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- Actor
- Writer
Rafe Spall was born on 10 March 1983 in Camberwell, London, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for The Big Short (2015), Life of Pi (2012) and Hot Fuzz (2007).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Along with fellow actors Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price, Boris Karloff is recognized as one of the true icons of horror cinema, and the actor most closely identified with the general public's image of the Frankenstein Monster from the classic 1818 Mary Shelley novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus". William Henry Pratt was born on November 23, 1887, in Camberwell, London, England, UK, the son of Edward John Pratt Jr., the Deputy Commissioner of Customs Salt and Opium, Northern Division, Indian Salt Revenue Service, and his third wife, Eliza Sarah Millard.
He was educated at London University in anticipation that he would pursue a diplomatic career; however, he emigrated to Canada in 1909, joined a touring company based out of Ontario and adopted the stage name of "Boris Karloff." He toured back and forth across the U.S. for over 10 years in a variety of low budget theater shows and eventually ended up in Hollywood, reportedly with very little money to his name. Needing cash to support himself, Karloff secured occasional acting work in the fledgling silent film industry in such films as The Deadlier Sex (1920), Omar the Tentmaker (1922), Dynamite Dan (1924) and Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927), in addition to a handful of film serials (the majority of these, sadly, are all lost films). Karloff supplemented his meager film income by working as a truck driver in Los Angeles, which allowed him enough time off to continue to pursue acting roles.
His big break finally came when he was cast as the Frankenstein Monster in the Universal production of Frankenstein (1931), which was directed by James Whale, one of the studio's few remaining auteur directors. The aura of mystery surrounding Karloff was highlighted in the opening credits, as he was listed as simply "?". The film was a commercial and critical success for Universal, and Karloff was instantly established as a hot property in Hollywood. He quickly appeared in several other sinister roles, including Scarface (1932) (filmed before Frankenstein (1931)), as the black-humored The Old Dark House (1932), as the titular Chinese villain of Sax Rohmer's Dr. Fu Manchu novels in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), as the living mummy Im-ho-tep in The Mummy (1932) and as the misguided Prof. Morlant in The Ghoul (1933). He thoroughly enjoyed his role as a religious fanatic in John Ford's film The Lost Patrol (1934), although contemporary critics described it as a textbook example of overacting.
He donned the signature make-up, neck bolts and asphalt spreader's boots to play the Frankenstein Monster twice more, the first time in the sensational Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and the second time in the less thrilling Son of Frankenstein (1939). Karloff, on loan to Fox, appeared in one of the best of the Warner Oland Charlie Chan films, Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936), before beginning his own short-lived detective film series as Mr. Wong. He was a wrongly condemned doctor in Devil's Island (1938), the shaven-headed executioner Mord the Merciless in Tower of London (1939), another misguided scientist in The Ape (1940), a crazed scientist surrounded by monsters, vampires and werewolves in House of Frankenstein (1944), a murderous cab-man in The Body Snatcher (1945) and a Greek general fighting vampires in the Val Lewton thriller Isle of the Dead (1945).
While Karloff continued to appear in a plethora of films, many of them were not up to the standards of his previous efforts, including his appearances in two of the hokey Bud Abbott and Lou Costello monster films (he had appeared with both of them in an earlier, superior film, Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff (1949), of which theater owners often added his name to the marquee) at the low point of the Universal-International horror film cycle. During the 1950s he was a regular guest on many high-profile TV shows, including The Milton Berle Show (1948), Tales of Tomorrow (1951), The Veil (1958), The Donald O'Connor Show (1954), The Red Skelton Hour (1951) and The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956), just to name a few, and he appeared in a mixed bag of films, including Sabaka (1954) and Voodoo Island (1957). On Broadway, he appeared as the murderous Jonathan Brewster in the hit play "Arsenic and Old Lace" (his role, or rather the absence of him in it, was amusingly parodied in the play's 1944 film version) and 10 years later he enjoyed a long run in another hit play, "Peter Pan," perfectly cast as Captain Hook.
