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1-11 of 11
- Casting Department
- Casting Director
- Actress
Rae Hendrie was born in Selkirk, Scotland, UK. Rae is a casting director and actor, known for The Titan (2018), The Aeronauts (2019) and Industry (2020).- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Peter Blake was born on 8 December 1948 in Selkirk, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for Dear John.... (1986), Fox (1980) and Jonathan Creek (1997). He was married to Kim. He died on 21 July 2018 in France.- Don Gallagher was born on December 7th 1957. A native of Selkirk in the Scottish Borders he moved to London to take an acting degree at Royal Holloway College at the University of London,graduating in the late 1970s. He made his television debut in 1984 in 'Shine On Harvey Moon' and has appeared in numerous stage productions for both the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. However he has a professed penchant for musicals,performing on the West End stage as De Bris in 'The Producers',Javert in 'Les Miserables' and,standing at six foot one,an imposing transsexual Bernadette in 'The Adventures of Priscilla,Queen of the Desert'.
- Ellen Reid was born on 14 July 1966 in Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada. She is an actress and writer, known for Crash Test Dummies: Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm (1993), Crash Test Dummies: Superman's Song (1991) and Crash Test Dummies: The Ghosts That Haunt Me (1991).
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Scott Hutchison was born on 20 November 1981 in Selkirk, Scottish Borders, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for Skyscraper (2018), The Company Men (2010) and The Beaver (2011). He died on 10 May 2018 in Port Edgar, Firth of Forth, Scotland, UK.- Producer
- Director
- Additional Crew
David Bell was born on 29 June 1937 in Selkirk, Scotland, UK. He was a producer and director, known for The Benny Hill Show (1969), The Stanley Baxter Big Picture Show (1973) and The Stanley Baxter Moving Picture Show (1974). He died on 9 June 1990 in London, England, UK.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sherisse Laurence was born in Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada. She is known for Circus (1978), The Paul Anka Show (1982) and The Eurovision Song Contest (1986).- Robert Bruce was born on 19 July 1953 in Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada. He is an actor, known for Alone in the Dark (2005), Da Vinci's Inquest (1998) and Stargate SG-1 (1997).
- Jon Cutler was born on 16 July 1981 in Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada. He is an actor, known for AWE Overload (2006) and AWE: Larger Than Life Volume 2 (2005).
- James Rice Cassidy was born in Selkirk on the 27th May 1863. He was the eldest son of my great grandparent's James and Ellen Cassidy (nee Rice). In his early 20s he made the decision that working, as a plasterer alongside his dad was not for him. He left Scotland in the late 1880's and headed for England to pursue a career in the entertainment business. It was clear from the start that he was born to perform. His debut as a professional actor took place in the land of his forefathers when he appeared in the play "The Eviction" at Belfast's Theatre Royal in 1888 when he was 24 years old. In the 1891 census he was living in Rochdale and still working as an actor.
In December of 1895 he married a twenty one year old Yorkshire lass Lillian Clare Cheetham in St Anne's Church Leeds. On their marriage certificate he gave his occupation as "Comedian". Lillian was also an actor and together they formed their own theatre company. They were a double act and she was most definitely an equal partner in the business.
James and Lillian toured all over Britain and Ireland performing in their own productions. Their careers seemed to be going from strength to strength. Rice Cassidy was the son of a poor Irish plasterer making a name for himself in show business the classic rags to riches tale!
One of their biggest successes was "The God of War" by Charles Whitlock it was performed in theatres throughout Britain and Ireland from 1899 till 1909. The play was a satirical piece about the Cuban insurrection and Spanish American war of 1895. His character was Dandy Donovan an Irish American servant to Dolly Daly an American heiress, played of course by Lillian. In the play he sings his own composition called "The British Hero".
The Glasgow Evening Times 7th of April 1901 referred to it as a "Sensational Cuban American Drama".
In 1909 The God of War played to a packed house at the Metropole Theatre in Stockwell Street. The Glasgow Evening Times on this occasion refers to him as the "Famous Rollicking Racy Irish Comedian".
Rice Cassidy excelled in comic roles often-Irish characters but he had a talent for accents and was equally at home playing English, Welsh and Americans alternating between comedy and high drama when required.
Cassidy's wife Lillian was a prolific playwright with a long list of original and successful dramas often with a comedy element. Her plays included, "The Beggar Princess", "The Last of the Rubinoffs" and "In Holy Russia". One of her plays called His Mother's Cross was not only performed in Britain but also in the Hudson Theatre on Broadway New York. In this piece Rice Cassidy plays a Parish Priest Father Meary and Lillian is the daughter of Dermot Sullivan played by Mr J. K Walton and described as an "agitator"
James and Lillian arrived in New York on the 17th August 1913. They gave their destination on the S.S St Paul's passenger manifest as The Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park, New York. Founded by the famous American Shakespearian actor Edwin Booth the Player's was an exclusive club where actors could relax and mingle with the great and the good!
