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1-50 of 114
- Born Leeds, England and trained at Old Vic Theatre School, 1947-1949. First stage appearance in "Tough at the Top" (C.B. Cochran's last musical) in 1949, followed by seasons at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon; Glasgow Citizen's and Birmingham Repertory Theatre. First in London's West End in "The Happy Time" (1952) and more recently in "Worzel Gummidge", "A Month of Sundays", "Maria" and "Unfinished Business". Overseas: played Caesar in "Caesar and Cleopatra" (International Festival, Paris, 1956); Ravinia Shakespeare Festival (Chicago, 1964); Pickering in "My Fair Lady" (Houston, 1991). In 1998 he was nominated as "Best Actor" for the Royal Midland Television Awards for his role as Alby James in an episode of Peak Practice (1993).
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jimmy Savile was born on 31 October 1926 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for When Louis Met... Jimmy (2000), Ferry Cross the Mersey (1964) and Go Go Mania (1965). He died on 29 October 2011 in Roundhay, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK.- Best known now for his role in Emmerdale/ Emmerdale Farm he shot to fame as Dr John Rennie in Emergency Ward 10 in the 50's which launched him to fame. and led to A Family at War, and To the Manor Born while his films include The Dam Busters. He has 4 children by 3 marriages.
- Danny O'Dea was a British funnyman born out of the finest Music Hall tradition, left a legacy which spans eight decades and reads like the history of British comedy. He performed alongside some of the biggest names in the business including Arthur Askey, Les Dawson, Dick Emery, John Inman and Cilla Black, entering showbiz at an early age thanks to a enviable pedigree and working until he was 90, most recently enjoying popularity as long-sighted Eli Duckett in Last of the Summer Wine.
He was the nephew of music hall comedians Morney Cash and Archie Glen and was related to beautiful actress Kay Kendall, granddaughter of musical comedy star Marie Kendall and daughter of vaudevillian Terry Kendall. Kay, who married Rex Harrison, had a brief, very glamorous career but died from leukaemia in 1959, aged 33.
Danny began his epic career in the theatre, appearing in hundreds of musical comedies, plays and pantomimes and thousands of music hall, cabaret and seaside summer shows nationwide and in the USA, Australia and New Zealand. He became well-known as a fine comedy actor and a brilliant stand-up comedian. During a summer season in Blackpool he fell in love with his wife Doris, a dancer in a variety show, but it was in London in the 1950s and 1960s that his career really took off.
He became a member of Brian Rix's acclaimed company at London's Whitehall Theatre and appeared for six years in the long-running farce Pyjama Tops as doddering policeman Inspector Crindle. Two years at the Windmill Theatre co-starring with John Inman and Fiona Richmond in Let's Get Laid and roles as the effeminate Eric Tweedy in Les Dawson's Don't Tell the Wife and Albert Waterman in the blockbusting stage version of Carry On Laughing, alongside a cast which included Liz Fraser, Peter Butterworth, Kenneth Connor, Jack Douglas and Ann Ashton, built him a reputation as a bawdy comic player of the highest order. He became a regular on BBC Radio and later television, appearing on Sez Les with Les Dawson, Selwyn Froggart with Bill Maynard and as Tim Trimmer, the jovial old boatman in All Creatures Great and Small.
Later television appearances included Winning Streak, Bulman, The Book Tower and a guest appearance on Jim'll Fix It, as well as Victoria Wood and One Foot In The Grave.
During pantomime season he worked with stars including Millicent Martin, Arthur Askey, Nat Jackley, Dickie Henderson, Martie Wilde, Dick Emery and Frank Ifield, often stealing the show as the pantomime dame. He played the robber in Les Dawson's record-breaking 1980 panto at the Birmingham Palladium, the following season he was in Oxford playing Dame Merryweather alongside Stu Francis and The Krankies and in 1982, aged 80, he starred as Widow Twankey in Aladdin in Kirkcaldy. These exhausting runs lasted months and included around 100 shows, but Danny thrived on it. In 1986, aged 84, he only got busier. The year began in panto in Oxford alongside Jim Davidson as an ugly sister in Cinderella and ended at Leeds City varieties with Jack and the Beanstalk - his last stage appearance. In between he fitted in a season in Alan Bleasdale's farce Having a Ball in Exeter, starred as Paddy in Rita, Sue and Bob Too and landed a part in the BBC's Last of the Summer Wine. His character Eli remained a fixture for 15 years, until Danny was 90. Series director Alan RJ Bell said: "I'd get letters saying they only watch the show for Eli. He's got friends all over the world because the show is now broadcast in America. "Danny's scenes as Eli Duckett will be a lasting testament to his comic timing and sense of fun." Ken Kitson, co-star on Last of the Summer Wine, added: "I respected him, admired him and thought his timing was second to none. I remember him entertaining us for four hours when we were stuck on a bus, telling us about his music hall days." Danny's agent of over 30 years Michael Joseph said Danny's training in variety and music hall had set him apart. "I've known him for 50 years and it's very sad to know he's no longer with us because our business really needs people like him," he said. "There's no-one to replace him. "No-one can do the falls, the facial expressions and the comedy Danny used to do. He'd had 50 years' experience before he got to television. He was an amazing character."
Danny, who lived in Sal Royd, Low Moor, for 40 years before moving to Hartshead Manor Nursing Home in 2001 died aged 91 in 2003 leaving a daughter and two granddaughters. - John Collin was born on 18 October 1928 in Burley-in-Wharfedale, Ilkley, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Tess (1979), The Guardians (1971) and The Big Pull (1962). He died on 25 February 1987 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK.
- Steve Halliwell was born on 19 March 1946 in Bury, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Emmerdale Farm (1972), Coronation Street (1960) and All Creatures Great and Small (1978). He was married to Valerie Kirkby and Susan Woods. He died on 15 December 2023 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK.
- Juliet Cooke was born on 23 April 1936 in Glossop, Derbyshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Wednesday Play (1964), ITV Play of the Week (1955) and Play for Today (1970). She died in 1982 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK.
- Joe Belcher was born on 29 August 1928 in Berkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for An American Werewolf in London (1981), Village Hall (1974) and The Practice (1985). He died on 16 August 2006 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK.
- After leaving the RAF he trained for the theatre with Esme Church of the Northern Theatre School between 1951 -52, He became an expert swordsman to such an extent that he arranges fights for stage, film and television and is a founder member of the British Fight Arrangers, He was the first actor to be given a special citation as a performer by American TV Radio Commercials Festival (1969) He first played Alf Roberts in Coronation Street in 1961. Married to Norma he had 3 sons and 3 daughters Jonathan ,Bernard and Leonard and Jacqueline, Simone and Helen,
- Charlotte was born 1816, the third of the six children of Patrick Brontë, an Anglican clergyman, and his wife Maria Branwell Brontë. After their mother's death in 1821, Charlotte and her sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, were sent to Cowan Bridge Clergy Daughters' School, which Charlotte would later immortalize as the brutal Lowood school in "Jane Eyre". Conditions at the school were so bad that both Maria and Elizabeth became ill with consumption (tuberculosis) which killed them in 1825. Charlotte was very close to her surviving siblings, Anne Brontë, Branwell, and Emily Brontë. The children invented the imaginary kingdoms of Angria and Gondal, and spent much of their childhood writing poetry and stories about their make-believe realms. In 1846 the three sisters published a collected work of their poetry called, appropriately enough, "Poems", and in 1847 Charlotte published her most famous book, "Jane Eyre", under a male pseudonym, Currer Bell. Charlotte lost her remaining siblings within a brief time -- Branwell from alcoholism and Emily from consumption, both in 1848; Anne also from consumption in 1849. Charlotte was devastated, and became a lifelong hypochondriac. She resided in London, where she made the acquaintance and admiration of William Makepeace Thackeray. In 1854, she married Reverend A. B. Nicholls, curate of Haworth, against her father's wishes. Charlotte found she was pregnant not long after her marriage, and it was felt she would have a difficult pregnancy due to previous ill-health. She died on 31 March 1855.
- Amy "Ariel" Burdett also known as Arabella Starchild was born in 1981 and grew up to be a self-proclaimed "holistic vocal coach" from Wakefield who auditioned for Series 5 of The X Factor UK. She did not pass the audition stage after singing her own piece which she branded an academic construction. She is remembered for her scary look and her voice which Simon branded a 'nightmare'. On the 12 November 2019, Burdett was found dead in her home in Leeds. She was found with stab wounds on her neck. Her death is considered to be not suspicious; thus, the stab wound was self-inflicted, ruling her death as a suicide.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Paul Luty was born on 4 May 1932 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Love Thy Neighbour (1972), In Loving Memory (1969) and Juggernaut (1974). He died on 10 January 1985 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK.- David J. Nicholls was born on 30 January 1950 in Tipton, Sandwell, West Midlands, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Gladiator (2000) and Ivanhoe (1997). He died on 23 June 2008 in Armley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK.
- Director
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Quentin Lawrence was born on 6 November 1920 in Gravesend, Kent, England, UK. Quentin was a director and producer, known for The Strange World of Planet X (1956), The Avengers (1961) and Emmerdale Farm (1972). Quentin died on 9 March 1979 in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, UK.- Actor
- Soundtrack
John Richard Whiteley, a staunchly proud Yorkshireman, was a much-loved television presenter and journalist, born in Bradford, West Yorkshire in 1943. He was best known for being the presenter of the long running UK Channel 4 television show Countdown (1982).
However, prior to this he was primarily a journalist, working as a reporter for Yorkshire Television, one of whose claims to fame being that he had interviewed every British Prime Minister since Harold Macmillan. He was also the first journalist to interview the then British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher after the IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the Conservative Party conference week in 1984.
Countdown was originally scheduled to run for only five weeks when it began in 1982 as an inception show for the then brand new UK television channel Channel 4, but the show went on to run for 23 years under his presentation, averaging four million viewers per week.
Whiteley will also be remembered for his taste in clothing, every single episode wearing a different garishly coloured tie along with an equally loud, sometimes striped, jacket. Never one to appear superior to his guests he was always self-effacing and "bumbling" - a word often used to describe him by his closest friends.
In 2004 he was invested as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, an award of which he was said to have been very proud.
In May 2005, he was rushed into intensive care suffering from pneumonia, and although he appeared to be making a slow but steady recovery, doctors found that he had an infection in one of his heart valves. He was transferred to Leeds General Infirmary and underwent an operation to correct this. The operation went well but unfortunately two days later he suffered a heart attack and did not regain consciousness.
He will be deeply and sadly missed by his family, his closest friends and his fans, an all-round truly decent man.- The dreamiest of the talented Brontë clan, Emily Jane Brontë was born in 1818. Her mother died when she was barely more than a toddler, and Emily and her younger sister, Anne, became very close. Along with their other siblings, 'Charlotte Bronte' and Branwell Bronte, they invented the make-believe kingdoms of Angria and Gondal, which occupied their lonely childhoods.
Emily never socialized well, and had few friends outside her family. In 1846 she and her sisters published a compilation of their poetry, "Poems", which was followed a year later by Emily's only novel, "Wuthering Heights". An intense and powerful novel, whose enigmatic hero Heathcliff was modeled on Emily's brother, Branwell, "Wuthering Heights" was not an immediate success like Charlotte's "Jane Eyre", but was later recognized as one of the best books of English Literature. Like her sisters, Emily published her book under a male pseudonym, Eliss Bell. In 1848, while attending the funeral of her brother Branwell, Emily caught a cold that developed quickly into the tuberculosis that would take her own life later that year. - Lorraine Peters was born on 26 July 1935 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Good Companions (1980), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984) and Emmerdale Farm (1972). She died on 6 October 1999 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK.
- Peter Wallis was born in 1926 in England, UK. He was an actor, known for Dracula (1979), Village Hall (1974) and Brassed Off (1996). He was married to Dorothy M Johnson. He died on 23 May 2008 in Otley, West Yorkshire, England, UK.
- Ron Backhouse was an actor, known for Last of the Summer Wine (1973). He died on 1 November 2018 in Meltham, West Yorkshire, England.
- Angela started her career young, playing truant from school to appear in 'Jane Eyre' by a touring company. She won the Gilbert award for Comedy, the Tree award for Drama and the Emile Littler award for Outstanding Talent during her years at RADA. By the time she had joined "Coronation Street" in 1960 she had already appeared as lead in many theatre productions, including Lily Smalls in the original stage production of 'Under Milk Wood'. Her television credits included "The Laughing Woman", playing opposite Peter O'Toole, and "The Dance Dress". Today, Angela is as busy as ever with her theatre work.
- George Malpas was born on 1 November 1926 in Warrington, Cheshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Lassiter (1984) and Bread or Blood (1981). He died on 26 February 2001 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Pat Kirkwood was born on 24 February 1921 in Pendleton, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She was an actress, known for After the Ball (1957), The Passing Show (1951) and Stars in Your Eyes (1956). She was married to Peter Knight, Hubert Gregg, Spiro de Spero Gabriele and John William Atkinson Lister. She died on 25 December 2007 in Ilkley, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK.- Writer
- Actor
John Cunliffe worked for many years as a librarian and a teacher and is now a full-time writer. He has always had an interest in reading, stating that when he was a child he enjoyed the novels of writers such as H. Rider Haggard, Sax Rohmer, Norman Hunter's Professor Branestawm stories and W. E. Johns's Biggles books.
His first book, Farmer Barnes Buys a Pig, was published in 1964. Cunliffe lived in Kendal, Cumbria for six years, and it was the small towns and villages of that area which would provide the inspiration for his most famous character - Postman Pat. Greendale, where Postman Pat is set, is based on the valley of Longsleddale, near Kendal. After the success of the TV series, which he wrote as the result of a commission from the BBC, (produced by Ivor Wood) which debuted in 1981, Cunliffe became something of a local celebrity, even having a room dedicated to him at Kendal's Museum of Lakeland Life.
Cunliffe's other well-known creation, Rosie and Jim, was also written for television in the 1990s. He scripted and presented the first fifty episodes, then turned some of them into books. He is the author of around 190 books for young children, including five volumes of poetry, as well as numerous picture books and collections of stories.
He has also written a stage play, The Twelve Days of Christmas, which was presented by the Hull Truck Theatre Company during their 1997 season. He is currently working on scripts and books for new Postman Pat series, which are in production with Entertainment Rights Ltd. In 2010 he released "Ghosts", a children's story for the iPad, through the Ashley Bolser Agency in Leeds.- Fred Trueman was born on 6 February 1931 in Stainton, South Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Fred Trueman Bowls You Over (1994), Dad's Army (1968) and Stars on Sunday (1969). He was married to Veronica Lundy and Enid E. Chapman. He died on 1 July 2006 in Steeton, Keighley, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK.
- Stunts
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Roy Alon was born on 24 April 1942 in Otley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Die Another Day (2002), Children of Men (2006) and Lifeforce (1985). He died on 1 February 2006 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK.