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- Janet Davies was born on 14 September 1927 in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1971), Pride and Prejudice (1980) and Dad's Army (1968). She was married to Ian Gardiner. She died on 22 September 1986 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Actor
- Stunts
George Lane Cooper was born on 28 January 1934 in England, UK. He was an actor, known for Brazil (1985), Batman (1989) and The Fifth Element (1997). He was married to Valerie Sheehan. He died on 8 February 2002 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.- Blake Butler was born on 22 October 1924 in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Rob Roy (1961), Danger UXB (1979) and Martin Chuzzlewit (1964). He died on 15 April 1981 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Ann Tirard was born on 5 June 1917 in Marylebone, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Witches (1990), Doctor Who (1963) and Moonlighting (1982). She was married to William Lyon Brown. She died on 12 August 2003 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Derek Ford (born 6 September 1932 in Tilbury, Essex - died 19 May 1995) was a British film director and writer, most famous for exploitation films such as The Swappers (1970), Keep It Up, Jack (1974) and Diversions (1976), which was also filmed in a hardcore version.
Ford began as a writer in collaboration with his brother Donald Ford (died 1991), originally for radio before progressing to television (The Saint (1962), Adam Adamant Lives! (1966)) and film (Gutter Girls (1963), A Study in Terror (1965)). Ford's first foray into directing, "Los Tres Que Robbaran Una Banco" (1961), made in Spain in 1961, was an unhappy experience; however, around the same time he entered the exploitation field when he was asked to re-edit and film additional sequences for a Swedish sex film called The Flamboyant Sex (1962), eventually released as "Paris Playgirls". Ford's directing career began proper in the late 1960s when he entered into partnership with producer Stanley A. Long, resulting in three films including the massively successful "The Wife Swappers", released in America as "The Swappers" with the tag line, "Remember when all the guy next door wanted to borrow was your lawnmower?".
Ford's early 1970s films were mainly shot in London and Maldon, Essex, where he lived, while hardcore scenes meant for the European versions of his films were shot in secret at his own house, with his wife Valerie M. Ford acting as co-director and assistant. Interviewed in the book "Keeping the British End Up", fellow director Ray Selfe referred to Ford as "a male nymphomaniac", and themes of swinging, wife swapping and outwardly respectable people living double lives run throughout Ford's work. In the 1970s the two most well-known Ford films in America were I Am a Groupie (1970) and Diversions (1976), starring Heather Deeley, which premiered in the Kips Bay area of Manhattan and was nominated for best foreign film by the Adult Film Association of America.
In Italy he directed Eros Perversion (1978), while back in England he quit as the director of Don't Open Till Christmas (1984). In the mid-'80s he attempted to find more mainstream work and dissociate himself from his past, but what little work came his way would drag him back to exploitation film. He directed The Nudist Story (1960) in Italy in 1985, in which (returning to the themes of "The Wife Swappers") a group of Italian women join a "dare club", and co-directed a horror film in Sweden called Blood Tracks (1985), which also features a brief cameo role from Ford as a location scout for a rock video (his only other known acting role is as "Circus Santa Claus" in "Don't Open Till Christmas"). He was also involved in writing a never-made softcore sitcom called "Park Lane". Ford's final film, The Urge to Kill (1989), starring Peter Gordeno and Sarah Hope-Walker, has never been released, although clips from it appear in the documentary "The Wild, Wild World of Dick Randall".
At the close of the 1980s, with the impending recession of the early 1990s on the horizon and no work, Ford decided to opt for a quieter life and put his ideas on paper. Leaving the film business behind him for good, he attempted a second career as an author, writing two books. His experience in the world of "B" movies along with his connections in the business reflected on the theme and setting for both books. The two books were "Panic on Sunset" (1989) and "The Casting Couch" (1990) ("the true story of broken dreams, disillusionment and fallen idols"). "Panic on Sunset" concerns George Schapner, the stressed-out manager/agent of Velma Torraine, a vamp of the silent screen whose heavy Brooklyn accent spells the end of her career as the "talkie" era approaches. A visit to a Hollywood whorehouse specializing in celebrity lookalikes provides George with an unlikely solution to their problem. "The Casting Couch" was a collaborative effort with agent Alan Selwyn, and is credited under the joint pseudonym "Selwyn Ford". Confusingly, the book portrays Selwyn Ford as an actual person.