His career experienced something of a revival in the 1960s thanks to hosting the TV anthology series Thriller (1960) and independent film director Roger Corman, with Karloff contributing wonderful performances in The Raven (1963), The Terror (1963), the ultra-eerie Black Sabbath (1963) and the H.P. Lovecraft-inspired Die, Monster, Die! (1965). Karloff's last great film role before his death was as Byron Orlok, an aging and bitter horror film star on the brink of retirement who confronts a modern-day sniper in the Peter Bogdanovich-directed film Targets (1968). After this, he played Professor John Marsh in The Crimson Cult (1968), in which he co-starred with Sir Christopher Lee and Barbara Steele; it was the last film that he starred in that was released in his lifetime. Before these two films, he played the blind sculptor Franz Badulescu in Cauldron of Blood (1968) which was produced, directed and written by Edward Mann, who had also come to the art of film from the stage and the theater; it was released in the U.S. in 1971 after his death. His TV career was topped off by achieving Christmas immortality as both the voices of the titular character and the narrator of Chuck Jones' perennial animated favorite, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966). Four low budget horror films that were made in Mexico and starred an ailing Karloff, whose scenes for all four of them were shot on a soundstage in Hollywood, were released theatrically in Mexico in 1968 and then were released directly to television in the U.S. after his death between 1971 and 1972; however, they do no justice to this great actor. In retrospect, he never took himself too seriously as an actor and had a tendency to downplay his acting accomplishments. Renowned as a refined, kind and warm-hearted gentleman with a sincere affection for both children and their welfare, Karloff passed away on February 2, 1969 from pneumonia. Respectful of his Indian roots and in true Hindu fashion, he was cremated at Guildford Crematorium, Godalming, Surrey, England, UK, where he is commemorated by a plaque in Plot 2 of the Garden of Remembrance.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Martin McDonagh was born on 26 March 1970 in Camberwell, London, England, UK. He is a writer and director, known for In Bruges (2008), Seven Psychopaths (2012) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Ida was born in London to a show business family. In 1932, her mother took Ida with her to an audition and Ida got the part her mother wanted. The picture was Her First Affaire (1932). Ida, a bleached blonde, went to Hollywood in 1934 playing small, insignificant parts. Peter Ibbetson (1935) was one of her few noteworthy movies and it was not until The Light That Failed (1939) that she got a chance to get better parts. In most of her movies, she was cast as the hard, but sympathetic woman from the wrong side of the tracks. In The Sea Wolf (1941) and High Sierra (1940), she played the part magnificently. It has been said that no one could do hard-luck dames the way Lupino could do them. She played tough, knowing characters who held their own against some of the biggest leading men of the day - Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Colman, John Garfield and Edward G. Robinson. She made a handful of films during the forties playing different characters ranging from Pillow to Post (1945), where she played a traveling saleswoman to the tough nightclub singer in The Man I Love (1946). But good roles for women were hard to get and there were many young actresses and established stars competing for those roles. She left Warner Brothers in 1947 and became a freelance actress. When better roles did not materialize, Ida stepped behind the camera as a director, writer and producer. Her first directing job came when director Elmer Clifton fell ill on a script that she co-wrote Not Wanted (1949). Ida had joked that as an actress, she was the poor man's Bette Davis. Now, she said that as a director, she became the poor man's Don Siegel. The films that she wrote, or directed, or appeared in during the fifties were mostly inexpensive melodramas. She later turned to television where she directed episodes in shows such as The Untouchables (1959) and The Fugitive (1963). In the seventies, she made guest appearances on various television show and appeared in small parts in a few movies.- Actor
- Producer
Alan Ford was born on 23 February 1938 in Camberwell, London, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Snatch (2000), An American Werewolf in London (1981) and Cockneys vs Zombies (2012).- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
London-born character actor George Richard Haydon was noted for his put-on nasal delivery and pompous, fussy manner. Haydn had a laborious start to his show business career, selling tickets in the box office of London's Daly Theatre. This was followed by an unsuccessful stint with a comedy act in musical revue. For a change of pace, he became overseer of a Jamaican banana plantation only to see it wiped out by a hurricane.
