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1-50 of 52
- A twin fisted existentialist, whose post-Nietzschian sensibilities reject the lantern of the cynic in a quest for a sun that leaves no shadow. He attended Dr Challoners Grammar School where he achieved 8 'o' levels, he then elected to work on demolition sites rather than continue his education to University level. He studied performing arts in his twenties then became a professional wrestler and then secured the role of John in Snatch. Other film and TV work followed including appearances in Eastenders,the Bill and Emmerdale as well as parts in major motion pictures such as Batman begins and Elizabeth the Golden age and when work was quiet he decided to become a professional cage fighter securing wins over LA street fighting legend Kimo Leopoldo and ex UFC heavyweight champion Dan Severn. His fight and acting career however began to clash and when he was offered a role in Steven Berkoff's On The Waterfront he had to regrettably decline due to fight commitments. Instead Berkoff attended Legeno's fight at Wembley arena where he defeated Herb Dean. When Dave was cast as Fenrir Greyback in the Harry Potter series he put his fight career on hold.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Sir Norman Wisdom has become the great British clown in the mold of Sir Charles Chaplin with his little man in the ill fitting suit and cloth cap. His character is an everyman, much put upon but struggling through to a (usually) happy ending. He was brought up in an orphanage after his mother died and his father disowned him. He joined the British Army at age 14 as a band boy and learnt to play the clarinet, drums and xylophone. In 1941, he went to India with the army and became a comedian by clowning around in camp concerts. When demobbed, he returned home and decided to try to get on the stage but couldn't find an agent who was interested in him.
After marrying his fiancee, Freda Simpson, he spent five weeks in America searching for an agent and work without success. On his return to Britain, he eventually found an agent resulting in him making his first stage appearance at Collins Music Hall on December 17, 1946. Over time, his talent and his popularity grew resulting in him making his first major film Trouble in Store (1953) followed by One Good Turn (1955). Before long, he was writing the screenplays for eight of his films, including The Square Peg (1958), Follow a Star (1959), A Stitch in Time (1963) and The Early Bird (1965). In addition to writing the screenplays, he also composed numerous songs including his theme song "Don't Laugh at Me ('Cause I'm a Fool)".- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Costume Designer
Hilary Pritchard was born on 16 April 1942 in Isle of Man, UK. She was an actress and costume designer, known for The Thief and the Cobbler (1993), Department S (1969) and The Avengers (1961). She died on 29 July 1996 in Isle of Man, UK.- Bill Naughton was born on 12 June 1910 in Ballyhaunis, Ireland. He was a writer, known for Alfie (1966), The Family Way (1966) and Alfie (2004). He died on 9 January 1992 in Ballasalla, Isle of Man, UK.
- George McDonald Fraser was an expert storyteller and master of the comic novel. His most widely read books chronicle the adult exploits of Harry Flashman (the original cowardly school bully of "Tom Brown's Schooldays"). Though fictionalised, these bawdy adventures are invariably set against an impeccably well-researched and annotated historical background, featuring the dissolute, craven anti-hero in the midst of significant historical events, including the Charge of the Light Brigade, Custer's last stand at the Little Bighorn, the Indian Mutiny, the Opium Wars, the Taiping rebellion, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry and Britain's 1868 punitive Abyssinian campaign. Fraser carefully avoided romanticising the Victorian-era, instead adopting an often brutally realistic, yet highly satirical 'warts and all' approach. Fascinating historical characters abound, ranging from Madagascar's black queen Ranavalona to Otto von Bismarck and Abyssinia's self-styled Emperor Theodore II, brought to life by painstakingly researched detail, proof of the old adage that fact is often stranger than fiction. The swaggering, chauvinistic arch-cad, from whose vantage point the books are written, rides his luck from one harrowing crisis to another and continues to be elevated among Imperial Britain's military elite despite his total lack of merit (not to mention morality). Fraser's wit and craftsmanship as a writer have nonetheless made Flashman into a believable, even compelling central character.
