Catherine II, most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III. Under her long reign, inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, Russia experienced a renaissance of culture and sciences, which led to the founding of many new cities, universities, and theatres, along with a large-scale immigration from the rest of Europe and with the recognition of Russia as one of the great powers of Europe.
Elizabeth or Elizaveta Petrovna reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian monarchs because of her decision not to execute a single person during her reign, her numerous construction projects, and her strong opposition to Prussian policies.
Peter Seamus O'Toole was an English stage and film actor. He attended RADA and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic and with the English Stage Company. In 1959 he made his West End debut in The Long and the Short and the Tall, and played the title role in Hamlet in the National Theatre's first production in 1963. Excelling on the London stage, O'Toole was known for his "hellraiser" lifestyle off it.
Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski was a Russian military leader, statesman, nobleman, and favourite of Catherine the Great. He died during negotiations over the Treaty of Jassy, which ended a war with the Ottoman Empire that he had overseen.
Samuel Joel "Zero" Mostel was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version of Mel Brooks' The Producers (1967). Mostel was a student of Don Richardson, and he used an acting technique based on muscle memory. He was blacklisted during the 1950s; his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee was well publicised. Mostel later starred in the Hollywood Blacklist drama film The Front (1976) alongside Woody Allen, for which Mostel was nominated for the British Academy Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.
John Edward Hawkins, CBE was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of military men.
Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, KB was a Welsh diplomat, writer and satirist. He was a Member of Parliament from 1734 until his death.
During and after the reign of the flamboyant and powerful Empress Catherine II of Russia, whose long rule led to the modernisation of the Russian Empire, many urban legends arose, some legends based on true events, concerning her sexual behaviour.
Catherine the Great is a 1995 television movie based on the life of Catherine II of Russia. It stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Catherine, Jeanne Moreau as Empress Elizabeth and Omar Sharif as Alexis Razumovsky.
Natalia Alexeievna, Tsarevna of Russia was the first wife of Paul Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, son of the Empress Catherine II. She was born as Princess Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt as the fifth child of Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and his spouse Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken.
Gordon William Flemyng was a Scottish television and film director. He was also a writer and producer. He directed six theatrical features, several television films and numerous episodes of television series, some of which he also wrote and produced.
Great Catherine may refer to:
The Deep is an unfinished film directed by Orson Welles, based on Charles Williams' novel Dead Calm (1963), which was later adapted as an eponymous 1989 film. Welles produced and wrote The Deep, as well as played the role of Russ Brewer opposite Jeanne Moreau and Laurence Harvey.
Countess Alexandra Branitskaya, also known as Sanecka and Countess Branicka, was a leading Russian courtier. She was the niece and confidante of Grigory Potemkin, and Catherine the Great's lady-in-waiting. She was one of the most notable socialites at the Russian Imperial court during Catherine's reign, and was conspicuously treated as a virtual member of the Imperial family. Through her marriage to Branicki she became administrator of the immense estate of Biała Cerkiew .
Countess Praskovya Aleksandrovna Bruce was a Russian lady-in-waiting and noblewoman who was a confidante of Catherine the Great.
Ivan Nikolajevich Rimsky-Korsakov, né Korsav was a Russian courtier and lover of Catherine the Great from 1778 to 1779.
Alexander Dmitrievich Lanskoy, also called Sashin'ka or Sasha, was a Russian general, favourite and lover of Catherine the Great between 1780 and 1784. It has been said that "[a] look at [her] correspondence with her favorites gives the impression she only had tender feelings for one, Alexander Lanskoi."
Great Catherine: Whom Glory Still Adores is a 1913 one-act play by Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw. It was written between two of his other 1913 plays, Pygmalion and The Music Cure. It tells the story of a prim British visitor to the court of the sexually uninhibited Catherine the Great of Russia.
Ekaterina is a 2014 Russia-1 historical television series starring Marina Aleksandrova as the eventual Russian empress Catherine the Great. The first season tells the story of princess Sophie Friederike Auguste, and her rise to power to become Empress of Russia, following a coup d'état and the assassination of her husband, Peter III. The second season portrays the challenges she faces at home and abroad during the early years of her rule, as she tries to revitalise Russia to become one of the great powers of Europe, and becomes titled "the Great".
Confessional is a British espionage thriller television miniseries starring Robert Lindsay, Keith Carradine, Simon Chandler, Robert Lang, Valentina Yakunina and Arthur Brauss. This series based on the 1985 spy novel of the same name by Jack Higgins and adapted for the television by James Mitchell and directed by Gordon Flemyng, it was produced by Granada Television for the ITV network and originally aired in four parts from 4 to 25 October 1989. The plot follows a rogue terrorist turned Soviet assassin, code named Cuchulain, trying to prevent a peace agreement between the parties involved in Northern Ireland.
