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1-27 of 27
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Rare is the reference to Margaret Rutherford that doesn't characterize her as either jut-chinned, eccentric, or both. The combination of those most mundane of attributes has led some to suggest that she was made for the role of Agatha Christie's indomitable sleuth, Jane Marple, whom Rutherford portrayed in four films between 1961 and 1964 plus in an uncredited film cameo in The Alphabet Murders (1965). Rutherford began her acting career first as a student at London's Old Vic, debuting on stage in 1925. In 1933, she first appeared in the West End at the not-so-tender age of 41. She had made her screen debut in 1936 portraying Miss Butterby in the Twickenham-Wardour production of Hideout in the Alps (1936).
In summer 1941, Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit opened on the London stage, with Coward himself directing. Appearing as Madame Arcati, the genuine psychic, was Rutherford, in a role in which Coward had earlier envisaged her and which he then especially shaped for her. She would carry her portrayal of Madame Arcati to the screen adaptation, David Lean's Blithe Spirit (1945). Not only would this become one of Rutherford's most memorable screen performances - with her bicycling about the Kentish countryside, cape fluttering behind her - but it would establish the model for portraying that pseudo-soothsayer forever thereafter. Despite Rutherford's appearances in more than 40 films, it is as Madame Arcati and Miss Jane Marple that she will best be remembered.- Pearl Chanda was born on 11 March 1992 in Balham, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for See How They Run (2022), I May Destroy You (2020) and War of the Worlds (2019).
- Actor
- Soundtrack
One of America's most heard men back in the day with thousands of radio programs to his credit and the possessor of one of the most prominent male voices of that medium's war-era "Golden Age," veteran actor Les Tremayne was considered to have the third most distinctive tones on the airwaves, only behind Bing Crosby and Franklin D. Roosevelt!
Born Lester Tremayne Henning in London, England, on April 16, 1913, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois when the boy was only four. Wanting to bury his British accent growing up in the States, Tremayne took an an eager interest in community theatre. He began his professional career as a dancer in vaudeville, supplementing his income on the side as a barker in various amusement parks.
Tremayne received his first radio job in Chicago when he was 17 years old. While gaining experience, he attended Northwestern University where he studied Greek drama and also took up anthropology at Columbia University and UCLA. During the 1930s and 1940s, Tremayne was usually heard in more than one show per week. Growing in leaps and bounds as a voice that could handle many types, ages and accents, his first big break occurred in 1934 as the leading man on the soap drama "The Romance of Helen Trent." He then replaced actor Don Ameche as the leading man on the popular weekly radio drama "The First Nighter," a stint that lasted six years. During that time, his more popular series work included that of super-sleuth Nick Charles in "The Adventures of the Thin Man." He also became the announcer on "The Bob Crosby Show."
Searching for bigger opportunities, Tremayne transplanted himself to both Los Angeles New York in 1943, and continued to find radio work as the title role in "The Falcon," played detective Pat Abbott in "The Abbott Mysteries," appeared on Bob Crosby's programs "The Old Gold Show" and "The Bob Crosby Show," and co-starred as the straight man alongside "The Great One" on "The Jackie Gleason/Les Tremayne Show" when Crosby enlisted for WWII service. Other shows would include a breakfast talk format, "The Tremaynes," with second wife Alice Reinheart, as well as the programs "Cavalcade of America," "Ford Theatre," "Inner Sanctum Mysteries," "Kraft Music Hall," "Lux Radio Theatre" and "The Whistle," among so many others.
In the 1950s, Tremayne took on films and the new medium of TV. Typically playing military types, erudite professionals, shifty execs and errant husbands, his more officious roles included playing a police commission chief in The Racket (1951); a colonel in Francis Goes to West Point (1952); a lawyer in Susan Slept Here (1954); a senator in A Man Called Peter (1955) and another colonel in The Perfect Furlough (1958). Best remembered for his characters in cult 1950s sci-fiers, he co-starred or was featured in The War of the Worlds (1953), The Monolith Monsters (1957), The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959) and The Angry Red Planet (1959). His mellifluous voice was also utilized in films (Forbidden Planet (1956)), in film trailers (The Iron Petticoat (1956)) and for narrating documentaries (Adventures in the Red Sea (1951)).
On TV, Tremayne earned frequent appearances on such established programs as "The Danny Thomas Show," "Mr. Adams and Eve," "The Thin Man," "Bachelor Father," "77 Sunset Strip," "The Jack Benny Program," "The Rifleman," "State Trooper," "M Squad," "Thriller," "Perry Mason," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Checkmate" and "The Andy Griffith Show." He also had a recurring TV role as Major Stone on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (1954) and co-starred as Inspector Richard Queen, the father of the famed mystery writer (played by George Nader on the series The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen (1958).
