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1-26 of 26
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Sir Norman Wisdom has become the great British clown in the mold of Sir Charles Chaplin with his little man in the ill fitting suit and cloth cap. His character is an everyman, much put upon but struggling through to a (usually) happy ending. He was brought up in an orphanage after his mother died and his father disowned him. He joined the British Army at age 14 as a band boy and learnt to play the clarinet, drums and xylophone. In 1941, he went to India with the army and became a comedian by clowning around in camp concerts. When demobbed, he returned home and decided to try to get on the stage but couldn't find an agent who was interested in him.
After marrying his fiancee, Freda Simpson, he spent five weeks in America searching for an agent and work without success. On his return to Britain, he eventually found an agent resulting in him making his first stage appearance at Collins Music Hall on December 17, 1946. Over time, his talent and his popularity grew resulting in him making his first major film Trouble in Store (1953) followed by One Good Turn (1955). Before long, he was writing the screenplays for eight of his films, including The Square Peg (1958), Follow a Star (1959), A Stitch in Time (1963) and The Early Bird (1965). In addition to writing the screenplays, he also composed numerous songs including his theme song "Don't Laugh at Me ('Cause I'm a Fool)".- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Costume Designer
Hilary Pritchard was born on 16 April 1942 in Isle of Man, UK. She was an actress and costume designer, known for The Thief and the Cobbler (1993), Department S (1969) and The Avengers (1961). She died on 29 July 1996 in Isle of Man, UK.- Bill Naughton was born on 12 June 1910 in Ballyhaunis, Ireland. He was a writer, known for Alfie (1966), The Family Way (1966) and Alfie (2004). He died on 9 January 1992 in Ballasalla, Isle of Man, UK.
- George McDonald Fraser was an expert storyteller and master of the comic novel. His most widely read books chronicle the adult exploits of Harry Flashman (the original cowardly school bully of "Tom Brown's Schooldays"). Though fictionalised, these bawdy adventures are invariably set against an impeccably well-researched and annotated historical background, featuring the dissolute, craven anti-hero in the midst of significant historical events, including the Charge of the Light Brigade, Custer's last stand at the Little Bighorn, the Indian Mutiny, the Opium Wars, the Taiping rebellion, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry and Britain's 1868 punitive Abyssinian campaign. Fraser carefully avoided romanticising the Victorian-era, instead adopting an often brutally realistic, yet highly satirical 'warts and all' approach. Fascinating historical characters abound, ranging from Madagascar's black queen Ranavalona to Otto von Bismarck and Abyssinia's self-styled Emperor Theodore II, brought to life by painstakingly researched detail, proof of the old adage that fact is often stranger than fiction. The swaggering, chauvinistic arch-cad, from whose vantage point the books are written, rides his luck from one harrowing crisis to another and continues to be elevated among Imperial Britain's military elite despite his total lack of merit (not to mention morality). Fraser's wit and craftsmanship as a writer have nonetheless made Flashman into a believable, even compelling central character.
The son of a doctor, Fraser had no direct qualifications as a historian. His interest in writing was likely kindled by frontier service with the British 14th Army in Burma and the Gordon Highlanders in Africa (his personal recollections of the 1944-45 campaign against the Japanese Army appeared in print in 1993 to considerable critical acclaim). After demobilisation, Fraser worked as a sports reporter and journalist in Canada and in his native Scotland, latterly as deputy editor for the Glasgow Herald (1964-69). His first Flashman book, "Royal Flash", was written in 1969. His twelfth (and last), "Flashman on the March", appeared in 2005. In addition, he authored several other novels and collections of short stories, each with a historical perspective. During the 1970's and 80's, Fraser also collaborated on several film scripts, including The Three Musketeers (1973), its sequel The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974) and the 13th James Bond entry, Octopussy (1983). He wrote the screenplays for two of his own novels, the unsatisfactorily filmed Royal Flash (1975) and The Pyrates (1986), a comical swashbuckler set along the Spanish Main and featuring another rakish anti-hero, Colonel Thomas Blood (loosely based on the historical character of that name). The 'Flashman Papers' yet await their true 'discovery' by an enterprising film maker, for they would make for splendid entertainment indeed.
