The Prestige: 1960s
by LaurenceBranagh | created - 10 May 2016 | updated - 11 Jan 2019 | Public
1. Richard Burton
Actor | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Probably best-remembered for his turbulent personal life with Elizabeth Taylor (whom he married twice), Richard Burton was nonetheless also regarded as an often brilliant British actor of the post-WWII period.
Burton was born Richard Walter Jenkins in 1925 into a Welsh (Cymraeg)-speaking family in ...
Robert Angier
2. Peter O'Toole
Actor | Lawrence of Arabia
A leading man of prodigious talents, Peter O'Toole was born and raised in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, the son of Constance Jane Eliot (Ferguson), a Scottish nurse, and Patrick Joseph O'Toole, an Irish metal plater, football player and racecourse bookmaker. Upon leaving school, he decided to become a...
Alfred Borden
3. Ralph Richardson
Actor | Doctor Zhivago
Sir Ralph Richardson was one of the greatest actors of the 20th Century English-language theater, ascending to the height of his profession in the mid-1930s when he became a star in London's West End. He became the first actor of his generation to be knighted. He became Sir Ralph in 1947, and was ...
Cutter
4. Jean Simmons
Actress | Guys and Dolls
Demure British beauty Jean Simmons was born January 31, 1929, in Crouch End, London. As a 14-year-old dance student, she was plucked from her school to play Margaret Lockwood's precocious sister in Give Us the Moon (1944). She had a small part as a harpist in the high-profile Caesar and Cleopatra (...
Julia McCullough
5. Maggie Smith
Actress | Gosford Park
One of the world's most famous and distinguished actresses, Dame Maggie Smith was born Margaret Natalie Smith in Essex. Her Scottish mother, Margaret (Hutton), worked as a secretary, and her English father, Nathaniel Smith, was a teacher at Oxford University. Smith has been married twice: to actor ...
Sarah Borden
6. Julie Christie
Actress | Doctor Zhivago
Julie Christie, the British movie legend whom Al Pacino called "the most poetic of all actresses," was born in Chabua, Assam, India, on April 14, 1940, the daughter of a tea planter and his Welsh wife Rosemary, who was a painter. The young Christie grew up on her father's plantation before being ...
Olivia Wenscombe
7. Laurence Olivier
Actor | Sleuth
Laurence Olivier could speak William Shakespeare's lines as naturally as if he were "actually thinking them", said English playwright Charles Bennett, who met Olivier in 1927. Laurence Kerr Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, England, to Agnes Louise (Crookenden) and Gerard Kerr Olivier, a High ...
Nikola Tesla
8. Roger Livesey
Actor | The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The son of Joseph Livesey and Mary Catherine (nee Edwards), Roger was educated at Westminster City School, London. His first stage appearance was the office boy in Loyalties at St. James' theatre in 1917. Subsequently, he played in everything from Shakespeare to modern comedies. He played various ...
Alley
9. Orson Welles
Actor | Citizen Kane
His father, Richard Head Welles, was a well-to-do inventor, his mother, Beatrice (Ives) Welles, a beautiful concert pianist; Orson Welles was gifted in many arts (magic, piano, painting) as a child. When his mother died in 1924 (when he was nine) he traveled the world with his father. He was ...
Milton the Magician
10. Micheál MacLiammóir
Actor | The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice
Micheál MacLiammóir was a theatrical giant who dominated Irish theatre for over 50 years. Actor, designer, playwright and brilliant raconteur he was very much his own creation. He cut an imposing figure under the spotlight and in real life dressed flamboyantly wearing full make-up at all times and ...
Owens
11. Hilton Edwards
Director | Return to Glennascaul
Hilton Edwards was born on February 2, 1903 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for Return to Glennascaul (1952), Othello (1951) and Half a Sixpence (1967). He died on November 18, 1982 in Dublin, Ireland.
Merritt
12. Frank Thring
Actor | Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Frank Thring was born on May 11, 1926 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was an actor, known for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Ben-Hur (1959) and The Vikings (1958). He was married to Joan Cunliffe. He died on December 29, 1994 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Ackerman
13. Veronica Cartwright
Actress | Alien
Born in Bristol, England, Veronica is the older sister of the popular child actress Angela Cartwright. In her early career, Veronica was cast in a number of popular movies such as William Wyler's The Children's Hour (1961), Spencer's Mountain (1963) and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). As such,...
Jess Borden
14. Hugh Griffith
Actor | Ben-Hur
Enjoyably larger-than-life character actor Hugh Emrys Griffith was born in Marianglas, Anglesey, North Wales, to Mary (Williams) and William Griffith. Griffith left the world of banking (having been employed as a teller) after winning a scholarship to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic ...
