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The original ash-blonde "iceberg maiden", Madeleine Carroll was a knowing beauty with a confident air, the epitome of poise and "breeding". Not only did she have looks and allure in abundance, but she had intellectual heft to go with them, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from Birmingham University at the age of 20. The daughter of a French mother and an Irish father, she briefly held a position teaching French at a girls seminary near Brighton, but was by this time thoroughly determined to seek her career in the theatre--much to her dad's chagrin. Madeleine's chance arrived, after several failed auditions (and in between modeling hats), in the shape of a small part as a French maid in a 1927 West End production of "The Lash". Her film debut followed within a year and stardom was almost instantaneous. By the time she appeared in The W Plan (1930), Madeleine had become Britain's top female screen star. That is not to say, however, that she was a gifted actress from the outset. In fact, she learned her trade on the job, finding help along the way from established thespians such as Seymour Hicks and Miles Mander. Most of her early films tended to focus on that exquisite face, and bringing out her regal, well-bred--if rather icy--personality. Her beautiful speaking voice enabled her to make the transition to sound pictures effortlessly.

Following a year-long absence from acting (and marriage to Capt. Philip Astley of the King's Guards) she returned to the screen, having been tempted with a lucrative contract by Gaumont-British. The resulting films, Sleeping Car (1933) and I Was a Spy (1933), were both popular and critical successes and prompted renewed offers from Hollywood. However, on loan to Fox, the tedious melodrama The World Moves On (1934) did absolutely nothing for her career and she quickly returned to Britain--a fortuitous move, as it turned out. Alfred Hitchcock had been on the lookout for one of the unattainable, aloof blondes he was so partial to, whose smoldering sexuality lay hidden beneath a layer of ladylike demeanor (other Hitch favorites of that type included Grace Kelly and Kim Novak). Madeleine fitted the bill perfectly. The 39 Steps (1935), based on a novel by John Buchan, made her an international star. The process was not entirely painless, however, as Hitchcock "introduced" Madeleine to co-star Robert Donat by handcuffing them together (accounts vary as to how long, exactly, but it was likely for several hours) for "added realism". In due course the enforced companionship got the stars nicely acquainted and helped make their humorous banter in the film all the more convincing.

Hitchcock liked Madeleine and attempted to repeat the success of "The 39 Steps" with Secret Agent (1936), but with somewhat diminished results (primarily because Donat had to pull out of the project due to illness and Madeleine's chemistry with John Gielgud was not on the same level as it was with Donat). Nonetheless, her reputation was made. After Alexander Korda sold her contract, she ended up back in Hollywood with Paramount. Initially she was signed for one year (1935-36), but this was extended in 1938 with a stipulation that she make two pictures per year until the end of 1941. The studio publicity machine touted Madeleine as "the most beautiful woman in the world". This was commensurate with her being given A-grade material, beginning with The General Died at Dawn (1936), opposite Gary Cooper. For once, Madeleine portrayed something other than a regal or "squeaky clean" character, and she did so with more warmth and élan than she had displayed in her previous films. She then showed a humorous side in Irving Berlin's On the Avenue (1937); had Tyrone Power and George Sanders fight it out for her affections in Lloyd's of London (1936) (on loan to Fox); and turned up as a particularly decorative--though in regard to acting, underemployed--princess, in The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). Thereafter she had hit the peak of her profession in terms of salary, reportedly making $250,000 in 1938 alone. For the remainder of her Hollywood tenure, Madeleine co-starred three times with Fred MacMurray (the most enjoyable encounter was Honeymoon in Bali (1939)), and opposite Bob Hope in one of his most fondly remembered comedies, My Favorite Blonde (1942). Then it all started to come to an end.

Having lost her sister Guigette during a German air attack on London in October 1940, Madeleine devoted more and more of her time to the war effort, becoming entertainment director for the United Seamens Service and joining the Red Cross as a nurse under the name Madeleine Hamilton. She was unable to rekindle her popularity after the war, her last film of note being The Fan (1949), a dramatization of Oscar Wilde's play. She made a solitary, albeit very successful, attempt at Broadway, with a starring role in the comedy "Goodbye, My Fancy" (1948), directed by and co-starring a young Sam Wanamaker. There were a few more TV and radio appearances but, for all intents and purposes, her career had run its course. Britain's most glamorous export to Hollywood became increasingly self-deprecating, rejecting further overtures from producers. Instead, she became more committed to charitable works on behalf of children, orphaned or injured as the result of the Second World War.