The son of a doctor, Fraser had no direct qualifications as a historian. His interest in writing was likely kindled by frontier service with the British 14th Army in Burma and the Gordon Highlanders in Africa (his personal recollections of the 1944-45 campaign against the Japanese Army appeared in print in 1993 to considerable critical acclaim). After demobilisation, Fraser worked as a sports reporter and journalist in Canada and in his native Scotland, latterly as deputy editor for the Glasgow Herald (1964-69). His first Flashman book, "Royal Flash", was written in 1969. His twelfth (and last), "Flashman on the March", appeared in 2005. In addition, he authored several other novels and collections of short stories, each with a historical perspective. During the 1970's and 80's, Fraser also collaborated on several film scripts, including The Three Musketeers (1973), its sequel The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974) and the 13th James Bond entry, Octopussy (1983). He wrote the screenplays for two of his own novels, the unsatisfactorily filmed Royal Flash (1975) and The Pyrates (1986), a comical swashbuckler set along the Spanish Main and featuring another rakish anti-hero, Colonel Thomas Blood (loosely based on the historical character of that name). The 'Flashman Papers' yet await their true 'discovery' by an enterprising film maker, for they would make for splendid entertainment indeed.
George McDonald Fraser eventually settled on the Isle of Man, at once to find a tax refuge and to withdraw to a place more akin to, as he referred to it, 'England as it used to be'. A Tory of moderate right-wing beliefs and outspoken enemy of political correctness, he died there on January 2 2008 at the age of 82. - Diminutive, softly-spoken British playwright and screenwriter, who usually worked in collaboration. Educated at Charterhouse and Cambridge University, Dighton wrote for the stage until entering films in 1935. After initially working for Michael Balcon at Gaumont-British, he was briefly under contract to Warner Brothers. At Ealing from 1939, he had his most productive spell with popular original screenplays and adaptations from the classics. He is best remembered for two quintessential British comedies, both starring Alec Guinness: Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and The Man in the White Suit (1951). Another popular farce, The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950), was based on his own hit West End play. Dighton also had a brief tenure in Hollywood, his most popular venture there being the classic romantic comedy Roman Holiday (1953).
- Actor
- Transportation Department
- Additional Crew
Joakim (Jo) Bonnier was the first great racing driver from Sweden. He started out as an ice racer in Sweden, before driving on dry race tracks. He started his Grand Prix career in 1956 and sustained a pretty good job as a race driver for three decades, winning the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix and several sportscar races. Bonnier was killed at Le Mans, France, in 1972 when his Lola collided with a Ferrari. The collision launched him over the barriers into the trees.- Novelist and dramatist Hall Caine, though largely forgotten now, was a hugely popular writer in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. Born Thomas Henry Hall Caine on May 14, 1853, in Runcorn, Cheshire, England, his father was a Manx Man who moved to Liverpool, where he apprenticed as a ship's smith. After Hall's birth (he hated the name Thomas and never used it, even after he was knighted), the family moved back to Liverpool, where young Hall grew up. Hall Caine frequently took many trips to visit the Caine family on the Isle of Man.
He was apprenticed to an architect and surveyor and plied his trade as a surveyor while self-educating himself through wide reading. He became a lecturer and theatrical critic, which introduced him to some influential people such as actor Sir Henry Irving and author Bram Stoker, who dedicated Dracula (1931) to him. He became the secretary, factotum and nurse to Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the last years of the great poet's life.
Aside from a memoir of Rossetti that sold well, Caine's early endeavors in serious literature met with little success. However, when he abandoned literary criticism for romantic fiction (in the Walter Scott vein), he became popular. "Shadow of a Crime", an 1885 novel featuring a love triangle, was a best-seller. In 1887 he published a critical book about Samuel Taylor Coleridge that failed, but his return to fiction that same year with The Deemster (1917), a romance set in the Isle of Man, was a hit (a deemster is a judge on the Isle of Man).
In all, he published 15 romantic novels over 40 years. Many had themes influenced by his Christian socialist political sympathies. His popularity was immense, and his 1897 novel "The Christian" (later made into a film, The Christian (1915)) was the first novel to sell over a million copies in the United Kingdom. In August 1902, when King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited the Isle of Man, Caine was invited on board the royal yacht as the royal couple toured the island (the queen was a fan). He was a major celebrity in his own right, as well as a celebrated author.
During World War One he wrote propaganda articles urging the United States to join the fight against Germany and her allies. He declined a baronetcy in 1917 but accepted a knighthood, insisting he be styled Sir Caine Hall. After the Great War his popularity began to decline, as his style was considered old-fashioned. His return to fiction in 1921 with "The Master of Man: The Story of a Sin", another romance set in the Isle of Man, did not reach the level of popular success he was accustomed to and was poorly received by critics. He was derided as Victorian.
Many of his novels were made into movies during the silent era. "The Manxman" was turned into The Manxman (1929), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The last film made from a Hall Caine property was The Bondman (1929), also released in 1929. Such was the decline of his reputation and popularity that no sound film has ever been made from his works.
Caine is little remembered today, as his novels are considered badly written; the characterizations are fuzzy and one plot is much like the other. In 1931 G.K. Chesterton wrote his literary epitaph: "Bad story writing is not a crime. Mr. Hall Caine walks the streets openly, and cannot be put in prison for an anticlimax."
He died on August 31, 1931, at the age of 78, the same year that Chesterton dismissed him as a bad writer. He was the father of Sir Derwent Hall Caine, 1st Baronet (1891-1971), actor, publisher and Labour politician. - Bob Oxenbould was an actor, known for Welcome to Woop Woop (1997). He was married to Janice Oxenbould. He died on 14 January 2013 in Manly Hospital, New South Wales, Australia.
- Athol Coats was born in 1918 in Queenstown, Otago, New Zealand. He was an actor, known for Big Brother (1970), Thriller (1973) and Father Brown (1974). He died in 1974 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK.
- Rex Mossop was born on 18 February 1928 in Five Dock, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He was an actor, known for Andrew Denton & The Live and Sweaty Cast: I Don't Care As Long As We Beat New Zealand (1993), The Don Lane Show (1975) and Live & Sweaty (1991). He was married to Joan Mildred Bell. He died on 17 June 2011 in Manly Vale, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- Lucky Casner was born on 30 August 1928 in Miami, Florida, USA. He died on 10 April 1965 in Le Mans, France.
- Geoff Duke was born on 29 March 1923 in St. Helens, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom. He died on 1 May 2015 in Isle of Man, United Kingdom.
- Ben Lexcen was born on 19 March 1936 in Boggabri, New South Wales, Australia. He was married to Yvonne Denise Miller and Dorothy Muriel Green. He died on 1 May 1988 in Manly, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Ronnie Aldrich was born on 15 February 1916 in Erith, Kent, England, UK. He was a composer, known for The Benny Hill Show (1969), The Family Man (2000) and Kill Me Again (1989). He died on 30 September 1993 in Isle of Man, UK.- Sound Department
- Camera and Electrical Department
Hugo Helmond is known for Babs (2000), Flirt (2005) and Modern Crimes (1992). He died on 24 April 2019 in Le Mans, France.- Pierre Levegh was born on 22 December 1905 in Paris, France. He died on 11 June 1955 in Le Mans, France.
- Gareth Jones died on 7 December 2014 in Manly, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- Philippe Delevingne was born on 28 February 1955 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines, France. He was an actor and writer, known for Au théâtre ce soir (1966), Merci Bernard (1982) and L'avenir de Jéremy (1980). He died on 13 November 2004 in Le Mans, Sarthe, France.
- Lillian Beckwith was born in 1916 in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England, UK. Lillian was a writer, known for A Shine of Rainbows (2009) and Jackanory (1965). Lillian died on 3 January 2004 in Isle of Man, UK.
- Dymphna Cusack was born on 21 September 1902 in Wyalong, New South Wales, Australia. She was a writer, known for Red Sky at Morning (1944), Come in Spinner (1990) and BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950). She was married to Norman Randolph Freehill. She died on 19 October 1981 in Manly, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- Sound Department
- Art Department
Jake Drake-Brockman was born in 1955 in Borneo. Jake is known for British Isles: A Natural History (2004), Last Chance to See (2009) and Simon King's Shetland Diaries (2010). Jake was married to Sally A. Mundy. Jake died on 1 September 2009 in Strang, Isle of Man, UK.- Yves Belluardo was born on 4 December 1937 in Nanterre, Seine [now Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France], France. He was an actor, known for 23h58 (1993), Grégoire Moulin contre l'humanité (2001) and Le schpountz (1999). He was married to Martine Chide. He died on 27 November 2004 in Le Mans, France.
- Soundtrack
Clinton Ford was born on 4 November 1931 in Salford, Lancashire, England, UK. He was married to Maggie. He died on 21 October 2009 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK.- Geoffrey Duke was an actor, known for Tornado on Wheels (1957), Charley Boorman: Ireland to Sydney by Any Means (2008) and The Children's Television Caravan (1956). He was married to Daisy Hollis, Dorothy Eagles and Patricia Reid. He died on 1 May 2015 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK.