Leonard Rossiter was an English actor. He had a long career in the theatre but achieved his greatest fame for his television comedy roles, most notably starring as Rupert Rigsby in the ITV series Rising Damp from 1974 to 1980, and Reginald Perrin in the BBC's The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin from 1976 to 1979.
The Curtain Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Hewett Street, Shoreditch, just outside the City of London. It opened in 1577, and continued staging plays until 1624.
Charles Bennett was an English playwright, screenwriter and director probably best known for his work with Alfred Hitchcock.
Laurence Olivier (1907–1989) was an English actor who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. From 1935 he performed in radio broadcasts and, from 1956, had considerable success in television roles.
Victoria Hopper was a Canadian-born British stage and film actress and singer.
Margaret Kennedy was an English novelist and playwright. Her most successful work, as a novel and as a play, was The Constant Nymph. She was a productive writer and several of her works were made into films. Three of her novels were reprinted in 2011.
A Month in the Country is a play in five acts by Ivan Turgenev, his only well-known work for the theatre. Originally titled The Student, it was written in France between 1848 and 1850 and first published in 1855 as Two Women. The play was not staged until 1872, when it was given as A Month in the Country at a benefit performance for the Moscow actress Ekaterina Vasilyeva (1829–1877), who was keen to play the leading role of Natalya Petrovna.
Henry Compton was an English actor best known for his Shakespearean comic roles.
Renee Gadd (1908–2003) was an Argentine-born British film actress. She acted mostly in British films.
White Face is a 1932 British crime film directed by T. Hayes Hunter and starring Hugh Williams, Gordon Harker and Renee Gadd. The film is based on a play by Edgar Wallace.
Margherita Cecilia Brigida Lucia Maria Albanesi was a British stage and film actress.
Autumn Crocus is a 1934 British romance film directed by Basil Dean and starring Ivor Novello, Fay Compton and Muriel Aked. The film follows a teacher who falls in love with the married owner of the guest house in which she is staying during a holiday to Austria. It was based on Dodie Smith's first play Autumn Crocus, previously a West End hit for director Basil Dean. The film was made by Associated Talking Pictures at Ealing Studios, with art direction by Edward Carrick. It was the final film appearance of its star, Ivor Novello. A contemporary reviewer wrote, "Novello's schoolboy knees under his Tyrolean shorts make the audience, if not the players, feel bashful".
The First and the Last is a 1919 play by the British writer John Galsworthy. It was based on a short story published in 1917. It was staged successfully in the early 1920s by Basil Dean featuring the actors Owen Nares and Meggie Albanesi. In 1937, it was adapted by Dean for the film 21 Days, which was not released until 1940, starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.
The Constant Nymph is a 1933 British drama film directed by Basil Dean and starring Victoria Hopper, Brian Aherne and Leonora Corbett. It is an adaptation of the novel The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy. Dean tried to persuade Novello to reprise his appearance from the 1928 silent version The Constant Nymph but was turned down and cast Aherne in the part instead.
John Goodwin was a British theatre publicist, writer and editor who played a crucial role in the development of subsidised theatre in post-war Britain; first with the Royal Shakespeare Company where in the 60s he led the media campaign against concerted attempts to close its flourishing London base; then with the Royal National Theatre where, as an associate director and member of its planning committee, he was a key figure in the administrative team which, in the '70s and '80s, shaped its historic first years on London's South Bank. He was the author of a number of books on the theatre including the best-selling A Short Guide to Shakspeare's Plays. He also edited and compiled the classic reference work British Theatre Design and edited the internationally best-selling diaries of Sir Peter Hall.
Call It a Day is a play by the British writer Dodie Smith first staged in 1935. Her most successful play, its initial West End run at the Globe Theatre lasted for 509 performances. The original cast included Owen Nares, Fay Compton, Austin Trevor, Muriel George, Patricia Hilliard, Valerie Taylor and Marie Lohr. The play was produced by the impresario Basil Dean. In 1936 it transferred to Broadway where it ran for 194 performances at the Morosco.
Caesar's Wife is a 1919 play by the British writer Somerset Maugham. Its West End run at the Royalty Theatre in London lasted for 241 performances from 27 March to 25 October 1919. Amongst the original cast were C. Aubrey Smith, Fay Compton, George Relph and Helen Haye.
