Tony Bilbow | |
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Born | Anthony Bilbow 17 April 1928 Burnham, Buckinghamshire, England |
Occupation | Television presenter and screenwriter |
Nationality | British |
Genre | Television |
Anthony Bilbow (born 17 April 1928) is a British television interviewer, film expert and writer. [1] He was a presenter of the BBC's Late Night Line-Up discussion programme which was broadcast on BBC2 between 1964 and 1972.
Bilbow's father was an architect. He was educated at the City of London School, Blackfriars, and began writing short stories for the BBC; he was then the anchorman for Day By Day on Southern Television. He was a screenwriter for the 1970s situation comedy Please Sir! and the spin-off series The Fenn Street Gang and in 1986 was a writer for the BBC soap opera EastEnders. From 1970 to 1973, he presented the film programme Film Night, on which his interviewees included David Niven and Alfred Hitchcock.
Bilbow narrated the English voiceover for the BBC three-part series of the cult East German film The Singing Ringing Tree. [2] [3] [4]
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films, many of which are still widely watched and studied today. Known as the "Master of Suspense", Hitchcock became as well known as any of his actors thanks to his many interviews, his cameo appearances in most of his films, and his hosting and producing the television anthology Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–65). His films garnered 46 Academy Award nominations, including six wins, although he never won the award for Best Director, despite five nominations.
In fiction, a MacGuffin is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself. The term was originated by Angus MacPhail for film, adopted by Alfred Hitchcock, and later extended to a similar device in other fiction.
Dial M for Murder is a 1954 American crime thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, Anthony Dawson, and John Williams. Both the screenplay and the successful stage play on which it was based were written by English playwright Frederick Knott. The play premiered in 1952 on BBC Television, before being performed on stage in the same year in London's West End in June, and then New York's Broadway in October.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965, it was renamed The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Hitchcock himself directed only 18 episodes during its run.
The Birds is a 1963 American natural horror-thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, released by Universal Pictures and starring Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, and introducing Tippi Hedren in her film debut. Loosely based on the 1952 short story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier, it focuses on a series of sudden and unexplained violent bird attacks on the people of Bodega Bay, California, over the course of a few days. The screenplay is by Evan Hunter, who was told by Hitchcock to develop new characters and a more elaborate plot while keeping du Maurier's title and concept of unexplained bird attacks.
The Singing Ringing Tree is a 1957 children's fantasy film from East German studio DEFA. Directed by Francesco Stefani, the screenplay by Anne Geelhaar is based on a variation of "Hurleburlebutz" by the Brothers Grimm.
Margaret Leighton, CBE was an English actress, active on stage and television, and in film. Her film appearances included Anthony Asquith's The Winslow Boy, Alfred Hitchcock's Under Capricorn, Powell and Pressburger's The Elusive Pimpernel, George More O'Ferrall's The Holly and the Ivy, Martin Ritt's The Sound and the Fury, John Guillermin's Waltz of the Toreadors, Franklin J. Schaffner's The Best Man, Tony Richardson's The Loved One, John Ford's 7 Women, and Joseph Losey's The Go-Between and Galileo. For The Go-Between, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Leslie Thomas, OBE was a Welsh author best known for his comic novel The Virgin Soldiers.
Reeson Wayne Shearsmith is an English actor, comedian, writer and magician. He was a member of The League of Gentlemen, with Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson. Jointly with Pemberton, created, wrote and starred in the sitcom Psychoville and the dark comedy anthology series Inside No. 9. He had notable roles in Spaced and The World's End.
Roy Ward Baker was an English film director.
John Nicholas Finch was an English stage and film actor who became well known for his Shakespearean roles. Most notably, he starred in films for directors Roman Polanski and Alfred Hitchcock.
Tony Grounds is a British playwright and screenwriter, who has worked extensively in television. Grounds was described by The Independent as "the best TV writer of his generation".
Late Night Line-Up is a pioneering British television discussion programme broadcast on BBC2 between 1964 and 1972.
Sidney Lewis Bernstein, Baron Bernstein was a British businessman and media executive who was the founding chairman of the London-based Granada Group and the founder of the Manchester-based Granada Television in 1954. Granada was one of the original four ITA franchises. He believed the North's media industry had potential to be cultivated.
Philip Jenkinson was an English cinema specialist, journalist, BBC television presenter, and film collector. His collection was known as Filmfinders. During the 1970s, Jenkinson contributed a weekly column for the television listings magazine Radio Times and edited films for the BBC Two music show The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Tony Lee Moral is a British documentary film maker and writer.
Francesco Stefani was a German film director of Italian descent who was born in Offenburg and died in Munich. He became famous mostly for children's productions, especially the 1957 film The Singing Ringing Tree.
The Girl is a 2012 British television film directed by Julian Jarrold, written by Gwyneth Hughes and produced by the BBC and HBO Films. The film stars Sienna Miller as Tippi Hedren and Toby Jones as Alfred Hitchcock. It is based on Donald Spoto's 2009 book Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies, which discusses the English film director Hitchcock and the women who played leading roles in his films. The Girl's title was inspired by Hitchcock's alleged nickname for Hedren.
Joy Whitby is an English television executive, television, and radio producer who specialises in children's programmes and animated films.
Elstree Studios on Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire is a British film and television production centre operated by Elstree Film Studios Limited. One of several facilities historically referred to as Elstree Studios, the Shenley Road studios originally opened in 1925.