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1-5 of 5
- Actor
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Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born on 6 January, 1955, in Consett, Co. Durham, UK, to Ella May (Bainbridge) and Eric Atkinson. His father owned a farm, where Rowan grew up with his two older brothers, Rupert and Rodney. He attended Newcastle University and Oxford University where he earned degrees in electrical engineering. During that time, he met screenwriter Richard Curtis, with whom he wrote and performed comedy revues.
Later, he co-wrote and appeared in Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979), which was a huge success and spawned several best-selling books. It won an International Emmy Award and the British Academy Award for "Best Light Entertainment Programme of 1980." He won the "British Academy Award" and was named "BBC Personality of the Year" for his performance in Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979).
Atkinson also appeared in several movies, including Dead on Time (1983), Pleasure at Her Majesty's (1976) (aka "Monty Python Meets Beyond the Fringe"), Never Say Never Again (1983), and The Tall Guy (1989). He played "Mr. Bean" in the TV series, Mr. Bean (1990) but, apart from that and Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979), he also appeared in several other series like Blackadder (1982) and Funny Business (1992), etc.
Atkinson enjoys nothing more than fast cars. He has two children, named Benjamin and Lily, with ex-wife Sunetra Sastry.- Music Department
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Without Ian Samwell, there might have been no Cliff Richard. The amateur guitarist, who wrote skiffle-style hymns while singing in his church choir, was in a Soho coffee bar in May 1958 when he heard an accounts clerk called Harry Webb perform. Ian offered his services as lead guitar and was accepted. Sir Cliff later admitted: "But for that meeting with Ian, I might still be Harry Webb, clerk." Ian also became a song-writer, supplying a B-side called "Move It", which he finished on the bus on the way to the studio, for Cliff's first single. It went down so well that it was moved to the A-side and in September 1958 it entered the top five.
Ian moved out of the band but continued writing songs, including "Dynamite" and "Mean Streak" for Cliff. He also wrote for The Isley Brothers and Kenny Lynch. Ian later became a London ballroom D.J. and then moved into record production, working for Warner Brothers in the Sixties. Ian later moved to California, where he died 12th March 2003 aged 66.- Soundtrack
Singer Farrell "Rusty" Draper was one of the biggest American singing stars of the 1950s, pioneering a pop/country crossover sound that scored him a string of million-selling hit singles. A sometime actor and radio presenter, he worked at a radio station at Des Moines, Iowa, where he often filled in for sportscaster--and future U.S. president--Ronald Reagan. He established himself on the 1950s music scene with such songs as "Gambler's Guitar" and "Shifting Whispering Sands". His biggest hit in the UK was "Mule Skinner Blues" in 1960. Getting his nickname from because of his shock of thick red hair, he was performing on the radio in his home state of Missouri at age 12. As a teenager he worked his way to San Francisco. In 1952 he signed with Mercury Records and the next year he had a million-seller with "Gambler's Guitar", a song that reached #6 on both the pop and country charts. Further hits came over the next 10 years, as well as guest appearances on TV shows Laramie (1959), Rawhide (1959) and 77 Sunset Strip (1958). In the 1980s he suffered severe heart trouble and a mild stroke, and later he lost his voice to throat cancer. He died in Bellevue, Washington, on March 28, 2003, at age 80.- Richard "Pistol" Allen was the king of the shuffle styled drum beat at Motown records in the early 60s, second only to Motown drummer extraordinare Benny 'Papa Zita' Benjamin. When Benjamin wasn't available to play, Allen was called in to replace him.
Allen played drums on major Motown hits such as The Supremes's "Baby Love", The Four Tops's "I Can't Help Myself", 'Jr. Walker''s "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and 'Martha & the Vandellas'' "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave". Allen still loved to play the Detroit local music scene, and even after his stint with Motown he continued to be seen from time to time playing in Detroit nightclubs throughout the city, until his illness.
Allen is also an intricate part of the documentary _Standing in the Shadows of Motown: The Story of the Funk Brothers (2002)_ , which depicts the life as a Motown musician in the 60s; reflecting the ups and downs of being a faceless figure of the Motown sound. - Director
- Producer
- Cinematographer
Michaela Denis was a pioneer of wildlife television. With her glamorous image and immaculate make-up, she roamed Africa with her husband, Armand. She was charged by a hippopotamus and nearly strangled by a python but never lost her fifties poise. She was born Michaela Wandsworth in London to a White Russian mother and an archaelogist who was killed in the First World War when Michaela was three months old. She trained as a dress designer, got engaged to an American admiral, then met the Belgian film-maker Armand Denis. They were married in the Andes but Africa was their passion. Their first British television series, "Filming Wild Animals", was in 1954 with Michaela as presenter and Armand doing the voice-over. This was followed by "On Safari", "Safari to Asia" and "Armand and Michaela Denis". They settled in Nairobi, where Armand died in 1971. Michaela married Sir William O'Brian Lindsay, the former chief justice of Sudan, but he died three months later. Michaela died on the 4th of May, 2003, aged 88.