, June 2010]] WLIW, channel 21, is a noncommercial television station licensed to Garden City, New York, USA, which serves as a secondary PBS member station for the New York City television market. WLIW is owned by the New York City-based WNET.org (formerly the Educational Broadcasting Corporation), and is a sister station to New York City's flagship PBS member station, Newark, New Jersey-licensed WNET (channel 13). WLIW's main studios and transmitter are located in Plainview, Nassau County, New York, while its operations are housed at WNET's studios in Midtown Manhattan.

History

WLIW began broadcasting on January 14, 1969, originally operated by the Long Island Educational Television Council. It is currently the third-most watched PBS station in the country, behind WNET and KCET in Los Angeles. In February 2003, the Long Island Educational TV Council merged with the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, thus combining WLIW's operations with those of WNET. The Long Island Educational Television Council was retained as WLIW's governing board and fundraising arm.

WLIW promotes itself as a more locally-oriented station than WNET, as evidenced by its on-air moniker of "New York Public Television." However, it is a major producer of national PBS programming in its own right. Among its more prominent shows are the innovative Visions series and many music specials featuring noted American performers like Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, Neil Sedaka, Rick Nelson and international stars like Helmut Lotti and Sarah Brightman. Regular hosts of these specials produced for PBS include Laura Savini, Terrel Cass, Mark Simone, David Rubinson and Lisa Jandovitz.

Digital television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Analog-to-Digital Conversion

On June 12, 2009, WLIW discontinued regular analog programming on channel 21. The station returned from channel 22 to channel 21.

Its former identity which debuted in 2005, its color palette and on-air graphics, was designed and conceived by Trollback + Company in 2005. It was the station's first corporate branding initiative since its launch in 1969. In 2009, WLIW unified its branding with its sister WNET, adopting a similar logo, but in a blue color scheme rather than WNET's red, but keeping the WLIW 21 name (it does however, carry over the dotted "i" from the WNET logo).

External links

WLIW Website

WLIW's Visions Series Website

References

Category:Television stations in New York City Category:PBS member stations Category:Channel 21 digital TV stations in the United States Category:Television channels and stations established in 1969 Category:Garden City, New York Category:Plainview, New York

Name	Sylvester McCoy
Caption	Sylvester McCoy at The Television & Movie Store, Norwich, England, on 12 April 2008.
Birth name	Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith
Birth date	August 20, 1943
Birth place	Dunoon, Scotland, UK

Sylvester McCoy (born 20 August 1943) is a Scottish actor. A comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to 1989 and a brief return in a television movie in 1996.

Biography

Early life

Born as Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith in Dunoon, Scotland on the Cowal peninsula, to an Irish mother and English father. His father had been killed in action in World War II a month before he was born.

He was raised primarily in Dublin. In his youth, he trained for the priesthood, but gave this up and spent time working in the insurance industry. He worked in The Roundhouse box office for a time, where he was discovered by Ken Campbell. He currently resides in London.

Career

He came to prominence as a member of the comedy act "The Ken Campbell Roadshow". His best known act was as a stuntman character called "Sylveste McCoy" in a play entitled An Evening with Sylveste McCoy (the name was coined by actor Brian Murphy, part of the Roadshow at the time), where his stunts included putting a fork and nails up his nose and stuffing ferrets down his trousers, and setting his head on fire. As a joke, the programme notes listed Sylveste McCoy as played by "Sylveste McCoy" and, after a reviewer missed the joke and assumed that Sylveste McCoy was a real person, Kent-Smith adopted this as his stage name. Some years later, on discovering that there were thirteen letters in 'Sylveste McCoy' and feeling that this might be unlucky, McCoy added an 'r' to the end of 'Sylveste'. Notable television appearances before he gained the role of the Doctor included roles in Vision On (where he played Pepe/Epep, a character who lived in the mirror), an O-Man in Jigsaw and Tiswas. He also appeared in Eureka, often suffering from the inventions of Wilf Lunn. McCoy also portrayed, in one-man shows on the stage, two famous movie comedians: Stan Laurel and Buster Keaton. He also appeared as Henry "Birdie" Bowers in the 1985 television serial about Robert Falcon Scott's last Antarctic expedition, The Last Place on Earth. He is scheduled to play Radaghast in the 2012 version of the Hobbit.

McCoy also had a small role in the 1979 film Dracula opposite Laurence Olivier and Donald Pleasence., and has sung with the Welsh National Opera.

Doctor Who (1987–1989, 1993 & 1996)

.]] McCoy became the Seventh Doctor after taking over the lead role in Doctor Who in 1987 from previous incarnation Colin Baker. He remained on the series until it ended in 1989 (see List of Doctor Who serials). As Colin Baker declined the invitation to film the regeneration scene, McCoy briefly wore a wig and appeared as the 6th Doctor in the regeneration scene. He played the Doctor in the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time, and again in 1996, appearing in the beginning of the Doctor Who television movie starring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. McCoy is thus acknowledged as the actor who played the Doctor for a longer period of time than any other. In his first series, McCoy, a comedy actor, portrayed the character with a degree of clown-like humour, but script editor Andrew Cartmel soon changed that when fans argued that the character (and plots) were becoming increasingly lightweight. The Seventh Doctor developed into a much darker figure than any of his earlier incarnations, manipulating people like chess pieces and always seeming to be playing a deeper game. A distinguishing feature of McCoy's performances was his manner of speech. He used his natural slight Scottish accent and rolled his rs. At the start of his tenure he used proverbs and sayings adapted to his own ends (e.g. "There's many a slap twixt cup and lap" — Delta and the Bannermen), although this characteristic was phased out during the later, darker series of his tenure. In 1990, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted McCoy's Doctor "Best Doctor", over perennial favourite Tom Baker. McCoy was the last lead actor to have his face in the Doctor Who opening titles.

