Hal Taggart's 12-27 Magic Tree House Books and People

Known primarily in Britain for his many "matinée idol" roles during the 1950s, Anthony Steel is perhaps best remembered in Hollywood and elsewhere as the erstwhile husband of Anita Ekberg.

His career never really took off in Hollywood; at one point during his marriage to Ms. Ekberg, he was referred to as "Mr. Ekberg" - a slight that reflected his success (or lack of it) in movies following the eventual breakup of the marriage.

Steel was born in London and was the son of an Indian army officer. He was educated at Cambridge and in World War II served as a Major in the Grenadier Guards Parachute Regiment and for a time served in the infant Special Air Service (S.A.S.) leaving in 1948.

It wasn't until after the war he decided to pursue acting, starring in such adventure-charged films as Malta Story (1953) for the J. Arthur Rank studio. His career was at its pinnacle and he was lauded as one of Britain's biggest movie stars when he married Ekberg in 1956 and set out with her to break into Hollywood pictures. Finding Hollywood unsatisfactory and even hostile, he turned primarily to making some not-so-memorable European films in the '70s and '80s - including The Story of O (1975) (The Story of O)

• and some guest spots on British TV.

He died on March 21, 2001, in Northwood, Middlesex, England.

David Knight was born on 16 January 1928 in Niagara Falls, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for On Such a Night (1956), A Story of David: The Hunted (1960) and Missiles from Hell (1958). He was married to Wendy McClure. He died on 20 December 2020.

James Robertson Justice was always a noticeable presence in a film with his large stature, bushy beard and booming voice. A Ph.D., a journalist, a naturalist, an expert falconer, a racing car driver, JRJ was certainly a man of many talents.

He entered the film industry quite late in life (37) after he was spotted serving as MC for a local music hall. He became a familiar figure on-screen after a succession of "larger than life" roles during the 40s and 50s, and particularly as Sir Lancelot Spratt in the "Doctor" film series.

Robert Beatty graduated with a B.A. from the University of Toronto and started in amateur dramatics with the Hamilton Player's Guild. For a while, he made a living as a cashier for a gas and fuel company. In order to further hone his acting skills, he made his way to London in 1936 (on the advice of Leslie Howard) to train for acting at RADA. He made his theatrical debut in "Idiot's Delight" at the Apollo, and from there obtained regular work on both stage and screen in bit parts and walk-ons, eventually making his breakthrough on radio as a broadcaster for the BBC. He was famously on hand, reporting eyewitness accounts of the London Blitz for the Overseas News Service during the war years.

On the strength of this, Beatty was promoted to more substantial film roles, beginning with San Demetrio London (1943), in which he played a brash, alcoholic American sailor mellowed by his good-natured British crewmates in the best 'stiff-upper-lip' tradition. This seemed to set the tone for his future screen personae, for he was henceforth typecast as tough, down-to-earth Canadians or Americans, many of them cops or gumshoes in low budget potboilers. That notwithstanding, he had his share of quality assignments as well, notably as loyal friend to IRA fugitive James Mason in Odd Man Out (1947); as a plausible Lord Beaverbrook in The Magic Box (1951); as Lieutenant William Bush, best friend and second-in-command to Gregory Peck's Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951); and as a washed-out heavyweight prizefighter in The Square Ring (1953). Throughout his career, Beatty's stock-in-trade was masculinity, dependability and forthrightness.

Immensely popular on radio, Beatty provided the voice for private eye Philip Odell in a long-running series for the BBC "Light Programme" between 1947 and 1961. From the late 1950's, he also became increasingly prolific on television and as a narrator of documentaries. If his face was not yet recognisable enough, he appeared in commercials for a hair care product. For two years, Beatty starred in his own half-hour series, Dial 999 (1958), as a Canadian mountie seconded to Scotland Yard. On the big screen he was cast as Dr. Ralph Halvorsen in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Towards the end of his lengthy career, he gave one of his finest performances, a thoroughly convincing impersonation of President Ronald Reagan in the documentary-drama Breakthrough at Reykjavik (1987).

Eunice Gayson was an English actress best known for playing Sylvia Trench, James Bond's girlfriend in the first two Bond films (Dr. No and From Russia with Love). Originally, Gayson was to be cast as Miss Moneypenny, but that part went to Lois Maxwell instead.

Gayson was originally to have been a regular in the Bond film series, but her character was dropped. Gayson's voice in Dr. No and From Russia with Love was overdubbed by voice actress Nikki van der Zyl, as were the voices of nearly all the actresses appearing in the first two Bond films, though Gayson's real voice can still be heard in original trailers for Dr. No.

As the first female to be seen in Dr. No together with James Bond (Sean Connery), she is officially the very first actress to play a Bond girl.

Decades later, Gayson's daughter appeared in a casino scene in the 1995 Bond film GoldenEye.

She also starred in the Hammer horror film The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958).

Gayson died on 8 June 2018, aged 90.

Legendary Australian-born character actress of the British screen, Miss Cannon was without doubt one of the best scene-stealing actresses.

Her pixie-like looks and extraordinary facial expressions made her a true favourite of many a British movie.

Without her appearances in many a 'Carry On' film in the 1960s, her career would have probably been forgotten today. Arguably, her most famous performance was as the lonely but happy spinster in Carry on Cruising (1962). The bar scene with Dilys Laye where both of their characters get hideously drunk, is as legendary as the movie itself.

Harold Kasket was born on 26 July 1926 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Moulin Rouge (1952), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and Reluctant Bandit (1965). He was married to Esther Laredo. He died on 20 January 2002 in London, England, UK.

Jill Melford came from a rich theatrical background. She was evacuated to America during World War Two and was educated at Gardner School and the Ballet Arts School, both of which are in New York. Her New York theatre debut came in 1949 when she appeared as a dancer in a production of 'Oklahoma!' and her first London appearance came in 1953 when she performed in 'The Seven Year Itch'. She went on to appear in other stage plays including 'Auntie Mame', 'Ulysses in Night-time', 'The Life of the Party', 'The Right Honourable Gentleman', 'There's a Girl in My Soup', 'Not Now, Darling', 'Best of Friends' and 'The Chairman'. In addition to her acting work, Melford was also an experienced interior decorator. She was divorced from the actor John Standing with whom she had a son, Alexander.

An engineer's daughter, she had first planned on becoming a ballerina, using her original Christian name Muguette, but abandoned those plans by the age of 17 when she realized that her physique was more in keeping with her other first name, Megs. She trained in Liverpool at the School of Dancing and Dramatic Art and then joined the Liverpool Repertory Company in 1933 before moving to London to appear at the Player's Theatre four years later.

During the 1950's, Megs was busy acting on stage and had considerable critical success in two plays by Emlyn Williams, 'Light of Heart' (1940) and 'The Wind of Heaven' (1945). Against character, she also played the vicious, unstable Alma Winemiller in 'Summer and Smoke' (1951) by Tennessee Williams. In 1956, she was awarded the Clarence Derwent Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role as the stoic wife of a longshoreman harbouring incestuous feelings for his niece in 'A View from the Bridge' by Arthur Miller. The previous year, she had made her Broadway debut in Chekhov's 'A Day by the Sea' as a supportive governess to an alcoholic physician.

Among her screen roles, best remembered are those of Nurse Woods in the excellent murder mystery Green for Danger (1946); her plump, homely innkeeper providing final happiness to the title character at the end of The History of Mr. Polly (1949)); and three of her many housekeepers : the proper one of Indiscreet (1958), the nervously anxious one, sensing danger in The Innocents (1961) and the warm, dependable one in the musical Oliver! (1968). From the 1960's, Megs did a lot of television work, starred in her own series, Weavers Green (1966), as a country veterinarian, and even made tea bag commercials. Her versatility and popularity as an actress ensured that she was never out of work.

Born as Arthur John Stainer, he was the younger son of Ferdinand (Frank) Steiner and Lilian Blumberg. His brother was the film actor Leslie Howard and his sister the casting director Irene Howard. His uncle was the film director Wilfrid Noy. He married the actress Jean Compton Mackenzie (a daughter of the actor Frank Compton) in 1936 and they had a son together, the stage actor Alan Howard.

