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1-19 of 19
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Befitting her original name (Violet Pretty), the knockout English brunette Anne Heywood won the coveted "Miss Great Britain" beauty title in 1950 at the young age of 17. Born on December 11, 1931, the daughter of a violinist, she originally trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She gained early experience on the stage with the Highbury Players in Birmingham and moved on to some TV work. The Rank Organization caught sight of her and offered the former beauty queen a seven-year contract. During that time, however, she was pretty much relegated to playing 'nice girl' types in the 50s and 60s.
In later career, her film appearances courted controversy and she seemed drawn toward highly troubled, flawed characters. Very popular with Italian audiences, Anne never endeared herself to American film goers although she did stir up some curiosity with one of her more noteworthy films, the pioneer lesbian drama The Fox (1967). Starring Anne with Sandy Dennis, the two were quite believable as an unhappy, isolated couple whose relationship is irreparably shattered by the appearance of a handsome stranger (Keir Dullea). At the height of the movie's publicity, Playboy magazine revealed a "pictorial essay" just prior to its 1967 release with Anne in a nude and auto-erotic spread. The film won a "Best Foreign Film" Golden Globe Award (it was made in Canada) and Anne herself earned a "Best Actress" nod.
Despite being aggressively promoted in its aftermath by husband/producer Raymond Stross, who was instrumental in reshaping her image with such sexy, offbeat dramas as The Night Fighters (1960), The Very Edge (1963), 90 Degrees in the Shade (1965), Midas Run (1969), I Want What I Want (1972) and Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff (1979), Anne has remained a distinct European film product. She last appeared on TV in The Equalizer (1985) series. Following her husband's death in 1988, Anne remarried (to a former New York Assistant Attorney General) and begged away from the camera. The couple settled in Beverly Hills.- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Benjamin Zephaniah was born on 15 April 1958 in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Peaky Blinders (2013), Percy Lifar and EastEnders (1985). He was married to Amina. He died on 7 December 2023 in the UK.- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Justin Edgar is an award winning independent writer and director of four internationally acclaimed feature films for backers including Film4, Creative England and Pathe. His latest film The Marker starring John Hannah and Golden Globe nominee Cathy Tyson was acquired by Netflix.
Justin graduated from Portsmouth University in 1996 with a first class degree in Film. He began his career writing and directing for BBC1's Doctors and for Anne Wood of Ragdoll Television, creator of Teletubbies. In 2001 he became the youngest director ever to direct a major UK feature film aged just 26. Large was backed by Film4 and went straight in at number one in the UK video charts. It sold to over twenty countries around the world.
His second feature film Special People premiered at the 2007 TriBeCa Film Festival and Edinburgh International Film Festival where it competed for the Michael Powell Award. It went on to win best film awards at the Berlin Britspotting and Moscow Perspektiva film festivals and a Royal Television Society award and was bought by BBC3. It was hailed as "A milestone in mainstream cinema" by the Guardian for its use of disabled cast and has a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. His third film was the semi-autobiographical anti-teen movie We are the Freaks which was also acquired by Netflix and acquired a cult following after being celebrated by Den of Geek, amongst others.
He is hard of hearing and since 2004 has been running his own training and production company, 104 films, specialising in disability and film. He worked on the BAFTA nominated Ian Dury biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll starring Andy Serkis. 104 films also co-produced feature documentary Notes on Blindness which premiered at Sundance, won best documentary at the British Independent Film Awards and was nominated for three BAFTAs including Best British Film. He was also associate producer on the feature documentary Unrest which premiered in the main competitions at Sundance and SxSW 2017 and was shortlisted for the Best Documentary Oscar in 2018.
He has sat on the jury for The BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. He has also worked with BBC Drama, Channel 4, Netflix and Sky on implementing new disability codes of practice and is deputy chair of the British Film Institute (BFI) Disability Screen Advisory Group. He has written extensively for the Guardian and appeared on BBC Radio 4 and Channel 4 news advocating for better representation of disabled people behind the camera. He is a visiting lecturer at the National Film and Television School and his film prints, including Special People, have been archived at the BFI as works of cultural significance.- Helena Pickard was born on 13 October 1900 in Handsworth, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Lodger (1944), The Lady with a Lamp (1951) and Vanity Fair (1956). She was married to Herbert Rothbarth and Cedric Hardwicke. She died on 27 September 1959 in Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- Ged Simmons was born in 1960 in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Downton Abbey (2010), Code of a Killer (2015) and Primeval (2007).
