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One of Britain's finest products of the stage, film and TV, actor Frank Finlay, he with the dark and handsomely serious-to-mordant looks, was born on August 6, 1926, in Farnworth, England, the son of Josiah, a butcher, and Margaret Finlay. Of English, Irish and Scottish descent, Frank attended St. Gregory the Great School and then was actually training to follow in his father's footsteps as a butcher himself when his side interest in acting eventually won out. He became a member of the Farnworth Little Theatre and met his future wife, Doreen Shepherd, a fellow member at the same time. They married in 1954, had three children (two sons, one daughter) and were married for over 50 years until her death in 2005.

Finlay began his professional career on the repertory stage with roles in The Guilford Theatre Company's 1957 productions of "Jessica" and "The Telescope". Graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he built up a strong and sturdy theatrical reputation at the Royal Court Theatre between 1958 and 1960 where he was seen to good advantage in such plays as "Chicken Soup and Barley", "Sugar in the Morning", "Sergeant Musgrave's Dance", "Roots", "I'm Talking About Jerusalem", "The Happy Haven" and "Platonov". Making his Broadway debut in "The Epitaph of George Dillon" in 1959, he also sparked a noteworthy professional association with Laurence Olivier at the National Theatre, the highlight being his intense but subtle portrayal of "Iago" to Olivier's "Othello" in 1964.

Marking his film debut in a bit role in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962), Finlay sandwiched in a steady stream of British film parts (including Private Potter (1963), Doctor in Distress (1963), Agent 8 3/4 (1964), The Comedy Man (1964), A Study in Terror (1965) (as "Jack the Ripper" Inspector Lestrade), The Jokers (1967), The Deadly Bees (1966) and Robbery (1967)) in between theatre assignments. His greatest film opportunity occurred when he was given the right by Olivier to recreate his Iago role opposite the legendary actor in the masterful film adaptation of Othello (1965). Finlay, Maggie Smith (as "Desdemona") and Joyce Redman (as "Emilia") all received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for their illustrious "supporting" work of Olivier (who was also Oscar nominated). Frank went on to nab a "Most Promising Newcomer" nomination from the BAFTA committee as well. To date, this has been the actor's only Oscar recognition.

Frank, who had a dashing role as "Porthos" for director Richard Lester in the ripe Dumas adaptation of The Three Musketeers (1973) (and its sequels The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974) and The Return of the Musketeers (1989)), has had primarily an international cinematic career. Films include The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), Cromwell (1970), The Molly Maguires (1970), Shaft in Africa (1973), The Wild Geese (1978), Murder by Decree (1979) (again as "Inspector Lestrade"), The Return of the Soldier (1982), The Key (1983) [The Key], Lifeforce (1985), La montagna dei diamanti (1991), So This Is Romance? (1997), Silent Cry (2002) and, most notably, the Oscar-winning WWII picture The Pianist (2002), directed by Roman Polanski, in which he portrayed the patriarch of a displaced Jewish family that included "Best Actor" son Adrien Brody.

Classical television notice came in middle age with Frank's strong performances as "Jean Valjean" in the British TV mini-series Les Misérables (1967) and the title role in Casanova (1971). He also went on to win stellar praise and a BAFTA award for his chilling portrayal of "Adolf Hitler" in The Death of Adolf Hitler (1973). Finlay and Susan Penhaligon courted controversy in the drama series Bouquet of Barbed Wire (1976) and were reunited in further controversy the following year with its follow-up Another Bouquet (1977). More plentiful and prestigious BBC-TV work came with his roles as Shakespeare's "Brutus" and "Shylock", not to mention his award-winning performances as "Voltaire" and "Sancho Panza".

In Count Dracula (1977), Finlay played "Van Helsing" to nemesis Louis Jourdan's velvety-voiced vampire; in A Christmas Carol (1984), he was the dour, shackled "Jacob Marley", who pays a ghostly visit to George C. Scott's crusty "Ebenezer Scrooge"; and in Eroica (2003), he portrayed composer "Franz Josef Haydn" alongside Ian Hart's "Beethoven" in the mini-series Eroica (2003). Frank ended his on-camera career gracing such programs as the mini-series Johnny and the Bomb (2006), Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act (2006) and Four Seasons (2008) and the TV series Life Begins (2004).

Throughout his prolific career on TV and film, Frank has maintained on the stage giving sterling performances in classic and contemporary plays as in with "Much Ado About Nothing (as "Dogberry"), "The Crucible", "Saturday Sunday Monday", "Filumena", "Amadeus" (a most affecting Salieri), "Mutiny" (as "Captain Bligh"), "Beyond Reasonable Doubt" and as the rigid father in the 1992 period production of "The Heiress." On January 30, 2016, Finlay died of heart failure in Surrey, England, at the age of 89.

