Name	The Old Vic
Caption	The exterior of the Old Vic from the corner of Baylis Road and Waterloo Road
Address	The Cut
City	Lambeth, London
Country	United Kingdom
Designation	Grade II* listed
Latitude	51.5022
Longitude	-0.1096
Architect	Rudolph Cabanel of Aachen
Opened	1818
Owner	Old Vic Theatre TrustChief Executive Sally Greene
Capacity	1,067
Type	Non-profit Producing TheatreArtistic Director Kevin Spacey
Rebuilt	1871 J T Robinson1880/1902 Elijah Hoole1922/1927 by Frank Matcham1933-8 F Green and Co1950 Pierre Sonrel1960 Sean Kenny1983 Renton, Howard, Wood and Levine.
Othernames	Royal Coburg TheatreRoyal Victorian TheatreRoyal Victoria Hall and Coffee Tavern
Production	A Flea In Her Earstarring Tom Hollander(4 Dec 2010 - 5 Mar 2011)Cause Célèbrestarring Anne-Marie Duff(17 Mar - 11 Jun 2011)Richard IIIstarring Kevin Spacey(18 Jun - 11 Sep 2011)
Website	www.oldvictheatre.com

The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian Baylis assumed management and began a series of Shakespeare productions in 1914. The building was damaged in 1940 during air raids and it became a Grade II* listed building in 1951 after it reopened.

It was also the name of a repertory company that was based at the theatre. The company formed the core of the National Theatre of Great Britain on its formation in 1963, under Laurence Olivier. The National Theatre remained at the Old Vic until new premises were constructed on the South Bank, opening in 1976. It underwent complete refurbishment in 1985 and in 2003, American actor Kevin Spacey was appointed as new artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre Company which received considerable media attention.

History

Origins

The theatre was founded in 1818 by James King and Daniel Dunn (formerly managers of the Surrey Theatre in Bermondsey), and John Thomas Serres, then Marine painter to the King who managed to secure the formal patronage of Princess Charlotte and her husband Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg naming the theatre the Royal Coburg Theatre. The theatre was a "minor" theatre (as opposed to one of the two patent theatres) and was thus technically forbidden to show serious drama. Nevertheless, when the theatre passed to George Bolwell Davidge in 1824 he succeeded in bringing legendary actor Edmund Kean south of the river to play six Shakespeare plays in six nights. The theatre's role in bringing high art to the masses was confirmed when Kean addressed the audience during his curtain call saying "I have never acted to such a set of ignorant, unmitigated brutes as I see before me." More popular staples in the repertoire were "sensational and violent" melodramas demonstrating the evils of drink, "churned out by the house dramatist", confirmed teetotaller Douglas Jerrold. When Davidge left to take over the Surrey Theatre in 1833 it was bought by Daniel Egerton and William Abbott who tried to capitalise on the abolition of the legal distinction between patent and minor theatres and also in 1833 the theatre was renamed the Royal Victorian Theatre after the heir to the throne Princess Victoria. In 1880, under the ownership of Emma Cons to whom there are plaques outside & inside the theatre, it became The Royal Victoria Hall And Coffee Tavern and was run on "strict temperance lines"; by this time it was already known as the "Old Vic". The penny lectures given in the hall led to the foundation of Morley College, an adult education college, that moved to its own premises nearby, in the 1920s.

Old Vic company

With Emma Cons's death in 1912 the theatre passed to her niece Lilian Baylis, who emphasized the Shakespearean repertoire. The Old Vic Company was established in 1929, led by Sir John Gielgud. Between 1925 and 1931, Lilian Baylis championed the re-building of the then-derelict Sadler's Wells Theatre, and established a ballet company under the direction of Ninette de Valois. For a few years the drama and ballet companies rotated between the two theatres, with the ballet becoming permanently based at Sadler's Wells in 1935.

Wartime exile

The Old Vic was damaged badly during the Blitz, and the war-depleted company spent all its time touring, based in Burnley, Lancashire at the Victoria Theatre during the years 1940 to 1943. In 1944, the company was re-established in London with Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier as its stars, performing mainly at the New Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre) until the Old Vic was ready to re-open in 1950. In 1946, an offshoot of the company was established in Bristol as the Bristol Old Vic.

National Theatre company

In 1963, the Old Vic company was dissolved and the new National Theatre Company, under the artistic direction of Lord Olivier, was based at the Old Vic until its own building was opened on the South Bank near Waterloo Bridge in 1976.

In July 1974 the Old Vic presented a rock concert for the first time. National Theatre director Sir Peter Hall arranged for the progressive folk-rock band Gryphon to première Midnight Mushrumps, the fantasia inspired by Hall's own 1974 Old Vic production of The Tempest starring John Gielgud for which Gryphon had supplied the music.

Reopening

After the departure of the NT, the Old Vic continued as a home for classic and new drama, and was significantly restored under the ownership of Toronto department-store entrepreneur 'Honest Ed' Mirvish in 1985. In 1998, the building was bought by a new charitable trust, The Old Vic Theatre Trust 2000. In 2000, the production company Criterion Productions was renamed Old Vic Productions plc, though relatively few of its productions are at the Old Vic theatre.

Current developments

In 2003, actor Kevin Spacey was appointed as new artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre Company receiving considerable media attention. Spacey said he wanted to inject new life into the British theatre industry, and bring British and American theatrical talent to the stage. He appears in one or two shows per season, and performs some directorial duties on other shows.

References

Further reading

Guide to British Theatres 1750-1950, John Earl and Michael Sell pp. 128-9 (Theatres Trust, 2000) ISBN 0-7136-5688-3

External links

Old Vic Theatre official website

Old Vic archive at the University of Bristol Theatre Collection, University of Bristol

Lilian Baylis archive at the University of Bristol Theatre Collection, University of Bristol

Pictures and early history of Vic-Wells

Guide to events at the Old Vic Theatre

Old Vic Theatre History

Category:Grade II* listed buildings in London Category:1818 architecture Category:Theatres in Lambeth Category: Theatres in Southwark Category:Producing house theatres in London

Caption	Spacey in April 2009
Birth name	Kevin Spacey Fowler
Birth date	July 26, 1959
Birth place	South Orange, New Jersey, United States
Occupation	Actor, director, producer, screenwriter
Years active	1981 – present

Kevin Spacey, CBE (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television. He gained critical acclaim in the early 1990s, culminating in his first Academy Award for The Usual Suspects (Best Supporting Actor), followed by a Best Actor Academy Award win for American Beauty (1999). His other starring roles in Hollywood include Seven, L.A. Confidential, Pay It Forward, and Superman Returns in a career which has eventually earned him Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Since 2003, he has been artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London.

Early life

Spacey was born Kevin Spacey Fowler in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of Kathleen Ann (née Knutson; December 5, 1931 – March 19, 2003), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler (June 4, 1924 – December 24, 1992), a technical writer and data consultant. He has two older siblings: a sister, Julie, and a brother, Randy. He attended Northridge Military Academy, from which he was expelled, Canoga Park High School (in tenth and eleventh grades), and then Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, California, where he graduated valedictorian of his class. At Chatsworth High, he starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Georg von Trapp, opposite Mare Winningham's character, Maria. While in high school, he took on his paternal grandmother's maiden name, "Spacey", originally a Yorkshire name, as his acting surname.

Career

Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a spear-carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI, part 1 in 1981. The following year, he made his first Broadway appearance as Oswald in a production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, starring Liv Ullmann. Then he portrayed Philinte in Molière's The Misanthrope. In 1984, it was David Rabe's Hurlyburly where, energetic and fabulously adaptable, Spacey rotated through each of the male parts (he'd later appear as Mickey in the screen version too). Next came Anton Chekhov's The Seagull and a period, in 1986, performing Sleuth in a New Jersey dinner theatre.

But his prominence as a stage actor really began in 1986, when he was cast opposite Jack Lemmon, Peter Gallagher and Bethel Leslie as Jamie, the eldest Tyrone son in Jonathan Miller's lauded production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. Lemmon in particular would become a mentor to Spacey. He made his first major television appearance in the second season premiere of Crime Story, playing a Kennedy-esque American senator. Although his interest soon turned to film, Spacey remained actively involved in the live theater community. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of "Uncle Louie" in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Lost in Yonkers. Spacey's father was unconvinced that Spacey could make a career for himself as an actor, and did not change his mind until Spacey became a well known theatre actor.

Spacey played an egomaniacal district attorney in A Time to Kill (1996), and founded Trigger Street Productions in 1997, with the purpose of producing and developing entertainment across various media. He made his directorial debut with the film Albino Alligator (1996). The film was a failure at the box office, grossing $339,379 with a budget of $6 million, but critics praised Spacey's direction. He also did voice work in Pixar's A Bug's Life (1998) voicing the main antagonist Hopper, the leader of a vicious gang of grasshoppers.

Spacey won universal praise and a Best Actor Oscar for his role as a depressed suburban father who re-evaluates his life in 1999's American Beauty; the same year, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Spacey also earned another Tony nomination the same year for his work in a Broadway production of The Iceman Cometh. During the several years following American Beauty's release, Spacey appeared in films that he believes hadn't done as well critically or in terms of box office. In 2001, Spacey co-hosted with Judi Dench Unite for the Future Gala, the UK's fundraiser for the British Victims of 9/11 and Médecins Sans Frontières at London's Old Vic Theatre, produced by Harvey Goldsmith and Dominic Madden.

He played a physically and emotionally scarred grade school teacher in Pay It Forward (2000), a patient in a mental institution, who may or may not be an alien in K-Pax (2001), and singer Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea (2004). Beyond The Sea was a lifelong dream project for Spacey, who took on co-writing, directing, co-producing and starring duties in the biography/musical about Darin's life, career, and relationship with late actress Sandra Dee. Facing little interest for backing in the States, Spacey went to the UK and Germany for funding. Almost all of the movie was filmed in Berlin.

Capitol/EMI's album Forever Cool (2007) features two duets with Spacey and the voice of the late Dean Martin: "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" and "King of the Road."

Spacey sits on the Board of Directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

The Old Vic

In February 2003, Spacey announced that he was returning to London to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres. Appearing at a press conference with Judi Dench and Elton John, he promised both to appear on stage and to bring in big-name talent. Spacey undertook to remain in the post for a full ten years. The Old Vic Theatre Company, in its current form, stages shows eight months out of the year. Spacey's first season started in September 2004, and opened with the British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, directed by Spacey, which opened to mixed reviews. In the 2005 season, Spacey made his UK Shakespearean debut, to good notices, in the title role of Richard II directed by Trevor Nunn. He performed in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre, and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry in which he played C. K. Dexter Haven, the Cary Grant role in the film version. Critics applauded Spacey's daring for taking on the management of a theatre, but noted that while his acting was impressive, his skills and judgment as a producer/manager had yet to develop.

In the 2006 season, Spacey suffered a major setback with a production of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues, directed by Robert Altman. Despite an all-star cast (including Neve Campbell and Matthew Modine) and the pedigree of Miller's script, Spacey's decision to lure Altman to the stage proved disastrous: after a fraught rehearsal period, the play opened to a critical panning, and closed after only a few weeks.

In January 2009, he directed the premiere of Joe Sutton's Complicit, with Richard Dreyfuss, David Suchet and Elizabeth McGovern.

In June 2009 it was announced that Trevor Nunn will return to direct Spacey in a revival of Inherit The Wind. Previews were scheduled to begin in September 2009. Based on a true story of a teacher arrested for teaching his students evolution also known as the "Scopes monkey trial", Spacey plays defense lawyer Henry Drummond, a role that was made famous by actor Spencer Tracy in the 1960 film of the same name.

Other honors

Spacey was awarded an Doctor of Letters, honoris causa from the London South Bank University in November 2005.

In June 2008, he was appointed as Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at St Catherine's College, Oxford, succeeding Patrick Stewart in the post. He was officially welcomed on October 13, 2008.

On November 3, 2010 he was made a CBE from Prince Charles at Clarence House, on behalf of the Queen , for services to drama.

Personal life

In September 2006, Spacey announced his intention to stay on at the Old Vic for at least another nine years, and that due to his continuing UK residency he intends to take up British citizenship when it becomes available to him.

Spacey is a staunch Democrat and a friend of former US President Bill Clinton, having met Clinton before his presidency began. Spacey has described Clinton as "one of the shining lights" of the political process. He additionally made a cameo appearance in President Clinton: Final Days, a light-hearted political satire produced by the Clinton administration for the White House Correspondents Dinner.

In September 2007, Spacey met Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. Neither of them spoke to the press about their encounter, but hours later the actor visited the government-funded movie studio, Villa del Cine (Cinema City). In December of that year, he co-hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert with Uma Thurman.

Spacey is unmarried and vehemently protects his private life, about which very little is known. This generated tabloid press rumors that he might be gay; however, Spacey has repeatedly denied them over the years, for example in Playboy (October 1999), in The Sunday Times Magazine (December 19, 1999) and implicitly in Gotham Magazine (May 2007). Moreover, April Winchell revealed, in broadcasts of her KFI show, on her web diary and several other websites, that she and Spacey dated for a while after high school, during a run of the musical Gypsy, and later went to New York together. She and Spacey have remained friends.

Between 1992 and 2000, Spacey discreetly dated Dianne Dreyer, script supervisor to Anthony Minghella, M. Night Shyamalan and Sydney Pollack.

Filmography

Discography

Albums

Singles

Live performances

"Mind Games" — — October 2, 2001 — Radio City Music Hall

References

External links

Interview with Kevin Spacey from April 2007

Kevin Spacey interview in the UK Independent on Sunday

Category:1959 births Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:Actors Studio alumni Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American stage actors Category:American theatre directors Category:Artistic directors Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Best Actor BAFTA Award winners Category:Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners Category:Golden Orange Honorary Award winners Category:Juilliard School alumni Category:Living people Category:New Jersey Democrats Category:Olivier Award winners Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People associated with London South Bank University Category:People from Essex County, New Jersey Category:People from South Orange, New Jersey Category:Tony Award winners

Name	Toby Stephens
Birthdate	April 21, 1969
Birth place	London, England
Occupation	actor
Spouse	Anna-Louise Plowman

Toby Stephens (born 21 April 1969) is an English stage, television and film actor who has appeared in films in both Hollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for playing megavillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day (2002) and Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre (2006).

Biography

Stephens, the younger son of actors Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Robert Stephens, was born in London, England. He was educated at Aldro and Seaford College and trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He began his film career with the role of Othello in 1992's Orlando. He has since made regular appearances on television (including in The Camomile Lawn) and on stage.

He has gained acclaim as a stage actor of distinction, notably playing the title role in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Coriolanus shortly after graduation from LAMDA; that same season he played Claudio in Measure for Measure for the RSC. He also played Stanley Kowalski in a West End production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, and Hamlet in 2004. He has appeared on Broadway in Ring Round the Moon. He played the lead in the film Photographing Fairies and played Orsino in Trevor Nunn's film of Twelfth Night. In 2002 he took on the role for which he is most widely known, that of Gustav Graves in the James Bond movie Die Another Day.

In 2005 he played the role of a British army captain in the Indian film, , portraying events in the Indian rebellion of 1857. The following year he returned to India to play a renegade British East India Company officer in Sharpe's Challenge.

In late 2006 he starred as Edward Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre (broadcast in the United States on PBS in early 2007) and The Wild West in February 2007 for the BBC in which he played General George Armstrong Custer in Custer's Last Stand.

During mid-2007, Stephens played the role of Jerry in a revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal under the direction of Roger Michell. Later that year, Stephens also starred as Horner in Jonathan Kent's revival of William Wycherley's The Country Wife. The play was the inaugural production of The Theatre Royal Haymarket Company, which in addition to Stephens includes the actors Eileen Atkins, Patricia Hodge, David Haig and Ruthie Henshall. Various members of the Company are expected to star in upcoming productions at the Haymarket Theatre with various artistic directors. The formation of the Company is considered by many London theatre critics to be a bold move for West End theatre.

In February 2008, Fox Broadcasting Company gave the go-ahead to cast Stephens as the lead in a potential one hour, prime time U.S. television show, Inseparable, to be produced by Shaun Cassidy. Billed as a modern Jekyll and Hyde story, the show was to feature a partially paralyzed forensic psychologist whose other personality is a charming criminal. Stephens' casting was highly unusual, because Fox had not yet approved a script nor purchased a pilot for the show. However, in mid-May 2008, The Hollywood Reporter announced that "[b]y the time the network picked up the pilot . . . [the producers'] hold on Stephens had expired . . . ."

In May 2008, Stephens performed the role of James Bond in a BBC Radio 4 production of Ian Fleming's Dr. No, as part of the centenary celebration of Fleming's birth. The production was reportedly the first BBC radio dramatization of the novel though Moonraker was on South African radio in 1956, with Bob Holness providing the voice of Bond.

Also in May 2008, Stock-pot Productions announced that Stephens will have the lead role in a feature-length film entitled Fly Me, co-starring Tim McInnerny. Stock-pot was also the producer of One Day, a short 2006 film shown at international film festivals, in which Stephens played a small part as the boss of McInnerny's character.

On 5 October 2008, Stephens appeared onstage at the London Palladium as part of a benefit entitled "The Story of James Bond, A Tribute to Ian Fleming." The event, organized by Fleming's niece, Lucy Fleming, featured music from various James Bond films and Bond film stars reading from Fleming's Bond novels. Stephens took the part of James Bond himself in the readings.

In early December 2008, Stephens read from Coda, the last book written by his good friend Simon Gray, for BBC Radio 4. The excerpts from which Stephens read included Gray's description of Gray's participation as godfather at the christening of Stephens' son Eli.

Early in 2009, Stephens appeared as Prince John in Season 3 of the BBC series Robin Hood. The series also aired on BBC America in the United States. Stephens' more recent television appearances include two episodes of a six-part television series, Strike Back, based on the novel by Chris Ryan. The series aired in May 2010.

In the summer of 2009, Stephens returned to the London stage in the Donmar Warehouse production of Ibsen's A Doll's House alongside Gillian Anderson and Christopher Eccleston.

In 2010, Stephens once again performed on television. First, he starred in the made-for-television movie, The Blue Geranium, a further sequel to the television series and movies based on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple character. The show was broadcast in the U.S. on PBS in June 2010, and is expected to finally air in Britain later this year. Stephens also recently starred as a highly self-centered detective opposite Lucy Punch in a three-part comedic television series for BBC Two entitled Vexed.

Stephens also took on a small supporting role in a short film, The Lost Explorer, the directorial debut of photographer Tim Walker. The film is based on a short story by author Patrick McGrath.

Meantime, on the London stage in the spring of 2010, Stephens received outstanding reviews for his performance as Henry in a revival of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, directed by Anna Mackmin at the Old Vic Theatre in London. Of debuting at the Old Vic, where his parents performed as part of Laurence Olivier's Royal National Theatre company, Stephens said: "It's quite moving for me to do something there. It means it has an added fascination. It was an historic place but I never saw anything when [my parents] were there, which is really sad, because I was just born. I'm a huge admirer of Stoppard's work."