George McDonald Fraser eventually settled on the Isle of Man, at once to find a tax refuge and to withdraw to a place more akin to, as he referred to it, 'England as it used to be'. A Tory of moderate right-wing beliefs and outspoken enemy of political correctness, he died there on January 2 2008 at the age of 82. - Diminutive, softly-spoken British playwright and screenwriter, who usually worked in collaboration. Educated at Charterhouse and Cambridge University, Dighton wrote for the stage until entering films in 1935. After initially working for Michael Balcon at Gaumont-British, he was briefly under contract to Warner Brothers. At Ealing from 1939, he had his most productive spell with popular original screenplays and adaptations from the classics. He is best remembered for two quintessential British comedies, both starring Alec Guinness: Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and The Man in the White Suit (1951). Another popular farce, The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950), was based on his own hit West End play. Dighton also had a brief tenure in Hollywood, his most popular venture there being the classic romantic comedy Roman Holiday (1953).
- Novelist and dramatist Hall Caine, though largely forgotten now, was a hugely popular writer in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. Born Thomas Henry Hall Caine on May 14, 1853, in Runcorn, Cheshire, England, his father was a Manx Man who moved to Liverpool, where he apprenticed as a ship's smith. After Hall's birth (he hated the name Thomas and never used it, even after he was knighted), the family moved back to Liverpool, where young Hall grew up. Hall Caine frequently took many trips to visit the Caine family on the Isle of Man.
He was apprenticed to an architect and surveyor and plied his trade as a surveyor while self-educating himself through wide reading. He became a lecturer and theatrical critic, which introduced him to some influential people such as actor Sir Henry Irving and author Bram Stoker, who dedicated Dracula (1931) to him. He became the secretary, factotum and nurse to Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the last years of the great poet's life.
Aside from a memoir of Rossetti that sold well, Caine's early endeavors in serious literature met with little success. However, when he abandoned literary criticism for romantic fiction (in the Walter Scott vein), he became popular. "Shadow of a Crime", an 1885 novel featuring a love triangle, was a best-seller. In 1887 he published a critical book about Samuel Taylor Coleridge that failed, but his return to fiction that same year with The Deemster (1917), a romance set in the Isle of Man, was a hit (a deemster is a judge on the Isle of Man).
In all, he published 15 romantic novels over 40 years. Many had themes influenced by his Christian socialist political sympathies. His popularity was immense, and his 1897 novel "The Christian" (later made into a film, The Christian (1915)) was the first novel to sell over a million copies in the United Kingdom. In August 1902, when King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited the Isle of Man, Caine was invited on board the royal yacht as the royal couple toured the island (the queen was a fan). He was a major celebrity in his own right, as well as a celebrated author.
During World War One he wrote propaganda articles urging the United States to join the fight against Germany and her allies. He declined a baronetcy in 1917 but accepted a knighthood, insisting he be styled Sir Caine Hall. After the Great War his popularity began to decline, as his style was considered old-fashioned. His return to fiction in 1921 with "The Master of Man: The Story of a Sin", another romance set in the Isle of Man, did not reach the level of popular success he was accustomed to and was poorly received by critics. He was derided as Victorian.
Many of his novels were made into movies during the silent era. "The Manxman" was turned into The Manxman (1929), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The last film made from a Hall Caine property was The Bondman (1929), also released in 1929. Such was the decline of his reputation and popularity that no sound film has ever been made from his works.
Caine is little remembered today, as his novels are considered badly written; the characterizations are fuzzy and one plot is much like the other. In 1931 G.K. Chesterton wrote his literary epitaph: "Bad story writing is not a crime. Mr. Hall Caine walks the streets openly, and cannot be put in prison for an anticlimax."
He died on August 31, 1931, at the age of 78, the same year that Chesterton dismissed him as a bad writer. He was the father of Sir Derwent Hall Caine, 1st Baronet (1891-1971), actor, publisher and Labour politician. - Athol Coats was born in 1918 in Queenstown, Otago, New Zealand. He was an actor, known for Big Brother (1970), Thriller (1973) and Father Brown (1974). He died in 1974 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK.
