Eddie O'Connell (b 1960) is an English actor best known for playing the lead in the 1986 film Absolute Beginners . [1]
O'Connell had studied acting but was very inexperienced when cast in the lead, atlhough he had done some stage work. [2] He worked as a gas fitter before becoming an actor. [3] His Absolute Beginners co star Patsy Kensit later wrote "there was no chemistry between Eddie and me... which didn’t help matters, though there was nothing either of us could do about it. I’m sure Stephen Woolley and Julien thought I hated Eddie, but I didn’t. We simply didn’t gel on screen or off, which must have been a huge disappointment." [4]
O'Connell worked steadily in television after Absolute Beginners. His other movie credits include Sexy Beast and his television credits include Civvies. He later acted under the name "Edward O'Connell". [5]
Lethal Weapon 2 is a 1989 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Richard Donner, and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Joss Ackland, Derrick O'Connor and Patsy Kensit. It is a sequel to the 1987 film Lethal Weapon and the second installment in the Lethal Weapon film series.
Patricia Jude Kensit is an English actress and singer. Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Birds Eye frozen peas. She went on to appear in films such as The Great Gatsby (1974), Gold (1974), Alfie Darling (1975), Hennessy (1975), The Blue Bird (1976) and Hanover Street (1979). Balancing a dual career as both an actress and a singer, in 1983 Kensit formed and became the lead singer of the pop band Eighth Wonder. The group released several singles, including the top 20 hits "I'm Not Scared" and "Cross My Heart", before disbanding in 1989.
Edward Felix Tudor-Pole is an English musician, television presenter and actor.
Absolute Beginners is a novel by Colin MacInnes, written and set in 1958 London, England. It was published in 1959. The novel is the second of MacInnes' London Trilogy, coming after City of Spades (1958) and before Mr. Love and Justice (1960). These novels are each self-contained, with no shared characters.
Patsy Kelly was an American actress. She is known for her role as the brash, wisecracking sidekick to Thelma Todd in a series of short comedy films produced by Hal Roach in the 1930s. Kelly's career continued in similar roles after Todd's death in 1935.
Played is a 2006 crime film produced by Caspar von Winterfeldt, Nick Simunek and Mick Rossi, executive produced by John Daly, co-produced by Nigel Mead, David Brin and Lenny Bitondo, written by Sean Stanek and Mick Rossi and directed by Sean Stanek. The film stars Val Kilmer, Gabriel Byrne, Vinnie Jones, Patrick Bergin, Joanne Whalley, Bruno Kirby, Anthony LaPaglia, Roy Dotrice, Patsy Kensit, Andy Nyman and Mick Rossi.
Absolute Beginners is a 1986 British musical film adapted from Colin MacInnes' book about life in late 1950s London, directed by Julien Temple. The film stars Eddie O' Connell, Patsy Kensit, James Fox, Edward Tudor-Pole, Anita Morris, and David Bowie, with featured appearances by Sade Adu, Ray Davies, and Steven Berkoff. It was screened out of competition at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival. It received coverage in the British media but was panned by critics and became a box office failure, although modern reviews have been more favourable. Bowie's theme song was very popular in the UK, spending nine weeks on the charts and peaking at number two.
Jennifer Ann Seagrove is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and first came to attention playing the lead in a television dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance (1985) and the film Local Hero (1983). She starred in the thriller Appointment with Death (1988) and William Friedkin's horror film The Guardian (1990). She later played Louisa Gould in Another Mother's Son (2017).
Karl Davies is an English actor who portrayed Lyle Anderson in the TV series Kingdom. Previously, he had portrayed Robert Sugden in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale.
"Absolute Beginners" is a song written and performed by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. Recorded in August of 1985, and released on 3 March 1986, it was the theme song to the 1986 film of the same name. Although the film was not a commercial success, the song was a big hit, reaching No. 2 on the UK singles chart. It also reached the top 10 on the main singles charts in ten other countries. In the US, it peaked at No. 53 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Edward John David Redmayne is a British actor. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Olivier Awards.
Angela Best is an English model and former Playboy Bunny, known as the first wife of footballer George Best.
Faye Morton is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, portrayed by actress Patsy Kensit. The character first appeared on-screen on 30 January 2007 in the series nine episode "Into the Dark". Kensit had made a former unrelated guest appearance on Holby City's sister show, Casualty, in 2001.
Alexandra Pigg is a British actor who first came to prominence as Petra Taylor in the TV soap opera Brookside. Her best-known film appearances are as Elaine in Letter to Brezhnev (1985), for which she was nominated for a BAFTA award, and as Bridget Baines in A Chorus of Disapproval (1988).
Jack O'Connell is an English actor. He first gained recognition for playing James Cook in the British television series Skins. He is also known for his roles in This Is England (2006), the slasher film Eden Lake (2009), the television dramas Dive (2010) and United (2011), and the Netflix wild west miniseries Godless (2017), for which he received a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination.
Anthony Robert McMillan, known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter film series. He was appointed an OBE in the 2006 New Year Honours by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama. In 1990, Coltrane received the Evening Standard British Film Award – Peter Sellers Award for Comedy. In 2011, he was honoured for his "outstanding contribution" to film at the British Academy Scotland Awards.
Hennessy is a 1975 British thriller film directed by Don Sharp and starring Rod Steiger, Trevor Howard, Lee Remick, Richard Johnson, Peter Egan, Stanley Lebor, Patrick Stewart and a young Patsy Kensit, the last two in their film debuts.
Sadie Carter is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by Patsy Kensit. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 10 May 2004. The character was introduced as the wife of Jimmy King, who arrived with his family in 2004. Kensit left the serial to accept a role on Holby City and Sadie made her final appearance on 21 September 2006. Kensit won the Best Bitch accolade for her portrayal of Sadie at the 2005 and 2006 Inside Soap Awards.
Eighth Wonder were an English pop band, formed in 1983 in London, initially composed of singer/model/actress Patsy Kensit, her brother Jamie Kensit, Steve Grantley, Geoff Beauchamp, Nigel Davis, Jake Walters and Lawrence Lewis. The band first enjoyed major success in Japan and Italy in 1985–87, before finally breaking through in the UK and across Europe in 1988, thanks to their hit single "I'm Not Scared".
Mark Adrian Holden-Aikhomu is a British-born Canadian actor of Nigerian descent, who works in film, television, theatre and voice. He has worked extensively throughout Canada, UK, Europe and South Africa. He is best known for playing CIA handler John Lynn in the Fox Networks Group television series Deep State and playing James Morse on stage in the original London cast of Pretty Woman: The Musical at the Savoy Theatre in the West End. Most recently his voice can be heard playing Doctor Paradox in the 2020 video game Cyberpunk 2077, developed by CD Projekt, and playing Nikolas in another eagerly awaited video game Dying Light 2: Stay Human developed by Techland.