Joan Mary Waller Greenwood was an English actress. Her husky voice, coupled with her slow, precise elocution, was her trademark. She played Sibella in the 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets, and also appeared in The Man in the White Suit (1951), Young Wives' Tale (1951), The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), Stage Struck (1958), Tom Jones (1963) and Little Dorrit (1987).
Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft, known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years.
The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The Mousetrap opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic, then it re-opened on 17 May 2021. The longest-running West End show, it has by far the longest initial run of any play in history, with its 27,500th performance taking place on 18 September 2018. The play has a twist ending, which the audience are traditionally asked not to reveal after leaving the theatre.
Una O'Connor was an Irish-born American actress who worked extensively in theatre before becoming a character actress in film and in television. She often portrayed comical wives, housekeepers and servants. In 2020, she was listed at number 19 on The Irish Times' list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels.
Stephen Umfreville Hay Murray was an English cinema, radio, theatre and television actor.
Benjamin Arthur Flemyng, known professionally as Robert Flemyng, was a British actor. The son of a doctor, and originally intended for a medical career, Flemyng learned his stagecraft in provincial repertory theatre. In 1935 he appeared in a leading role in the West End, and the following year had his first major success, in Terence Rattigan's comedy French Without Tears. Between then and the Second World War he appeared in London and New York in a succession of comedies.
Diana King was an English actress who had a career on British television from 1939 to 1986. Born in Buckinghamshire, she was sometimes credited as Diane King.
The Independent Theatre Ltd., was an Australian dramatic society founded in 1930 by Dame Doris Fitton, and was also the name given to the building it occupied from 1938. It was named for London's Independent Theatre Society founded by J. T. Grein and was one of several amateur drama groups of high standard which sprang up in Sydney, Australia in the 1930s to fill the gap left by the closure of all but two professional theatres. The range of plays essayed was impressive – from classics to avant-garde pieces, from recent West End and Broadway successes to offerings from local dramatists. The death of Doris Fitton's co-producer Peter Summerton in 1969 put extra strain on her deteriorating health, and with no-one able or willing to fill her shoes, the Independent closed in 1977. It was to reopen in 1998, continuing its tradition as a training ground for young actors and playwrights.
King Charles III is a 2014 play in blank verse by Mike Bartlett. It was premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in April 2014 and centres on the accession and reign of King Charles III of the United Kingdom, the possible regnal name of the real Charles, Prince of Wales, and the limiting of the freedom of the press after the News International phone hacking scandal.
The Dresser is a 2015 British television drama film directed by Richard Eyre and based on the 1980 play by Ronald Harwood. It stars Ian McKellen, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Watson, Vanessa Kirby, Sarah Lancashire and Edward Fox. The story examines the relationship between an aging Shakespearean actor and his theatrical dresser, as well as the other members of his theatrical company, as he grapples with the approach of senility and irrelevance. Like the play which serves as its basis, the film's central relationship draws inspiration from Shakespeare's King Lear. The film premiered on BBC Two on 31 October 2015.
The Dresser is a 1980 West End and Broadway play by Ronald Harwood, which tells the story of an aging actor's personal assistant, who struggles to keep his charge's life together.
Moya Nugent was a British actress and singer. She made a few broadcasts and three silent films but was chiefly known as a stage performer, and was particularly associated with the works of Noël Coward, appearing in twelve of his plays and two of his revues. Before that, she appeared early in her career in Peter Pan, and was cast in other children's plays and pantomimes. She was in the West End casts of revues by Cole Porter and others, and in musical comedies such as Lilac Time.
On the Spot is a 1930 Chicago-set play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. Wallace was inspired by a visit to the United States and, in particular, the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. Known as a prolific author, he reportedly dictated the manuscript for the play in just four days. It was his greatest theatrical success.
The Calendar is a 1929 play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. It is a crime thriller set in the world of horse racing world, the sport being among Wallace's interests. The protagonist is a financially struggling racehorse owner with a shady reputation. It premiered at the Palace Theatre in Manchester before transferring to Wyndham's Theatre in the West End.
The Old Man is a 1931 mystery play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. Its original production was staged at Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End for a ninety performance run. It is set entirely in the "Coat of Arms" tavern where a mysterious old man lurks in the background, reputedly an escapee from a lunatic asylum. The original cast included Alfred Drayton, Jack Melford, Harold Warrender and Finlay Currie.
The Good Companions is a 1931 play by J.B. Priestley and Edward Knoblock, based on Priestley's 1929 novel of the same title about a touring concert party. The music was composed by Richard Addinsell.
Iris Vandeleur (1884–1969) was a British stage and film actress. In 1951 she appeared in the BBC television series Sherlock Holmes as Mrs. Hudson, the landlady.
Bees on the Boat Deck is a 1936 comedy drama play by the British writer J.B. Priestley.
Lean Harvest is a 1931 play by the British writer Ronald Jeans. It portrays a married couple in the years after the First World War, with the New Statesman review concluding that the moral of the play was "too much money and too little money are equally dangerous to married happiness".