Stephens' most recent stage role, performed in the summer and fall of 2010, was Georges Danton in Danton's Death. The play was another debut for Stephens, this time at London's Royal National Theatre.

Over the years, Stephens has continued to prolifically narrate audiobooks and perform in broadcast radio dramas; in the last three years, he has averaged four or five such performances per year. In January 2011, Stephens will join other stars in narrating portions of the King James Version of the Bible for BBC Radio 4 as part of a celebration of the 400th anniversary of the book's publication. BBC Radio 4 also recently announced that Stephens will be performing the role of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe in a radio serial planned schedule to start in February 2011. Stephens has also narrated another audiobook, Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery, also due for release in February 2011.

Personal life

In May 2007, Toby Stephens and his wife of six years, New Zealand actress Anna-Louise Plowman, had their first child, a son named Eli Alistair. The late Simon Gray, the renowned British playwright (who penned Japes, a stage play, and Missing Dates, a radio drama, both of which starred Stephens), was reportedly Eli's godfather. Stephens and his wife became the parents of a second child, a girl named Tallulah, in May 2009. The couple were expecting a third child in September 2010.

Filmography

Television

Theatre

Radio drama and audio books

Notes

Awards

1994—Ian Charleson Award (best classical actor under 30): Coriolanus

1994—Sir John Gielgud Award (best actor): Coriolanus

1999—Theatre World Award (debut performance on Broadway): Ring Round the Moon

Interviews and articles

The Independent - It'll Be All Right on the Night (27 March 1994)

The New York Times - It's Not Romantic or Oedipal: It's Just the Family Business (24 April 1999)

The Independent - 1 Minute in the Mind of Toby Stephens 4 February 2001)

The Independent - Theatre Debut - Toby Stephens (7 February 2001)

The Evening Standard - Toby's Second Act (15 November 2002)

The Times - My Cultural Life (23 November 2002)

The Sunday Telegraph - Villain with a Past (16 December 2002)

San Francisco Chronicle - Traitor? It's No Easy Gig (19 October 2003)

Stephens on Hamlet, Essay for RSC Website (2004)

The Times - Interview: Toby Stephens (4 July 2004)

The Independent on Sunday - This Cultural Life (5 December 2004)

The Independent - How do I look? (13 August 2005)

The Telegraph - The Perils of Being Posh on TV (16 March 2006)

The Independent - Toby Stephens: My Life in Travel (18 March 2006)

The Times - Every Woman Has Her Own Idea of Mr. Rochester (29 August 2006)

The Guardian - Prodigal Son (31 May 2007)

The Times - Mr. Rochester Takes His Bow (3 September 2007)

The Evening Standard - Restoring His Humour (2 October 2007)

Angel & North - Charming Chameleon (2007)

SFX - Meet the New James Bond (20 May 2008)

BBC Press Office - Robin Hood returns to BBC One (27 March 2009)

Daily Mail- Toff at the top! Aristocad Toby Stephens on his Robin Hood role, drink and famous parents (1 May 2009)

The Daily Telegraph - Being Born into the Theatre was a Mixed Blessing (21 May 2009)

The Times - Diary: Toby Stephens (20 June 2009)

London Evening Standard - Toby Stephens to Face Family History at Old Vic (23 March 2010)

The Times - Toby Stephens: Of course I’d act with my mother (1 April 2010)

Daily Mail - In a Taxi with...Theatre Royal Toby Stephens (17 April 2010)

The Spectator - Silencing the Voices (17 July 2010)

The Guardian - This much I know: Toby Stephens (18 July 2010)

officiallondontheatre.co.uk - The Big Interview: Toby Stephens (28 July 2010)

External links

RSC Hamlet website Includes clips of Toby Stephens and the cast rehearsing the 2004 production of Hamlet.

Toby Stephens' theatrical agent, Kate Buckley, Independent Talent

Toby Stephens' voiceover agents, United Agents

Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Category:English film actors Category:English people of Scottish descent Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:English radio actors Category:English voice actors Category:Shakespearean actors Category:Old Seafordians Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members Category:People from Harringay

Steve Cauthen (born May 1, 1960 in Covington, Kentucky) is a retired American jockey.

Cauthen, the son of a trainer and a farrier, grew up in Walton, Kentucky around horses, which (along with his small size) made race-riding a logical career choice. He rode his first race on May 12, 1976 at Churchill Downs; he finished last, riding King of Swat. He rode his first winner (Red Pipe) less than a week later, at River Downs. His rise to prominence was meteoric; he was the nation's leader in race wins in 1977 with 487. In only his second year of riding, he became the first jockey to win $6 million in a single season, passing that mark in December 1977 on a three-year-old filly called Little Happiness in the sixth race at Aqueduct Racetrack. After that, he was called "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "Stevie Wonder."

In 1977, he won numerous awards, including Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, Sporting News Sportsman of the Year, Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year and ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. In the same year, he won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey and the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in the United States.

In 1978 he became the youngest jockey to ever win the U. S. Triple Crown, riding Affirmed.

As he left his teens and matured, he had increasing problems making weight. In 1979 he moved to England, where jockeys normally compete at higher weights, and became a highly successful rider there. His move and first ride were very high profile in the UK. His very first ride in the UK resulted in a winner, when Marquee Universal, trained by Barry Hills won the Grand Foods Handicap at Salisbury Racecourse on April 7 1979. Cauthen was British Champion Jockey three times, and won English classic races ten times, including the 2,000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby twice, and the St. Leger Stakes three times. He also won the Irish Oaks twice and in 1989 rode European Horse of the Year, Old Vic to victory in the French Derby and the Irish Derby. In 1991 he won the Derby Italiano on Hailsham.

After he finished his riding career, he returned to Kentucky, where he is an executive at Turfway Park, the nearest major track to his hometown.

In 1984, Cauthen received the prestigious George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, which honors a rider whose career and personal conduct exemplifies the very best example of participants in the sport of thoroughbred racing. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1994.

He married his wife Amy, also a Kentucky native, in 1992 and they have three daughters.

Major winners

Great Britain

1,000 Guineas - (1) - Oh So Sharp (1985)

2,000 Guineas - (1) - Tap on Wood (1979)

Ascot Gold Cup - (2) - Gildoran (1984), Paean (1987)

Champion Stakes - (2) - Cormorant Wood (1983), In the Groove (1990)

Cheveley Park Stakes - (1) - Desirable (1983)

Coronation Cup - (3) - Time Charter (1984), Triptych (1988), In the Groove (1991)

Coronation Stakes - (1) - Chimes of Freedom (1990)

Derby - (2) - Slip Anchor (1985), Reference Point (1987)

Eclipse Stakes - (1) - Pebbles (1985)

Falmouth Stakes - (2) - Meis El-Reem (1984), Chimes of Freedom (1990)

Fillies' Mile - (2) - Invited Guest (1986), Diminuendo (1987)

International Stakes - (3) - Cormorant Wood (1984), Triptych (1987), In the Groove (1990)

July Cup - (1) - Never So Bold (1985)

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes - (1) - Reference Point (1987)

King's Stand Stakes - (2) - Indian Ridge (1989), Elbio (1991)

Lockinge Stakes - (2) - Motavato (1982), Cormorant Wood (dead heat 1984)

Middle Park Stakes - (4) - Creag an Sgor (1983), Gallic League (1987), Balla Cove (1989), Zieten (1992)

Nassau Stakes - (1) - Nom de Plume (1987)

Nunthorpe Stakes - (2) - Sharpo (1982), Never So Bold (1985)

Oaks - (3) - Oh So Sharp (1985), Diminuendo (1988), Snow Bride (1989)

Prince of Wales's Stakes - (2) - Kind of Hush (1982), Stagecraft (1991)

Racing Post Trophy - (2) - Be My Chief (1989), Peter Davies (1990)

St. James's Palace Stakes - (2) - Horage (1983), Shavian (1990)

St. Leger - (3) - Oh So Sharp (1985), Reference Point (1987), Michelozzo (1989)

Sun Chariot Stakes - (1) - Cormorant Wood (1983)

Yorkshire Oaks - (1) - Diminuendo (1988)

---- France

Grand Prix de Paris - (2) - Risk Me (1987), Saumarez (1990)

Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud - (2) - Diamond Shoal (1983), Acatenango (1986)

Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp - (2) - Committed (1984), Keen Hunter (1991)

Prix de Diane - (1) - Indian Skimmer (1987)

Prix d'Ispahan - (1) - Indian Skimmer (1989)

Prix Jacques Le Marois - (1) - Lirung (1986)

Prix Jean Prat - (2) - Lapierre (1988), Kitwood (1992)

Prix du Jockey Club - (1) - Old Vic (1989)

Prix Maurice de Gheest - (1) - Never So Bold (1984)

Prix Royal-Oak - (1) - El Cuite (1986)

Prix Saint-Alary - (2) - Indian Skimmer (1987), Rosefinch (1992)

---- Germany

Aral-Pokal - (1) - Almaarad (1988)

Grosser Preis von Baden - (2) - Diamond Shoal (1983), Gold and Ivory (1985)

Preis von Europa - (1) - Gold and Ivory (1984)

---- Ireland

Irish 1,000 Guineas - (1) - In the Groove (1990)

Irish Derby - (1) - Old Vic (1989)

Irish Oaks - (2) - Diminuendo (dead heat 1988), Possessive Dancer (1991)