Madeleine spent the last 21 years of her life in retirement, first in Paris, then in the south of Spain. Two of her four ex-husbands included the actor Sterling Hayden and the French director/producer Henri Lavorel. Last of the quartet was Andrew Heiskell, publisher of 'Life' magazine. She died in Marbella in October 1987. In her private life, the trimmings of stardom seemed to have mattered little to Madeleine. As to her status as a sex symbol, she was once said to have quipped to a group of collegians who had voted her the girl they'd most like to be marooned with on a desert island, that she would not object, provided at least one of them was a good obstetrician!

Jean Negulesco made his reputation as a director of both polished, popular entertainments as well as critically acclaimed dramatic pictures in the 1940s and 1950s. Born in Craiova, Romania, he left home at age 12, ending up in Paris. He earned some money washing dishes, which paid for his art tuition, on the way to fulfilling his dream of becoming a painter. World War I intervened, and he found himself in the French army working in a field hospital on the Western Front. Returning to Paris unscathed, he embarked on a more serious study of the arts, learning to paint under the guidance of his émigré compatriot Constantin Brâncusi (1876-1957), and subsequently returned home to Romania. Proving himself an adept pupil, Negulesco sold 150 of his paintings at his very first exhibition. Back in Paris by the early 1920s, he discovered another outlet for his creativity by working as a stage decorator.

In 1927, Negulesco took some of his paintings to New York in the hope of finding a wider audience. He liked it and decided to stay. Travelling across the US to California--all the while making money by painting portraits--Negulesco took years to arrive at his destination. In 1932, he was hired by Paramount Pictures (working for producer Benjamin Glazer) for his first job in the movie industry, as a sketch artist and technical advisor, notably designing the rape scene in The Story of Temple Drake (1933) without violating the Hays Code. Persuaded by an art critic, Elie Faure, to throw himself whole-heartedly into film work, Negulesco then financed and directed his own experimental project, "Three and a Day", starring Mischa Auer. Studio executives liked the picture and Negulesco advanced up the ladder to second-unit director, working on A Farewell to Arms (1932) and (on loan to Warner Brothers) The Sea Hawk. He served in diverse capacities during the remainder of the decade, including associate director, scenarist and original story writer. In 1940, he was approached by Warner Brothers and signed to a contract (until 1948) to direct shorts. Between 1941 and 1944, Negulesco turned out a string of shorts, generally of a musical nature and often featuring popular big bands, including those of Joe Reichman, Freddy Martin and Jan Garber.

Negulesco's road to directing feature films was a tortured one. He was replaced by John Huston two months into shooting The Maltese Falcon (1941) and suffered a similar fate with Singapore Woman (1941). His big break came when he landed the directing job for The Mask of Dimitrios (1944), a tale of international intrigue, based on the novel "A Coffin for Dimitrios" by Eric Ambler. The film was unusual in that it starred two character actors instead of romantic leads. The story, already convoluted by many flashbacks, was therefore not muddied further by built-in romantic angles not integral to the plot. The two films noir experts at the center of the action, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, contributed greatly to the success of the venture. Likewise did Negulesco's experience as an artist, which had provided him with a keen eye for effective shots and the ability to set a scene to create atmosphere. Critic Pauline Kael aptly commented that the picture "had more mood than excitement". "The Mask of Dimitrios" was a financial boon for Warner Brothers and led to further assignments for its director.

Continuing in the same genre, Negulesco was tasked with two more films starring Greenstreet and Lorre, The Conspirators (1944) and Three Strangers (1946). He also directed John Garfield and Joan Crawford in the brilliantly moody melodrama Humoresque (1946). This picture was in many ways a victory of style over content. The maudlin tale of an up-and-coming young violinist and his stormy, ultimately, ill-fated relationship with an unhappily married alcoholic socialite, could have been hackneyed soap opera under a lesser talent. However, Negulesco not only elicited electrifying performances from his stars, but also gave the film an edgy look, as well as effectively juxtaposing the ghetto background of the Garfield character with the lush, high-society settings of Crawford's. Aided by Ernest Haller's photography, a bitingly clever screenplay conceived by Clifford Odets and Zachary Gold, and with Franz Waxman's lavish orchestration of music by Antonín Dvorák and Richard Wagner, "Humoresque" was another major hit with critics and public alike.

