerdale from 2001 until the character's death on 17 May 2007.
He starred in the film Brassed Off and the television series All Creatures Great and Small and Chucklevision. He also was in an episode of Last of the Summer Wine.
He featured in Coronation Street (1960) three times in different roles.
He regularly worked small parts on Victoria Wood television programmes for over 20 years beginning in 1980 with her play Nearly a Happy Ending (1980) and ending with an appearance in an episode of dinnerladies (1998) in 2000.- Art Department
Kimberley Regent was born on 25 March 1963 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is known for Deep Rising (1998), White Noise (2005) and Millennium (1996). She was married to Richard Molnar. She died on 10 May 2005 in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Wendy Allnutt was born on 1 May 1946 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for When Eight Bells Toll (1971), The Avengers (1961) and Napoleon and Love (1974). She was previously married to Colin McCormack.- Actor
- Soundtrack
John Quayle was born on 21 December 1938 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Line of Beauty (2006), Target (1977) and Nanny (1981).- Actress
- Soundtrack
This distinguished theatrical tragedienne will be remembered forever if only for the fact George Bernard Shaw wrote his classic "Saint Joan" work specifically for her. Her over six-decade career allowed for a gallery of sterling, masterful portrayals, both classic and contemporary, performing all over the world including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and both Western and Eastern Europe. She was created a Dame of the British Empire in 1931, when her career was not quite half over, and in 1970 was made Companion of Honor to Queen Elizabeth.
Born Agnes Sybil Thorndike on October 24, 1882 in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, she was the daughter of a minor canon of Rochester Cathedral. She was the eldest of four children. One younger brother, Frank, was killed in WWI action, a tragedy that left her father inconsolable. He himself would die a few months later. Sybil first became a concert pianist until nerve injuries in her hands quickly altered her destiny. She, at brother Russell Thorndike's suggestion, decided upon acting. Russell would later become a novelist and his sister's biographer.
Not a classic beauty by any stretch, Dame Sybil had sharp features, prominent cheek bones and a pronounced chin that gave her a rather severe look. At age 21 she and her brother began professionally in a touring company guided by actor-manager Ben Greet. She performed as Portia in a production of The Merchant of Venice in 1907 while touring in New York. The following year she met playwright George Bernard Shaw while understudying the role of Candida in a tour which was being directed by the writer himself. It was also during this tour that Sybil met and married actor Sir Lewis Casson and solidified one of the most respected personal and professional relationships the acting realm has known. She stayed with The Old Vic for five years (1914-1919) and in 1924 earned stardom as Shaw's Joan of Arc.
Sybil's film career, unlike that of her esteemed contemporary Edith Evans, fell far short of expectations. Silent films recreated some of her finest theatrical experiences, including Lady Macbeth and, of course, Joan of Arc, but she would not evolve into a film star. She was sporadically utilized in later years as a flavorful character support and played a number of queens, dowagers and old crones with equal finesse. Such classic costumed fare would include Major Barbara (1941), The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947), Stage Fright (1950), Gone to Earth (1950), The Lady with a Lamp (1951), Melba (1953), as Queen Victoria, and The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) in which she managed to grab focus during her scenes with Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe. In 1969, Sybil lent her name to the new theatre in Leatherhead, Surrey, which became The Thorndike. Despite her 87 years, she performed in the new play There Was An Old Woman in its first season. It was to be her final theatrical performance. Always a healthy, vigorous woman, she died of a heart attack on June 9, 1976 at the ripe young age of 93. She was survived by four children and a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.- Gemma Merna was born on 11 October 1984 in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Hollyoaks (1995), Hollyoaks Later (2008) and Coronation Street (1960). She has been married to Ian since 27 May 2012.
- Abigail Titmuss was born on 8 February 1976 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Days of Our Lives (1965), Casualty (1986) and Do Elephants Pray? (2010). She has been married to Ari Welkom since 7 May 2017.
- Peter Caulfield was born on June 13th, 1984 in Boston but brought up in Nottingham (East Midlands) England. His mother Joan is from Essex and his father, Shane Caulfield is of Irish heritage. He trained at the Paul McCartney Drama school (LIPA), and graduated with a 1st BA (Hons) in acting. Peter has worked across the board in Theatre, TV, Film and Animation. He most recently finished playing the role of "Billy Graham" in the world premier of Tammy Faye at the Almeida Theatre. This Christmas he will be acting opposite Billy Piper in "I hate Suzie too" on Sky and Hbomax. And in early 2023 will make his Marvel Debut in a new series for Disney Plus. He can also be seen playing Francesco in the Russell T Davies' series: Cucumber on 40D, Jessie in Amazon crime thriller: Absentia and Roy opposite Kim Cattrall in Nordic BBC drama Modus. Recent notable theatre roles include Bob Cratchit in the Old Vic's beautiful production of A Christmas Carol directed by Matthew Warchus, Ginger in the ground breaking play Jerusalem and also King Herod in the original cast of Regent's Park Olivier award-wining production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Peter created the role of Lehman Brothers in the West End smash hit; 'Enron', and performed the role of Sam, in the European premier of American play 'Obamaology', which dramatically follows the Obama campaign, in the state of Ohio. Peter also starred as Alfie, in the National Theatre's Broadway and London hit; 'One Man 2 Guvnors', in the West End. He has also performed alongside Ian Mckellen, on the Old Vic stage, and opposite Tom Hardy, Hayley Atwell, and Rory Kinear, on the National Theatre's Olivier stage, in the restoration comedy, Man of Mode. Peter's also an accomplished vocalist, having starred as King Herod in the award-winning production of Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent's Park open air theatre. Peter is also a talented voice-over artist: voicing characters in the world renowned "Elden Ring". He also voiced the lead role of Rene, in the animated film, 'After The End', which won the Hitchcock award for Best Short Film (Festival du Film Britannique de Dinard), The Kuan Dog award for Best International short, Best Animation at the Palm Springs international Short Film Festival, (2nd), and won Best Animation at The Los Angeles Movie Awards. Other roles on screen include Francesco, in the much-anticipated Russell T. Davies drama series, Cucumber (Channel 4), and Banana (E4), which also aired in the US on LogoTV. Both series were produced by Red Productions. In 2017, Peter played Dahh-Ren in the season 10 episode of Doctor Who, Oxygen - playing opposite Peter Capaldi, Matt Lucas and Pearl Mackie. Peter is also in British feature film, 'Strangeways Here We Come', which is on Netflix where he plays the American Morman; Charlie.
- Rob Locke has been a working actor for more than thirty years.
Rob was born in Lincoln, England, but grew up in London. He performed regularly in youth theatre until the age of 20, when he was cast as a recurring guest star on a then-prominent children's television show. For the ensuing decade, he was a regular actor on several scripted series in Britain, as well as a nationally recognized television host.
Rob immigrated to the United States in 2001 and moved to Los Angeles, California, at the end of 2008. He has played an extensive repertoire of roles in feature films (including Beyond the Lights (2014), AWOL-72 (2015) and Default (2014)), television shows (including Ray Donovan (2013), NCIS (2003), NCIS: Los Angeles (2009), Scorpion (2014), Agent Carter (2015), General Hospital (1963), 2 Broke Girls (2011), Hot in Cleveland (2010), You're the Worst (2014), Family Tools (2013), Henry Danger (2014) and Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003)) and video games (including Mass Effect 3 (2012) and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)).
Rob's innate versatility, unimpeachable comic timing and richly-nuanced character development, allow him to successfully straddle (and frequently blur) the line between comedy and drama. A prodigious aptitude for languages and international dialects (Russian, in particular, which he speaks fluently) has made him one of the go-to actors for Eastern European roles. Rob's wheelhouse of characters will either kill you with laughter or laugh while they kill you!
Rob has a palpable presence and mesmeric manner, both on- and off-screen. Physical resemblances aside, his talents and larger-than-life personality are often likened to a young Orson Welles, Robbie Coltrane, Brian Cox, or John Rhys-Davies.
A dual citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom, Rob works internationally, primarily based between Los Angeles, New York and London, where he continues to be in regular demand, both on screen and on stage. - Writer
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Born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, UK as Norman Colin Dexter, he was an English writer, best known for the Inspector Morse series of novels. His parents were Alfred and Dorothy Dexter, his father run a small taxi company. He had a brother, John, and a sister, Avril. He attended St. John's Infants School, Bluecoat Junior School, and then - gaining a scholarship - Stamford School. After graduation, Dexter served in the Royal Corps of Signals as his national service. He then studied Classics at Christ's College, Cambridge, which he graduated in 1953, followed by receiving a master's degree in 1958. He worked a teacher in various schools from 1954 to 1966, when an onset of deafness forced him to change jobs. He then worked as a senior assistant secretary at the University of Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations until his retirement in 1988. In 1972 Dexter published his first mystery fiction book, entitled Last Bus to Woodstock. The book introduced the character of inspector Morse, who appeared in further 12 novels written by Dexter. In 1987 the first episode of a screen adaptation of the novels, Inspector Morse (1987), was aired. The show run for 7 seasons followed by 5 special episodes, the last one of which aired in 2000. It was followed by a spin-off entitled Inspector Lewis (2006) and a prequel entitled Endeavour (2012). Dexter was involved in the making of all these shows and had small cameos in most episodes. His writings received a number of awards from the Crime Writers' Association and in 2000 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to literature. He was married to Dorothy Cooper from 1956 until his death; they had daughter, Sally, and a son, Jeremy. Dexter died on 21 March 2017 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.- Actress
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Judy Campbell was born on 31 May 1916 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She was an actress and writer, known for Emma (1948), The Strangler (1941) and Saloon Bar (1940). She was married to David Birkin. She died on 6 June 2004 in London, England, UK.- Director
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Peter Collinson was born on 1 April 1936 in Lincolnshire, England, UK. He was a director and producer, known for The Italian Job (1969), The Long Day's Dying (1968) and Up the Junction (1968). He was married to Lisa Shane and Ann Collinson. He died on 16 December 1980 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
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Born in Lincolnshire, England, actress Domenique Fragale holds dual UK/USA citizenship and splits her time between the two countries. She graduated from The Arts Educational School, London with a BA(Hons.) in Acting For Film, Television and Theatre.
Domenique is perhaps best known for playing Beth Cassini in the hit HBO sci-fi drama series The Nevers. Her film appearances include My Best Friend's Famous, showing on Amazon Prime, and The Maestro in which she portrayed classic Hollywood icon Ava Gardner. Other screen credits include Married with Secrets and the Raindance Film Festival short, Virulent. As well as her acting roles, Domenique is an executive producer and the head of development at DBK Studios, working with Sky to create five short films to champion filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds.
Away from the cameras, Domenique presented for BBC Radio Lincolnshire and was a former presenter for Urban News London TV. She is also an advocate of promoting the importance of mental health and is the ambassador for MQ Mental Health, as well as raising support for various leukaemia care foundations and crohn's and colitis awareness foundations. For her appearance in the anti-bullying and gun crime short film Wednesday's Child, Domenique received the Diana Award at BAFTA at the age of 13, and continues to be a vocal anti-bullying campaigner.- Additional Crew
Margaret Thatcher was born on October 13, 1925 in Grantham, England, the younger daughter of Alfred and Beatrice Roberts. Her father was a greengrocer and respected town leader, serving as lay-leader with their church, city-alderman and then as mayor. He taught Margaret never to do things because other people are doing them; do what you think is right and persuade others to follow you.
She attended Oxford University from 1943 to 1947 and earned a degree in Chemistry, but it was clear from early on that politics was her true calling. She stood as a Conservative candidate from Dartford in the 1950 and 1951 elections. She married Denis Thatcher in December 1951 and they had twin children, Mark Thatcher and Carol Thatcher. She practiced tax law for a time in the 1950s, but was elected to Parliament from Finchley in 1959. Two years later, she was appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Pensions. In 1970, she was appointed Minister for Education and earned the title "Thatcher the Milk Snatcher", for eliminating free milk for schoolchildren in a round of budget-cutting. After the Conservative Party lost both general elections in 1974, she defeated Edward Heath for the leadership of the party.
She was elected Prime Minister in May 1979 and served for eleven and a half years, longer than any other British Prime Minister in the 20th Century. As Prime Minister, she was staunchly capitalist and bent on wiping socialism from the face of Britain. During her tenure, she cut direct taxes, spending and regulations, privatized state-industries and state-housing, reformed the education, health and welfare systems, was tough on crime and espoused traditional values. Her time in office was eventful, having to contend with an economic recession, inner-city riots and a miners' strike.
Her first great triumph in office was the Falklands War in 1982, when she sent British troops to reclaim British possessions off the coast of South America that had been invaded and occupied by Argentina. The British won that war and it showed the world that Britain was once again a power to be reckoned with. Her time in office saw unprecedented economic prosperity among the middle and upper classes, but this was contrasted by unemployment levels not seen since the 1930s, a rise in homelessness and the end of Britain's major industries. She was a staunch political ally of Republican American President Ronald Reagan. They both advocated tough foreign and defence policies, but they also developed a constructive relationship with reforming Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev which helped to bring the Cold War to an end. Thatcher also persuaded President George Bush to send troops to Saudi Arabia right after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990.