Dave Spikey was born on 6 October 1951 in Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Phoenix Nights (2001), That Peter Kay Thing (1998) and Buzz Dish (2012). He is married to Kathleen Bramwell (née Kenyon).

This dark-haired barrel-shaped comedienne and character actress was the daughter of a Lancashire comedian. She made her professional stage debut in 1915 aged 10 and toured for decades in variety and second-rank revues, several of which she produced herself. She had a reputation for being difficult to work with, but this was probably because she was a perfectionist and had to fight for equal treatment in the male-dominated world of British show business. Her most popular act was a malaprop-filled gossip with a tall, mute stooge called Cynthia (who was nearly always played by a man in drag).

Baker became nationally famous in 1955 after a guest appearance on the TV show The Good Old Days (1953) and was kept busy in TV and on stage for the rest of her career. When success came, she lived the life of a star to the full: dressing in furs, buying a large house, driving huge cars, and keeping monkeys as pets. She allegedly had a voracious sexual appetite and a liking for very young men, and rumours circulated about wild parties at her Blackpool home. She only appeared in five films but these include the classic Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) and the Oscar-winning Oliver! (1968)

She is now best remembered for the role of Nellie Pledge in the TV sitcom Nearest and Dearest (1968). This ran for seven series and spawned stage and film spin-offs. In it she played a prim Northern spinster forever locking horns with her dissolute brother Eli after they jointly inherit their father's pickle factory. Her screen brother was played by comedian Jimmy Jewel. Off-screen the pair hated each other; their on-set battles became part of British show-business legend. As the series progressed, Baker found remembering her lines increasingly difficult and began to rely on cue cards. This was the first symptom of the Alzheimer's disease that would eventually overwhelm her.

Her next starring vehicle was the TV sitcom Not on Your Nellie (1974), in which she played Nellie Pickersgill, a thinly-disguised version of Nellie Pledge, this time a teetotal spinster called down to London to run her ailing father's pub. This series was less successful and ended suddenly when the accident-prone Baker injured herself after slipping on prop beer that had been spilled on the studio floor. She sued the production company and effectively ended her television career.

In 1978 she was teamed with cockney character actor Arthur Mullard to record a parody of the Grease (1978) anthem 'You're The One That I Want,' which became an unlikely novelty hit, reaching number 22 in the UK singles chart and leading to the pair making a memorably embarrassing appearance on Top of the Pops (1964). Clips of this performance are often used in 'Worst TV moments' compilation shows. This proved to be Baker's TV swansong. Her memory was getting worse and she was unable to work. In 1981 she moved into Brinsworth House, a home for retired variety performers in Twickenham, Middlesex; then in 1984, as her condition further deteriorated, she moved to the Horton Psychiatric Hospital in 1984, where she died of bronchial pneumonia in 1986.

Hylda Baker is now a cult figure and is often quoted by today's British comediennes as an influence and a trailblazer. A one-women play about her life and career called "She Knows You Know" has played in London's West End and toured throughout the UK and Baker is becoming known to new audiences through satellite and cable TV showings and DVD releases of her TV and film work.

Ken Southworth was born on 22 September 1918 in Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK. He is known for The Cat Returns (2002), Jonny Quest (1964) and The Atom Ant Show (1965). He died on 6 December 2007 in Anaheim, California, USA.

Stephen Finlay was born on 30 November 1955 in Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for A.D. (1985), The Pleasure Principle (1991) and Masterpiece Theatre: Sons and Lovers (1981). He died on 12 February 2004 in London, England, UK.

Felix Deebank was born on 28 August 1920 in Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Kraft Theatre (1947), The Avengers (1961) and Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958). He died in May 1979 in Devonshire, England, UK.

Simon Bleakley was born on 27 December 1960 in Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Under Cover (1990), Fatal Mission (1990) and Barrett (1990). He died on 12 March 2004 in Manchester, England, UK.

Alan Ball was born on 12 May 1945 in Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK. He was married to Janet Lesley Newton. He died on 25 April 2007 in Warsash, Hampshire, England, UK.

Youth was born on 27 December 1960 in Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK. He is a composer and actor, known for The Covenant (2006), School of Rock (2003) and Gotham (2014).

Andrew Hodgson was born on 26 February 1978 in Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Extension (2023), Warhead (2015) and A True Friend (2016).

Craig Steadman was born on 14 July 1982 in Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK.

Frank Tyson was born on 6 June 1930 in Farnworth, Lancashire, England, UK. He was married to Ursula Miels. He died on 27 September 2015 in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.