Career post Doctor Who

McCoy's television roles since Doctor Who have included Michael Sams in the 1997 telemovie Beyond Fear, shown on the first night of broadcast of Five. He has also returned to play the Seventh Doctor in a series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions. In 1988, while still appearing in Doctor Who, McCoy presented a BBC children's programme called What's Your Story?, in which viewers were invited to phone in suggestions for the continuation of an ongoing drama.

He has also acted extensively in theatre in productions as diverse as pantomime and Molière. He played Grandpa Jock in John McGrath's A Satire of the Four Estaites (1996) at the Edinburgh Festival. He played the role of Snuff in the macabre BBC Radio 4 comedy series The Cabaret of Dr Caligari.

In the early '90s, McCoy was attached in the role of Governor Swann in when Steven Spielberg was planning on directing, but Disney did not give permission for the film to be made. McCoy was the second choice to play the role of Bilbo Baggins in the Peter Jackson The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. a performance which made use of McCoy's ability to play the spoons. The RSC production with McKellen and McCoy was staged in Melbourne, Australia during late July/early August 2007 and Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand during mid to late August 2007. It came into residence at the New London Theatre in late 2007, ending its run in January 2008. He reprised the role for the 2008 television movie of the production.

In May 2008 he performed with the Carl Rosa Company in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado, playing the title role. He only performed with the company briefly, for the week of the show's run performing at the Sheffield Lyceum. Despite being set in Japan, he was able to demonstrate his ability to play the spoons by using his fan. In 2009 McCoy played the character of Mr. Mushnik in the Chocolate Factory's production of Little Shop of Horrors.

He has also made guest appearances in the television series The Bill, the Rab C. Nesbitt episode "Father" as Rab's mentally ill brother Gash Sr. and the Still Game episode "Oot" (AKA "Out"), where he played a hermit-type character adjusting to life in modern Glasgow, having remained in his house for over 30 years. In October 2008, he had a minor guest role as an injured ventriloquist on Casualty. In the same month McCoy guest starred in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors, playing an actor who once played the time-travelling hero of a children's television series called The Amazing Lollipop Man. The role was written as a tribute to McCoy.

McCoy has been confirmed to play Radagast the Brown in the two upcoming Hobbit films.

Video games

McCoy returned to the role of the Seventh Doctor in 1997, recording new audio for the video game Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctors.

References

External links

Travelling Light - Sylvester McCoy article at Kasterborous.com

The Sylvester McCoy Appreciation Society

Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:People from Argyll and Bute Category:People from Dunoon Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members Category:Scottish people of English descent Category:Scottish people of Irish descent Category:Scottish film actors Category:Scottish radio actors Category:Scottish stage actors Category:Scottish television actors Category:Shakespearean actors

Background	solo_singer
Born	September 26, 1948Cambridge, England
Instrument	Vocal, Piano
Genre	Pop, country
Occupation	Singer, actress, songwriter, entrepreneur
Years active	1963–present
Associated acts	Cliff Richard, John Travolta, Andy Gibb, Barry Gibb, Bee Gees, ELO, John Farrar, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb, Anni-Frid Lyngstad among others.
Url	olivianewton-john.com

Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE (born 26 September 1948) is an English-born, Australian-raised singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles (including two platinum) and 14 of her albums (including two platinum and four double platinum) have been certified gold by the RIAA. Her music has been successful in multiple formats including pop, country and adult contemporary. She co-starred with John Travolta in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, Grease, which became one of the most successful films and movie soundtracks in Hollywood history.

Newton-John has been a long-time activist for environmental and animal rights issues. Since surviving breast cancer in 1992, she has been an advocate for health awareness becoming involved with various charities, health products and fundraising efforts. Her business interests have included launching several product lines for Koala Blue and co-owning the Gaia Retreat & Spa in Australia.

Newton-John has been married twice. She currently lives with her second husband, John Easterling, in Jupiter Inlet Colony, Florida. She is the mother of one daughter, Chloe Rose Lattanzi, with her first husband, actor Matt Lattanzi.

Beginnings

Olivia Newton-John was born in Cambridge, England, to a Welsh father, Brinley ("Bryn") Newton-John, and a Jewish-German mother, Irene Born, the eldest child of the Nobel prize-winning atomic physicist Max Born. Newton-John's family emigrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1954 where her father worked as a professor of German and as Master of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne.

At 14, Newton-John formed a short-lived all-girl band, Sol Four, with three classmates often performing in a coffee shop owned by her brother-in-law. She became a regular on local Australian radio and television shows including HSV-7's The Happy Show where she performed as "Lovely Livvy." She also appeared on the Go Show where she met future duet partner, Pat Carroll, and future music producer John Farrar. (Carroll and Farrar would later marry.) She entered and won a talent contest on the television program, Sing, Sing, Sing, hosted by 1960s Australian icon Johnny O'Keefe performing the songs "Anyone Who Had A Heart" and "Everything's Coming Up Roses." Newton-John was initially reluctant to use the prize she had won, a trip to England, but travelled there nearly a year later after her mother encouraged her to broaden her horizons. After Carroll's visa expired forcing her to return to Australia, Newton-John remained in England to pursue solo work until 1975. She became engaged to, but never married, The Shadows' guitarist Bruce Welch.

Newton-John was recruited for the group Toomorrow formed by American producer Don Kirshner who was also the music consultant for the earliest recordings of The Monkees. In 1970, the group starred in a "science fiction musical" film and recorded an accompanying soundtrack both named after the group. The project bombed and the group disbanded.

Early success

Newton-John released her first solo album, If Not For You (No. 158 Pop), in 1971. The title track, written by Bob Dylan and previously recorded by Beatle George Harrison for his 1970 album, All Things Must Pass, was her first international hit (No. 25 Pop, No. 1 AC). Her follow-up single, "Banks of the Ohio," was a Top 10 hit in England and Australia. She was voted Best British Female Vocalist two years in a row by the magazine Record Mirror. She made frequent appearances on Cliff Richard's weekly show, It's Cliff Richard, and starred with him in the telefilm, The Case.

In 1974, Newton-John represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song, Long Live Love. The song was chosen for Newton-John by the British public out of six possible entries. (Newton-John later admitted that she disliked the song.) Newton-John placed fourth at the contest held in Brighton behind ABBA's winning Waterloo. All six Eurovision contest song candidates were recorded by Newton-John and included on her Long Live Love album, her first for the EMI Records label.

In the United States, Newton-John's career floundered after If Not For You. Subsequent singles including "Banks of the Ohio" (No. 94 Pop, No. 34 AC) and remakes of George Harrison's "What Is Life" (No. 34 AC) and John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (No. 119 Pop) made minimal chart impact until the release of "Let Me Be There" in 1973. The song reached the American Top 10 on the Pop (No. 6), Country (No. 7), and AC (No. 3) charts and earned her a Grammy for Best Country Female and Best Pop Vocal Performance-Female. The success of both singles helped the album reach No. 1 on both the Pop (one week) and Country (eight weeks) Albums charts.

Newton-John's country success sparked a debate among purists who believed a foreigner singing country-flavored pop music did not belong in country music. This outrage led to the formation of the short-lived Association of Country Entertainers (ACE). Newton-John was eventually supported by the country music community. Stella Parton, Dolly's sister, recorded "Ode To Olivia" and Newton-John recorded her 1976 album, Don't Stop Believin', in Nashville. and "Please Mr. Please" (No. 3 Pop, No. 5 Country, No. 1 AC). The soundtrack spent 12 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 and yielded three Top 5 singles for Newton-John: the platinum No. 1 "You're The One That I Want" (with John Travolta), the gold No. 3 "Hopelessly Devoted To You" and the gold No. 5 "Summer Nights" (with John Travolta and the film's cast). The former two songs were written and composed by Newton-John's long-time music producer, John Farrar, specifically for the film. ("Summer Nights" was written for the original play by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.) Newton-John became the second female (after Linda Ronstadt in 1977) to have two singles – "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Summer Nights" – in the Billboard Top 5 simultaneously. Newton-John's performance earned her a People's Choice award for Favorite Motion Picture Actress. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actress in a Musical and performed the Oscar-nominated "Hopelessly Devoted To You" at the 1979 Academy Awards.

The film's popularity has endured through the years. It was re-released for its 20th anniversary in 1998 and ranked as the second highest grossing film behind Titanic in its opening weekend. It was most recently re-released in July 2010 as a sing-along version in select American theatres. The soundtrack still sells strongly enough to often appear on Billboard's Top Soundtracks chart.

New image

Newton-John's transformation in Grease from goody-goody "Sandy 1" to spandex-clad "Sandy 2" emboldened Newton-John to do the same with her music career. In November 1978, she released her next studio album Totally Hot, which became her first solo Top 10 (No. 7) album since Have You Never Been Mellow. Dressed on the cover all in leather, the album's singles "A Little More Love" (No. 3 Pop, No. 94 Country, No. 4 AC), "Deeper Than The Night" (No. 11 Pop, No. 87 Country, No. 4 AC), and the title track (No. 52 Pop) all demonstrated a more aggressive and more uptempo sound for Newton-John. Although the album clearly de-emphasized country, it still reached No. 4 on the Country Albums chart. Newton-John released the B-side, "Dancin' 'Round And 'Round," of the "Totally Hot" single to Country radio, where it peaked at No. 29 (as well as No. 82 Pop and No. 25 AC), becoming her last charted solo Country airplay single to date.

Newton-John began 1980 by releasing I Can't Help It (No. 12 Pop, No. 8 AC), a duet with Andy Gibb from his After Dark album, and by starring in her third television special, Hollywood Nights. Later that year, she appeared in her first film since Grease, starring in the musical Xanadu with Gene Kelly and Michael Beck. Although the movie was a critical failure, its soundtrack (No. 4 Pop) was certified double platinum boasting five Top 20 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Newton-John charted with Magic (No. 1 Pop, No. 1 AC), Suddenly with Cliff Richard (No. 20 Pop, No. 4 AC), and the title song with the Electric Light Orchestra (No. 8 Pop, No. 2 AC). The Electric Light Orchestra also charted with "I'm Alive" (No. 16 Pop, No. 48 AC) and "All Over The World" (No. 13 Pop, No. 46 AC). Magic was Newton-John's biggest Pop hit to that point (four weeks at No. 1) (A successful national tour of the show followed.)

In 1981, Newton-John released her most successful studio album, the double platinum Physical. The title track, written by Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick, spent ten weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, matching the record of most weeks at No. 1 held by Debby Boone's You Light Up My Life. The single was certified platinum and it ultimately ranked as the biggest song of the decade. (In 2008, Billboard ranked the song No. 6 among all songs that charted in the 50-year history of the Hot 100.) "Physical" even earned Newton-John her only placement ever on the R&B; Singles (No. 28) and Albums (No. 32) chart. The Physical album spawned two more singles, Make a Move on Me (No. 5 Pop, No. 6 AC) and Landslide (No. 52 Pop).

