No Medals is a play by the British writer Esther McCracken first staged in 1944. Its West End run at the Vaudeville Theatre lasted for 740 performances between 4 October 1944 and 19 July 1946. It depicts the struggles of a middle-class British housewife during the war years. The original cast included Fay Compton and Frederick Leister while Thora Hird appeared in a comic relief role as servant in her first London performance. [1]
In 1948 it was turned into a film The Weaker Sex with McCracken working on the adaptation herself. Directed by Roy Ward Baker, it starred Ursula Jeans, Cecil Parker and Joan Hopkins. [2] Only Thora Hird reprised her role from the original production.
Dame Thora Hird was an English actress and comedian, presenter and writer. In a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in more than 100 film and television roles, becoming a household name and a British institution.
Talking Heads is a 1988 TV series of dramatic monologues written for BBC television by British playwright Alan Bennett. The first series was broadcast on BBC1 in 1988, and adapted for radio on BBC Radio 4 in 1991. A second series was broadcast on BBC Two in 1998. They have since been included on the A-level and GCSE English Literature syllabus. Some episodes aired on PBS in the United States as part of its Masterpiece Theatre programme.
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.
Joan Hume McCracken was an American dancer and actress who became famous for her role as Sylvie in the original 1943 production of Oklahoma! She also was noted for her performances in the Broadway shows Bloomer Girl (1944), Billion Dollar Baby (1945) and Dance Me a Song (1950), and the films Hollywood Canteen (1945) and Good News (1947).
Siân Thomas is a British actress who trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She is known both for her work on stage and for her television and film appearances such as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in which she played Amelia Bones. Her voice is known to listeners both for her poetry readings on Radio 3 and for her audiobooks.
Wide-Eyed and Legless is a 1993 made-for-TV British drama film, directed by Richard Loncraine starring Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Sian Thomas and Thora Hird.
Andrew Lancel is an English television and theatre actor, producer and director. He is best known for his appearance as Dr. Andrew Collin in Cardiac Arrest, his role as DI Neil Manson in The Bill and Frank Foster in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street, as well as his acclaimed portrayal of Brian Epstein in the stage play Epstein – The Man Who Made The Beatles.
Esther McCracken was a British actress and playwright.
When We Are Married is a comedy by the English dramatist J. B. Priestley. Written in 1934, it was first performed in London at the St. Martin's Theatre, London, on 11 October 1938. It transferred to the larger Prince's Theatre in March 1939 and ran until 24 June of that year.
Boys in Brown is a 1949 black and white British drama film directed by Montgomery Tully, which depicts life in a borstal for young offenders. It stars Jack Warner, Richard Attenborough, Dirk Bogarde and Jimmy Hanley. It is based on a 1940 play by the actor Reginald Beckwith.
The Nightcomers is a 1971 British horror film directed by Michael Winner and starring Marlon Brando, Stephanie Beacham, Thora Hird, Harry Andrews and Anna Palk. It is a prequel to Henry James' 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw, which had already been adapted into the 1961 film The Innocents. The manor house in the film is Sawston Hall, a 16th-century Tudor manor house in Sawston, Cambridgeshire.
For Better, for Worse is a 1954 British comedy film in Eastmancolor directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Dirk Bogarde, Susan Stephen and Cecil Parker. It was based on Arthur Watkyn's play of the same title which had run for over 500 performances in the West End starring Leslie Phillips and Geraldine McEwan. It was released in the United States as Cocktails in the Kitchen.
The Weaker Sex is a 1948 British drama film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ursula Jeans, Cecil Parker and Joan Hopkins.
Mandy Miller is an English former child actress who made a number of films in the 1950s. She is also remembered for her recording of the 1956 song "Nellie the Elephant".
Samuel George Herbert Mason was a British film director, producer, stage actor, army officer, presenter of some revues, stage manager, stage director, choreographer, production manager and playwright. He was a recipient of the Military Cross the prestigious award for "gallantry during active operations against the enemy." He received the gallantry award for his part in the Battle of Guillemont where British troops defeated the Germans to take the German stronghold of Guillemont.
Simon and Laura is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Muriel Box and starring Peter Finch and Kay Kendall.
Quiet Weekend is a 1941 play by the British writer Esther McCracken. It opened on 2 July 1941 at Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End, where it enjoyed a successful run of 1,059 performances, closing on 29 January 1944. The production was directed by Richard Bird and designed by Michael Relph. It was a sequel to the 1938 play Quiet Wedding.
Daphne R. Courtenay-Hicks, better known as Daphne Courtney, is a South African actress, who performed in B-movie British "quota quickies" during the 1930s and 1940s. She had a supporting role in at least one French film, Le battalion du ciel, directed by Alexander Esway. She also had a stage career, and stage credits include the first British performance of The Man Who Came to Dinner – pre-dating its London debut by three weeks – in which she appeared with her husband the Scottish actor Hugh McDermott.
Living Room is a play by the British writer Esther McCracken. The play's original West End run at the Garrick Theatre lasted for 142 performances between 9 June and 9 October 1943, after a premiere at Richmond Theatre under the working title White Elephants. Its plot concerns slum clearance and the effect it has on various people. The original cast included Lloyd Pearson, Fred Groves, Louise Hampton and Jane Baxter.
Saturday Night at the Crown is a 1959 novel by the British writer Walter Greenwood. It was his final novel, inspired by his 1954 play of the same title. The play had premiered in Morecambe in 1954 before running for 234 performances at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End from 1957 to 1958. He dedicated to the novel to Thora Hird who had starred in the play.
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