Irish St. Leger - (1) - Mashaallah (1992)

Moyglare Stud Stakes - (1) - Chimes of Freedom (1989)

Tattersalls Gold Cup - (1) - Opera House (1992)

---- Italy

Derby Italiano - (1) - Hailsham (1991)

Gran Criterium - (1) - Tanque Verde (1985)

Gran Premio di Milano - (2) - Diamond Shoal (1983), Mashaallah (1992)

Gran Premio d'Italia - (1) - El Cuite (1986)

Gran Premio del Jockey Club - (1) - Gold and Ivory (1984)

Premio Roma - (1) - Orban (1987)

---- United States

Kentucky Derby - (1) - Affirmed (1978)

Preakness Stakes - (1) - Affirmed (1978)

Belmont Stakes - (1) - Affirmed (1978)

References

Steve Cauthen at the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

Category:American jockeys Category:British jockeys Category:Eclipse Award winners Category:American Champion jockeys Category:United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Category:People from Boone County, Kentucky Category:People from Covington, Kentucky Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:American sports announcers Category:American horse racing announcers

Name	Rufus Wainwright
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright
Nickname	RuE
Born	July 22, 1973Rhinebeck, New York, United States
Origin	Montreal, Canada
Instrument	Vocals, piano, guitar
Genre	Baroque pop, Operatic pop
Years active	1993–present
Label	Geffen Records Dreamworks Records
Url	www.rufuswainwright.com

Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian American singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.

Biography

Early years

Wainwright was born in Rhinebeck, New York, to folk singers Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III. His parents divorced when he was three, and he lived with his mother in Montreal, Canada for most of his youth. Wainwright is both a U.S and Canadian citizen. He attended high school at the Millbrook School in New York (which would later inspire his song "Millbrook"), and later briefly studied piano at Concordia and McGill Universities in Montreal. He began playing the piano at age six, and started touring at 13 with "The McGarrigle Sisters and Family", a folk group featuring Rufus, his sister Martha, his mother Kate, and aunt Anna. His song "I'm a-Runnin'", which he performed in the film Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller at the age of 14, earned him a nomination for a 1989 Genie Award for Best Original Song. He was nominated for a 1990 Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year.

Wainwright came out as gay while a teenager. In 1999, he told Rolling Stone that his father recognized his homosexuality early on. "We'd drive around in the car, he'd play 'Heart of Glass' and I'd sort of mouth the words, pretend to be Blondie. Just a sign of many other things to come as well." Wainwright later said in another interview that his "mother and father could not even handle me being gay. We never talked about it really."

Wainwright became interested in opera during his adolescent years, and the genre strongly influences his music. (For instance, the song "Barcelona" features lyrics from the libretto of Giuseppe Verdi's opera, Macbeth.) During this time, he became interested in Édith Piaf, Al Jolson, and Judy Garland.

At 14, Wainwright was sexually assaulted in London's Hyde Park after picking up a man at a bar. In an interview years later, he described the event: "I said I wanted to go to the park and see where this big concert was going on. I thought it was going to be a romantic walk in the park, but he raped me and robbed me afterwards and tried to strangle me".

Rise to fame, debut album

Through weekly shows at Cafe Sarajevo, Wainwright was on the Montreal club circuit and eventually cut a series of demo tapes produced by Pierre Marchand, who later produced Wainwright's album Poses. The resulting tapes impressed his father Loudon, who passed them on to his friend Van Dyke Parks. Parks sent the recordings to Lenny Waronker, the DreamWorks executive who eventually signed Wainwright to his label. Waronker stated the following of Wainwright: "When I was about to listen to his tape, I remember clearly I was thinking, 'Gee, if he has the mom's musicality and smarts, and the dad's smarts and voice, that'd be nice.' Then I put it on and I said, 'Oh, my God, this is stunning.'" Rufus Wainwright won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Album and a Juno Award for Best Alternative Album. However, commercial success of the album was limited; the debut failed to chart in any country, though he ranked #24 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart.

Wainwright toured with Sean Lennon in 1998 and began his first headline tour later that year. In December 1998, he appeared in a Gap commercial directed by Phil Harder, performing Frank Loesser's "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?". In March 1999, Wainwright began a headlining tour at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Poses and a struggle with addiction

Wainwright lived in the Chelsea Hotel in NYC for six months, during which he wrote most of his second album. On June 5, 2001, Wainwright's sophomore album, Poses, was released to critical acclaim but limited sales. The album ranked #117 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top Heatseekers chart. Poses won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Album, a Juno Award for Best Alternative Album, and was nominated by the Juno Awards for Best Songwriter ("Poses" / "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" / "Grey Gardens"). From 2001 to 2004, he toured with Tori Amos, Sting, Ben Folds, and Guster, as well as headlining the 2001 and 2002 tour in support of the album.

Wainwright became addicted to crystal meth in the early 2000s and temporarily lost his vision. His addiction reached its peak in 2002, during what he described as "the most surreal week of my life." During that week, he played a cameo role in the UK comedy television program, Absolutely Fabulous, spent several nights partying with George W. Bush's daughter Barbara, enjoyed a "debauched evening" with his mother and Marianne Faithfull, sang with Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons for Zaldy's spring 2003 collection, and experienced recurring hallucinations of his father throughout. He decided after that he "was either going to rehab or I was going to live with my father. I knew I needed an asshole to yell at me, and I felt he fit the bill."

Want albums

Wainwright's album Want Two, from which four songs were released as the EP Waiting for a Want, was released by DreamWorks/Geffen on November 16, 2004. It is a companion or sequel to the 2003 release, Want One. Afterward, a live iTunes Sessions EP entitled was released on March 15, 2005. A DVD entitled All I Want, featuring a biographical documentary, music videos, and live performances, was released internationally in 2005. That same year, Wainwright made two major contributions as a solo vocalist to a pair of records: the Mercury Prize-winning Antony and the Johnsons' I am a Bird Now and Burt Bacharach's At This Time.

Want One and Want Two were repackaged as Want for a November 2005 release to coincide with the beginning of a British tour. This version of Want One contains two extra songs: "Es Muß Sein" and "Velvet Curtain Rag". The Want package in the UK has two bonus tracks: "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" (a Leonard Cohen cover) and "In With the Ladies", which replace "Coeur de Parisienne — Reprise d'Arletty" and "Quand Vous Mourez de Nos Amours" from 2004's augmented edition.

Release the Stars and Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall

Wainwright's fifth studio album, Release the Stars, was released by Geffen on May 15, 2007. The album was produced by Wainwright and featured Richard Thompson, friend Teddy Thompson, sister Martha Wainwright, mother Kate McGarrigle, Neil Tennant, Joan Wasser, Julianna Raye, Larry Mullins (professionally known as Toby Dammit), and actress Siân Phillips. It reached #2 on the UK Albums Chart, and debuted at #23 on the Billboard 200. The first single, "Going to a Town", was released on April 3, 2007 in the iTunes Music Store. The second single released was "Rules and Regulations", and the third single was a 500-copy (12" vinyl) release of "Tiergarten", a one-track EP with the Supermayer remix of Tiergarten, which was released exclusively through iTunes and 7digital on October 29.

Two video clips were released for the album: "Going to a Town", directed by Sophie Muller, and "Rules and Regulations", directed by Petro Papahadjopoulos and styled by J.W. Anderson. Release the Stars was certified gold in the UK. The accompanying world tour saw Wainwright visit North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, ending on February 14, 2008 with a concert at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

On June 10, 2006, NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday broadcast an interview of Wainwright by Scott Simon. The segment concerned Wainwright's sold-out pair of Carnegie Hall shows on June 14 and June 15, 2006 in which he performed the entire Judy Garland concert album that was recorded there in 1961. He later repeated his performance at the London Palladium, the Paris Olympia, and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Live CD and DVD recordings of the concerts were released on December 4, 2007. The DVD is entitled . The CD album, Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, is a recording of his show at the legendary New York venue. In 2008, Garland's daughter Lorna Luft expressed strong approval of Wainwright's recordings of her mother's songs. The album was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

Blackoutsabbath and Prima Donna

Wainwright created the concept of Blackoutsabbath in early 2008. In an attempt to become more environmentally conscious, participants are asked to live "off the grid" as much as possible on a designated date by unplugging appliances, walking or cycling for transportation, turning out lights and decreasing energy usage in any other ways possible.

As the sun sets on the evening of Blackoutsabbath, participants write ways they can contribute to the Earth's well-being throughout the rest of the year. Annual benefit concerts take place to raise awareness of the cause. Special guests performing at the concert included Joan Wasser, Jenni Muldaur, and friend and fellow singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson. The organization's official site contains updates about the program and contains links to various tools, green products and services, studies, and groups that promote energy conservation and environmental protection.

Following his 2007–2008 tour, Wainwright began writing his first opera, Prima Donna, about "a day in the life of an opera singer", anxiously preparing for her comeback, who falls in love with a journalist. There are four characters, and the libretto is in French. The opera was originally commissioned by Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb. However, because of a dispute over Wainwright's decision to write the libretto in French and the Met's inability to schedule an opening in the 2009 season, Wainwright and the Met have ended their relationship. Instead of a New York opening, Prima Donna was staged during the Manchester International Festival, where the first performance took place at the Palace Theatre on July 10, 2009. Reviews for the performance were mixed, with one publication suggesting Wainwright "may struggle to convince critics he is worthy of a place among the greats".

