British film star known for her roles in A Town Like Alice and The Spanish Gardener
Never having had the chance to justify her initial build-up as "the next Vivien Leigh", the svelte brunette Maureen Swanson, who has died of cancer aged 78, deserved much better than she was given in the 1950s by the Rank Organisation, to whom she was under contract. Although Swanson was not a graduate of the much-maligned Rank Charm School, she was, to her chagrin, often referred to as a "Rank starlet", which implied that she was merely on screen in order to look glamorous. But unlike Rank charmers such as Diana Dors, Joan Collins and Belinda Lee, Swanson was not a "naughty" sex symbol, but more of a "good girl".
She might have gone on to better parts had not her marriage in 1961 to William Ward, Viscount Ednam (later the 4th Earl of Dudley) terminated her acting career for good.
Never having had the chance to justify her initial build-up as "the next Vivien Leigh", the svelte brunette Maureen Swanson, who has died of cancer aged 78, deserved much better than she was given in the 1950s by the Rank Organisation, to whom she was under contract. Although Swanson was not a graduate of the much-maligned Rank Charm School, she was, to her chagrin, often referred to as a "Rank starlet", which implied that she was merely on screen in order to look glamorous. But unlike Rank charmers such as Diana Dors, Joan Collins and Belinda Lee, Swanson was not a "naughty" sex symbol, but more of a "good girl".
She might have gone on to better parts had not her marriage in 1961 to William Ward, Viscount Ednam (later the 4th Earl of Dudley) terminated her acting career for good.
- 1/1/2012
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Norman Wisdom, one of the Britain's best-loved comedy stars, has died aged 95. We look back over his career in clips
Rex Harrison urged him to take up a career in showbiz; Charlie Chaplin named him his favourite clown. Yet Norman Wisdom remained that most modest of British superstars, unpretentious, full of humility, despite a dizzying rise to international fame. Or, rather, extreme popularity in the UK, and extraordinary adulation in other slightly unlikely other countries, most notably Albania, where he was, notoriously, the only Western actor whose films were allowed in the country during the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha.
Wisdom had a tough upbringing - sleeping in the same room as his whole family; a spell in a children's home, then employment by the Merchant Navy at a young age - which left little time for him to be a child. It seems striking then that his stage and screen...
Rex Harrison urged him to take up a career in showbiz; Charlie Chaplin named him his favourite clown. Yet Norman Wisdom remained that most modest of British superstars, unpretentious, full of humility, despite a dizzying rise to international fame. Or, rather, extreme popularity in the UK, and extraordinary adulation in other slightly unlikely other countries, most notably Albania, where he was, notoriously, the only Western actor whose films were allowed in the country during the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha.
Wisdom had a tough upbringing - sleeping in the same room as his whole family; a spell in a children's home, then employment by the Merchant Navy at a young age - which left little time for him to be a child. It seems striking then that his stage and screen...
- 10/5/2010
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
CSI is taking a break this week, but a new episode will be airing on February 4. CBS has released a few promo photos for the episode, along with a synopsis. Check them out below.
The CSI Team Gets Caught Up In The World Of Teen Drag Racing While Investigating The Mysterious Death Of A Teenager And His Missing Girlfriend, On "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," Thursday, Feb. 4
"Internal Combustion" – The case of two high school students, one dead and one missing, lead the CSIs into the underbelly of streetcar racing and a tangled web of deadly competition, on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Thursday, Feb. 4 (9:00-10:00 Pm, Et/Pt) on the CBS Television Network.
Series Regulars:
Dr. Raymond Langston…… Laurence Fishburne
Catherine Willows………….. Marg Helgenberger
Nick Stokes………………………….. George Eads
Captain Jim Brass………………….. Paul Guilfoyle
Greg Sanders………………………… Eric Szmanda
Dr. Robbins……………………. Robert David Hall
David Phillips……………………….. David Berman
Hodges………………………….. Wallace Langham
Wendy Simms…...
The CSI Team Gets Caught Up In The World Of Teen Drag Racing While Investigating The Mysterious Death Of A Teenager And His Missing Girlfriend, On "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," Thursday, Feb. 4
"Internal Combustion" – The case of two high school students, one dead and one missing, lead the CSIs into the underbelly of streetcar racing and a tangled web of deadly competition, on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Thursday, Feb. 4 (9:00-10:00 Pm, Et/Pt) on the CBS Television Network.
Series Regulars:
Dr. Raymond Langston…… Laurence Fishburne
Catherine Willows………….. Marg Helgenberger
Nick Stokes………………………….. George Eads
Captain Jim Brass………………….. Paul Guilfoyle
Greg Sanders………………………… Eric Szmanda
Dr. Robbins……………………. Robert David Hall
David Phillips……………………….. David Berman
Hodges………………………….. Wallace Langham
Wendy Simms…...
- 1/24/2010
- by Clarissa
- TVovermind.com
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