Returning home, he appeared in the 1926 West End production of 'Betty of Mayfair' and, soon after, also began to act on radio. It was in this medium where he first found success, creating his signature character: the perpetually befuddled nasally-voiced fish expert and mother's boy Edwin Carp. Haydn later immortalized the titular character in a book, titled "The Journal of Edwin Carp". The Carp routine opened the door for Haydn to appear with Beatrice Lillie on Broadway in Noël Coward's 'Set to Music' (1939) and this, in turn, resulted in a contract with 20th Century Fox.
While his first major screen role in Charley's Aunt (1941) was relatively straight-laced, he was more often seen in comedic roles where his lugubrious face and dignified, sometimes unctuous presence could be employed to scene-stealing effect. His notable characterizations in this vein include the over-enunciating Professor Oddly in Ball of Fire (1941), Rogers (the butler) in And Then There Were None (1945) and Mr. Wilson in Cluny Brown (1946). He essayed a rare villainous role as the odious Earl of Radcliffe in the period drama Forever Amber (1947) and was back to his usual form as Mr. Appleton in Sitting Pretty (1948). In The Late George Apley (1947), he played the character of Horatio Willing "with a broad edge of wheezy burlesque" (so wrote Bosley Crowther of the New York Times, March 21, 1947).
In the late 40s, Haydn made a brief foray into directing. Of his three films for Paramount, the Bing Crosby vehicle Mr. Music (1950) enjoyed the best critical reviews. Among his later appearances on screen, that of Trapp family friend and promoter Max Detweiler in The Sound of Music (1965), is the one which most often comes to mind. Over the years, he also made an impression as a voice actor in animated cartoons, notably on Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and as the Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland (1951). He had frequent guest roles on television and starred in one of the best-remembered episodes of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone (1959) ("A Thing About Machines"), as the arrogant machine-hating pedant Bartlett Finchley who loses a pitched battle with his household appliances, in particular his car. Haydn also caricatured a Japanese businessman in an episode of Bewitched (1964).
In private life, Haydn was a rather reclusive individual who liked horticulture and shunned interviews.- Lily Newmark is a British-American actor, born and raised in London. Her interest in performance began at 14, when she made costumes for the National Youth Theatre. After spending two years with the Albany Theatre Company in Deptford, she later joined the National Youth Theatre as an actor. She studied Acting and Contemporary Theatre at East 15 Acting school in Loughton, Essex, graduating in 2016.
- Monica Evans was born on 7 June 1940 in Camberwell, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Robin Hood (1973), The Odd Couple (1968) and The Aristocats (1970).
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Best remembered as Dirty Den in Eastenders while serving in the army in Germany he murdered a taxi driver and was sentenced to life and served 10 years in Wormwood Scrubs. While there a touring company put on a show which transformed him, he joined the prison theatre group and was in every play they put on while he was there which transformed him. On release he took up acting and married actress Jane Laurie with a baby that was due about September 1986.- Director
- Producer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Colin Bucksey was born in Camberwell, London, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for Fargo (2014), Breaking Bad (2008) and Person of Interest (2011). He has been married to Sally Yapp since 9 January 1988. They have two children. He was previously married to Verity Lambert.- Patricia Denys was born in 1937 in Camberwell, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for The Avengers (1961), Conflict (1966) and The Wednesday Play (1964). She has been married to David J. Prole since 1981.
- A beloved British comedienne, well known for her work on television and radio, Pat Coombs began her career in the mid 1950s, having formerly worked as a nursery school assistant.
A "foil" for top comedians including Dick Emery, Bob Monkhouse and Peggy Mount she reached the height of her fame in the 1970s in a succession of long-running television series and as a 'celebrity' in numerous game shows.
In the 1990s she joined the cast of EastEnders (1985) as Brown Owl Marge Green and played Pru in Noel's House Party (1991). In the mid 1990s she was diagnosed with the bone disease Osteoporosis but continued to work until the end of her life, recording a final installment of the radio series "Like They've Never Been Gone" (with June Whitfield and Roy Hudd) in February 2002.