The provocative lyrics of the title track prompted two Utah radio stations to ban the single from their playlists. (In 2010, Billboard magazine ranked this as the most popular single ever about sex.) To counter its overtly suggestive tone, Newton-John filmed an exercise-themed video that turned the song into an aerobics anthem and made headbands a fashion accessory outside the gym. Newton-John became a pioneer in the nascent music video industry by recording a video album for Physical featuring videos of all the album's tracks and three of her older hits. The video album earned her a fourth Grammy and was aired as an ABC prime time special, Let's Get Physical, redeemed by its platinum soundtrack (No. 26 Pop) featuring Twist Of Fate (No. 5 Pop), The couple had met four years earlier while filming Xanadu. Their daughter, Chloe Rose Lattanzi, was born in January 1986. (They divorced in 1995.) Newton-John's music career cooled again with the release of her next studio album, the gold Soul Kiss (No. 29 Pop), in 1985. The album's only charted single was the title track (No. 20 Pop, No. 20 AC). The album's second single, Toughen Up, failed to even chart. The video album for Soul Kiss featured videos of only five (two concept, three performance) of the album's ten tracks. Newton-John limited her publicity for the album due to her pregnancy.

Motherhood and advocacy

After a nearly three-year hiatus to raise Chloe, Newton-John resumed her recording career with the 1988 album, The Rumour. The album was promoted by an HBO special, Olivia Down Under, and its first single, the title track, was written and produced by Elton John. Both the single (No. 62 Pop, No. 33 AC) and the album (No. 67 Pop) fizzled as the nearly 40 year-old Newton-John seemed "old" when compared with the teen queens Debbie Gibson and Tiffany ruling the Pop charts at that time. (Ironically, this album was praised by critics as more mature with Newton-John addressing topics such as AIDS, the environment and single parent households.) The second single, the Sandy Linzer/Irwin Levine–penned Can't We Talk It Over In Bed, did not chart. (Grayson Hugh, the song's arranger, subsequently released his version of the song as Talk It Over in 1989 and it became a Top 20 Pop hit.) A year later, Newton-John recorded her self-described "self-indulgent" album, Warm and Tender. Inspired by her daughter, who appeared on the album cover, the album featured lullabies and love songs for parents and their children. Newton-John recovered and since became a tireless advocate for breast cancer research and other health issues. She is a product spokesperson for the Liv-Kit, a breast self-examination product. She is also partial owner of the Gaia Retreat and Spa in Byron Bay, Australia advertised as "the ideal place to renew, refresh, and restore your mind, body and soul."

Newton-John's advocacy for health issues was presaged by her prior involvement with many humanitarian causes. Newton-John cancelled a 1978 concert tour of Japan to protest the slaughter of dolphins caught in tuna fishing nets. (She subsequently rescheduled the tour when the Japanese government assured her the matter was being addressed.) She was a performer on the 1979 Music for UNICEF Concert for the United Nations' International Year of the Child televised worldwide. During the concert, artists performed songs for which they donated their royalties, some in perpetuity, to benefit the cause. She was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Environment Programme. In 1991, she became the National Spokesperson for the Colette Chuda Environmental Fund/CHEC (Children’s Health Environmental Coalition) following the death of four year old Colette Chuda, a family friend, from cancer. (Chuda was featured along with Newton-John and daughter Chloe on the cover of Newton-John's Warm and Tender album.)

Newton-John's cancer diagnosis also affected the type of music she recorded. In 1994, she released Gaia: One Woman's Journey which chronicled her ordeal. This was the first album on which Newton-John wrote and composed all of the songs encouraging her to become more active as a songwriter thereafter. In 2005, she released Stronger Than Before, sold exclusively in the United States by Hallmark. Proceeds from the album's sales benefited breast cancer research. The album featured the song Phenomenal Woman based on the poem by Maya Angelou that featured guest vocals from Diahann Carroll, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Delta Goodrem, Amy Holland, Patti LaBelle, and Mindy Smith - all survivors of or affected by cancer. The following year, Newton-John released a healing CD, Grace And Gratitude. The album was sold exclusively by Walgreens also benefitting various charities including Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization. The CD was the "heart" of their "Body – Heart – Spirit" Wellness Collection which also featured a re-branded Liv-Kit and breast-health dietary supplements.

In 2008, Newton-John raised funds to help build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia. She led a three-week, 228 km. walk along the Great Wall of China during April joined by various celebrities and cancer survivors throughout her trek. The walk symbolized the steps cancer patients must take on their road to recovery. Newton-John released a companion CD, A Celebration In Song, the following month in Australia and later worldwide featuring new and previously recorded duets by "Olivia Newton-John & Friends." Her "Friends" included Jann Arden, Jimmy Barnes, John Farrar, Barry Gibb, Delta Goodrem, Sun Ho, Richard Marx, Cliff Richard, Melinda Schneider, Amy Sky and Keith Urban. In October, Newton-John helped launch the www.liv.com website and teamed with fitness franchise Curves to distribute one million Liv-Aid breast self-examination aids for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Newton-John collaborated with producer David Foster to record Hope Is Always Here for the November 2009 television special, Kaleidoscope. The song was written and composed for the show's performance by another breast cancer survivor, figure skater Dorothy Hamill. The song was released as a digital single after the show aired.

Newton-John's spirituality also extended to the release of several Christmas albums. In 2000, she teamed with Vince Gill and the London Symphony Orchestra for 'Tis The Season sold exclusively through Hallmark. The following year, she released The Christmas Collection which compiled seasonal music previously recorded for her Hallmark Christmas album, her appearance on Kenny Loggins's 1999 TNN Christmas special and her contributions to the Mother And Child and Spirit Of Christmas multi-artist collections. In 2007, she re-teamed with her Grace And Gratitude producer, Amy Sky, for Christmas Wish (No. 187 Pop) which was sold exclusively by Target in its first year of release.

Later career

Newton-John continued to record and perform pop-oriented music as well. In 1998, she returned to Nashville to record Back With A Heart (No. 59 Pop).