In London Rice Cassidy had made a success of playing the part of Timothy Boyle from the George A Birmingham play General John Regan. Initially it was only intended that he replace the actor Mr Leonard Boyne who had been taken ill but this became a full time role for James. He went on to play the character at the Hudson and Liberty Theatres, Broadway, New York. This was a comedy play written by George A Birmingham. Dr. O'Grady, general practitioner of a small Irish village had convinced a visiting American newspaper publisher that a resident of the village was General John Regan, liberator of Bolivia. This harmless prank mushrooms into a major headache when the American spreads this so called fact to the rest of the world.
Whilst playing Timothy Doyle in New York he played the character of old Hardcastle in the play She Stoops to Conquer for none other than Mr Charles Frohman of Peter Pan fame. In New York he also made his film debut appearing for the Thomas Edison Company in five films the greatest of which was "The First Christmas"
On his return from the USA he played Conn in the Shaughraun. The play is about a Fenian fugitive, Robert Ffolliott, fiancee of Arte O'Neil. A country squire, Kinchela, his rival for Arte's hand, tries to hunt Robert down and arrest him, with the help of a police informer, Harvey Duff. Robert escapes various melodramatic cliff-hanger situations with the help of Conn the Shaughran, an Irish word which in English means wanderer or errant person. The character of Conn a roguish but comedic poacher with a great was tailor made for Rice Cassidy.
From 1921 till 1925 Rice Cassidy toured all round Britain and Ireland with Peter Pan playing Smee in his own indomitable style. However just after midnight on the 25th of March 1925 while travelling on the train from Leeds to Dublin with the Peter Pan Company he fell from the train. The emergency chain was pulled and the train ground to a halt. James was found unconscious on the track. He was rushed to Chester Royal Infirmary suffering from fractured ribs. When he regained consciousness he could not remember anything at all about the accident.
Towards the end of his life he suffered from a chronic kidney condition. This took its toll and he had to give up his beloved theatrical career. Eventually he suffered cardiac failure and passed away on the 11th May 1927 in St Pancreas hospital. His long and distinguished career merited his obituaries in both the "Stage" and "Variety" newspapers as well as a mention in both the "Who's who" of both the British and American theatres.
After thirty two years of marriage Lillian found herself very much alone. They had never been separated in all that time so her devastation at her husband's passing must have been total. She tried to carry on with her acting and playwrighting career but eventually returned to her native Huddersfield where she lived with her brother James for a while.
In April of 1930 she was admitted to Deanhouse institution, which was basically a workhouse with an infirmary attached. She was suffering from confusional insanity and obviously her brother could no longer cope with her condition. The illness was chronic and it appears she was suffering from manic depression as she would have periods of elation and then suddenly become very morose and depressed. She also suffered from hallucinations in which a lover would appear to her disguised as a bird. She was transferred to Storthes Hall Psychiatric Hospital in June the same year and was to spend the last fourteen years of her life there.
Lillian's brother James committed suicide in August 1931. He had been found dead in the street having consumed a toxic substance, which corroded his throat and intestines. Just six weeks before his death he had written to the hospital requesting that his sister be allowed her own clothes and her trinkets. They agreed to her having some of her clothing but refused to let her have her trinkets. He had also requested more regular visits with his sister. The Medical Superintendent wrote back to James agreeing to more visits but added that "frequent visiting does not assist the patient but under the circumstances you can come once a fortnight, but not oftener, on any of the visiting days" She was visited from time to time by her sister-in-law Martha Cheetham (James's widow) and her niece Florence Sheard. She was also supported financially by James Calvert Wilson her step brother.
Lillian never regained her sanity. However she was often described by medical and nursing staff as having delusions of grandeur believing herself to be a famous actress and playwright. Although her imagined status became more and more fanciful as her illness progressed, nevertheless she was, in her time, a very successful, well respected writer and entertainer loved by her peers and the public alike.
As well as her mental illness she was also plagued with physical ill health. After a serious of accidents resulting in various fractures she was diagnosed with osteoporosis, which is often referred to as a softening of the bones.
This dreadful illness left her with little or no mobility and she was confined to bed. Towards the end of her life she must have suffered great torment both physical and mental.
Lillian died on the 2nd of December 1944 in Storthes Hall, Psychiatric Hospital, Huddersfield. All that was left in possession that gave some clue to her previous existence were her fur cape, a gold ring and her costume coat. She also had some sketches and paintings. Such a sad and tragic end to the life of a very colourful and gifted lady.
He was often referred to as an Irish comedian despite the fact he was born in Selkirk and spent a good part of his early life in Glasgow. - Production Manager
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Tom D. Connochie was born on 6 May 1910 in Selkirk, Scotland, UK. He was a production manager and assistant director, known for The Last Moment (1954), Saints and Sinners (1949) and The Errol Flynn Theatre (1956). He died on 23 January 1982 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.