Florence Margaret Smith, known as Stevie Smith, was an English poet and novelist. She won the Cholmondeley Award and was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. A play, Stevie by Hugh Whitemore, based on her life, was adapted into a film starring Glenda Jackson.
Zoë Wanamaker is an American-British actress who has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Wanamaker was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2001 by Queen Elizabeth II. She has received numerous accolades including a Laurence Olivier Award and nominations for three BAFTA Awards, and four Tony Awards.
Glenda May Jackson was an English actress and politician. Over the course of her distinguished career she received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award. A member of the Labour Party, she served continuously as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 23 years – for Hampstead and Highgate from 1992 to 2010, and then, following boundary changes, for Hampstead and Kilburn from 2010 to 2015.
Hedda is a 1975 film adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play Hedda Gabler, written for the screen and directed by Trevor Nunn, and starring Glenda Jackson, Timothy West, Peter Eyre, Patrick Stewart, and Jennie Linden. The plot involves the experiences of the title character, Hedda (Jackson), the daughter of a general, who is trapped in a marriage and a house that she does not want.
Samuel Wanamaker was an American actor and director, whose career on stage and in film and television spanned five decades. He began his career on Broadway, but spent most of his professional life in the United Kingdom, where he emigrated after becoming fearful of being blacklisted in Hollywood due to his communist views in the 1950s.
The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by the architect Walter Emden, it opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, and was renamed Trafalgar Theatre in 1894. The following year, it became the Duke of York's to honour the future King George V.
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London. Designed by the architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfeld, it became the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street when it opened its doors on 21 February 1901, with the American musical comedy The Belle of Bohemia.
John Lamin Wood was an English actor, known for his performances in Shakespeare and his lasting association with Tom Stoppard. In 1976, he received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Stoppard's Travesties. He was nominated for two other Tony Awards for his roles in Sherlock Holmes (1975) and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1968). In 2007, Wood was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Wood also appeared in WarGames, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Ladyhawke, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Orlando, Shadowlands, The Madness of King George, Richard III, Sabrina, and Chocolat.
Lilian Ridgway, known professionally as Lynda Baron, was an English actress and singer. She is known for having played Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in the BBC sitcom Open All Hours (1976–1985) and its sequel, Still Open All Hours (2013–2016), Auntie Mabel in the award-winning children's series Come Outside (1993–1997), and the part of Linda Clarke in EastEnders in 2006 and from 2008 to 2009, with a brief return in 2016.
Mona Hammond was a Jamaican-British actress and co-founder of the Talawa Theatre Company. Born in Tweedside, Jamaica, Hammond immigrated to the United Kingdom in 1959, where she lived for the rest of her life. Hammond had a long and distinguished stage career. She was best known for her work on British television and played Blossom Jackson in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.
Mona Lee Washbourne was an English actress of stage, film, and television. Her most critically acclaimed role was in the film Stevie (1978), late in her career, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award.
The 47th New York Film Critics Circle Awards honored the best filmmaking of 1981. The winners were announced on 21 December 1981 and the awards were given on 31 January 1982.
James Edward Carter is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Mr Carson in the ITV historical drama series Downton Abbey (2010–2015), which earned him four nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2012–2015). He reprised the role in the feature films Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022).
Hugh John Whitemore was an English playwright and screenwriter.
Pack of Lies is a 1983 play by English writer Hugh Whitemore, itself adapted from his Act of Betrayal, an episode of the BBC anthology series Play of the Month transmitted in 1971.
The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor and director Laurence Olivier.
Laura Anne Harling is a British actress, theatre producer and artist who has played roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the Royal Opera House. She began as a child actor on stage, in films and on television. After post-graduate training at the Drama Studio London, Harling has focused on stage and opera roles and producing. She co-founded First Draft Theatre (2010-2017), for which she was also Artistic Director, and in 2016 founded The Dot Collective, a registered charity which gives professional drama performances in care environments.
Stevie is a 1978 biographical drama film produced and directed by Robert Enders from a screenplay by Hugh Whitemore, based on Whitemore's 1977 play of the same name. The film stars Glenda Jackson, Trevor Howard, Mona Washbourne and Alec McCowen.