Chung Ling Soo
15. Harry Andrews
Actor | The Hill
British character actor Harry Andrews had the sort of massive granite face and square jaw that would stamp that career, but he set himself apart with brilliant stage and screen work. He had graduated from Wrekin College in Shropshire and then moved on to the stage, appearing with Liverpool ...
Virgil
16. Esmond Knight
Actor | Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
A stage actor from 1925, Esmond made his first film appearance in 77 Park Lane (1931) for Michael Powell for whom he eventually made 11 films.
Esmond served in the Royal Navy during WWII and lost one eye and was almost totally blinded in the other during an engagement against The Bismarck. This ...
The Judge
17. Robert Stephens
Actor | Romeo and Juliet
Sir Robert's career fell into two distinct parts. In the '60s, he was widely regarded as the heir of Laurence Olivier. But, after his departure from Britain's National Theatre in 1970 and the breakup of his marriage with Maggie Smith three years later, he suffered a slump made worse by heavy ...
The Prosecutor
18. Michael Hordern
Actor | Where Eagles Dare
Some of Hordern's finest work was not in films or television but on radio: His performance as Gandalf in the BBC's radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings was arguably the definitive portrayal of that character (contrast Hordern's Gandalf with that of Ian McKellen in the 3-part film adaptation of...
The Defender
19. Julian Glover
Actor | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Julian Wyatt Glover was born on March 27, 1935 in Hampstead, London, England, to Honor Ellen Morgan (Wyatt), a BBC journalist, and Claude Gordon Glover, a BBC radio producer. He is of English, Scottish and Welsh ancestry. Primarily a classical stage actor, Glover trained at the National Youth ...
The Captain
20. Nigel Stock
Actor | The Great Escape
A veteran of stage, screen, radio and TV, character actor Nigel Stock was born in Malta in 1919, the son of Captain W.H. Stock, RE, and his wife Margaret Marion Munro. In British India from childhood, he and his sister Angela returned to the UK in his early teens for schooling. Nigel was educated ...
The Sullen Warden
21. Peter Bull
Actor | The African Queen
He was born 21st March 1912 in London, the fourth son of Sir William James Bull M.P. and Lillian Heather Brandon. Educated at Winchester College, he started in journalism before studying for the stage with Elsie Fogerty and made his stage debut at London's Shaftsbury Theatre in As You Like It on ...
The Hotel Manager
22. Adrian Robinson
Actor | The Harder They Come
Adrian Robinson is known for The Harder They Come (1972).
The Stagecoach Driver
23. Jack Wild
Actor | Oliver!
Born September 30, 1952, in Royton, near Oldham, England, Jack Wild was discovered by talent agent June Collins, mother of rock star Phil Collins. His breakthrough came when he landed the role of Oliver in the London stage production of "Oliver!" When it came to casting the film, the role of the ...
The Boy
24. John Cairney
Actor | Jason and the Argonauts
John Cairney made his stage debut at the Park Theatre, Glasgow, before enrolling at the RSAMD in Glasgow. After graduation, he joined the Wilson Barrett Company as Snake in 'The School for Scandal'. A season at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre followed before going on to the Bristol Old Vic where he ...
The Policeman
25. Robert Rietty
Actor | The Omen
Born of Italian heritage Lucio Rietti was "discovered" at the tender age of 8 by his father Vittorio (Victor Rietti veteran actor of the stage and screen) who had noticed the boy had completely memorized a copy of a script he had given Lucio having wanted help from his son while rehearsing his ...
The Voice
26. John Alderton
Actor | Zardoz
An English actor active in the theater since 1961, having made few theatrical movies, none of which particularly outstanding, with the exception of John Boorman's Zardoz (1974) and Nigel Cole's popular Calendar Girls (2003), John Alderton has become famous thanks to British television. Appearing in...
The Man
27. Judi Dench
Actress | Skyfall
Dame Judi Dench was born Judith Olivia Dench in York, England, to Eleanora Olive (Jones), who was from Dublin, Ireland, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor from Dorset, England. She attended Mount School in York, and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She has performed with the ...
The Elegant Lady
28. Richard Briers
Actor | Watership Down
Richard Briers was born on January 14, 1934 in Merton, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Watership Down (1978), Much Ado About Nothing (1993) and Peter Pan (2003). He was married to Ann Davies. He died on February 17, 2013 in London, England, UK.
The Ticket Hawker
29. Peter Sallis
Actor | The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Peter started off as a junior bank clerk but he had always been interested in the theatre and went every week to the Intimate Theatre in Palmers Green in London which was run by actor John Clements. Serving in the RAF as a radio instructor one of his pupils was Peter Bridge (now a theatre ...