In December 2008 Rufus performed alongside his sister, Martha Wainwright, and mother Kate McGarrigle as well as many more of his family at the Knitting Factory in downtown Manhattan. Joined by other artists such as Grammy Award-winner Emmylou Harris, Velvet Underground front man Lou Reed and famed performance artist Laurie Anderson, the eclectic cast performed original and traditional Christmas-themed songs. In November 2009 Revelation Films released the concert on DVD.

In November 2009, Wainwright announced that he had finished recording his sixth studio album, and was calling it . The album was released on March 23 in Canada, April 5 in the UK and April 20 in the US, with the first single "Who Are You New York?".

In December 2009, Wainwright appeared with sister Martha Wainwright and mother Kate McGarrigle at the Royal Albert Hall in London, raising $55,000 for the Kate McGarrigle Fund, which was established in 2008 to raise awareness of sarcoma, a rare cancer that affects connective tissue such as bone, muscle, nerves, and cartilage. It was the last performance made by his mother before her death in January 2010.

Political

Wainwright identifies as "a complete libertarian", and has stated, "I don't think any government should encroach on what goes on in the bedroom at all."

In April 2010, Wainwright came out publicly in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States because he wishes to marry his partner of five years, Jorn Weisbrodt. Wainwright stated, "I wasn't a huge gay marriage supporter before I met Jorn because I love the whole old-school promiscuous Oscar Wilde freak show of what 'being gay' once was. But since meeting Jorn that all changed."

Music

In addition to his tenor singing voice, he plays piano and guitar, often switching between the two instruments when performing live. While some songs feature just Wainwright and his piano, his later work is often accompanied by rock instrumentation or a symphony orchestra, displaying complex layering and harmonies with an operatic feel. Wainwright is an opera fan and likes Franz Schubert's Lieder. Some of Wainwright's songs are described as "popera" (pop opera) or "baroque pop". Many of his compositions are densely packed amalgams of strings, horns, operatic choruses, ragtime rhythms, with a warm vocal timbre.

He often performs with his sister, Martha Wainwright, on backup vocals. Despite critical acclaim, Wainwright has experienced limited commercial success in the United States, although the release of Release the Stars saw increased media attention there, as did the associated 2007 U.S. tour.

Work in film, television, and theatre

In addition to his role in Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller, Wainwright has appeared in the films The Aviator and Heights. He has also recorded tracks specially for films, including Brokeback Mountain, I am Sam, Moulin Rouge!, Shrek, Meet the Robinsons, Big Daddy, Zoolander, and . His recording of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" plays during the closing credits of the film The History Boys. He is seen in the Denys Arcand film, L’Âge des ténèbres, performing two arias. The Pennsylvania Ballet has performed the work (titled 11:11) several times, including during an eponymous program in June 2006. It has been an audience favorite,

Stephen Petronio commissioned Wainwright to write a score for his dance production BLOOM, which was performed at Joyce Theater in New York in April 2006. For the lyrics, the two selected poems by Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, and Petronio arranged for the Young People's Choir of New York to sing them.

In May 2006, Wainwright was one of three guests (along with Robbie Williams and Frances Barber) to star with the Pet Shop Boys in a concert at London's Mermaid Theatre. He covered the Pet Shop Boys' "Casanova in Hell" (from Fundamental). The critically acclaimed show was broadcast on the UK's BBC Radio 2 and repeated on BBC 6 Music, and released as a CD (Concrete) in October 2006.

In June 2007, Wainwright was a part of the multi-artist True Colors Tour, which traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada. The tour, sponsored by the Logo channel, began on June 8, 2007. Hosted by comedian Margaret Cho and headlined by Cyndi Lauper, the tour included Debbie Harry, The Gossip, the Indigo Girls, The Dresden Dolls, The MisShapes, and Erasure. Profits went to the Human Rights Campaign. In August 2007, Wainwright said that he considered it a "great honor" to perform on the gay rights tour.

Wainwright continued to tour during 2007 and embraced forms of expression not usually part of mainstream American music concerts. These included dressing in red lipstick and stiletto heeled shoes to perform Judy Garland songs, and expressing his concerns against the current U.S. political situation. His performances were critically acclaimed.

In April 2009, Wainwright worked with the Berliner Ensemble and the avant-garde director Robert Wilson, who hired Wainwright to supply the music for a joint staging of Shakespeares Sonette based on Shakespeare's sonnets.

Themes

Wainwright's oeuvre contains several recurring themes: opera, literature, pop culture, and more recently politics, attraction, yearning, and love (often unrequited love). In "Foolish Love", Wainwright describes the joys of initial infatuation with stateside radio producer Jon W. Knowles, and in "The Art Teacher" he tackles a first-person infatuation between a schoolgirl and her teacher. Other songs address full-blown love and the consequences of falling out of love ("This Love Affair", "Leaving for Paris", and "Peach Trees"). Wainwright also sings about his family relationships. "Beauty Mark", "Little Sister", and "Dinner at Eight" address, respectively, his experiences with his mother, sisters, and father.

Religion and religious imagery also appear in his music ("Agnus Dei", "Gay Messiah", and "Greek Song"). Wainwright also sings about experiences in the world and distant geography ("Oh What a World" and "April Fools"). Several songs address his experiences with crystal meth and rehab ("Go Or Go Ahead" and "I Don't Know What It Is"). Wainwright wrote the song "Millbrook" about his high school, Millbrook School in affluent Millbrook, New York. The song "Matinee Idol" from that album was written about River Phoenix. "Memphis Skyline" is a tribute to the late singer Jeff Buckley, who drowned in Memphis in the Wolf River (a tributary of the Mississippi) on May 29, 1997. The two met briefly in the 1990s when Wainwright was an up-and-coming act. By this time, Buckley had already released his first album Grace, and was well on his way to stardom. He has said that he had been irritated that Buckley played at Sin-é, a café on the Lower East Side, as Wainwright had been rejected three times by the club. The two met several months prior to Buckley's drowning, during a gig by Wainwright. Buckley helped out with some technical problems, and the two chatted over beers for a few hours. The song references "Hallelujah", a Leonard Cohen song covered by Buckley (and later by Wainwright).

The song "Sanssouci" ("carefree" in French) was inspired by 18th century Prussian monarch Frederick the Great's Rococo summer palace of the same name in Potsdam, outside Berlin, Germany. "Tiergarten", also from Release the Stars, refers to the Berlin Tiergarten, and is written about his boyfriend of three years, German arts administrator Jörn Weisbrodt.

Also from Release the Stars, "Nobody's Off the Hook" is said to be written to close friend and fellow musician Teddy Thompson, whom Wainwright has known for about 10 years.

Discography

Rufus Wainwright (1998)

Poses (2001)

Want One (2003)

Want Two (2004)

Release the Stars (2007)

Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall (2007)

Milwaukee at Last!!! (2009)

(2010)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

rufuswainwright.com

Rufus Wainwright at Geffen Records

[ Biography, Discography, music clips] at Allmusic

Music star pays tribute to Judy Garland - interview on ABC TV 7.30 Report - January 2008

A Not So Silent Night with Rufus and Martha Wainwright and Kate and Anna McGarrigle from Revelation Films

Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:American male singers Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American pop singers Category:American pop pianists Category:American singer-songwriters Category:English-language singers Category:French-language singers Category:Latin-language singers Category:People from Montreal Category:People from Dutchess County, New York Category:Canadian pop pianists Category:Canadian male singers Category:Canadian people of Irish descent Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:LGBT musicians from Canada Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:American people of Canadian descent Category:American libertarians Category:Canadian libertarians Category:Stuyvesant family Category:Anglophone Quebec people

Name	Rebecca Hall
Caption	Hall on the red carpet at the 63rd British Academy Film Awards, February 2010
Birth date	May 19, 1982
Birth place	London, England, UK
Birthname	Rebecca Maria Hall
Years active	1992–1993, 2002–present
Occupation	Actress

Rebecca Maria Hall (born 19 May 1982) is an English actress.

In 2003, Hall won the Ian Charleson Award for her debut stage performance in a production of Mrs. Warren's Profession. She has appeared in three high-profile films: The Prestige, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy category), and The Town.

On 6 June 2010, she won the Supporting Actress BAFTA for her portrayal of Paula Garland in the 2009 Channel 4 production Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974.

Early life

Hall was born in London, the daughter of English director Peter Hall and American-born opera singer Maria Ewing, who divorced when she was five. Her mother is of Dutch, Scottish, African American, and Sioux ancestry. She has a half-brother, Edward Hall, who is a theatre director, and four other half-siblings.

Hall attended Roedean School, where she became head girl. She also appeared in student stage productions alongside Dan Stevens, later her As You Like It co-star.

Between 2003 and 2004, she was in a relationship with her As You Like It co-star Freddie Stevenson.

Career

Film and television

Hall's first role came in 1992, when she appeared as Young Sophy in her father's television adaptation of Mary Wesley's The Camomile Lawn.

Hall's feature film debut came in 2006 as Rebecca Epstein in the film adaptation of David Nicholls's Starter for Ten. She got her breakthrough with the role of Sarah Borden in Christopher Nolan's film The Prestige. She then appeared in Stephen Poliakoff's Joe's Palace in 2007, as well as appearing in several other TV movies including Wide Sargasso Sea and Rubberheart.

Her Hollywood fame grew when she starred in the Woody Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona, playing one of the title characters, Vicky. Critics praised her performance

Stage

Her professional stage debut came in 2002 when she starred as Vivie in her father's production of Mrs Warren's Profession at the Strand Theatre in London. Her performance received such reviews as "admirable" and "accomplished", and was enough to earn her the Ian Charleson Award in 2003.

In 2003, her father celebrated fifty years as a theatre director by staging a season of five plays at the Theatre Royal, Bath. Hall starred in two of these five plays performed by the Peter Hall Company. She appeared as Rosalind in her father's production of As You Like It, which gained her a second Charleson nomination and starred in the title role of Thea Sharrock's revival of D. H. Lawrence's The Fight For Barbara.

In 2004, she appeared in three plays for the Peter Hall Company at the Theatre Royal, two of them under the direction of her father, namely Man and Superman in which she played Ann, and Galileo's Daughter in which she played Sister Maria Celeste and the third, Molière's Don Juan, in which she played the part of Elvira, was directed by Sharrock.

In 2005, she reprised her role of Rosalind in a touring production of As You Like It, again under the direction of her father. This tour took in the following venues: The Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames; The Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York; The Curran Theatre at San Francisco; The Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and venues in New Haven, Connecticut, Columbus, Ohio, and the historic Wilbur Theater in Boston.

In 2008-9, she appeared in the first Bridge Project as Hermione in The Winter's Tale and Varya in The Cherry Orchard, which gave performances with the same cast in Germany, Greece, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, the UK and the US.

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film |- align="center" ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Film ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes |- | rowspan="2"| 2006 | Starter for 10 | Rebecca Epstein | |- | The Prestige | Sarah Borden | |- | rowspan="2"| 2008 | Vicky Cristina Barcelona | Vicky | Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | Frost/Nixon | Caroline Cushing | |- | rowspan="1"| 2009 | Dorian Gray | Emily Wooton | |- | rowspan="3"| 2010 | Please Give | Rebecca | |- | The Town | Claire |- | A Bag of Hammers | Mel | Post-Production |- |}

Television

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Television/TV Movies |- align="center" ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Film ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes |- | rowspan="1"| 1992 | The Camomile Lawn | Young Sophie | |- | rowspan="2"| 1993 | The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends | Lucie | |- | Don't Leave Me This Way | Lizzy Neil | |- | rowspan="1"| 2006 | Wide Sargasso Sea | Antoinette Cosway | |- | rowspan="2"| 2007 | Rubberheart | Maggie | |- | Joe's Palace | Tina | |- | rowspan="1"| 2008 | Einstein and Eddington | Winifred Eddington | |- | rowspan="1"| 2009 | Red Riding | Paula Garland | |- |}

References

External links

"For Rebecca Hall, it's all in the family business", The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 20, 2005.

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Category:English actors Category:English child actors Category:English film actors Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:English people of American descent Category:English people of Dutch descent Category:English people of African-American descent Category:British people of Native American descent Category:Old Roedeanians Category:Actors from London Category:BAFTA winners (people)

Caption	Jeff Goldblum at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
Birthname	Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum
Birthdate	October 22, 1952
Birthplace	West Homestead, Pennsylvania, United States
Occupation	Actor
Yearsactive	1974–present
Spouse	Patricia Gaul (1980–1986)Geena Davis (1987–1990)

Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum (born October 22, 1952) is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and since then he has appeared in major box-office successes including Jurassic Park (two films), Independence Day, and The Fly. From 2009 to mid-2010 he starred as Detective Zach Nichols on the USA Network's crime drama series .

Early life

Goldblum was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of West Homestead, Pennsylvania, the son of Shirley S. (née Temeles), a radio broadcaster who later ran a kitchen equipment and appliances sales firm, and Harold L. Goldblum, a medical doctor. He has a sister, Pamela, and an older brother, Lee. Another older brother, Rick, died at age 23. His family is Jewish and belonged to an Orthodox synagogue.

Goldblum's parents were interested in show business. Goldblum moved to New York City at 17 to become an actor. Goldblum worked on the stage and studied acting at the renowned Neighborhood Playhouse under the guidance of acting coach Sanford Meisner. He made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning musical Two Gentlemen of Verona. He is also an accomplished jazz pianist and declared that if he did not act, he would have become a professional musician. He made his film debut as a thug in the 1974 Charles Bronson film Death Wish. He briefly appeared as a protester in the TV movie Columbo A Case of Immunity (1975).

Career

In 1974, Goldblum appeared in Death Wish as Freak # 1. Later in his career, as "Lacey Party Guest" in Annie Hall (1977), Goldblum is seen saying into the telephone at a Hollywood party, "I forgot my mantra." Goldblum has had leading roles in films such as The Fly, Independence Day, (1997), Earth Girls Are Easy, The Tall Guy, and Vibes (1988). Goldblum's strong supporting roles include those in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Big Chill (1983), Into the Night (1985), Jurassic Park (1993), and he also had strong supporting roles in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) and the cult films The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984) and Igby Goes Down (2002).

For several years, Goldblum was the voice for most U.S. Apple commercials, including advertisements for the iMac and iBook. He also voices some U.S. Toyota commercials as well as Procter & Gamble's facial cream line. He has recently appeared on Irish TV in commercials for the National Lottery.

Goldblum taught acting at Playhouse West in North Hollywood with Robert Carnegie. It was with several actors from this acting company that he improvised and directed the live action short film Little Surprises, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1996.

Goldblum got the role of Adam in the upcoming film Adam Resurrected, a film adaptation of the Yoram Kaniuk novel about a former German entertainer who becomes the ringleader to a group of Holocaust survivors in an asylum after World War II.

In September 2006, it was announced that Goldblum was one of the founding members of a new theater company in New York called The Fire Dept. According to press materials, "The Fire Dept is made up of established and emerging writers, directors, actors and designers who have come together to create and produce work that cannot be replicated inside a television box or on a movie screen...The work of The Fire Dept combines the rigor and structure of great narrative storytelling with the vitality of formal experimentation to immerse audiences in a total experience that leaves them awake, alive and transformed." The company will devote energy into developing new live theater works as well as interpreting old favorites.

His guest appearance was on Sesame Street in 1990 as Bob's long-lost brother Minneapolis (parody of Indiana Jones) where Big Bird's friend Snuffleupagus had "the golden cabbage of Snuffertiti" hidden in his cave. He has also appeared on Tom Goes to the Mayor, The Colbert Report, and Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!.

Goldblum replaced Chris Noth as a Senior Detective on . In the series, Goldblum plays the role of Detective Zach Nichols. In August 2010, media outlets reported that Goldblum had decided not to return to Criminal Intent due to persistent concerns about the program's future.

Personal life

Goldblum has been married twice, to Patricia Gaul from 1980 to 1986, then to Geena Davis, his co-star in three films (including the comedy Earth Girls Are Easy and the science fiction/horror film The Fly) from November 1, 1987 to October 1990. He claims to have maintained a good friendship with Davis, saying she is a wonderful person and a phenomenal actress.

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#BOC4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#BOC4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#BOC4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#BOC4DE;" | Notes |- |rowspan="2" | 1974 | Death Wish | Freak #1 | |- | California Split | Lloyd Harris | |- | 1975 | Nashville | Tricycle Man | |- |rowspan="3" | 1976 | Special Delivery | Snake | |- | St. Ives | Hood #3 | |- | Next Stop, Greenwich Village | Clyde Baxter aka Charlie Biletnikoff | |- |rowspan="3" | 1977 | Annie Hall | Lacey Party Guest | |- | Between the Lines | Max Arloft | |- | The Sentinel | Jack | |- |rowspan="3" | 1978 | Thank God It's Friday | Tony Di Marco | |- | Invasion of the Body Snatchers | Jack Bellicec | |- | Remember My Name | Mr. Nudd | |- | 1981 | Threshold | Aldo Gehring | |- |rowspan="2" | 1983 | The Right Stuff | Recruiter | |- | The Big Chill | Michael Gold | |- |rowspan="2" | 1984 | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension | New Jersey | |- | Terror in the Aisles | Jack Bellicec | DocumentaryArchival Footage |- |rowspan="3" | 1985 | Transylvania 6-5000 | Jack Harrison | |- | Silverado | ‘Slick’ Calvin Stanhope | |- | Into the Night | Ed Okin | |- | 1986 | The Fly | Seth Brundle | Saturn Award for Best Actor |- | 1987 | Beyond Therapy | Bruce | |- |rowspan="2" | 1988 | Vibes | Nick Deezy | |- | Earth Girls Are Easy | Mac | |- |rowspan="2" | 1989 | The Tall Guy | Dexter King | |- | The Fly II | Seth Brundle | UncreditedArchival Footage |- |rowspan="2" | 1990 | El Sueño del Mono Loco | Dan Gillis | |- | Mister Frost | Mr. Frost | |- | 1991 | The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish | Pianist | |- |rowspan="4" | 1992 | Shooting Elizabeth | Howard Pigeon | |- | The Player | Himself | |- | Fathers & Sons | Max | |- | Deep Cover | David Jason | Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male |- | 1993 | Jurassic Park | Dr. Ian Malcolm | Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor |- |rowspan="3" | 1995 | Hideaway | Hatch | |- | Nine Months | Sean Fletcher | |- | Powder | Donald Ripley | |- |rowspan="4" | 1996 | Independence Day | David Levinson | Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actor |- | The Great White Hype | Mitchell Kane | |- | Mad Dog Time | Mickey Holliday | |- | Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland | Dracula | Voice OnlyVideo Game |- | 1997 | | Dr. Ian Malcolm | |- |rowspan="3" | 1998 | The Prince of Egypt | Aaron | Voice Only |- | Welcome to Hollywood | Himself | |- | Holy Man | Ricky Hayman | |- |rowspan="3" | 2000 | Auggie Rose | John Nolan | |- | Chain of Fools | Avnet | |- | One of the Hollywood Ten | Herbert Biberman | |- |rowspan="3" | 2001 | Cats & Dogs | Professor Brody | |- | Beyond Suspicion | John Nolan | |- | Perfume | Jamie | Also Executive Producer |- |rowspan="2" | 2002 | Run Ronnie Run! | Himself | Uncredited |- | Igby Goes Down | D.H. | |- |rowspan="3" | 2003 | Dallas 362 | Bob | |- | Spinning Boris | George Gorton | |- | War Stories | Journalist | |- |rowspan="2" | 2004 | Incident at Loch Ness | Party Guest | |- | The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou | Allistair Hennessey | Nominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast |- |rowspan="4" | 2006 | Mini's First Time | Mike Rudell | |- | Fay Grim | Agent Fullbright | |- | Pittsburgh | Himself | Also Producer |- | Man of the Year | Stewart | |- | 2009 | Adam Resurrected | Adam Stein | |- |rowspan="2" | 2010 | The Switch | Leonard |- | Morning Glory | Jerry Barnes | Post-Production |}

Theater

Broadway

The Pillowman (2005)

Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Play What I Wrote

The Moony Shapiro Songbook

The Exonerated

City Sugar

El Grande de Coca Cola

London and Broadway

The Prisoner of Second Avenue

London and Recklinghausen (Germany)

Speed-the-Plow

Television

Columbo: A Case of Immunity (1975)

Starsky and Hutch - Murder on Stage 17 (1977)

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1980)

Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980)

Rehearsal for Murder (1982)

Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter (1984)

Who's The Boss? (1985)

The Ray Bradbury Theater - The Town Where No One Got Off (1986)

Life Story (BBC) (US Title: The Race for the Double Helix) (1987)

Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990)

Framed (1990)

Lush Life (1993)

The Simpsons - A Fish Called Selma (1996)

The Story of Bean (1997)

Playmate Pajama Party (1999)

From Star Wars to Star Wars: The Story of Industrial Light & Magic (1999)

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars (1999)

When Dinosaurs Ruled (2000)

Festival in Cannes (2001)

King of the Hill - Guest voice as Dr. Vayzosa (2002)

Friends - Guest as Leonard Hayes (2002)

Tom Goes to the Mayor (2004)

Will and Grace (2005)

Raines (2007)

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (2007)

(since 2009)

Top Gear (2010, as star in a reasonably priced car)

Awards

1983: Star of Tomorrow Award. Presented by the National Association of Theatre Owners.

1987: Saturn Award for Best Actor in The Fly

1996: Academy Award nomination for Live Action Short Film

2005: Emmy Award nomination for a guest appearance on Will & Grace

References

External links

April 2005 Interview with Goldblum from New York magazine

Goldblum resurrects fond memories, a July 2004 article (with accompanying audio commentary) from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Jeff Goldblum: the Buddha of Hollywood from The Guardian, 12 July 2010

Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from Pennsylvania Category:Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:American film actors Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:American stage actors Category:Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni Category:Saturn Award winners Category:Apple Inc. advertising Category:American Jews Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish comedians Category:People from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Name	Béla Lugosi
Caption	Lugosi in 1920
Birth name	Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó
Birth date	October 20, 1882
Birth place	Lugos, Austria–Hungary (now Lugoj, Romania)
Death date	August 16, 1956
Death place	Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1917–1956
Website	http://www.lugosi.com
Spouse	Ilona Szmick(1917–1920)Ilona von Montagh (1921–1924) (divorced)Beatrice Weeks (1929–1929) (divorced)Lillian Arch (1933–1953) (divorced) 1 childHope Lininger (1955–1956) (his death)

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (20 October 188216 August 1956) commonly known as Béla Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for playing Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version. In the last years of his career he was featured in several of Ed Wood's low budget films.

Early life

Lugosi, the youngest of four children, was born as Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó in Lugos (at the time part of Austria–Hungary, now Lugoj in Romania), to Paula de Vojnich and István Blasko, a banker. He later based his last name on his hometown. At the age of 12, Lugosi dropped out of school. He went on to Shakespeare plays and other major roles. Moving to Budapest in 1911, he played dozens of roles with the National Theater of Hungary in the period 1913–1919. Although Lugosi would later claim that he "became the leading actor of Hungary's Royal National Theater", almost all his roles there were small or supporting parts.

During World War I, he served as an infantry lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1914 to 1916. There he rose to the rank of captain in the ski patrol and was awarded a medal equivalent to the Purple Heart for being wounded at the Russian front. He declared his intention to become a U.S. citizen in 1928, and on June 26, 1931, he was naturalized.

On his arrival in America, the 6 foot 1 inch (1.85 m), 180 lb. (82 kg) Béla worked for some time as a laborer, then entered the theater in New York City's Hungarian immigrant colony. With fellow Hungarian actors he formed a small stock company that toured Eastern cities, playing for immigrant audiences. He acted in his first Broadway play, The Red Poppy, in 1922. Three more parts came in 1925–1926, including a five-month run in the comedy-fantasy The Devil in the Cheese. His first American film role came in the 1923 melodrama The Silent Command. Several more silent roles followed, as villains or continental types, all in productions made in the New York area.

Dracula

Lugosi was approached in the summer of 1927 to star in a Broadway production of Dracula adapted by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston from Bram Stoker's novel. The Horace Liveright production was successful, running 261 performances before touring. He was soon called to Hollywood for character parts in early talkies.

In 1929, Lugosi took his place in Hollywood society and scandal when he married wealthy San Francisco widow Beatrice Weeks, but she filed for divorce four months later. Weeks cited actress Clara Bow as the "other woman".

Despite his critically acclaimed performance on stage, Lugosi was not the Universal Pictures first choice for the role of Dracula when the company optioned the rights to the Deane play and began production in 1930. A persistent rumor asserts that director Tod Browning's long-time collaborator Lon Chaney was Universal's first choice for the role, and that Lugosi was chosen only due to Chaney's death shortly before production. This is questionable, because Chaney had been under long-term contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer since 1925, and had negotiated a lucrative new contract just before his death.

Chaney and Browning had worked together on several projects (including four of Chaney's final five releases), but Browning was only a last-minute choice to direct the movie version of Dracula after the death of director Paul Leni, who was originally slated to direct.

Following the success of Dracula, Lugosi received a studio contract with Universal. In 1933 he married 19-year-old Lillian Arch, the daughter of Hungarian immigrants. They had a child, Bela G. Lugosi, in 1938. Lillian and Béla divorced in 1953, — Lillian eventually did marry Brian Donlevy, in 1966. Lugosi married Hope Lininger in 1953. She had been a fan of his, writing letters to him when he was in hospital recovering from addiction to Demerol. She would sign her letters 'A dash of Hope'.

Typecasting

Through his association with Dracula (in which he appeared with minimal makeup, using his natural, heavily accented voice), Lugosi found himself typecast as a horror villain in such movies as Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Raven, and Son of Frankenstein for Universal, and the independent White Zombie. His accent, while a part of his image, limited the roles he could play.

Lugosi did attempt to break type by auditioning for other roles. He lost out to Lionel Barrymore for the role of Rasputin in Rasputin and the Empress; C. Henry Gordon for the role of Surat Khan in Charge of the Light Brigade; Basil Rathbone for the role of Commissar Dimitri Gorotchenko in Tovarich (a role Lugosi had played on stage). He did play the elegant, somewhat hot-tempered Gen. Nicholas Strenovsky-Petronovich in International House.

It is an erroneous popular belief that Lugosi declined the offer to appear in Frankenstein due to make-up (other roles he desired which also required make-up were Cyrano de Bergerac and Quasimodo the bell ringing hunchback). Lugosi may not have been happy with the onerous makeup job and lack of dialogue.

Regardless of controversy, five films at Universal — The Black Cat, The Raven, The Invisible Ray, Son of Frankenstein, Black Friday (plus minor cameo performances in 1934's Gift of Gab) and one at RKO Pictures, The Body Snatcher — paired Lugosi with Karloff. Despite the relative size of their roles, Lugosi inevitably got second billing, below Karloff. Lugosi's attitude toward Karloff is the subject of contradictory reports, some claiming that he was openly resentful of Karloff's long-term success and ability to get good roles beyond the horror arena, while others suggested the two actors were — for a time, at least — good friends. Karloff himself in interviews suggested that Lugosi was initially mistrustful of him when they acted together, believing that the Englishman would attempt to upstage him. When this proved not to be the case, according to Karloff, Lugosi settled down and they worked together amicably (though some have further commented that Karloff's on-set demand to break from filming for mid-afternoon tea annoyed Lugosi).

Universal tried to give Lugosi more heroic roles, as in The Black Cat, The Invisible Ray, and a romantic role in the adventure serial The Return of Chandu, but his typecasting problem was too entrenched for those roles to help. Lugosi's thick accent also hindered the variety of roles he was offered.

Career path

A number of factors worked against Lugosi's career in the mid-1930s. Universal changed management in 1936, and because of a British ban on horror films, dropped them from their production schedule; Lugosi found himself consigned to Universal's non-horror B-film unit, at times in small roles where he was obviously used for "name value" only. Throughout the 1930s Lugosi, experiencing a severe career decline despite popularity with audiences (Universal executives always preferred his rival Karloff), accepted many leading roles from independent producers like Nat Levine, Sol Lesser, and Sam Katzman. These low-budget thrillers indicate that Lugosi was less discriminating than Karloff in selecting screen vehicles, but the exposure helped Lugosi financially if not artistically. Lugosi tried to keep busy with stage work, but had to borrow money from the Actors' Fund to pay hospital bills when his only child, Bela George Lugosi, was born in 1938. , 1940]] His career was given a second chance by Universal's Son of Frankenstein in 1939, when he played the character role of Ygor, who uses the Monster for his own revenge, in heavy makeup and beard. The same year saw Lugosi playing a straight character role in a major motion picture: he was a stern commissar in MGM's comedy Ninotchka, starring Greta Garbo. This small but prestigious role could have been a turning point for the actor, but within the year he was back on Hollywood's Poverty Row, playing leads for Sam Katzman. These horror, comedy and mystery B-films were released by Monogram Pictures. At Universal, he often received star billing for what amounted to a supporting part. The Gorilla had him playing straight man to Patsy Kelly, in a role she told Bose Hadleigh was her finest.

Ostensibly due to injuries received during military service, Lugosi developed severe, chronic sciatica. Though at first he was treated with pain remedies such as asparagus juice, doctors increased the medication to opiates. The growth of his dependence on pain-killers, particularly morphine and methadone, was directly proportional to the dwindling of screen offers. In 1943, he finally played the role of Frankenstein's monster in Universal's Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, which this time contained dialogue (Lugosi's voice had been dubbed over that of Lon Chaney, Jr., from line readings at the end of 1942's The Ghost of Frankenstein because Ygor's brain had been transplanted into the Monster). Lugosi continued to play the Monster with Ygor's consciousness but with groping gestures because the Monster was now blind. Ultimately, all of the Monster's dialogue and all references to his sightlessness were edited out of the released film, leaving a strange, maimed performance characterized by unexplained gestures and lip movements with no words coming out. He also got to recreate the role of Dracula a second and last time on film in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948. By this time, Lugosi's drug use was so notorious that the producers weren't even aware that Lugosi was still alive, and had penciled in actor Ian Keith for the role.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was Béla Lugosi's last "A" movie. For the remainder of his life he appeared — less and less frequently — in obscure, low-budget features. From 1947 to 1950 he performed in summer stock, often in productions of Dracula or Arsenic and Old Lace, and during the rest of the year made personal appearances in a touring "spook show" and on television. While in England to play a six-month tour of Dracula in 1951, he co-starred in a lowbrow movie comedy, Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (also known as Vampire over London and My Son, the Vampire). Upon his return to America, Lugosi was interviewed for television, and revealed his ambition to play more comedy, though wistfully noting, "Now I am the boogie man." Independent producer Jack Broder took Lugosi at his word, casting him in a jungle-themed comedy, Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla. Another opportunity for comedy came in September 1949 when Milton Berle invited Lugosi to appear in a sketch on the Texaco Star Theater. Lugosi memorized the script for the skit, but became confused on the air when Berle began to ad lib. This was depicted in the Tim Burton film Ed Wood, with Martin Landau as Lugosi. Though Burton did not actually identify the comedian in the biopic, the events depicted were correct.

Working with Ed Wood

Late in his life, Béla Lugosi again received star billing in movies when filmmaker Ed Wood, a fan of Lugosi, found him living in obscurity and near-poverty and offered him roles in his films, such as Glen or Glenda and as a Dr. Frankenstein-like mad scientist in Bride of the Monster. During post-production of the latter, Lugosi decided to seek treatment for his drug addiction, and the premiere of the film was said to be intended to help pay for his hospital expenses. According to Kitty Kelley's biography of Frank Sinatra, when the entertainer heard of Lugosi's problems, he helped with expenses and visited at the hospital. Lugosi would recall his amazement, since he didn't even know Sinatra.

The extras on an early DVD release of Plan 9 from Outer Space include an impromptu interview with Lugosi upon his exit from the treatment center in 1955, which provide some rare personal insights into the man. During the interview, Lugosi states that he is about to go to work on a new Ed Wood film, The Ghoul Goes West. This was one of several projects proposed by Wood, including The Phantom Ghoul and Dr. Acula. With Lugosi in his famed Dracula cape, Wood shot impromptu test footage, with no storyline in mind, in front of Tor Johnson's home, a suburban graveyard and in front of Lugosi's apartment building on Carlton Way. This footage ended up in Plan 9 from Outer Space.

Lugosi married Hope Linninger, his fifth wife, in 1955. Following his treatment, Lugosi made one final film, in late 1955, The Black Sleep, for Bel-Air Pictures, which was released in the summer of 1956 through United Artists with a promotional campaign that included several personal appearances. To his disappointment, however, his role in this film was of a mute, with no dialogue.

Death

Lugosi died of a heart attack on August 16, 1956 while lying on a couch in his Los Angeles home. He was 73. The rumor that Lugosi was clutching the script for The Final Curtain, a planned Ed Wood project, at the time of his death is not true.

Lugosi was buried wearing one of the Dracula stage play costumes, per the request of his son and fourth wife, in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Contrary to popular belief, Lugosi never requested to be buried in his cloak; Bela G. Lugosi confirmed on numerous occasions that he and his mother, Lillian, actually made the decision but believed that it is what his father would have wanted.

Plan 9 from Outer Space

One of Lugosi's roles was released posthumously. Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space (Originally titled Grave Robbers From Outer Space) features footage of Lugosi interspersed with a double. Wood had taken a few minutes of silent footage of Lugosi, in his Dracula cape, for a planned vampire picture but was unable to find financing for the project. When he later conceived Plan 9, Wood wrote the script to incorporate the Lugosi footage and hired Tom Mason, his wife's chiropractor, to double for Lugosi in additional shots. The double is thinner than Lugosi, and in every shot covers the lower half of his face with his cape, as Lugosi sometimes did in Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein. As Leonard Maltin put it in early editions of his movies guide book, "Lugosi died during production, and it shows."

Legacy

In 1979, the Lugosi v. Universal Pictures decision by the California Supreme Court held that Béla Lugosi's personality rights could not pass to his heirs, as a copyright would have. The court ruled that under California law any rights of publicity, including the right to his image, terminated with Lugosi's death. at 6340 Hollywood Blvd.]] In Tim Burton's 1994 Ed Wood, Lugosi is played by Martin Landau in an interpretation for which Landau received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. According to Bela G. Lugosi (his son), Forrest Ackerman, Dolores Fuller and Richard Sheffield, Lugosi never used profanity, owned small dogs, or slept in coffins. The film fabricated much about the Hungarian actor.

Three Lugosi projects were featured on the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000. The Corpse Vanishes appeared in episode 105, the serial The Phantom Creeps throughout season two and the Ed Wood production Bride of the Monster in episode 423.

An episode of Sledge Hammer titled "Last of the Red Hot Vampires" was a homage to Béla Lugosi; at the end of the episode, it was dedicated to "Mr. Blaskó".

In 2001, BBC Radio 4 broadcast There Are Such Things by Steven McNicoll and Mark McDonnell. Focusing on Lugosi and his well documented struggle to escape from the role that had typecast him, the play went on to receive The Hamilton Dean award for best dramatic presentation from the Dracula Society in 2002.

A statue of Lugosi can be seen today on one of the corners of the Vajdahunyad Castle in Budapest.

The Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York City features a live, 30-minute play that focuses on Lugosi's illegal entry into the country and then his arrival at Ellis Island to enter the country legally.

The cape Lugosi wore in the 1931 film Dracula still survives today in the ownership of Universal Studios.

The theatrical play Lugosi - a vámpír árnyéka (Lugosi - the Shadow of the Vampire, in Hungarian) is based on Lugosi's life, telling the story of his life as he becomes typecast as Dracula and as his drug addiction worsens. He was played by one of Hungary's most renowned actors, Ivan Darvas.

In 1963 Andy Warhol did a big silk screen painting with images of Lugosi from a Dracula movie. The painting is in the collection of the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam NL.

A 1967 episode of the popular fantasy television series I Dream of Jeannie featured a character named Nurse Lugosi who was seen taking blood with a syringe.

Bauhaus, an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978, wrote a song titled, "Béla Lugosi's Dead", released in August 1979, and it is often considered to be the first gothic rock record ever to be released.

Filmography

References

Further reading

Bela Lugosi: Dreams and Nightmares by Gary D. Rhodes, with Richard Sheffield, (2007) Collectables/Alpha Video Publishers, ISBN 0977379817 (hardcover)

The Immortal Count: The Life and Films of Bela Lugosi by Arthur Lennig (2003), ISBN 0813122732 (hardcover)

Bela Lugosi (Midnight Marquee Actors Series) by Gary Svehla and Susan Svehla (1995) ISBN 1887664017 (paperback)

Bela Lugosi: Master of the Macabre by Larry Edwards (1997), ISBN 188111709X (paperback)

Films of Bela Lugosi by Richard Bojarski (1980) ISBN 0806507160 (hardcover)

Sinister Serials of Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr. by Leonard J. Kohl (2000) ISBN 1887664319 (paperback)

Vampire over London: Bela Lugosi in Britain by Frank J. Dello Stritto (2000) ISBN 0970426909 (hardcover)

Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape by Robert Cremer (1976) ISBN 0809281376 (hardcover)

External links

{http://thebiofile.com/2010/05/biofile-with-bela-lugosi/ Bio - file interview with Bela Lugosi}

Category:1882 births Category:1956 deaths Category:Hungarian immigrants to the United States Category:Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Category:Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Lugosi Bela Lugosi Bela Lugosi Bela Lugosi Bela Category:American actors of Hungarian descent Category:American people of Romanian descent Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Lugosi Bela Category:People from Lugoj