Her staunch advocacy of the Poll Tax and her refusal to endorse a common currency for Europe led the Conservative party to force her out of office in a bloody internal coup. She was forced to resign as Prime Minister in November 1990. Since she left office, she was introduced to the House of Lords in 1992 as Baroness Thatcher. She travelled the world, touring the lecture circuit promoting her causes and was president of numerous organizations dedicated to her causes. In the last few years, her health suffered and she no longer spoke in public.- Ian Lawman was born in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, UK.
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Nicholas Parsons was without doubt one of the UK's most popular and beloved television and radio personalities, and very few can claim to have had such a long entertainment career. The son of a doctor, he was raised in Lincolnshire until the age of eight, when the family moved to London. He was educated at St. Paul's School, London. He trained as an engineer but really wanted to become an actor and decided to pursue his dream. He performed in weekly repertory in Bromley for two years, playing a wide range of parts. His particular talent for comedy and impersonations made him a natural in cabaret and he became the resident comedian at the Windmill Theatre. Much work in radio followed.
Parsons acted in several British films during the 1950s and 1960s, including dramas such as The Third Key (1956) and Eyewitness (1956) and comedies such as Doctor in Love (1960) and Carry on Regardless (1961). On television he worked with Eric Barker and most notably on The Arthur Haynes Show (1956) as Haynes' straight man. In 1967 he became presenter of "Just a Minute", a comedy panel show on BBC Radio 4 which also featured regular appearances by Kenneth Williams over the next 20 years. Through the 1970s and into the 1980s, Parsons hosted the hugely popular ITV game show Sale of the Century (1971).
In 1989, having become so closely associated with comedy and light entertainment, Parsons surprised many when he returned to a dramatic role. He brought great depth and sensitivity to his portrayal of Reverend Wainwright, a tormented clergyman whose faith is tested to the limit by the horrors of the Second World War and the resurrection of a Viking curse in The Curse of Fenric: Part One (1989). It was one of the most unusual and complex characterizations ever created for the Doctor Who (1963) series, and Parsons later described this guest appearance as "one of the most treasured memories".
Parsons celebrated his 90th birthday in 2013 and he was joined at the party by stars including Esther Rantzen, Paul Merton and Gyles Brandreth. A performer of remarkable longevity, he was still taking his one-man show to the Edinburgh Fringe.- Bill Rodgers was born in Lincolnshire, England, UK. He is known for Life on Mars (2006), Buried (2003) and Always and Everyone (1999).
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Edward Burnham was born on 25 December 1916 in Lincolnshire, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for To Sir, with Love (1967), Quatermass and the Pit (1958) and Little Dorrit (1987). He was married to Lucille. He died on 30 June 2015 in the UK.- She was born Jean Vivra Gray in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England, the eldest of four children of Allan, a fish merchant, and his wife, Doris, and attended Thrunscoe girls' school. The family moved to Kingston upon Thames, in south-west London, in the 30s but was evacuated back to Cleethorpes in 1941 and finally resettled in New Malden, Surrey, after the second world war in 1945. As a young woman, Gray worked as a sales assistant, reporter, photographer and nurse, and during the war had served in the Women's Land Army, but always dreamed of becoming an actor.
In 1952, finding opportunities in Britain limited, she decided to emigrate to Australia to pursue her acting ambitions. She adopted the professional name Vivean Gray and appeared in Australian theatre and radio, as well as establishing herself on TV with small roles in cop shows such as Homicide (1964-77), Division Four (1969-75), Matlock Police (1971-76), Solo One (1976) and Bluey (1976), as well as the legal drama Carson's Law (1982-84) and the miniseries Anzacs (1985) and All the Rivers Run (1983).
She also appeared in two films directed by Peter Weir. In Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), she played the maths teacher Miss McCraw, who, along with several of her students from a girls' boarding school, disappears during a Valentine's Day picnic, never to be seen again. In Weir's 1977 film The Last Wave she played Dr Whitburn, an expert on aboriginal history, which starred Richard Chamberlain.
In 1976, she starred as Ida Jessup in The Sullivans, a long-running drama about a Melbourne family and the effect that the war had on their lives. Playing Mrs Jessup, the Sullivans' gossipy English-born neighbour, during the show's 16-season run from 1976 to 1983 proved not only good preparation for her later role as Nell Mangel on Neighbours, but also led to her receiving two Logie awards honouring achievements on Australian TV.
In 1984, she was cast to play a genteel poisoner, Edna Pearson, in the long-running drama Prisoner Cell Block H (known simply as Prisoner in Australia). But after a woman who had been accused of poisoning her husband threatened to sue the show's producers Grundy Television, on the grounds that the character was based on her, material involving Gray's character was cut from subsequent episodes, and from DVD releases of already broadcast shows. In 2010, a DVD telling the dramatic story of Edna Pearson was released, but only in Britain.
Towards the end of her two-year stint on the Australian soap Neighbours as the local busybody Mrs Mangel, the British actor Vivean Gray, who has died aged 92, was presented with the script for an incredible new storyline. In it, she was to be knocked from a ladder by a Labrador called Bouncer and as a result would lose her memory of the past two years.
Her granddaughter Jane, trying to be kind, decides not to tell Mrs Mangel the truth that in the interim her husband Len (John Lee) has run off with another woman, but instead that he has died and his ashes have been scattered under the rosebushes in the front garden. In one later episode, Mrs Mangel is seen saying goodbye to the rosebushes, prompting her Ramsay Street neighbours to think she has lost her mind.
In any other TV soap, such a storyline might have produced a wave of sympathy for the character, but it did not for Nell Mangel. Between 1986 and 1988, millions around the world, particularly in Australia and Britain, would tune in every weekday afternoon to watch the cantankerous, interfering busybody at No 32 drive her neighbours to distraction. In one typical storyline, Mrs Mangel tries to destroy the relationship between her lodger Harold Bishop (Ian Smith) and her neighbour and nemesis Madge Ramsay (Anne Charleston). When she fails in that, she attempts to ruin their wedding by playing the church organ badly. In another storyline, many of her neighbours suspect her of murdering Len - until he turns up unexpectedly in a later episode announcing he plans to file for divorce.
In some respects, Mrs Mangel was a prototype for EastEnders' Dot Cotton: piously Christian, difficult and burdened with a disappointing son (Joe, played by Mark Little), who leaves the Mangel home after being accused of robbing a service station. But unlike Dot Cotton, Mrs Mangel proved unlikeable though captivating, becoming, as Neighbours' executive producer Jason Herbison "the ultimate busybody ... a true soap legend".
These were the glory days of Neighbours in terms of ratings. A 1988 episode featuring the wedding between Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan) and Charlene Mitchell (Kylie Minogue) was watched by 20 million in the UK alone. As a result, Gray's character became globally known, if not beloved.
Indeed, if Mrs Mangel made Gray famous, she was scarcely able to enjoy the celebrity. In 1988, she quit the show after nearly 300 episodes. The following year she explained why: "I loved Neighbours and the rest of the cast were marvellous. But because it was so successful, I could barely set foot outside my own door without someone screaming abuse at horrid old Mrs Mangel. People didn't seem to appreciate it was acting. So I decided to take a break."
For years afterwards, Vivean Gray topped opinion polls as the nastiest television "baddie" of all time, with some of the more dedicated viewers of Neighbours failing to distinguish between the actress and the fictional character.
The break from acting lasted for the rest of Gray's life - she never took another role. She left Australia in the mid-1990s and settled in Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex, England, refusing requests for interviews or autographs from fans.
In 2005 Neighbours' producers tried to persuade her to return for its 20th anniversary episode, but she declined.
After Gray quit Neighbours in 1988, she may have effectively retired, but her fame lived on. In 1995 she was honoured with her image on an Australian postage stamp. As for Mrs Mangel, after finding out the truth about Len and divorcing him, the producers had her fall for a retired dentist John Worthington (Brian James) and move back to the old country, to St Albans, Hertfordshire. She continued to be occasionally mentioned in the show until her death in England in 2018 - granddaughter Jane Harris being touched to learn the Rebecchi's had named their daughter Nell after seeing Mrs Mangel in one of Harold Bishop's photo albums. Jane was presented with Helen Daniels' infamous 'giraffe' portrait of her grandmother by Paul Robinson. - Actor
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Matthew Boulton was born on 20 January 1893 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for The Woman in Green (1945), Night Must Fall (1937) and Sabotage (1936). He was married to Ruth Dockray. He died on 10 February 1962 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Michael Johnson was born on 5 June 1939 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Human Jungle (1963), Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) and The Newcomers (1965). He died on 24 February 2001 in Sutton, Surrey, England, UK.