Newton-John's television work included starring in two Christmas movies, A Mom For Christmas (1990) and A Christmas Romance (1994) – both Top 10 Nielsen hits. Her daughter, Chloe, starred as one of her children in both A Christmas Romance and in the 2001 Showtime film The Wilde Girls. Newton-John guest-starred as herself in the sitcoms Ned and Stacey, Murphy Brown, and Bette, and made two appearances as herself on Glee. For her first Glee appearance, Newton-John re-created her "Physical" video with series regular Jane Lynch. The performance was released as a digital single, returning Newton-John to the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 89) for the first time since her 1998 re-release of I Honestly Love You. In Australia, Newton-John hosted the animal and nature series Wild Life and guest starred as Joanna on two episodes of the Australian series The Man From Snowy River.

Newton-John met gaffer/cameraman Patrick McDermott a year after her 1995 divorce from Matt Lattanzi. The couple dated on and off for nine years. McDermott disappeared following a 2005 fishing trip off the California coast. Various theories abounded regarding his disappearance ranging from his death by accident or foul play to McDermott staging his disappearance to avoid child support payments to his ex-wife, actress Yvette Nipar. Newton-John, who was in Australia at her Gaia Retreat & Spa at the time of his disappearance, was never a suspect in McDermott's disappearance and has refused to comment on any speculation. A US Coast Guard investigation released in 2008 "suggest[ed] McDermott was lost at sea," although some have claimed contact with McDermott since his disappearance. Newton-John returned to the tabloid headlines again in 2007 when it was revealed that her daughter Chloe was recovering from anorexia.

Newton-John released another concert DVD, Olivia Newton-John and the Sydney Symphony: Live at the Sydney Opera House, and a companion CD, Olivia's Live Hits, in January 2008. An edited version of the DVD premiered on PBS station, WLIW (Garden City, New York), in October 2007 and subsequently aired nationally during the network's fund-raising pledge drives. This was Newton-John's third live album after the 1981 Japanese release, Love Performance, and her 2000 Australian release, One Woman's Live Journey.

In June 2008, Newton-John secretly wed John ("Amazon John") Easterling, founder and president of natural remedy firm, Amazon Herb Company. The couple had first met 15 years earlier, but they only became romantically involved in 2007. (Like Newton-John, this was Easterling's second marriage.) The couple married alone in a private Incan spiritual ceremony in Cuzco, Peru on June 21 followed nine days later by a legal ceremony on the Jupiter Island beachfront in Florida. There were no guests at either service since the couple preferred to marry simply and privately. Only Newton-John's daughter, Chloe, was aware of the nuptials. The couple did not announce their marriage until a July 4th barbecue at Newton-John's Malibu, California home, where guests were surprised with the news. The wedding was confirmed thereafter by HELLO! Magazine which published exclusive pictures of both weddings. In June 2009, the Easterlings purchased a new $4.1 million home in Jupiter Inlet, and Newton-John sold her home in Malibu, California.

Current endeavors

Newton-John still occasionally tours. Most of her recent public performances have been at charitable functions or to promote products such as Zamu, produced by Amazon Herb, a company founded by John Easterling. Her tour schedule can be found at http://olivianewton-john.com/tour.html.

Newton-John joined Judy Brooks and Roy Walkenhorst as co-host of the health and well-being series Healing Quest, currently airing on PBS.

Newton-John re-recorded some tracks from her 2006 Grace And Gratitude album and re-released the album as Grace And Gratitude Renewed in September 2010 on the Green Hill music label. The Renewed CD includes a new track, "Help Me To Heal", which was not featured on the original album. Her 2001 The Christmas Collection was also re-released in October 2010 with different artwork. Green Hill will re-release Newton-John's 2008 CD, A Celebration In Song, with different artwork on January 25. The Renewed CD charted in Billboard as follows:

* Christian Albums (No. 36)

* Christian & Gospel Albums (No. 54)

* New Age (No. 2)

Newton-John starred in the film , released in Canada. Newton-John portrays Hope Gordon, the mother of a home-schooled hockey prodigy. The film opened the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2010, and it features a duet by Newton-John with her co-star, Marc Jordan.

Newton-John is featured in UniGlobe Entertainment's breast cancer docu-drama, 1 a Minute, released October 2010. The documentary was made by actress Namrata Singh Gujral, and it features breast cancer survivors Diahann Carroll, Melissa Etheridge, Namrata Singh Gujral, Mumtaz and Jaclyn Smith. The film also features brothers Daniel and William Baldwin, Morgan Brittany, Deepak Chopra, Priya Dutt, Barbara Mori and Lisa Ray.

Bluewater Productions released a comic book featuring Newton-John in October 2010 to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Ten of Newton-John's albums were re-released separately and combined as a box set in October 2010 by Universal Music Japan. The albums include Long Live Love, Have You Never Been Mellow, Clearly Love, Come On Over, Don't Stop Believin', Making A Good Thing Better, Totally Hot, Physical, Soul Kiss, and The Rumour. Each studio album featured two additional bonus tracks not included on the original releases of each album. On the same day, Universal Music Japan also released a "40/40" compilation that included 40 of Newton-John's hits as voted for by her Japanese fans as well as a previously unreleased bonus track, "Come on Home". Newton-John promoted these re-releases with a five-date tour of Japan.

Discography and videography

;Studio albums

If Not For You (1971)

Olivia (1972)

Let Me Be There/Music Makes My Day (1973)

Long Live Love (1974)

If You Love Me, Let Me Know (1974)

Have You Never Been Mellow (1975)

Clearly Love (1975)

Come On Over (1976)

Don't Stop Believin' (1976)

Making a Good Thing Better (1977)

Totally Hot (1978)

Physical (1981)

Soul Kiss (1985)

The Rumour (1988)

Warm and Tender (1989)

Gaia (1994)

Back With a Heart (1998)

'Tis the Season (2000)

The Christmas Collection (Olivia Newton-John album) (2001)

(2) (2002)

(2004)

Stronger Than Before (2005)

Grace and Gratitude (2006)

Christmas Wish (2007)

A Celebration in Song (2008)

Grace And Gratitude Renewed (2010)

;Main compilation albums

Greatest Hits (1977)

Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1982)

(1992)

;Live albums

Love Performance (1981)

Highlights from The Main Event (1998)

One Woman's Live Journey (2000)

Olivia's Live Hits (2008)

;Soundtracks

Toomorrow (1970)

(1978)

Xanadu (1980)

Two of a Kind (1983)

Sordid Lives (2000)

(2008)

;DVDs

Olivia Physical (1982)

Olivia in Concert (1983)

Twist of Fate (1983)

Soul Kiss (1985)

Olivia Down Under (1988)

Live at the Sydney Opera House (2008)

Video Gold 1 (2005)

Video Gold 2 (2005)

Filmography

Tours

If Not For You Tour (1972)

Cliff Richard Japan tour w/Pat Carroll (1972)

Clearly Love Tour (1975)

Love Performance Tour (1976)

Totally Hot World Tour (1978)

Physical World Tour (1982)

The Main Event Tour (1998)

Greatest Hits Tour (1999)

One Woman's Live Journey Tour (1999)

Millennium Tour (2000)

30 Musical Years Tour (2001)

Heartstrings World Tour (2002)

Japan 2006 Tour (2006)

Live at the Sydney Opera House Tour (2006)

Grace and Gratitude Tour (2006)

Body Heart & Spirit Tour (2007)

Verona-Canadian 2007 Tour (2007)

United States 2009 Tour (2009)

Awards and honours

{| class=wikitable |- style="background:#ccc;" !Year !Category !Genre !Recording !Result |- style="background:#ddd;" | colspan="5" style="text-align:center;"| Grammy Awards |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1973 |Best Female Country Vocal Performance |Country |"Let Me Be There" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"|1974 |Record of the Year |General |"I Honestly Love You" | |- align=left |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"I Honestly Love You" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1975 |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Have You Never Been Mellow" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"|1978 |Album of the Year |General |"Grease" (Soundtrack) | |- align=left |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Hopelessly Devoted to You" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1980 |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Magic" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1981 |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Physical" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"|1982 |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Heart Attack" | |- align=left |Video of the Year |General |Olivia Physical | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1983 |Best Long Form Music Video |General |Olivia in Concert | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1984 |Best Short Form Music Video |General |Twist of Fate | |}

See also

List of best-selling music artists

List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

List of songs by Australian artists which reached number-one on the Hot 100 (USA)

List of songs by British artists which reached number-one on the Hot 100 (USA)

List of artists who reached number one in the United States

List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart

References

Bibliography

Wood, Gerry. (1998). "Olivia Newton-John." In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 380–1.

The Story of the Shadows by Mike Read. 1983. Elm Tree books. ISBN 0-241-10861-6.

Rock 'n' Roll, I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life – A Life In The Shadows by Bruce Welch ISBN 0-670-82705-3 (Penguin Books).

External links

Olivia Newton-John

Gaia Retreat

Great Walk To Beijing

ON-J Cancer Centre Appeal

Breast Health

Newton-John, Olivia (1948-) National Library of Australia, Trove, People and Organisation record for Olivia Newton-John

Category:1948 births Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Living people Category:Actors from Melbourne Category:ARIA Award winners Category:ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Category:Australian country singers Category:Australian dance musicians Category:Australian expatriate actors in the United States Category:Australian female singers Category:Australian film actors Category:Australian people of English descent Category:Australian people of German descent Category:Australian people of Welsh descent Category:Australian pop singers Category:Australian television actors Category:Breast cancer survivors Category:British Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:English country singers Category:English dance musicians Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English female singers Category:English film actors Category:English immigrants to Australia Category:English pop singers Category:English people of German descent Category:English people of Welsh descent Category:English television actors Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1974 Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Naturalised citizens of Australia Category:Officers of the Order of Australia Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Cambridge Category:Singers from Melbourne

Name	Jon Pertwee
Caption	Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor
Birth name	John Devon Roland Pertwee
Birth date	July 07, 1919
Birth place	Chelsea, London, England,
Death date	May 20, 1996
Death place	Timber Lake, Connecticut, United States
Spouse	Jean Marsh (1955–1960)Ingeborg Rhoesa (1960–1996)
Children	Sean PertweeDariel Pertwee

John Devon Roland "Jon" Pertwee (7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996), was an English actor. Pertwee is best known for his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which he played the third incarnation of the Doctor from 1970 to 1974, and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge. He is also well-known for his 18-year stint on BBC Radio as Chief Petty Officer Pertwee in The Navy Lark.

Biography

Early life

Born in Chelsea, London, to a family descended from Huguenots (the name was an Anglicisation of "Perthuis"; his full surname being "de Perthuis de Laillevault"), he was the son of noted screenwriter and actor Roland Pertwee and cousin of actor Bill Pertwee, who played Chief Warden Hodges in the comedy Dad's Army (coincidentally, Jon Pertwee was the writers' first choice for the role of Captain George Mainwaring in Dad's Army). The actor Henry Ainley, a close friend of his father, was his godfather and Ainley's son Anthony appeared alongside Pertwee in the 1983 Doctor Who anniversary story The Five Doctors.

Education

Pertwee was educated at Frensham Heights School, an independent school in Rowledge, near Farnham in Surrey, at Sherborne School in Sherborne in north-west Dorset, and at some other schools from which he was expelled. After school, he went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), from which he was also expelled after he refused to play a Greek "wind" during one of the lessons, feeling it was a waste of both his time and his father's hard earned money. He was also accused of writing graffiti about the tutors on the toilet walls

Early career

Pertwee was an officer in the Royal Navy, spending some time working in naval intelligence during the Second World War. He was a crew member of HMS Hood and was transferred off the ship shortly before she was sunk, losing all but three men. It was during his time in the Navy that Jon woke up one morning after a drunken night out while in port to find a tattoo on his right arm, which was occasionally seen during his time in Doctor Who.

After the war he made a name for himself as a comedy actor, notably on radio in Waterlogged Spa, alongside Eric Barker, and Puffney Post Office in which he played a hapless old postman with the catch-phrase "It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you tears them up". From 1959 to 1977, he had a long-running role as the conniving Chief Petty Officer Pertwee in The Navy Lark on BBC Radio. He was known as a Danny Kaye look-alike, and his impersonation of Kaye can be seen in the 1949 film Murder at the Windmill.

On stage, he played the part of Lycus in the 1963 London production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Frankie Howerd and appeared in the smaller role of Crassus in the 1966 film version. He appeared as Sidney Tait in the 1963 comedy Ladies Who Do and later in four Carry On films: Carry On Cleo (1964, as the soothsayer), Carry On Screaming (1966, as Dr. Fettle), Carry On Cowboy (1965, as Sheriff Earp) and Carry On Columbus (1992, as Duke of Costa Brava). On television, he started off with small parts in children's shows like Mr Pastry. Later he made an appearance in The Avengers episode "From Venus with Love" as Brigadier Whitehead, and in the 1970s, he guest-starred as a vicar in The Goodies' episode "Wacky Wales".

He had one of his most memorable film roles in the 1971 Amicus horror compendium The House That Dripped Blood. Filmed in the summer of 1970, between his first and second Doctor Who seasons, Pertwee played the lead in the last segment of the film as Paul Henderson, a deliciously arrogant horror film star who meets his quasi-comedic doom thanks to a genuine vampire cloak.

He was married twice, first in 1955 to Jean Marsh (1955–1960), whom he divorced, and then, on 13 August 1960, to Ingeborg Rhoesa, by whom he had two children, Sean and Dariel.

Doctor Who (1970–1974)

In 1969, Pertwee was selected by producer Peter Bryant to take over as the Doctor from Patrick Troughton in the television series Doctor Who. Pertwee had already applied for the role and was surprised to find he had been shortlisted for it. Prior to becoming The Doctor, Pertwee had relatively little interest in the programme. In a departure from the Doctor's first two incarnations, Pertwee played the character as an active crusader with a penchant for action and fancy clothes, even while the character was exiled on Earth and serving with UNIT. He played the Doctor for five seasons from 1970 to 1974, at the time the longest stint of any of the actors who played the part, surpassing predecessors William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton's three years each in the role, although due to shortened broadcast seasons, he appeared in fewer episodes than Hartnell. Of the eleven actors to portray the role, only his immediate successor, Tom Baker, would play the Doctor for longer (seven years from 1974–1981). In early 1974, Pertwee announced he would step down as the Doctor in order to resume his stage career in The Bedwinner, also citing typecasting in the role as the reason for leaving, though later he would say that the catalyst for his departure was the death of his good friend and co-star Roger Delgado and the departures of co-star Katy Manning and producer Barry Letts. His last fulltime appearance in the series was in the story "Planet of the Spiders"' in June 1974. Pertwee later reprised the role in the 20th anniversary story The Five Doctors, in two radio adventures and on stage in The Ultimate Adventure. On 14 April 1971, Pertwee was the subject of Thames Television's This Is Your Life which featured the first television appearance of his son Sean Pertwee, who went on to become an actor.

Worzel Gummidge

After a stint between 1974 and 1978 as the host of the Thames Television murder-mystery game show Whodunnit!, Pertwee took the starring role in Worzel Gummidge, based on the books written by Barbara Euphan Todd, which he had read as a child. First aired in 1979 on ITV, the series saw Pertwee as a scarecrow, as well as utilising several comedic voices. The show was an immediate hit and ran on the channel until 1981. Keen to continue beyond this, Pertwee campaigned for the series and it was picked up by a New Zealand network in 1987. Worzel Gummidge Down Under aired for the next two years and was screened in the UK on Channel 4. In 1995, Pertwee played the role one last time in a one-off special for ITV, which celebrated 40 years of the Channel. Pertwee also played the character on stage and recorded an album, Worzel Gummidge Sings, as well as a Christmas single.

Other roles

Pertwee also voiced the character of "Spotty" in the 1980s cartoon series SuperTed and in 1985 he starred in Do You Know The Milkyway?, a television adaptation of Karl Wittlinger's stage play in which he played Dr. Neuross and another nine characters. In 1995 Pertwee also had the key voice of Death and other voice characterizations in the PC and PlayStation renditions of "Discworld". Also in 1995, Jon Pertwee played General Von Kramer in the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles episode "Attack of the Hawkmen".

Later life

He returned to the role of the Doctor in the 1983 20th anniversary television special The Five Doctors and in the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time for Children in Need. He also portrayed the Doctor in the stage play Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure which toured theatres in the United Kingdom from March to June 1989. During the 1990s, he made a guest appearance in the "Lords and Ladies" episode of the BBC Radio 4 comedy series Harry Hill's Fruit Corner, playing a Time Lord and also spoofed the role in the Radio 4 comedy The Skivers.

In 1993, Pertwee was featured in the unofficial 30th anniversary VHS release of Doctor Who entitled '30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond'. When asked in an interview for this documentary if the show should be brought back he simply replied with 'No...no'. Pertwee would continue to act in films and television as well as make appearances worldwide in support of Doctor Who. Ultimately, Pertwee was successful in seeing the Third Doctor return to the airwaves with two audio productions for BBC Radio, The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space.