The Moderator
30. Terence Lodge
Actor | An Age of Kings
Terence Lodge was born on November 10, 1936 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for An Age of Kings (1960), Julius Caesar (1963) and Doctor Who (1963).
The Scalper
31. Jerome Willis
Actor | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Jerome Willis was born on October 23, 1928 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), Lifeforce (1985) and Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1991). He was married to Dilys Elstone. He died on January 11, 2014 in London, England, UK.
Man in Hotel #1
32. Anthony Valentine
Actor | Scobie in September
Anthony Valentine was born on August 17, 1939 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Scobie in September (1969), The Fifth Corner (1992) and Callan (1967). He was married to Susan Valentine. He died on December 2, 2015 in Guildford, Surrey, England, UK.
Man in Hotel #2
33. Milton Reid
Actor | The Spy Who Loved Me
Although he liked to sign his autographs, perhaps jokingly, "Milton Gaylord Reid" his real name was Milton Rutherford Reid and he was born in Bombay on 29 April 1917. His father Edgar William Reid was a Scottish-born Customs and Excise inspector who had married an Indian lady. Milton moved to ...
The Burly Stagehand
34. Alan Rowe
Actor | Les Misérables
Alan Rowe was born on December 14, 1926 in Palmerston North, Manawatu, New Zealand. He was an actor, known for Les Misérables (1967), Heil Caesar! (1973) and Morgan's Boy (1984). He died on October 21, 2000 in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, England, UK.
Blind Stagehand #1
35. Norman Rossington
Actor | A Hard Day's Night
British character actor Norman Rossington was born in Merseyside, Liverpool, so it shouldn't be considered THAT ironic that he would end up appearing in The Beatles' debut film smash, A Hard Day's Night (1964), as "Norm", the Fab Four's chagrined road manager.
The son of a publican, he never ...
Blind Stagehand #2
36. Gordon Gostelow
Actor | Esther Waters
Gordon Gostelow was born on May 14, 1925 in Wellington, New Zealand. He was an actor, known for Esther Waters (1964), An Age of Kings (1960) and Nicholas Nickleby (1968). He was married to Vivian Pickles. He died on June 3, 2007 in London, England, UK.
Blind Stagehand #3
37. Roy Evans
Actor | The Elephant Man
Roy Evans was born in 1930 in Bristol, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Elephant Man (1980), Oliver! (1968) and Treasure Island (1977).
The Carriage Driver
38. Lois Maxwell
Actress | Dr. No
Everyone knows (or should know) Lois Maxwell as the one and only "Miss Moneypenny," but there's much more to her acting career than that. She started out against her parents' will, and without their knowledge, in a Canadian children's radio program, credited as "Robin Wells." Before the age of 15 ...
The Glamorous Assistant
39. Doris Lloyd
Actress | The Time Machine
Doris Lloyd was an English actress with a lengthy film career. She appeared in over 150 films between 1920 and 1960. She spent most of her life abroad in the United States.
In 1891, Lloyd was born in Walton, Liverpool. Her parents were Edward Franklin Lloyd and Hessy Jane McCappin. One of her ...
The Housekeeper
40. John Phillips
Actor | Village of the Damned
A tall, imposing character actor with a voice to match, John Phillips brought an authoritative manner and dignified military bearing to his many roles on stage and screen. A decorated veteran of the 1944 Normandy Campaign, Phillips frequently appeared on television as uniformed senior officers and ...
Workman #1
41. Christopher Rhodes
Actor | The Guns of Navarone
Sir Christopher George Rhodes, 3rd baronet Rhodes, of Hollingworth, (co. Chester) was the only son of Sir John Phillips Rhodes DSO, 2nd baronet and former chairman of Thomas Rhodes Ltd, cotton spinners and manufacturers.
Educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford.
On the death of his father he ...
The Warder
42. Martin Benson
Actor | The Omen
Martin Benson was born on August 10, 1918 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for The Omen (1976), The King and I (1956) and Goldfinger (1964). He was married to Joan Hayward and Joy. He died on February 28, 2010 in Markyate, Hertfordshire, England, UK.
Leonard
43. Douglas Wilmer
Actor | Octopussy
Douglas Wilmer was born on January 8, 1920 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Octopussy (1983), Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and El Cid (1961). He was married to Anne Harding and Elizabeth Joan Melville. He died on March 31, 2016 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK.
Will
44. Bob Simmons
Bob Simmons was born on March 31, 1922 in Fulham, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967) and Moonraker (1979). He died on October 21, 1987.
Stand-in
Tell Your Friends