A lovable lady, Pat Coombs, who never married (although came close twice), died at Denville Hall, the actor's retirement home, on 25 May 2002. She was 75 years old. - Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
After their home was bombed during the war the family was evacuated to Swanage in Dorset where Nosher attended the Swanage Grammar School, On his return to London he took up boxing and became an occasional sparring partner for Joe Louis and later Sugar Ray Robinson, and Muhammad Ali. He continued to box during his national service with the Royal Army Medical Corps and on discharge turned professional, retiring in 1960 having had 78 fights - 51 as a professional and only 9 losses but was never knocked out. He first started in films in 1944 when he was a stuntman in Laurence Olivier's Henry V (1944). He continued with stunt work in between his boxing and had small roles in such as David Lean's Oliver Twist (1948),and The Slasher (1953). In 1963 he began working as Sean Connery's stunt double in From Russia with Love (1963) which continued for many years. Away from stunt work he and his wife ran a pub near the Wimbledon greyhound stadium.- Deceased British professional wrestler and actor. He debuted in 1967 as Luke McMasters and was also billed as Haystacks Calhoun, taken from the American wrestler William 'Haystacks' Calhoun. He changed it to Giant Haystacks and wrestled all around the world under that name. He was renamed Loch Ness Monster in Stampede Wrestling. In February 1996, WCW brought him in as Loch Ness as a member of "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan's stable The Dungeon of Doom, debuting in a match against "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. This was supposed to have led to a big match with Hulk Hogan, but he started having health problems. He left the Dungeon and had his only PPV match ever at WCW Uncensored (1996), losing to The Giant (Paul Wight). He retired and passed away from cancer in 1998.
His finishing move was an Elbow Drop: an over-600 lbs Elbow Drop.
He was a 1x Joint Promotions British Heavyweight Champion, a 1x Stampede International Tag Team Champion with The Dynamite Kid (Tommy Billington), and a 1x All-Star Wrestling European Heavyweight Champion.
He was friends with Sir Paul McCartney, who invited Haystacks to appear in his movie Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984). McCartney was a fan and regularly attended Haystacks' matches.
He was a major ratings draw on ITV. His top feud in England was with Big Daddy.
In Stampede, he was a member of the stable Foley's Army, led by J.R. Foley.
Over his month in WCW, he squashed Scotty Riggs (Scotty Antol), Alex Wright, and Marcus Alexander Bagwell (Marcus Bagwell). WCW World Television Champion Lex Luger (Larry Pfohl) defeated him by count-out. - Production Designer
Simon Bowles is an internationally recognized award winning British production designer. His talent is as imaginative as it is accurate. Simon's work has been featured in publications including Architectural Digest and Variety.
He came to the film industry from the theatre world where he trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Simon Bowles was recognized early in his career for designing the maze of underground caves built at Pinewood Studios for The Descent, which won accolades at the Evening Standard British Film Awards, Empire Awards, British Independent Film Awards and Philadelphia Film Festival.
In 2012 Simon Bowles designed Roger Michell's Hyde Park On Hudson set in 1930s Upstate New York about the British royal family visiting the USA and their stay with Franklin Roosevelt, played by Bill Murray, shot entirely in the UK. Bowles's work was mentioned in reviews; "handsomely decked out with a sharp eye" by Todd McCarthy in the Hollywood Reporter and "Hyde Park on Hudson boasts top-notch production design" by Geoffrey Macnabb in The Independent and "excellent production design from Simon Bowles completes this dreamy, impeccable film" by Clare Stuart, BFI. Bowles went on to win the British Film Designers Guild award for his design of this film.
In 2014 Simon Bowles designed Pride directed by Matthew Warchus which was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a BAFTA for the most outstanding debut.
Simon Bowles designed period drama Belle set in 18th century London, which was directed by Amma Asante, with whom he further collaborated with on A United Kingdom, which stars David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. For this film Bowles was nominated in the category Best Production Design at the British Film Designers Guild awards 2017.
Bowles designed Crooked House based on the Agatha Christie novel, screenplay by Julian Fellowes. Released 2017, directed by Giles Paquet-Brenner starring Glenn Close, Christina Hendricks, Gillian Anderson, Max Irons, Stefani Martini and Terrence Stamp.