'Mood" was again at the center of the success pf Johnny Belinda (1948), the story of a deaf-mute who is raped, has a child and later kills her assailant. Negulesco tackled what was at the time a taboo subject in films (considered box-office poison) with restrained sentimentality. Bosley Crowther pondered in his review why Warners had undertaken the project in the first place, but gave both it and its director an excellent appraisal (October 2, 1948). Unfortunately, Warners did not concur and, though "Johnny Belinda" made the studio $4 million, Negulesco was unceremoniously fired. He did have the last laugh, however, being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director and seeing his star, Jane Wyman, walking away with a Best Actress Oscar.

Between 1948 and 1958, Jean Negulesco became a contract director for 20th Century-Fox, a studio where he found the pace more to his liking. His first assignment was Road House (1948), another robust film noir with a good cast, headed by Ida Lupino and Richard Widmark. He then helmed the realistic war drama Three Came Home (1950), which enjoyed good reviews by both "Variety" and the "New York Times". After a brief interlude in England, directing the idiosyncratic comedy The Mudlark (1950) with Alec Guinness, Negulesco had a less successful outing with his version of the sinking of the Titanic (1953).

From 1953, Negulesco effectively reinvented himself as a director of more commercial, glossy entertainments, beginning with the expensively made and deliriously enjoyable comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (1953). With Marilyn Monroe at the peak of her career, this was also one of the first pictures to be shot in CinemaScope. Not necessarily a critical hit but a hugely popular success was the Oscar-nominated Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), which was filmed on location in Rome and became another major hit for its director. This was followed, in a similar vein, by the excellent all-star Woman's World (1954). Negulesco's variable output during the remainder of the decade ranged from the CinemaScope musical Daddy Long Legs (1955) to the colorful Boy on a Dolphin (1957), which introduced Sophia Loren to American audiences. Among Negulesco's notable failures during this period were The Rains of Ranchipur (1955) and The Gift of Love (1958).

In the late 1960s he moved to Marbella, Spain, to paint and to collect art. He made three more films after 1963, The Pleasure Seekers (1964), The Invincible Six (1970) and Hello-Goodbye (1970), which are best forgotten.

Jean Negulesco reminisced about his Hollywood experiences in an autobiography in 1984, "Things I Did...and Things I Think I Did". He died in Marbella of a heart attack at the respectable age of 93.

Mike Reid was born on 19 January 1940 in Hackney, London, England, UK. He was an actor and producer, known for Snatch (2000), EastEnders (1985) and Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time (1993). He was married to Shirley Collins and Sheila A Axe. He died on 29 July 2007 in Marbella, Spain.

Ricardo Montez was born on 20 September 1923 in Gibraltar. He was an actor and writer, known for Mamma Mia! (2008), Mind Your Language (1977) and The Avengers (1961). He was married to Orovida Hatchwell. He died on 26 October 2010 in Marbella, Spain.

This glamorous, sultry Anglo-Austrian leading lady and model was born Dorothy Lane Bolton in Vienna to British oil company executive John Bolton and Russian-born pianist Olga Mironova. Mara studied dance with the Viennese ballet before her family took her to America, travelling via Denmark. She had a sister, Jocelyn Lane (aka Jackie), who was eventually to follow in her older sibling's footsteps to become a successful cover model and starlet in her own right.

Mara was educated in New York and later attended the Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys in the Saint Laurent borough of Montreal. While only in her teens, she began working part-time as a model for teenage fashion magazines. Aged 18, she moved to London to study costume design. Talent-scouted in a restaurant, with some modelling experience already under her belt, Mara appeared two years later in her first motion picture, the independently-produced post-war drama Hell Is Sold Out (1951). At this time, she was touted in the press as the 'British Marilyn Monroe', though she might have been more accurately described as an Elizabeth Taylor-lookalike. Mara herself disliked being compared to other actresses, calling it 'a disadvantage'. Nonetheless, she followed the advice of studio bosses to "get around and be seen". As the cameras adored her, celebrity status quickly followed, if not on the silver screen, then on the cover of glossy magazines.

Mara had several undemanding supporting roles in British films before being signed by Howard Hughes for a small part in his RKO comedy Susan Slept Here (1954), starring Dick Powell and Debbie Reynolds. Thereafter, having spurned further offers from Hollywood, she forged a minor (but, ultimately, desultory) career as star of European B-grade movies, ranging from spy thrillers (Uomini ombra (1954)) to films noir (cast as a femme fatale in Angela (1954), co-starring opposite Dennis O'Keefe) and from romantic period comedy (Sins of Casanova (1955)) to peplum (Anno 79: La distruzione di Ercolano (1962)). She made several films in Germany, arguably her best being the melancholic love story Monpti (1957), filmed on location in Paris with Romy Schneider and Horst Buchholz early in their careers.

