Richard Lester has been presented with the BFI Fellowship. The director was given the accolade by BFI Chair Greg Dyke after a screening of his film Robin and Marian at the BFI Southbank. Lester said: "When my career was just beginning, the elegant TV critic Bernard Levin came to see me in rehearsal with Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. "He wrote, 'He seems an amiable young man who climbed into a lion's cage and realised he's forgotten his chair and his whip'. "Some 50 years later, I still haven't found a whip, but with this extraordinary honour, the BFI has kindly given me a chair." Dyke added: "Richard Lester has created a unique body of work which has enriched the lives of millions with his (more)...
- 3/26/2012
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
A Hard Day's Night director Richard Lester has received the coveted Fellowship Award from the British Film Institute (BFI).
Lester, best known for his work with The Beatles in the 1960s, was presented with the BFI's highest accolade in London on Thursday in honour of his film and TV achievements.
Accepting his prize, the American-born filmmaker acknowledged the harsh reviews he received at the start of his career working in TV with comedians Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers.
He quipped, "When my career was just beginning, the elegant TV critic Bernard Levin came to see me in rehearsal with Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. He wrote, 'He seems an amiable young man who climbed into a lion's cage and realised he's forgotten his chair and his whip.' Some 50 years later, I still haven't found a whip, but with this extraordinary honour, the BFI has kindly given me a chair."
Lester's work with Milligan and Sellers caught the attention of John Lennon, and he was hired by the Fab Four to direct A Hard Day's Night and Help! in the 1960s.
Lester joins a prestigious list of previous BFI Fellowship recipients including Dame Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, David Cronenberg and Martin Scorsese.
Lester, best known for his work with The Beatles in the 1960s, was presented with the BFI's highest accolade in London on Thursday in honour of his film and TV achievements.
Accepting his prize, the American-born filmmaker acknowledged the harsh reviews he received at the start of his career working in TV with comedians Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers.
He quipped, "When my career was just beginning, the elegant TV critic Bernard Levin came to see me in rehearsal with Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. He wrote, 'He seems an amiable young man who climbed into a lion's cage and realised he's forgotten his chair and his whip.' Some 50 years later, I still haven't found a whip, but with this extraordinary honour, the BFI has kindly given me a chair."
Lester's work with Milligan and Sellers caught the attention of John Lennon, and he was hired by the Fab Four to direct A Hard Day's Night and Help! in the 1960s.
Lester joins a prestigious list of previous BFI Fellowship recipients including Dame Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, David Cronenberg and Martin Scorsese.
- 3/26/2012
- WENN
Director Richard Lester (Superman II, A Hard Day’S Night) has been presented with the BFI.s highest accolade, the BFI Fellowship, following a screening of one of his best-loved films, Robin and Marian at BFI Southbank. The award was presented by BFI Chair, Greg Dyke.
Richard Lester said .When my career was just beginning, the elegant TV critic Bernard Levin came to see me in rehearsal with Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. He wrote: ‘he seems an amiable young man who climbed into a lion’s cage and realised he’s forgotten his chair and his whip.’
Some 50 years later, I still haven’t found a whip, but with this extraordinary honour, the BFI has kindly given me a chair..
Greg Dyke said, .Richard Lester has created a unique body of work which has enriched the lives of millions with his brilliantly surreal humour and innovative style. Although born...
Richard Lester said .When my career was just beginning, the elegant TV critic Bernard Levin came to see me in rehearsal with Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. He wrote: ‘he seems an amiable young man who climbed into a lion’s cage and realised he’s forgotten his chair and his whip.’
Some 50 years later, I still haven’t found a whip, but with this extraordinary honour, the BFI has kindly given me a chair..
Greg Dyke said, .Richard Lester has created a unique body of work which has enriched the lives of millions with his brilliantly surreal humour and innovative style. Although born...
- 3/26/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Feisty playwright best known for her ground-breaking debut, A Taste of Honey
Shelagh Delaney was 18 when she wrote A Taste of Honey, one of the defining plays of the 1950s working-class and feminist cultural movements. The play's group of dysfunctional characters, utterly alien to the prevailing middle-class "anyone for tennis?" school of theatre, each explored their chances of attaining a glimpse of happiness. The central character, a young girl named Jo, lives in a decrepit flat in Salford with her mother, who is apt to wander off in pursuit of men with money. Jo becomes pregnant by a black sailor and is cared for by Geoffrey, a young gay friend, until her mother ousts him in what could be a burst of suppressed maternal love or a display of jealous control-freakery.
Delaney, who has died of cancer aged 71, had to endure harsh criticism for her attack on the orthodoxies of the period.
Shelagh Delaney was 18 when she wrote A Taste of Honey, one of the defining plays of the 1950s working-class and feminist cultural movements. The play's group of dysfunctional characters, utterly alien to the prevailing middle-class "anyone for tennis?" school of theatre, each explored their chances of attaining a glimpse of happiness. The central character, a young girl named Jo, lives in a decrepit flat in Salford with her mother, who is apt to wander off in pursuit of men with money. Jo becomes pregnant by a black sailor and is cared for by Geoffrey, a young gay friend, until her mother ousts him in what could be a burst of suppressed maternal love or a display of jealous control-freakery.
Delaney, who has died of cancer aged 71, had to endure harsh criticism for her attack on the orthodoxies of the period.
- 11/22/2011
- by Dennis Barker
- The Guardian - Film News
Actor with great stage presence who found his metier in comic and satirical roles
There was something extra-terrestrial about the character actor Graham Crowden, who has died aged 87 – a mix of the ethereal eccentricity of Ralph Richardson and the Scottish lunacy and skewiff authoritarianism of Alastair Sim. He specialised in portraying doctors, lawyers or teachers in a satirical way.
Crowden was a tall, red-haired, serious and sometimes professionally diffident man – he turned down the opportunity of succeeding Jon Pertwee as the fourth Doctor Who, remarking that working with a lot of Daleks did not sound like much fun. He had a tremendous stage presence, always moving with an emphatic, loping gait.
Despite his eminence in plays at the Royal Court and the National Theatre, where he introduced roles in works by Nf Simpson and Tom Stoppard, and in films directed by Lindsay Anderson, he did not become widely familiar until...
There was something extra-terrestrial about the character actor Graham Crowden, who has died aged 87 – a mix of the ethereal eccentricity of Ralph Richardson and the Scottish lunacy and skewiff authoritarianism of Alastair Sim. He specialised in portraying doctors, lawyers or teachers in a satirical way.
Crowden was a tall, red-haired, serious and sometimes professionally diffident man – he turned down the opportunity of succeeding Jon Pertwee as the fourth Doctor Who, remarking that working with a lot of Daleks did not sound like much fun. He had a tremendous stage presence, always moving with an emphatic, loping gait.
Despite his eminence in plays at the Royal Court and the National Theatre, where he introduced roles in works by Nf Simpson and Tom Stoppard, and in films directed by Lindsay Anderson, he did not become widely familiar until...
- 10/22/2010
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
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