- Actress
- Director
- Producer
The beautiful English brunette star of the silent screen Peggy Hyland born in Birmingham in 1884. Educated in England and in convents in Europe. Began working on stage in 1910. Peggy starred in more than 45 movies in both Britain and Hollywood, making her film debut in Percy Nash's 'In the Rank' starring Gregory Scott for the Neptune Film Co in 1914, between 1916 and 1920 she was based in America working for Fox, Vitagraph and Famous Players, perhaps her best known film was 'The Merry-Go-Round' with Jack Mulhall for the Fox Film Co in 1919. Peggy returned to England where she acted in Mr. Pim Passes By for the Samuelson Film Co in 1921. In 1922 she wrote, produced, directed and starred in 'With Father's Help' and in 1923 starred in the US Production, 'Shifting Sands' directed by her husband Fred Leroy Granville whom she later divorced, the following year she directed and starred in 'The Haunted Pearls', she was last seen on screen in 'Forbidden Cargoes' in 1925. Beside from acting Peggy also directed some short comedies in England in the early 1920's. She died in 1973 age 88.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Dave Martin was an English author of thrillers, children's books and teleplays. A self-described 'working-class grammar school boy', he began his career late in life, having variously spent time building pylons, working in hospitals and in advertising. He was also attracted to the stage and worked for a spell as a stagehand at the Bristol Old Vic. In 1968, Martin struck up a famous friendship with the animator Bob Baker, which led to a successful screenwriting collaboration, commencing with Z Cars (1962). Their most popular contribution consisted of eight instalments of the Doctor Who (1963) franchise, including the classic "The Three Doctors" chapter, for which they created the villainous Time Lord Omega (initially named 'OHM', a reverse of 'Who', to reflect the character as an opposite of the Doctor). Nicknamed 'the Bristol Boys', by producers Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks, Baker and Martin conjured up the scripts for a total of 34 episodes, roughly spanning the Jon Pertwee - Tom Baker era, 1971 to 1979. The idea of creating the mechanical dog K-9 came to Martin after his own dog was killed by a car. He later penned four books aimed at young audiences about the exploits of a robotic hound. After the team split up at the end of the decade, Baker went on to individual fame as writer for the animated "Wallace & Gromit" adventures, while Martin authored several crime novels. He was credited as co-creator of the spin-off series K9 (2009), which was launched two years after his death.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Eve Gray was born on 27 November 1900 in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Department Store (1935), Adventures Inc. (1929) and Scrooge (1935). She died on 20 May 1983 in Mere, Wiltshire, England, UK.- Marjorie Brooks was born on 23 July 1905 in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, UK. She was an actress, known for She Shall Have Music (1935), Evergreen (1934) and Potiphar's Wife (1931). She died on 8 April 1988 in Heanton Punchardon, Devon, England, UK.
- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
An exquisite voice and a commanding stage presence have served David 'Dread' Hinds well since he and Basil Gabbidon decided to start a band in the early 70s. That band became Steel Pulse, who served their intentions on the reggae world with their breathtaking debut album Handsworth Revolution and have continued to delight and entertain audiences across the globe ever since. Now some thirty years since the schoolmates first got together, Steel Pulse continue to tour around the world and are committed to the same message on their latest album, African Holocaust as they were with their debut album. Hinds is the fulcrum around which the band revolves. He's written 95% of their material since day one and the body of work from Ku Klux Klan through to the forthcoming album is enormous. Born in Birmingham (15/6/56) of Jamaican parents, Hinds grew up in a hotbed of reggae in Handsworth and shaped by events nationally and in the Caribbean, he and his band have been determined to bring their version of conscious reggae to our ears ever since.- Joyce Molyneux was born on 17 April 1931 in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, UK. She died on 27 October 2022 in Bath, England, UK.
- Andrew Downes was born on 20 August 1950 in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, UK. Andrew was a composer, known for Songs of Autumn (2016) and Songs of the Skies (2016). Andrew was married to Cynthia. Andrew died on 2 January 2023 in the UK.
- George Manship was born in 1883 in Handsworth, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Good Companions (1933), Richard III (1911) and The Dark Stairway (1954). He died on 25 May 1954 in Marylebone, London, England, UK.
- Edna May was born on 22 January 1897 in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, UK. She was an actress, known for David Copperfield (1913). She died in 1973 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK.
- Arthur Tolkien was born in 1857 in Handsworth, Staffordshire, England, UK. He was married to Mabel Tolkien. He died on 15 February 1896 in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Frank Titterton was born on 31 December 1893 in Handsworth, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Waltz Time (1933) and Barnacle Bill (1935). He died on 24 November 1956 in London, England, UK.- David Bell was born on 30 March 1950 in Handsworth, Birmingham, West Midlands, England, UK.
- Janet Joye was born on 3 November 1893 in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Six Proud Walkers (1954), The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and Worzel Gummidge Turns Detective (1953). She died on 11 May 1984 in Westminster, London, England, UK.
- Warriss Lindon was born in 1870 in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, UK. He was an actor, known for A Man's Shadow (1920). He died on 5 January 1926 in Hendon, London, England, UK.