In 1961, Mara married San Antonio oil executive William Lafayette Dugger Jr., but divorced him after just three years. Dugger was later briefly engaged to Hollywood star Lizabeth Scott. He died unexpectedly in 1969. Mara left show business in 1964 and disappeared from the limelight, having always craved privacy in her personal life. She died in relative obscurity in Marbella, Spain, in 2014.

Actress (b. Valladolid, Spain, Dec. 3, 1953). After having studied simultaneously Philosophy and Art and Speech (both careers remained unfinished), she became a household name overnight as one of the pretty and "bespectacled" hostesses of the top-rated TV contest "1, 2, 3, Responda Otra Vez", where she popularized what was going to be her early screen persona: platinum blonde-dyed hair, provocative ways and a sensuality always ready to break out. She made her film debut in 1972, at 19, and acquired an enormous popularity thanks to her tremendous sex-appeal and a clever promotion campaign that exploited a certain similarity between her looks and those of the late Marilyn Monroe to the extent of making a successful movie named precisely "The New Marilyn" (1976). She kept this image for a while (especially in her spectacular TV appearances in the mid-70s), but eventually got tired of it and decided to cut off her hair completely (she did it herself with a pair of scissors borrowed from a filming kit) and let it grow its natural dark colour again. Blonde or brunette, Lys grabbed a long string of femme fatale roles in films of each and every genre (thrillers, comedies, dramas, westerns, etc.) and turned into some kind of domestic myth at that time. (She also had the advantage of owning a fine diction that matched her thought-provoking voice perfectly, so, unlike some other actresses of that era, she didn't need to be dubbed.) Anyway, after leading her bold image one step further in the late 70s, she decided to stop making films and concentrate on her theatrical work, that she had started in 1973 playing Dª Inés de Ulloa in Zorrilla's "Don Juan Tenorio" with her own company. In the 1980s she focused her activity on recording music (which she did with real gusto and vocal dexterity), performing in both musical shows and dramatic or comic plays in which she displayed an image far removed from the one that shot her to fame and even making more sporadic appearances on TV (playing, for example, a splendid Portia on a small-screen adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Merchant Of Venice"). The late 80s saw her returning to the movies and scoring some films of uneven success and quality, although she has always risen to the occasion. In any case, she is still an underestimated actress, though she has proved capable of giving such amusing characterizations as that of "Avisa A Curro Jiménez" (1978), where she seemed almost unrecognizable. Now she leads a rather reclusive life when not working (in contrast to the antics and eccentricities of her early career) and, although she has never married, she enjoys a very stable relationship with Fernando, her partner of some 20 years. Hers is really one of those examples of body-with-a-brain-on-top-to-match, and hopefully she will still be around for a large number of years.

Peter Viertel, a WWII veteran whose first novel was published to glowing reviews when he was only 18, was born of parents of the European intelligentsia, refugees from Adolf Hitler's Europe. Brought up in Hollywood, in a household where Greta Garbo (his mother's closest friend), Bertolt Brecht Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann and Franz Werfel were constant guests, young Peter yearned to be an American. In need of money to be able to continue writing his novels and to support his first wife, Jigee, Viertel turned to writing scripts for Hollywood, where he soon found himself in the orbit of John Huston, the legendary director of The Maltese Falcon (1941). Peter died in Marbella, Spain, nineteen days following the death of his second wife, actress Deborah Kerr.

Caritina Goyanes was born on 10 November 1976 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain. She was married to Antonio Matos. She died on 26 August 2024 in Marbella, Andalusia, Spain.

Gérard Barray was the leading hero in Adventure-Movies made in France - following Jean Marais and on his side in his starting-out-Movies. He became famous as D'Artagnan in "Les trois mousquetaires", as Hardi Pardaillan and "Commissaire San Antonio". In 1969 he changed his profile to the dark side as Van Britten, partner of young Claude Jade in The Witness (1969) - his most interesting part, but whithout great success. His come-back to popularity was the TV-Man Duvernois in Open Your Eyes (1997) by Alejandro Amenábar, the original version of Vanilla Sky (2001) with Tom Cruise.

Dusty Anderson was born on 17 December 1918 in Toledo, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for A Thousand and One Nights (1945), The Phantom Thief (1946) and One Way to Love (1946). She was married to Jean Negulesco and Charles Louis Arthur Mathieu Jr.. She died on 12 September 2007 in Marbella, Spain.

Prinz Alfonso von und zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg was born on 28 May 1924 in Madrid, Spain. He was an actor, known for Sergeant Berry (1974), Prince Alfonso Hohenlohe & The Marbella Club Hotel (2011) and V.I.P.-Schaukel (1971). He was married to Marilys Healing, Jocelyn Lane and Ira von Fürstenberg. He died on 21 December 2003 in Marbella, Andalucía, Spain.

Joan Barry was born in 1903. At the age of 15 she had her first small part in "Luck of the Navy". Some of her talking pictures were: "Head Waiter", A Man of Mayfair (1931) and Rome Express (1932), while her her first title role was in the film Sally Bishop (1932).

Joan is likely to be remembered best for the uncredited role as the voice of Anny Ondra in the first British Talkie Blackmail (1929) - directed by Alfred Hitchcock. She worked with him again in East of Shanghai (1931). Joan Barry retired from the business in 1934 instead choosing marriage and motherhood.

Julio Peña was born on 18 June 1912 in Madrid, Spain. He was an actor and producer, known for Horror Express (1972), Solomon and Sheba (1959) and The Castilian (1963). He was married to Susana Canales. He died on 27 July 1972 in Marbella, Málaga, Andalucía, Spain.

Rick Parfitt was born on 12 October 1948 in Woking, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor and composer, known for Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002), Sieranevada (2016) and Bula Quo! (2013). He was married to Lyndsay Whitburn, Patty Beedon and Marietta Booker. He died on 24 December 2016 in Marbella, Spain.

Espartaco Santoni was born on 14 June 1932 in Carúpano, Venezuela. He was an actor and producer, known for The Castilian (1963), The Feast of Satan (1971) and Death Will Have Your Eyes (1974). He was married to Eva Medina, Carolina Zapata, Natividad de las Casas, Carmen Cervera, Analía Gadé, Tere Velázquez, Marujita Díaz, Maruja Valdez and María de los Ángeles. He died on 3 September 1998 in Marbella, Málaga, Andalucía, Spain.

Being the son of actor / theatre director Gösta Ekman, it was natural for him to start a career in the movie business. He was first noticed for playing against his father in Intermezzo (1936). He also showed a talent for writing, and his first script was filmed as Blixt och dunder (1938). Producer Lorens Marmstedt gave him the chance to make a successful directing debut with Med dej i mina armar (1940) at the age of 24. During the following years he could mix light comedies with drama. His Kungliga patrasket (1945) was a semi-biographical rendition of the life of an acting family. During the 1940s he kept up a high tempo making movies, with at least two movies every year. When Ingmar Bergman made his debut in the late 1940s, the critics began to compare the two young directors, a comparison who eventually became less and less favorable for Ekman. In 1950 he made the movie that he considered his best, Girl with Hyacinths (1950). From the middle of the 1950s, his directing and writing became more and more of a routine, more and more predictable, concentrating on light comedies with Sickan Carlsson. After his last movie in 1964 he went over to make revues with Karl Gerhard and Povel Ramel.

Don Jaime de Mora y Aragón was born on 19 July 1925 in Madrid, Spain. He was an actor, known for Los extremeños se tocan (1970), Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (1973) and Carola de día, Carola de noche (1969). He was married to Margit Ohlson and Rosita Arenas. He died on 26 July 1995 in Marbella, Málaga, Andalucía, Spain.

Carlos Goyanes was born on 16 January 1945 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain. He was an actor and producer, known for ¿Es usted mi padre? (1971), Tómbola (1962) and Búsqueme a esa chica (1964). He was married to Cari Lapique. He died on 7 August 2024 in Marbella, Andalusia, Spain.

Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was born in the small town of Banes in Oriente Province, Cuba, on January 16, 1901. His parents were workers on a sugar plantation and Batista, not wanting to spend the rest of his life cutting sugar cane, joined the army when he turned 20. He rose steadily, if unspectacularly, through the ranks and in 1932 was promoted to sergeant. In 1933 he had become powerful enough to lead a successful coup--known as the "Revolt of the Sergeants"--against the progressive government of Gerardo Machado.