Simon Bowles won a British Film Designers Guild award for his work on Johnny English Strikes Again for Working Title starring Rowan Atkinson, directed by David Kerr, produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Chris Clarke.
His upcoming movies are A Quiet Place: Day One and Apartment 7A both for Paramount Pictures & John Krasinski's Sunday Night Productions.- Dorothy Gordon was born on 13 March 1924 in Camberwell, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Hobson's Choice (1954), Goosebumps (1995) and Sons and Lovers (1960). She died on 18 April 2013 in Toronto, Canada.
- Producer
- Writer
- Actress
Jane Kennedy was born on 9 June 1964 in Camberwell, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a producer and writer, known for Breaking News (1994), The Dish (2000) and The Castle (1997). She is married to Rob Sitch.- David Cavendish was born on 29 October 1893 in Camberwell, Lambeth, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Captain Blood (1935), Two Arabian Knights (1927) and Random Harvest (1942). He died on 9 October 1960 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Director
- Editor
- Producer
On the UK release of his first feature film "Small Time Obsession", both Variety and The Guardian described Piotr as "a director to watch".
Piotr's second feature film "The Last Witness", was released theatrically in Poland on 156 screens; theatrically and on Digital & DVD in the UK and on Digital & DVD in the US. It has won 44 awards and was selected to screen at film festivals around the world including in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Toronto & Sydney.
With no formal training in film and television, Piotr's first break came in 1989 working as an intern at MTV Europe in the News Department. He later joined Sky TV as an intern in Sky Movies and secured a job as an interstitial producer/director. He then co-created the film magazine show "Xposure" which began transmitting in September 1992 and was re-named "The Movie Show" in January 1994. It was first presented by Nadia De Lemeny and Rob Brydon then Richard Jobson. Piotr directed the shows between August 1993 and January 1995, including special reports from New York, Los Angeles and the Cannes, Berlin and Edinburgh Film Festivals.
In 1994, Piotr made the short film "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie", which won the Best British Film Award at the Institute of Amateur Cinematographers in 1995. It was also selected to play at the Barcelona Film Festival and was screened on Sky TV in October 1997.
In January 1995, Piotr left Sky to work as a freelance director and editor while writing and producing "Small Time Obsession". He then worked exclusively in UK TV drama as a director on many of the nation's top-rated shows while continuing to develop feature films, culminating in him co-writing and directing "The Last Witness".
Piotr's parents were born in Poland but were deported when both the German and Soviet armies invaded the country in 1939. Piotr's father and his family were sent to Austria by the Germans as forced labour. His mother and her family were sent to Siberia by the Soviets as enemies of the state. Piotr's grandfather was executed by the Soviet NKVD in the Katyn Massacre in 1940. After the war, Piotr's mother and father found themselves in England but could not return to Poland as it was still occupied by Soviet Russia and under communist rule. They remained in England as political refugees, as did many of their fellow countrymen and women.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
David Cameron was born on 21 January 1933 in Camberwell, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for Robot Jox (1989), Mrs. Dally (1966) and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). He was married to Gerlinde Bernhard, Dorothea 'Pumpi' Gräfin v. Lamberg, Hildegard Knef and Shirley Cameron. He died on 7 August 2012 in Vienna, Austria.- Lynne Miller was born in 1951 in Camberwell, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Princess Daisy (1983), Within These Walls (1974) and The Bill: Target (1996). She has been married to Nobby Clark since 1982. They have two children.
- Producer
- Editor
- Director
Bill Jones was born on 26 July 1976 in Camberwell, London, England, UK. He is a producer and editor, known for Absolutely Anything (2015), Monty Python: Almost the Truth - The Lawyer's Cut (2009) and Cold Providence.- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Gerry Judge was born on 20 June 1911 in Camberwell, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor. He died on 13 September 1986 in Fulham, London, England, UK.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Roy Sone was born in December 1939 in Camberwell, London, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Explorer (1955), Just for You (1964) and The Big Switch (1968).- Norman Tyrrell was born on 25 July 1917 in Camberwell, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Lorna Doone (1963), The Plane Makers (1963) and The Children of the New Forest (1964). He was married to Angela Brooking. He died on 24 April 2000 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK.