Sir Alan Arthur Bates was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving.
Beatrice Rose Stella Tanner, better known by her stage name Mrs Patrick Campbell or Mrs Pat, was an English stage actress, best known for appearing in plays by Shakespeare, Shaw and Barrie. She also toured the United States and appeared briefly in films.
Owen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor. He has frequently worked with filmmaker Wes Anderson, with whom he has shared writing and acting credits on the films Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)—the latter received a nomination for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay. He has also appeared in Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and The French Dispatch (2021). Wilson also starred in the Woody Allen romantic comedy Midnight in Paris (2011) as unsatisfied screenwriter Gil Pender, a role which received a Golden Globe Award nomination. In 2014, he appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice and Peter Bogdanovich's She's Funny That Way.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club was the first novel by English author Charles Dickens. His previous work was Sketches by Boz, published in 1836, and his publisher Chapman & Hall asked Dickens to supply descriptions to explain a series of comic "cockney sporting plates" by illustrator Robert Seymour, and to connect them into a novel. The book became a publishing phenomenon, with bootleg copies, theatrical performances, Sam Weller joke books, and other merchandise. On its cultural impact, Nicholas Dames in The Atlantic writes, "'Literature' is not a big enough category for Pickwick. It defined its own, a new one that we have learned to call 'entertainment'." The Pickwick Papers was published in 19 issues over 20 months, and it popularised serialised fiction and cliffhanger endings.
The Petrified Forest is a 1936 American crime drama film directed by Archie Mayo and based on Robert E. Sherwood's 1934 drama of the same name. The motion picture stars Leslie Howard, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. The screenplay was written by Delmer Daves and Charles Kenyon, and adaptations were later performed on radio and television. The film is set in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.
Emma is a television film based on the 1815 novel of the same name by Jane Austen, directed by Diarmuid Lawrence and dramatised by Andrew Davies, the same year as Miramax's film adaptation of Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow was released. This production stars Kate Beckinsale as the title character, and also features Samantha Morton as Harriet Smith and Mark Strong as Mr. Knightley.
Bleak House is a BBC television drama first broadcast in 1985. The serial was adapted by Arthur Hopcraft from the Charles Dickens novel Bleak House (1853).
David Malcolm Storey was an English playwright, screenwriter, award-winning novelist and a professional rugby league player. He won the Booker Prize in 1976 for his novel Saville. He also won the MacMillan Fiction Award for This Sporting Life in 1960.
A Kind of Loving is a 1962 British kitchen sink drama film directed by John Schlesinger, starring Alan Bates and June Ritchie. It is based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Stan Barstow which was later adapted into the 1982 television series A Kind of Loving. The film tells the story of two lovers in early 1960s Lancashire. It belongs to the British New Wave movement.
Wings is a 1978 play by American playwright Arthur Kopit. Originating as a radio play, it was later adapted for stage and screen.
Mandy is a 1952 British drama film about a family's struggle to give their deaf daughter a better life. It was directed by Alexander Mackendrick and is based on the novel The Day Is Ours by Hilda Lewis. It stars Phyllis Calvert, Jack Hawkins and Terence Morgan, and features the first film appearance by Jane Asher. In the US the film was released as The Story of Mandy, and later was sold to television as Crash of Silence.
Topper Takes a Trip is a 1938 supernatural film directed by Norman Z. McLeod. It is a sequel to the 1937 film Topper. Constance Bennett, Roland Young, Billie Burke, and Alan Mowbray reprised their roles from the earlier film; only Cary Grant was missing. A ghost tries to reunite a couple who she had a hand in splitting up in the prior film. It was followed by another sequel, Topper Returns (1941). The movie is in the public domain.
In Celebration is a 1969 play by the English writer David Storey. It is set in a Nottinghamshire mining town and tells the story of three brothers who visit their parents for their 40th wedding anniversary.
Constance Chapman was an English character actor working in theatre and television. She also made occasional film appearances.
Bedtime Stories was an anthology series of six plays that were '1974 versions of well-loved tales' and intended as a sequel to 1972's Dead of Night. The series aired on BBC Two from 3 March 1974 to 7 April 1974. Writers for the series included Alan Plater, Nigel Kneale and Andrew Davies. The series was produced by Innes Lloyd and script edited by Louis Marks. Two episodes, Sleeping Beauty and Jack and the Beanstalk are believed to have been wiped.
Gabrielle Daye was an English stage, film and television actress, notable for her TV role as Mrs. Pring on Bless Me, Father. Other television appearances include Coronation Street, The War of Darkie Pilbeam (1968), Persuasion (1971), Survivors, Dear Enemy (1981), Juliet Bravo, Ever Decreasing Circles, Bleak House (1985) and A Very British Coup (1988). She also appeared in the feature films 10 Rillington Place (1971), Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), Don't Just Lie There, Say Something! (1974), Cry Wolf (1980) and No Surrender (1985).
Twilight Hour is a 1945 British drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Mervyn Johns, Basil Radford, and Marie Lohr. It was shot at the British National Studios in Elstree. The film's sets were designed by the art director Wilfred Arnold. It was based on a novel of the same title by Arthur Valentine
Sir Alan Arthur Bates, CBE (1934–2003) is an English actor who hails from Derbyshire, England. He had a prolific career that spanned six decades across stage and screen, with several award-winning portrayals and defining interpretations. His parents were musicians, who encouraged him to pursue music. However, he felt compelled to pursue acting instead, and acquired a scholarship to the RADA in London. Among his fellow aspiring thespians were Peter O'Toole and Albert Finney—each of whom, along with Bates, would be Oscar-nominated by the end of the 1960s.