After the coup Batista appointed himself head of the armed forces and quickly set out to consolidate his power. A year later he forced out the nominal president and appointed himself de facto ruler, although he used a succession of front men to hold the office of actual president. Batista quickly gained the support of the US government, which saw him as friendly to its political and economic interests. He also formed a friendship with American gangster Meyer Lansky--known as the "treasurer" of the American Mafia--that would last for 30 years. Through his friendship with Lansky Batista was introduced to major Mafia figures, resulting in his forming a business partnership with some of the most notorious figures in American organized crime. They built hotels and gambling casinos and controlled prostitution and the drug trade between Cuba and the US (with Batista, of course, getting a piece of the action). A change in the Cuban constitution in 1940 forced Batista to run for election as president, an election he won handily. However, the corruption and political repression of his regime and a string of high tax increases resulted in his losing re-election in 1944, after which he moved to Florida.

He ran for and won a seat in the Cuban parliament in 1948 and ran again for president, in 1952. However, when it became clear that he wouldn't win the election, he led a revolt against the government and once more took over, suspending the constitution and granting himself complete power. He formed an even closer relationship with American organized-crime figures, which allowed them to spread their influence into Central and South America, and he opened up the country to investment by large American corporations, which were attracted by Batista's policy of keeping wages artificially low and silencing, jailing or killing labor-union leaders. Eventually, however, his regime's corruption and heavy-handed repression eventually resulted in violent opposition, and a rebel movement led by Fidel Castro rose up in revolt in 1953. They were defeated by Batista's forces, with many of their number killed and others--including Castro--imprisoned. In 1956, after his release from jail and flight to Mexico, Castro returned with a small army to resume the fight. A series of strikes, riots and university protests resulted in Batista's government growing even more repressive, and many opposition figures were beaten and/or murdered. Armed opposition to his regime grew, and the various resistance groups came together under Castro's leadership. A combination of crushing defeats inflicted by the rebels on Batista's army and the US government's finally withdrawing support for his regime resulted in Batista fleeing the country on January 1, 1959, and Castro took over. Batista first went to the Dominican Republic, but eventually moved to Portugal, then to Spain, where he died on August 6, 1973.

Francesca Braggiotti was born on 17 October 1902 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. She was an actress, known for Stasera alle undici (1938), Scipione l'africano (1937) and The Igor Cassini Show (1953). She was married to John Lodge. She died on 25 February 1998 in Marbella, Málaga, Andalucía, Spain.

Alvin Lee is still played regularly on Radio shows. He is highly regarded as a Jazz player, A rock and Roll player and a superb blues guitarist. His records are still in demand, both with Ten Years After and Solo Albums. He was an immense player and was one of the fastest full note players in British music. He was near impossible to copy as his style was his own, His performance at Woodstock playing I'm going home with.the quip, by helicopter, is still a high spot of the festival, Live, On Film and On Record. It excites listeners now as it did then. He toured the world but played slightly more in the USA and headlined right up to the 80's. when he slowed down the big tours in favor of the smaller venues and Blues and Jazz clubs. He had 4 top 50 albums and 2 UK top ten singles, Love like a man being the highest placed. Alvin Lee was a great performer and a giant of Rock and Roll music. He was a modest man and a true Gentleman who would help anyone he could, especially when I was support to him on 2 European tours, Letting us use his full PA and Lights and as many encores as you got he never looked at his watch. When Thanked his reply was, Lads, the better you go with the crowd means I have to lift us up to get over you, He did just that. Died before his time of a Pulmonary Embolism on Holiday in Spain. He is sadly missed by the numbers of fans and fellow musicians at his funeral. God bless Dear old Pal, we still try to play better thanks to you. A True Great of the Worlds Guitar Players.

Otto Ernst Remer was born on 18 August 1912 in Neubrandenburg, Germany. He was married to Marga von Blaes. He died on 4 October 1997 in Marbella, Spain.

Boz Burrell was born on 1 January 1946 in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Bad Company: Bad Company (1973), Bad Company: Feel Like Makin' Love (1975) and Bad Company: Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy (1979). He died on 21 September 2006 in Marbella, Spain.

Born 15 March 1970 in Denmark is an tech entrepreneur, film producer and investor in cinema. The founder of a number of profitable ventures across Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, he retains business interests across Europe and is based in London with his two sons. He was executive producer of the critically acclaimed 'Land of Mine' (2015).

Toni Dalli was born on 28 November 1933 in Pescara, Abruzzo, Italy. He died on 29 April 2021 in Marbella, Andalusia, Spain.