A third book, "Bella", about actress Bella Darvi and her married lover, Hollywood mogul Darryl F. Zanuck, was never completed. Ford died after a heart attack in a branch of WH Smith. According to Stanley Long's recent biography, Ford was almost penniless at the time of his death.- Vivacious, polished, and graceful, Deborah Makepeace effervesced with her natural acting talents and aura of charisma on both the screen and stage. With her porcelain skin, lively doe eyes, and long wavy dark hair, all framed on a perfect heart shaped face, she had the timeless beauty to match her gifted acting talents. Her tragic and premature death, undoubtedly robbed the entertainment industry of one of its strongest, promising, and beautiful English starlets.
At age 14, when most young girls are nurturing dreams of stardom, Deborah Makepeace was giving life to an acting career that few get to experience. Selected out of over 200 other young girls, she headlined the BBC television remake of A Little Princess (1973), in the leading role of Sara Crewe (which was originally played by child starlet icon Shirley Temple in 1939). Following the success of her breakout role, Makepeace abandoned her original dream of becoming a ballet dancer. The following year she landed a minor role playing the younger Janet Suzman as Florence Nightingale in the television film Miss Nightingale (1974), which was followed by the leading role in the BBC six-part children's adventure series, The Chinese Puzzle (1974).
In 1975, she portrayed Princess Helena of the United Kingdom on three episodes of the Emmy and BAFTA winning ATV costume drama series, Edward the King (1975). In high demand as a television actress, she was also starring in bit parts and reoccurring roles for various television productions. On BBC Play of the Month (1965) production of the 1928 satirical comedy play, The Apple Cart, she played Nigel Davenport's daughter. She also had a reoccurring role as a student nurse on the hit BBC series, Angels (1975), for three years. Her other credits include the family comedy series Just William (1977), the BBC drama series Penmarric (1979), and the long running comedy classic Sorry! (1981).
In the late 70s, she thrived on the repertory theater scene for Pitlochry Festival Theatre. Her run spanned into the 80s with her performances in such stage productions as The Tempest, While the Sun Shines, and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. One of her greatest theatrical accomplishments was in the 1984 St. George's Theater production of The Taming of the Shrew, playing the role of Bianca. A performance which earned her universal acclaim from audiences and critics alike. In addition to theater, Makepeace also worked part-time as a voice-over actress doing English dubs for Japanese anime films.
A life and career that could have led to greater successes and endless possibilities was extinguished when she was diagnosed with cancer. After a long, turbulent, and brave battle, Makepeace died on February 2, 1999, aged only 41. - Dinah Maria Mulock Craik was born on 20 April 1826 in Stoke-on-Trent, England, UK. She was a writer, known for Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958), John Halifax, Gentleman (1915) and John Halifax (1938). She died on 12 October 1887 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Peter Evans was born on 29 June 1910 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Big Spender (1965), K.I.L. 1 (1962) and Seven Deadly Sins (1966). He was married to Ann Martin. He died on 11 May 1973 in Bromley, London, England, UK.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Chris Greener was born on 21 November 1943 in New Brighton, Merseyside, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for The Elephant Man (1980), The Thief and the Cobbler (1993) and Birdie Blues (2007). He died on 11 February 2015 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.- Michael Shannon was born in 1933 in Paddington, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Rat Catchers (1966), Nana (1968) and All Creatures Great and Small (1978). He was married to Pauline Taylor. He died on 21 December 2010 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Actress
- Writer
Vera Cook was born on 19 June 1912 in Lewisham, London, England, UK. She was an actress and writer, known for ITV Play of the Week (1955), Never Take Candy from A Stranger (1960) and Secret Agent (1964). She died on 1 June 1996 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.- Gerald Kelsey was born on 25 October 1919 in West Ham, Essex, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Department S (1969), The Saint (1962) and The Prisoner (1967). He died on 22 February 2006 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Susan Edmonstone was born in 1946 in Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales, UK. She was an actress, known for The Barchester Chronicles (1982), Three Comedies of Marriage (1975) and Fame Is the Spur (1982). She died on 5 January 2009 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- John Pickles was born in Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for In the Name of the Father (1993), The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1991) and Crown Court (1972). He was married to Jean ?. He died on 20 March 1997 in Bromley Cross, South Turton, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