A flurry of unworthy low-budget films came Tremayne's way in later years including Shootout at Big Sag (1962), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963), The Slime People (1963), Creature of Destruction (1968), Strawberries Need Rain (1971) and Fangs (1974). He also found work with the CBS Mystery Radio Theatre, and also provided voices for "Mr. Magoo," "Johnny Quest," "The Smurfs," "Go-Bots," "Scooby Doo" and "Rikki Tiki Tavi."
Inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995, Tremayne would take his final bow in the comedy film horror The Naked Monster (2005) which featured several other cult actors of '50s sci-fi/horror including Kenneth Tobey, John Agar, Robert Clarke, Robert Cornthwaite, Jeanne Carmen, Lori Nelson, Ann Robinson and Gloria Talbott.
Tremayne died of heart failure in Santa Monica, California, on December 19, 2003, at the age of 90, and was survived by his fourth wife, Joan Hertz.- Actor
- Producer
London-born character actor Derek Fowlds came to the fore on television as 'Mr. Derek', straight man to the children's puppet Basil Brush (succeeding Rodney Bewes in that capacity), then as private secretary and political advisor Bernard Woolley, diligently keeping the reins on obtuse British Cabinet Minister Jim Hacker (Paul Eddington) in Yes Minister (1980), and, finally, as retired police sergeant -- turned pub proprietor -- Oscar Blaketon during the entire 18-year run of Heartbeat (1992). Having done his national service in the RAF, Fowlds based the Blaketon character on a drill instructor, commenting "I just cut my hair shorter, slicked it back and shouted a lot and Oscar was born."
In his youth, Fowlds aspired to becoming a footballer. He first tried acting in school plays as a bit of a lark. "Just for kicks" he later decided to pursue the profession more seriously, trained at RADA and debuted on stage in a 1961 production of "The Miracle Worker" at London's Wyndham Theatre. Thereafter, he popped up in the occasional motion picture but was considerably more prolific on the small screen where he regularly alternated between comedy and drama. Early on, he played the lead in his own short-lived detective series, Take a Pair of Private Eyes (1966). His autobiography "A Part Worth Playing" was released in 2015.- Writer
- Music Department
- Producer
John Sullivan was born on 23 December 1946 in Balham, London, England, UK. He was a writer and producer, known for Only Fools and Horses (1981), Dear John (1988) and The Green Green Grass (2005). He died on 23 April 2011 in Surrey, England, UK.- Freddie Annobil-Dodoo is a British actor. In 2001 Freddie won the Barclays Theatre Awards (TMA) for 'Best Actor In A Supporting Role'.
Born to Ghanaian parents in South London, Clapham, he grew up in East London, Isle of Dogs. It was at the early age of 14 that he was bitten by the acting bug after watching Eddie Murphy in 'Beverly Hills Cop'.
Freddie soon developed an intense passion for acting and it was spotted by his then drama and English teachers, who got their departments to pay for Freddie to attend the Sylvia Young Theatre School on weekends/part-time for a year. He later got into Seltec College (now Lewisham College) to study drama (A level foundation) for two years. There, Freddie learned a lot from studying - Stanislavski, Brecht, and Shakespeare among others and got hooked on Stanislavski and 'The Method' acting technique. He wanted to further his training by going to 'Drama School' and landed auditions with some of the top schools in the UK but could not get funding.
At age 21, Freddie got his first exclusive acting agent and landed a role as a professional actor in a 3 hander production with The Black Theatre Co-op - a Theatre In Education(TIE) play called "Just For Kicks" about drug awareness, which toured schools within London Boroughs. Soon he broke into television and got his first major role in a BBC2 Drama Serial called 'Holding On', about life in the big city - London, the serial won a BAFTA for Best Drama Serial in 1998. Since then Freddie has worked on various productions in Television, Film, Radio, and Theatre.
His TV credits include roles in Holding On, Casualty, Holby City, Down To Earth, As If, The Vice Series 2, Heat Of The Sun, Grange Hill, Come Rain Come Shine, Moving On, etc. His theatre credits include: Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads at the National Theatre, When Brains Don't Count at the Royal Court Theatre, Things Fall Apart with Collective Artistes Theatre, etc..
Freddie continues to work within the acting industry adding several indie-film and TV roles to his credits, such as 'Miracle Workers' (season 2, 2020) a Sky Comedy and TBS Network series where he played 'Gary', and 'Undercover' (season 2, 2020) an award-winning Belgium crime drama, where he plays (in season 2, ep3) 'Daniel Akwane' a Sudanese military soldier/hit man, season 2 is now being aired on Netflix. - Victor Knight was born on 7 July 1922 in Balham, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Scanners (1981), Terror Train (1980) and Danger Mouse (1981). He was married to Helen Knight and Kathleen Fee. He died on 19 April 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
- Sidney Cole was born in Balham, London, England, UK. Sidney is an actor, known for The Two Popes (2019), National Theatre at Home: Les Blancs (2020) and Zong (2022).
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Junior was born on 6 June 1957 in Balham, London, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Beverly Hills Cop (1984), All the Right Moves (1983) and Playing Away (1987).- Susan Beaumont was born on 26 February 1936 in Balham, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Ivanhoe (1958), Carry on Nurse (1959) and Eyewitness (1956). She was married to John Beard, James Hateley Seddon and Arthur Solomon. She died on 25 February 2020 in London, England, UK.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Alan Bond is an established actor, presenter and voiceover artist known for his work in Bond's Millions: The Best of Bond (2017), The Bill (1984), Los hombres de Paco (2005), Marcella (2016), Rosamunde Pilcher (1993), Broadchurch (2013), Silk (2011), EastEnders (1985), Sherlock (2010), Silent Witness (1996), The Fact Files (2007), Crossroads (2015) and The Unseen Fred West Confessions (2014). Alan has also been a professional stand-in for the likes of Roger Moore, Liam Neeson, Steven Seagal, Vinny Jones and David Walliams and also has considerable experience behind the camera, having performed the duties of Director, Executive Producer, Producer, Assistant Director, Camera Operative, Location Manager and Location Assistant on various productions.- Dee C. Lee was born on 6 June 1961 in Balham, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Rabbit Fever (2006), The Style Council: Shout to the Top! (1984) and The Town That Boars Me (2008). She was previously married to Paul Weller.
- Additional Crew
- Actor
- Writer
Jimmy Hill was born on 22 July 1927 in Balham, London, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for For Amusement Only (1968), Newman and Baddiel in Pieces (1993) and The Big Match (1968). He was married to Bryony, Gloria Hill and Heather Hill. He died on 19 December 2015 in Sussex, England, UK.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
Martin Worth was born in November 1926 in Balham, London, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Emmerdale Farm (1972), The Borderers (1968) and Microbes and Men (1974). He was married to Angela Field. He died in July 2018 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK.- Ann Ladbury was born on 5 March 1932 in Balham, London, England, UK. She died in 2020.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Liz Charles-Williams was born on 19 November 1935 in Balham, London, England, UK. She was a writer, known for Some Girls Do (1969), Deadlier Than the Male (1967) and Open Season (1974). She was married to David D. Osborn. She died on 3 April 2014 in Wilder, Vermont, USA.- Claire Driver was born in Balham, London, England, UK. Claire is an actor, known for Thirteen Cars (2024), Trendy (2017) and Blue Roses.
- Brian Paddick was born on 24 April 1958 in Balham, London, England, UK. He has been married to Petter Belsvik since 9 January 2009. He was previously married to Mary Stone.
- Actor
- Visual Effects
- Director
Martin Malone was born on 22 April 1962 in Balham, London, England, UK. He is an actor and director, known for Acid Rain (2005), EastEnders (1985) and Stranded (2009). He has been married to Lorna Edwards since 16 September 2006. They have one child.- Actress
Dora Christie-Murray was born in 1901 in Balham, London, England, UK. She was an actress. She was married to Donald McIntyre McArthur and Frank Raymond Cawley. She died on 13 March 1992 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.- Gilbert Childs was born on 14 February 1886 in Balham, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Co-Optimists (1929). He died on 24 September 1931 in London, England, UK.
- Pip Rolls was born on 12 December 1948 in Balham, London, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Eagle Rock (1964), Dixon of Dock Green (1955) and The Odd Man (1960).
- Eric Lankester was born on 21 October 1868 in Balham, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Bars of Iron (1920) and The Glorious Adventure (1922). He died in July 1953 in Paddington, London, England, UK.
- Lena Halliday was born in 1872 in Balham, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for After the Verdict (1929), When Knights Were Bold (1929) and Inquest (1931). She died on 19 December 1937 in Battersea, London, England, UK.
- Eric Maxon was born on 22 May 1882 in Balham, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for After Dark (1915) and Richard III (1911). He died in 1963 in Finsbury, London, England, UK.
- Leonard Trollope was born on 13 March 1892 in Balham, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Magistrate (1946). He died on 2 November 1978 in Minehead, Somerset, England, UK.
- Constance Fraser was born on 5 December 1904 in Balham, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Appleyards (1952), A Lady Mislaid (1958) and The Spaniard's Curse (1958). She died on 27 April 1973 in Worthing, Sussex, England, UK.