In late 1995, he appeared in Devious, an amateur video drama set between the second Doctor's trial at the end of The War Games and before the start of Spearhead From Space, which shows an interim (between second and third) Doctor played by Tony Garner being told he was "never meant to be the Doctor" and that the third, played by Jon, will complete him. This video was created by Doctor Who enthusiasts, is around 8 minutes long and has never been on sale or publicly shown, but Pertwee's scenes are included on the BBC DVD The War Games.

Pertwee's final film role was in a short film, "Cloud Cuckoo" for Scottish Screen, released 18 June 1994. His last formal television appearance was on Cilla's Surprise Surprise, broadcast on 21 April 1996. At the date of his death, Pertwee was regularly being seen at the tail end of an enigmatic UK TV commercial for mobile phone operator Vodafone: dressed somewhat in his flamboyant 'Doctor' manner, his character walked wordlessly across an alleyway in sight of a Liverpool landmark, and entered a garage evidently containing some kind of 'time machine'.

Death and legacy

Pertwee continued on the convention circuit and with his voice and television acting until his death from a heart attack in Connecticut on 20 May 1996 two months before his 77th birthday. (Some reports, however, place the location of his death in New York.) He was cremated at Putney Vale Crematorium with a toy Worzel Gummidge affixed to the coffin, following the instructions in his will.

He died only days after the American broadcast of the Doctor Who television movie which used in its opening credits a logo based on the one from his era of the television series. The BBC broadcast of the television movie featured a dedication to Pertwee at its end.

His last association with the series was posthumous. With the approval of his widow, Ingeborg, his voice was utilised as part of the plot of the Big Finish Productions 40th Anniversary Doctor Who audio drama, Zagreus, appearing as messages from the Doctor's TARDIS as it attempted to help the currently corrupted Eighth Doctor (voiced by Paul McGann). Pertwee's voice was culled from a fan-produced Doctor Who film Devious, portions of which were recorded just prior to his death.

Pertwee wrote two autobiographies: Moon Boots and Dinner Suits (published in 1984), which primarily covers his life and career prior to Doctor Who, and the posthumously published (published in 1996 by Virgin Publishing Ltd and co-written with David J. Howe), which covered his life during and after the series. In 2000, Jon Pertwee: The Biography by Bernard Bale (ISBN 0-233-99831-4) was published by Andre Deutsch Ltd; it included a few chapters by Pertwee's widow Ingeborg.

In 2010 his son Sean Pertwee referred to his father in a party political broadcast for the Labour Party, saying his father had always said not to give up and show resolve.

Discography

In 1966 Jon contributed to the children's LP record "Children's Favourites" by EMI and Paul Hamilin. Songs sung by him include "The Runaway Train", "Froggy Went A-Courtin'", "My Grandfather's Clock", "Three Little Fishes" and "I Know An Old Lady". Published by Music for Pleasure Ltd, Drury House, Russell St, London, in mono (catalog number MDP 1175), the recordings were produced by Norman Newell, with a synopsis written on the back by Roger St. Pierre. On the front cover is the picture of a glove puppet by Carol Patmore & Rima Reed.

In 1972, while still in the role of the Doctor, he released a vocal version of the Doctor Who theme music entitled "Who is the Doctor". In 1976 he recorded a promotional flexi-disc for Heinz called The Noodle Doodle Man. In 1980 he released "Worzel's Song", from the album "Worzel Gummidge Sings". The single reached No.33 on the UK charts in March. A second single was released in 1987 when the series was revived, but this met with less success. Also released was a single of "Yesterday", semi-spoken word and "When I'm 64", in the guise of Worzel to aid a hospital charity.

Other chart action came in 1993 when an audio release of the radio play "The Paradise of Death" reached No.48 in the album charts.

Filmography

A Yank at Oxford (1938)

The Four Just Men (1939)

Trouble in the Air (1946)

A Piece of Cake (1948)

William Comes to Town (1948)

Murder at the Windmill (1949)

Helter Skelter (1949)

Dear Mr. Prohack (1949)

Miss Pilgrim's Progress (1950)

The Body Said No! (1950)

Mister Drake's Duck (1951)

Will Any Gentleman...? (1953)

The Gay Dog (1954)

A Yank in Ermine (1955)

It's a Wonderful World (1956)

The Ugly Duckling (1959)

Just Joe (1960)

Not a Hope in Hell (1960)

Nearly a Nasty Accident (1961)

Carry on Cleo (1964)

Runaway Railway (1965)

You Must Be Joking! (1965)

I've Gotta Horse (1965)

Carry on Cowboy (1965)

Carry on Screaming! (1966)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)

Up in the Air (1969)

The House That Dripped Blood (1971)

One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)

Wombling Free (1977) (voice)

Adventures of a Private Eye (1977)

No. 1 of the Secret Service (1977)

The Water Babies (1978)

The Boys in Blue (1982)

Carry on Columbus (1992)

Cloud Cuckoo (1994)

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1995)

References

External links

Jon Pertwee Biography – British Film Institute

Interview with Jon Pertwee conducted in March 1996

Action Who – Jon Pertwee article at Kasterborous.com

Jon Pertwee's career including The Navy Lark at http://www.kastria.net

An Hour with Jon Pertwee Jon Pertwee reminisces, including time serving on the Hood – streaming audio

Pertwee's appearance in a 1996 UK TV commercial

Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Category:English television actors Category:English radio actors Category:English comedians Category:English film actors Category:Audio book narrators Category:Old Shirburnians Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Old Frenshamians Category:People from Chelsea Category:Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery Category:1919 births Category:1996 deaths Category:Royal Navy officers Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War II