- Peter Crowcroft was born on 29 November 1923 in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970). He died on 25 April 1982 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Lucille Graham was born on 25 July 1920 in Blaengwynfi, Wales, UK. She was an actress, known for The Third Figure (1956), Channel Nine (1955) and Face the Music (1953). She died on 4 May 1991 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Evelyn Moore was born on 16 September 1890 in Slough, Berkshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950), Bedazzled (1967) and A Castle and Sixpence (1954). She died on 3 April 1972 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Ronald Nunnery was born on 31 August 1922 in West Ham, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Bergerac (1981), Crime Traveller (1997) and Dempsey and Makepeace (1985). He died on 20 January 2004 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Known as 'The Penny Whistle Man' His mother bought him his first whistle when he was 3 and he soon found that he could play any tune on it and discovered that it was a stepping stone to woodwind instruments because of the similar fingering. He took up the tenor saxaphone at 18 and 3 weeks later landed his first professional job, While playing jazz during the war he was posted to the British Forces Network as a radio entertainer. After being demobbed he took up the clarinet and played country and western music. On a tv talent show he discovered that a well played penny whistle appealed to the public and never looked back continuing with the whistle he'd bought for 2 and 9 (about 29 pence) in 1947,- Raymond Montgomery Raikes was born on the 13th of September 1910 in Putney south west London to a classical, upper middle class family. His Father Charles was a court Judge and in his spare time a West End theatre stage and set designer, whilst his Mother was a classical opera singer. He could not escape being stage-struck from an early age. Although a philanthropic forebear, Robert Raikes, had helped to found the Sunday School movement, his father, a man of private means In 1925 built himself a private theatre in the semi-basement of his Upper Norwood house and here the young Raymond worked as actor, director, stagehand and administrator.
He was educated at Lambrook prep school, then Uppingham. After school he went to Exeter College, Oxford to read classics and there came under the influence of Nevill Coghill and the Oxford University Dramatic Society (Ouds). In one of the society's productions, James Elroy Flecker's Hassan with music by Delius, he played the lead opposite Peggy Ashcroft. On leaving university and after a year with the Birmingham Rep, in 1935 he joined Stratford's Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, where he played in his beloved Shakespeare for several seasons. Among his roles were Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and Laertes to Donald Wolfit's Hamlet. Returning to London he played romantic leads such as the young naval officer in the West End success While Parents Sleep (1931)(that success saw it adapted into the film While Parents Sleep (1935)). His first film role (uncredited) was in the classic The Water Gipsies (1932) produced by the now legendary Maurice Elvey followed by The Poisoned Diamond (1933). His next role was as a white-uniformed Ruritanian in April Blossoms (1934) starring Richard Tauber and then It's a Bet (1935).
War interrupted his theatrical career. A friend who had worked with him at his father's theatre was the BBC announcer Alvar Liddell. He suggested that Raikes enter a competition being held by Forces Broadcasting, who were looking for announcers. Raikes was co-winner with Franklyn Engelman and spent two years in BBC Presentation before joining the Royal Signals, with whom he served in Italy and North Africa. On his return to London he followed George Melachrino, the band leader, as RSM of his unit where most of the personnel under him were members of dance bands of the period. Whilst an officer by day he was translating plays from Greek into English by night. One of these, Iphigeneia in Aulis by Euripides, was to be his farewell BBC radio production in 1975.
On demobilisation in 1947 he was appointed to the BBC Drama Department. First he worked on the soap opera The Robinson Family, and then Dick Barton, Special Agent, the hugely popular daily thriller serial and precursor for James Bond. Having served an apprenticeship at the coalface of popular radio, Raikes found his true niche producing plays for the new Third Programme, for the "World Theatre" series of great international classics and for the "National Theatre of the Air", of which he became executive producer in 1961.
One of his last productions was to produce and direct Sir Ian McKellen in Henry V in London in 1974.
He regularly worked with Richard Burton Sir Ralph Richardson, Sir Laurence Olivier, Dame Peggy Ashcroft among others
He made the process of realising the most arcane minor Jacobean script into a piece of fun. He introduced audiences to the wealth of our more obscure English heritage with plays like The London Cuckolds by Edward Ravenscroft (performed in 1999 at the Royal National Theatre), Arden of Faversham, A Woman Killed by Kindness, A Journey to London, Love in a Village, Lionel and Clarissa and Nathaniel Lee's Lucius Julius Brutus.
He directed 17 of Shakespeare's plays on radio, the Agammemnon trilogy of Aeschylus, The Wasps and Lysistrata by Aristophanes, The Bacchae, Medea and Hippolytus by Euripides. He had the ability to make the most flamboyant, theatrical Restoration comedies comprehensible and acceptable in a medium best suited to the understated and the quiet in drama.
Raikes had begun his career as a man of the theatre and, for him, radio drama was another form of theatre. Most continental broadcasters have a Drama Department, involved with specially written works, and a Radio Theatre department, which concentrates on existing literature. He preferred the absent author to the present one, because the absent cannot interfere.
He was no academic purist, but a scion of show business who always referred to a production as "the show". He rewrote parts of plays by absent playwrights for the sake of clarification, "improved" contemporary translations of Greek texts and "eased" translations by living French writers such as Henry de Montherlant or Jean Anouilh. The works of the latter he did much to promote via radio before his meeting popular success in the West End theatre of the Fifties. A scholar would note that the hand of Raikes is evident in most of the Shakespeare texts he directed. For the average listener this blasphemy would only make things clearer.
With the arrival of stereophony he felt the requirements of the stage could even more easily be transferred to the radio studio and he pursued the innovation with enthusiasm, often in the face of managerial opposition. His first stereo experiment, scenes from Sherlock Holmes, was transmitted well after midnight on 6 July 1958. His innovative endeavours received international recognition when his production of The Foundling by Peter Gurney, with music by Humphrey Searle, received the Prix Italia for stereophonic production in 1965. In this annus mirabilis for him he was also awarded the Prix Italia for his production of The Anger of Achilles by Robert Graves, with music by Roberto Gerhard.
No tangible award was accorded to his greatest achievement, in which his desire to educate and inform combined with his need to entertain. This was a mammoth survey, in 13 parts, of English drama from its earliest beginnings to the present day entitled The First Stage. Written with John Barton and presented by him, this was broadcast on the Third Programme, 1956-57.
While Raymond Raikes was working at the BBC, the kind of plays and programmes he produced was staple diet on radio and remained so until the Birtian revolution of recent years. The enthusiasm of this one man was trusted and encouraged by successive controllers and two heads of Radio Drama - Val Gielgud (though not without some struggle) and Martin Esslin.
Audiences were made aware of a wealth of dramatic literature which they would not otherwise have encountered in performances either because of the prohibitive costs of production in other media or because of the absence of a nearby theatre.
There would be no place for such as him in the non-smoking, accountancy-led BBC of today in which a mere 30 new drama productions per year appear on Radio 3 and only a handful of plays longer than one hour's duration are made for Radio 4. Those who are old enough must be grateful for the riches they have enjoyed. For the young it is another matter. And will there ever be anything again on radio to thrill us as did Dick Barton, Special Agent..."Produced by Raymond Raikes "? - Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Production Manager
Ted Sturgis was born in 1927 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He was an assistant director and production manager, known for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Repulsion (1965) and Peeping Tom (1960). He was married to Elizabeth Helen Leahy. He died in 1988 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.- Stephen Bateman was born in 1920 in Bermondsey, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Comrades (1986), The Sea Change (1998) and The Confessions of Amans (1976). He died on 8 August 2012 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Hilda Durante was born on 19 July 1925 in Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England, UK. She was married to Ted Durante. She died on 20 March 2007 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Gerard McLarnon was born on 16 April 1915 in Clitheroe, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Moon in the Yellow River (1947), Saloon Bar (1947) and The Director (1949). He was married to Eileen Essell. He died on 16 August 1997 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Karl Howard was born in 1937 in the UK. He was an actor, known for Get Carter (1971), Cockneys vs Zombies (2012) and Crime of Passion (1970). He died in 2014 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Bachoo Sen was born on 13 October 1934 in Calcutta, India. He was a producer and writer, known for Love Is a Splendid Illusion (1970), Loving Feeling (1968) and Nightmare Weekend (1986). He died on 30 January 2002 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.- Hilda Schroder was born on 26 April 1920 in Edmonton, Middlesex, England, UK. She was an actress, known for BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950), Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1952) and Julius Caesar (1960). She died on 18 February 2012 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Ida Shepley was born on 8 December 1908 in Monks Coppenhall, Cheshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950), ITV Television Playhouse (1955) and Back to Methuselah (1952). She was married to Charles Frederick Skilbeck Smith. She died on 12 March 1975 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Writer
Richard Arnell was born on 15 September 1917 in London, England, UK. He was a composer and writer, known for The Third Secret (1964), The Visit (1964) and The Black Panther (1977). He was married to Lois Ross, Charlotte Cronin-Lowe, Colette Bradley, Ann Georgina Tillotson, Maxine Leah (de Sellice), Charlotte Jennings, Audrey Millar Paul and Joan Cynthia Nita Heycock. He died on 10 April 2009 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Diane Todd was born on 4 June 1937 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. She was an actress, known for A Girl Called Jo (1956), Six-Five Special (1958) and Two Guys Abroad (1962). She died on 18 April 2010 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.- Winnie Dangerfield was born on 6 June 1908 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Proof of the Pudding (1914), Not Wanted (1913) and Sweep! Sweep! Sweep! (1913). She died on 13 March 2005 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Camera and Electrical Department
Eric Plunkett was born in 1925 in Wandsworth, London, England, UK. Eric is known for Whirlpool (1970) and Deviation (1971). Eric was married to Anne Muriel Tweedley. Eric died in 2010 in Bromley, Greater London, England, UK.- Pippa Rowe was born on 16 October 1938 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Softly Softly (1966), Flickers (1980) and Crown Court (1972). She was married to Mark Dowse. She died on 30 May 2005 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Keith Herrington was born on 29 September 1928 in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Alcoa Hour (1955), The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and The DuPont Show of the Month (1957). He died in 1964 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Margery Field was born on 6 June 1913 in Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Crossroads (1964). She was married to Brian Kent. She died in 1975 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Arthur Ferriman was born on 5 December 1917 in Epsom, Surrey, England, UK. He was a producer, known for The Hunger (1983), Bindle (One of Them Days) (1966) and Billy Budd (1962). He died on 12 March 2003 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.- Phil Drabble was born on 13 May 1914 in Staffordshire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for One Man and His Dog (1976), The Midlander (1958) and Joe the Chainsmith (1958). He was married to Jess. He died on 29 July 2007 in Abbot's Bromley, Staffordshire, England, UK.
- Jeannette Sherwin was born on 22 February 1894 in Marylebone, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Laila Majnu (1922) and The Strange Interview (1930). She died on 8 July 1936 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- John Hauxvell was born on 7 July 1925 in Auckland, New Zealand. He was an actor, known for Shadow Creek : Down in the Valley (1961), L'Arlésienne (1950) and Pagliacci (1949). He was married to Anthea Slatter. He died on 4 March 1999 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Fitzroy Morgan was born on 11 February 1862 in Kensington, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Tally Ho! (1901). He died on 23 October 1912 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Derick Davies was born on 24 February 1928 in Wrexham, Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for A Christmas Carol (1962), BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950) and Blind Raftery (1957). He died in May 1969 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Doreen Stephens was born on 25 October 1912 in Hammersmith, Middlesex, London, England, UK. She was a producer and director, known for Our Miss Pemberton (1957), Let's Imagine (1961) and Grasshopper Island (1971). She was married to Jack Gorsky and Richard Holden. She died on 20 March 2001 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.- Art Department
Bert Jempson was born in 1914 in Hastings, Sussex, England, UK. Bert died in 1985 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.- Josiah Stamp was born on 21 June 1880 in Kilburn, London, England, UK. He was married to Olive Jessie Marsh. He died on 16 April 1941 in Shortlands, Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Soundtrack
Ivor Newton was born on 15 December 1892 in Limehouse, London, England, UK. He died on 21 April 1981 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.- Raymond Blathwayt was born on 25 February 1855 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Great Moment (1921), Wild Honey (1922) and Sacred and Profane Love (1921). He died on 10 December 1935 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Rita Martell was born on 25 October 1934 in Dublin, Ireland. She died in 2001 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Lily Smith was born on 18 September 1889 in Shoreditch, London, England, UK. She died in 1980 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Christian Simpson was born on 17 December 1916 in Thurso, Scotland, UK. Christian was a producer and director, known for Maladie d'amour (1952), Look Here (1958) and BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950). Christian died on 5 January 1968 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.- Vincent Lawson was born on 29 June 1886 in Rodborough, Gloucestershire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Monkey's Paw (1948), A King in New York (1957) and Suspended Alibi (1957). He died on 21 September 1964 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK.