Alan Ladd

Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film and television producer. Ladd found success in film the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in Westerns such as Shane (1953) and film noirs where he was often paired with Veronica Lake, such as This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942) and The Blue Dahlia (1946). Other notable credits include Two Years Before the Mast (1946), Whispering Smith (1949) and The Great Gatsby (1949). His popularity diminished in the late 1950s, though he continued to appear in popular films until his accidental death due to a lethal combination of alcohol, a barbiturate, and two tranquilizers.

Biography

Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas on 3 September 1913. He was the only child of Ina Raleigh (also known as Selina Rowley) (b 25 November 1888), and Alan Ladd, a freelance accountant. His mother was English, from County Durham, and had migrated to the USA in 1907 when she was nineteen. His father died of a heart attack when Ladd was four. On 3 July 1918 a young Alan accidentally burnt down the family home while playing with matches. His mother relocated to Oklahoma City, where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter (d 1936).

Black knight (disambiguation)

A black knight is a literary stock character.

Black Knight or Black Knights can also refer to:

Most common meanings

Personal nickname

Military

Black Knight 2000

Black Knight 2000 is a 1989 pinball game designed by Steve Ritchie (who also provides the Knight's voice) and released by Williams Electronics. The game is the sequel to the 1980 pinball machine Black Knight. It was advertised with the slogan "He rides again." and features a black knight theme.

Description

Black Knight 2000 has two different plastic artwork versions of the upper playfield - a futuristic and a stone castle design. The voices of the Choir of Angels are Stephanie Rogers and Glo Van Vlack.

The game has an upper and lower level, a repeating U-Turn, Skyway Loop shots and a Drawbridge toy. Black Knight 2000 includes the patented Magna-Save feature from the original - a ball saving magnet preventing balls from draining. Other gameplay features include Lightning Wheel Awards, Hurry-Up bonuses, three Multi-Ball rounds, and The King's Ransom Wizard mode.

Digital versions

Black Knight 2000 is available as a licensed table in The Pinball Arcade.

References

External links

Black Knight (Nathan Garrett)

Nathan Garrett, also known as the criminal Black Knight, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was a supervillain and descendant of the original Black Knight, and was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Dick Ayers.

Publication history

Sir Percy's descendant, Professor Nathan Garrett, debuted as the modern-day supervillain Black Knight in Tales to Astonish vol. 1, #52 (Feb. 1964). This villainous Black Knight appeared in The Avengers vol. 1, #6, 14-15 (July 1964, March-April 1965), and in the feature "Iron Man" in Tales of Suspense vol. 1, #73 (Jan. 1966), in which he was mortally wounded.

Fictional character biography

Professor Nathan Garrett is the distant direct descendant of Sir Percy, and was born in London, England. He becomes a biologist, research scientist, and university professor. He then became the head of an espionage ring, and was captured by the hero Giant-Man. Garrett fled to Europe, where he found Sir Percy's tomb and the Ebony Blade. Garrett's evil tendencies make him unworthy of wielding the sword, and he is shunned by Sir Percy's ghost. An embittered Garrett then devises an arsenal of medieval weapons that employ modern technology (including a lance that fired bolts of energy) and genetically engineers and creates a winged horse called Aragorn. Calling himself the Black Knight, Garrett embarks on a career as a professional criminal to spite his ancestor. He battled Giant-Man again and the Wasp but is defeated.

The Black Knight (Elgar)

The Black Knight, Op. 25 is a symphony/cantata for orchestra and chorus written by Edward Elgar in 1889–93. The librettist borrows from Longfellow's translation of the ballad Der schwarze Ritter by Ludwig Uhland.

Purpose

Basil Maine, a leading Elgar biographer, believes the purpose of the work is to create a close mix of vocal and instrumental tones. Elgar’s need to organize the loose format of the cantata by shaping it to a more rigid form is also apparent. For example, Elgar divides the text into four contrasting scenes corresponding to the four movements of a typical symphony.

Synopsis

Elgar's The Black Knight tells the story of the intrusion of a mysterious stranger into a king's court with disastrous and gruesome result.

It starts with a medieval jousting competition held in honor of the feast of Pentecost: in the competition, the king’s son beats everyone in the lists until a mysterious knight arrives and challenges him, and with the sky darkening and the castle rocking, the strange knight fights and wins. Later that evening, during the banquet, the black knight returns to ask the king if he can marry his daughter and begins to dance with her, and as they dance, the little flowers in her hair mysteriously die. Later, noticing the paleness of the king's two children, the guest offers 'healing' wine to them, who collapse and die soon after drinking the poison. The old king begs the knight to kill him as he has nothing left to live for, but he refuses.

The Black Knight (film)

The Black Knight is a 1954 film starring Alan Ladd as the title character and Peter Cushing and Patrick Troughton as two conspirators attempting to overthrow King Arthur. It is the last of Ladd's trilogy with Warwick Films, the others being The Red Beret and Hell Below Zero based on Hammond Innes' book The White South.

Plot

John (Alan Ladd), a blacksmith and swordsmith, is tutored at Camelot. As a commoner, he can't hope to win the hand of Lady Linet (Patricia Medina), daughter of the Earl of Yeoniland (Harry Andrews), so he creates a secret alternative identity as the Black Knight. In this new role, he is now able to help King Arthur when Saracens and Cornishmen—disguised as Vikings—plot to take over the country. However, his thoughts are not only on the protection of England when the good Lady Linet becomes threatened. When conspirators within Camelot plan to use the "Vikings" to overthrow King Arthur, the Black Knight is branded a traitor.

Selected cast