- Geoff Duke was born on 29 March 1923 in St. Helens, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom. He died on 1 May 2015 in Isle of Man, United Kingdom.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Ronnie Aldrich was born on 15 February 1916 in Erith, Kent, England, UK. He was a composer, known for The Benny Hill Show (1969), The Family Man (2000) and Kill Me Again (1989). He died on 30 September 1993 in Isle of Man, UK.- Lillian Beckwith was born in 1916 in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England, UK. Lillian was a writer, known for A Shine of Rainbows (2009) and Jackanory (1965). Lillian died on 3 January 2004 in Isle of Man, UK.
- Sound Department
- Art Department
Jake Drake-Brockman was born in 1955 in Borneo. Jake is known for British Isles: A Natural History (2004), Last Chance to See (2009) and Simon King's Shetland Diaries (2010). Jake was married to Sally A. Mundy. Jake died on 1 September 2009 in Strang, Isle of Man, UK.- Soundtrack
Clinton Ford was born on 4 November 1931 in Salford, Lancashire, England, UK. He was married to Maggie. He died on 21 October 2009 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK.- Geoffrey Duke was an actor, known for Tornado on Wheels (1957), Charley Boorman: Ireland to Sydney by Any Means (2008) and The Children's Television Caravan (1956). He was married to Daisy Hollis, Dorothy Eagles and Patricia Reid. He died on 1 May 2015 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK.
- Anthony Hedley was born on 8 April 1941 in Greenmount, Lancashire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The Challenge of Infectious Diseases (2006). He was married to Sarah Morag McGhee. He died on 19 December 2014 in Isle of Man, UK.
- Actor
- Producer
- Production Manager
Allan Arthur Fielding was born on 22 May 1948 in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK. He was an actor and producer, known for Woodland, File Box (2013) and Impromptu Clients and Off the Cuff (2006). He died on 22 April 2022 in Isle of Man, England, UK.- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Richard Carrickford was born on 26 September 1917 in Bristol, England, UK. He was a director and actor, known for The Pescadores (1963), The Charlie Farnsbarns Show (1956) and I'm Not Bothered (1956). He died in 2003 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK.- Stuart Baggs was born in 1988 in Devon, England, UK. He died on 30 July 2015 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK.
- Music Department
William Cowley was born in 1927 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK. He is known for H.M.S. Pinafore (1973). He died on 2 May 2003 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK.- Stanley Karran was born on 26 July 1910 in Cregneash, Isle of Man. He was an actor, known for Waking Ned Devine (1998) and Woundings (1998). He died on 1 July 2009 in Cregneash, Isle of Man.
- Editorial Department
- Sound Department
- Director
Ean Wood was born on 4 September 1937 in Isle of Man, UK. He was a director, known for Not Tonight, Darling (1971), Prey (1977) and The Beast Must Die (1974). He was married to Frazer Downey and Myra Forsyth. He died on 27 October 2010 in Isle of Man, UK.- Lois Green was born on 23 December 1914 in Footscray, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She was an actress, known for Cinderella (1950), Gone to the Dogs (1939) and The Passing Show (1951). She died in 2006 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK.
- Scotch Kelly was born on 8 February 1890 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for Love's Option (1928) and The Return of the Rat (1929). He was married to Edith Porter. He died on 19 February 1967 in Laxey, Isle of Man, UK.
- Writer
- Producer
Walter Greenwood was born on 17 December 1903 in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He was a writer and producer, known for Love on the Dole (1941), No Limit (1935) and Chance of a Lifetime (1950). He was married to Pearl Alice Osgood. He died on 13 September 1974 in Isle of Man, UK.- Hector Duff was born on 15 October 1919 in Sulby, Isle of Man, UK. He died on 30 November 2020 in Isle of Man, UK.
- Make-Up Department
Heinrich Heitfeld was born on 25 June 1892 in Germany. He is known for Her Majesty Love (1931), Wrong Number, Miss (1932) and Die lustigen Weiber von Wien (1931). He died on 21 November 1942 in Isle of Man, UK.