Arthur appeared in several television programmes such as Whack-O, a school comedy in which he played the hapless assistant headmaster Pettigrew to Jimmy Edwards's headmaster, and he was in the 1959 film version Bottoms Up. He appeared in many films, including American Friends, The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins, and had the small role of Cavendish in the James Bond film Moonraker.

Balding, worried-looking London-born comic actor, who first rose to prominence as Jimmy Edwards's long-suffering headmaster in 'Whack-O!' on BBC radio. The show was later transferred to the screen by BBC TV and ran from 1956 to 1960 in its original format.

Cyril Luckham was born on 25 July 1907 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for A Man for All Seasons (1966), The Guardians (1971) and The Barchester Chronicles (1982). He was married to Violet Lamb. He died on 8 February 1989 in London, England, UK.

Debonair British actor at home on stage (since the age of 15), screen and TV. Initially, his roles tended to be dramatic but, by his 40s, he was increasingly playing tongue-in-cheek comedy parts. His smooth lounge-lizard voice has frequently been used for voice-overs on television advertisements (most famously a long-running campaign for Schweppes drinks) and TV trailers.

Barbara Leake was born on 14 May 1903 in Hunstanton, Norfolk, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Dead of Night (1945) and A Study in Terror (1965). She was married to Stafford Byrne. She died on 18 August 1991 in Chichester, Sussex, England, UK.

Douglas Ives was born on 16 August 1898 in Sheffield, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Brandy for the Parson (1952), The History of Mr. Polly (1959) and Sherlock Holmes (1964). He died on 6 March 1969 in London, England, UK.

Jill Adams (nee Siggins), was discovered while working as a model, having been asked to step in at the department store where she was an artist, when a model failed to show up. She was the daughter of Irish-American silent film actress Molly Adair, and New-Zealand writer, Arthur James Siggins (published under the name A.J. Siggins),. He had first sailed from the Antipodes to Africa as a young man to fight in the Boer war, where he served with the Matabele Mounted Police and later represented The ANZACs at Cecil Rhodes funeral in1902. His first wife was from Mozambique. The couple first met in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), where he was working with the High Commission. She was there on location to star in the silent film version of 'The Blue Lagoon' The young ingénue became A.J. Siggins' 2nd wife. After several years in Africa, during which time two sons were born, they relocated to England, where Jillian M.M.J. Siggins was born in London. During WWII, the family moved to North Wales, where they had 2 working farms. Upon returning to London following the war, and after Jill had become a successful model, she married a young US Navy officer stationed in the British capital, by the name of James Adams, in 1951. They had a daughter (Tina) in 1952. Jill's career began to flourish, but sadly the marriage did not, and now alone she began securing a few minor TV and film roles, before eventually being signed by J. Arthur Rank as one of the corporation's 'starlets'. The bubbly blonde actress, Jill Adams, soon made a string of popular films for the studios - many of which were light-hearted comedies such as 'Doctor at Sea' and 'Brothers in Law' - and she was often referred to as Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe. She also made a few films in the US and Australia. In 1957, she married the well-known BBC radio and TV personality, Peter Haigh, and they were very much the 'It' couple. They had a daughter, Peta Louise, in 1962. Jill also starred in the popular TV series 'The Flying Doctor' which lasted for 39 episodes. Over the next few years, although no longer getting the bigger roles, Adams continued to work both in radio and on stage. But, by the end of the 60s, with fewer opportunities available, she essentially retired from show business. In 1971, she and her husband Peter moved the family to the Algarve in Portugal, where they ran a hotel and restaurant in Albufeira. When that marriage ended, Adams spent several years with Michael Johnson, a former British radio host and musician, with whom she ran two businesses. She then eventually went solo until meeting Alan 'Buster' Jones, and moved first to the Lisbon area to be with him, and then they relocated to Spain. Following Jones's death in 1996, in the Costa del Sol, she returned to Portugal to be nearer to family. Always a prolific, popular and talented artist, she continued to paint even after being diagnosed with cancer in 2005 and right up until her death in Clareanes, in the Algarve., on May 13, 2008, at the age of 77.

Extremely prolific and ubiquitous British background player Victor James Harrington was born on August 27, 1909 in Casal Paola, Malta. Harrington first began appearing in movies in uncredited minor roles in the mid-1930's. One of the most busy and tireless of British bit players, Victor could be frequently spotted in countless films and TV shows as a patron in a pub, nightclub, casino, or restaurant, a party guest, a military officer, a spectator at a sporting event, or an audience member at a play or concert. His daughter Victoria Harrington was also an actress. Harrington died at age 70 on July 23, 1980 in Brighton, East Essex, England.

Professional boxer and background player Ernie Rice was born John Tomasso on November 17, 1896 in Hull, Yorkshire, England. Rice was a professional boxer from 1911 to 1930: Throughout the course of his boxing career Rice participated in 83 fights altogether, with 50 wins, 28 losses, three no contests, and two fights resulting in a draw. In the wake of retiring from boxing Ernie went on to become a boxing referee. Moreover, Rice first began popping up in films in uncredited minor roles in the mid-1930's. A large muscular man with a rough face and a hulking build, Ernie was often cast as vendors, villagers, or pub patrons. His brothers Dick Rice and Toni Rice were also boxers. Rice died in 1979.

Louis Matto was born on 16 August 1910 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Glad Tidings! (1953) and Softly Softly: Task Force (1969). He was married to Norah Mary Cox. He died on 16 April 1989 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK.

Gordon Humphris was born on 22 April 1921 in Sutton, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Come Dance with Me (1950), Miracle in Soho (1957) and Kaleidoscope (1946). He died on 4 July 2010 in Surrey, England, UK.

Anthony Faramus was born on 27 July 1920 in Saint Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands. He was an actor, known for The Colditz Story (1955) and King Rat (1965). He died on 4 August 1990 in Surrey, England, UK.

Lane Meddick was born on 18 March 1924 in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Flower of Evil (1961), The Death Wheelers (1973) and Journey's End (1954). He died on 1 January 2017 in Binfield Heath, Berkshire, England, UK.

British character actress, on stage from 1894. Her many notable theatrical appearances include "Little Lord Fauntleroy" at the Prince's Theatre in Bristol, and, as Lady McClean, in "Escape Me Never" at the Apollo in London (1933) - a part she subsequently took to Broadway two years later. Until well into her seventies, Katie's screen career consisted almost exclusively of smallish parts, until she was cast as sweet, frail Mrs. Wilberforce in the classic Ealing comedy The Ladykillers (1955). A most quintessentially British role, it finds her in a crumbling boarding house with dodgy plumbing, surrounded by Victorian memorabilia, a parrot named General Gordon, and an assortment of genteel, but pixillated, old friends. Her innocence and moral fortitude ultimately precipitate the downfall of a gang of bank robbers, posing as a string quartet.

This was the defining role of Katie's career and it won her the 1955 BAFTA Award as Best Actress. She had another juicy role, as eavesdropping would-be sleuth Aunt Alice, in How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957). Sadly, there was to be no more from this delightful scene stealer, as she passed away shortly after, at the age of 78.

Jack Warner started acting with the Sutton Amateur Dramatics Club after the end of World War I. From 1935, performed in cabaret at the London West End as half of the double act of Warner & Darnell. In addition to starring as Dixon of Dock Green (1955), which ran for over 20 years, he achieved lasting popularity on screen in the role of Joe Huggett, patriarch of a Cockney family, in Holiday Camp (1947), and its three sequels (plus a radio serial). Towards the end of his working life, 1976-80, Warner made a brief return to cabaret, before a stroke brought about his retirement.

Gladys Henson was born on 27 September 1897 in Dublin, Ireland. She was an actress, known for Frieda (1947), Derby Day (1952) and The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950). She was married to Harry Wright and Leslie Henson. She died on 21 December 1982 in London, England, UK.

Patric Doonan was born on 19 April 1926 in Alvaston, Derby, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Project M7 (1953), The Cockleshell Heroes (1955) and Crest of the Wave (1954). He was married to Aud Johansen. He died on 10 March 1958 in Chelsea, London, England, UK.