Not to be confused with Carmen Sylva.

Carmen Blanche Silvera (2 June 1922 - 3 August 2002) was a Canadian-born British comic actress of Spanish-Jewish descent who moved to Coventry with her family when she was a child. Silvera was possibly best known for her starring role in the British television programme, 'Allo 'Allo! as Edith Artois.

During World War II, Silvera was evacuated to Montreal and narrowly escaped death when, at the last minute, her name was taken off the passenger list of a troopship that was sunk by the enemy shortly afterwards, drowning 350 children. In Canada, she took classes with the Ballets Russes and appeared in three of its productions. On her return to Britain, she felt called to acting and trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, before gaining experience in repertory theatre.^[1]

Carmen Silvera first made her name as a television actress in the 1960s British police drama Z-Cars in 1962, going on to appear in the BBC soap opera Compact from 1964 to 1965. She played Mrs Van Schuyler in Lillie in 1978, ITV's drama series about the future Edward VII's mistress, Lillie Langtry.

She appeared twice in Doctor Who, in the serials The Celestial Toymaker as Clara the Clown, Mrs. Wiggs, and the Queen of Hearts, and as Ruth in Invasion of the Dinosaurs. She also appeared in the Dad's Army episode Mum's Army as Fiona Gray, the love-interest for Captain Mainwaring.

She appeared with Ted Rogers at the New Wimbledon Theatre in 1997 in Jimmy Perry's stage musical That's Showbiz. Her West End stage appearances included roles in Waters of the Moon, starring Ingrid Bergman, Hobson's Choice with Penelope Keith, A Coat of Varnish and School for Wives, which was directed by Peter Hall. She also played a grandmother in the 1997 film La Passione ^[1] and had roles in Keep It Up Downstairs (1976), Mrs Berkley in On The Game, and in the American film Clinic Exclusive.^[1]

In 1990, she was the subject of a This Is Your Life television programme. She did charity work for the Grand Order of Lady Ratlings, the ladies branch of the Grand Order of Water Rats.

Death[link]

Silvera died after a battle with lung cancer, aged 80, at the Denville Hall retirement village.

Family[link]

Her Jamaican-born father, Roland Silvera (1895–1986), was a well-known flat-green bowls player and a member of Stoke B.C., Coventry.

He served as President of Warwickshire County Bowls Association in 1970, in which year the County side achieved their one and only success in the English Bowling Association Middleton Cup competition, beating Middlesex in the final.

Coventry & District Bowls Association run an annual competition for the Silvera Shield.

After emigrating to Canada and becoming a ship hand, Roland fought for the Canadian Expeditionary Force in WW1.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Carmen Silvera at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC News item on Silvera's death
• Carmen Silvera on the Dad's Army News Archive
• Silvera's obituary in The Independent
• Silvera's obituary in The Guardian
• Carmen Silvera at Find A Grave

Billy Blanks
Billy Blanks, April 2006
Born	(1955-09-01) September 1, 1955 (age 56) Erie, Pennsylvania

Billy Wayne Blanks (born September 1, 1955) is an American fitness guru, martial artist, actor, and the inventor of the Tae Bo exercise program.^[1][2][3][4]

Career[link]

Blanks began his study of the martial arts at the age of eleven and practices Karate and Taekwondo.^[1][5][6] He was born with an anomaly in his hip joints that impaired his movement, and a clumsiness that earned him the taunts of his siblings and caused his coaches to believe he’d never accomplish much. Billy found the answer to these challenges in karate When he saw Bruce Lee on TV, he decided he wanted to be a world martial-arts champion. The discipline of the program began to transform his body.^[7]

Blanks began his acting career in the 1980s where he starred in several unsuccessful action-adventure feature films. He was hired to act as a bodyguard for lead actress Catherine Bach during the filming of Driving Force, due to the political unrest present in Manila at the time; he impressed the producers so much, they wrote him into the script.^[8]

In the late 1980s, Blanks invented the Tae Bo workout, while running a karate studio in Quincy, Massachusetts. He used components of his martial arts and boxing training.^[9] The name is a portmanteau of tae kwon do and boxing.^[10] Blanks opened a fitness center in Los Angeles to teach his new workout. He later attracted some celebrity clients such as Paula Abdul and the popularity of the workout quickly grew, becoming a pop culture phenomenon after Blanks began releasing mass-marketed videos. The popularity of the workout later waned, but Blanks still attracts many celebrity clients and Tae Bo videos and DVDs have continued to sell well.

Most of Billy Blank's products are licensed to DRTV, as can be seen by the copyright info in the footer of www.billyblanks.com. DRTV is an infomercial product company included under the umbrella of Gaiam, a lifestyle brand media company^[11] with offices in Broomfield, CO and New York, NY.

Personal life[link]

Blanks was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, the fourth of fifteen children. As a child he suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia. Blanks is a Christian and released a special line of Tae Bo workouts called the "Believer's" series that includes motivational prayers and other Christian components. He has appeared on Christian television network TBN.^[12]

He married Gayle H. Godfrey, whom he met in karate class. Gayle's daughter, Shellie, born on June 28, 1974, was adopted shortly after they married. Shellie Blanks Cimarosti, now an accomplished martial artist, is prominently featured in almost all of Billy's Tae Bo videos and has recently produced her own video (Tae Bo Postnatal Power),^[13] as well as hosted her father's new infomercial Tae Bo T3 (Total Transformation Training). Gayle and Billy also have a son, Billy Blanks Jr. who works as a dancer, singer and fitness instructor, having produced several best-selling DVDs,^[14] including "Cardioke" & "Fat Burning Hip Hop Mix", has starred in a touring production of Fame and has worked as a dancer in music videos with Madonna, Quincy Jones and Paula Abdul.^{[15][14][16][17][18]}

Billy and Gayle were divorced in 2008 after 33 years of marriage. According to the Petition for Legal Separation filed by his wife Gayle on April 22, 2008 in Los Angeles Superior Court, she and Billy had been separated since September 25, 2007. The reason given in the petition for the separation is "irreconcilable differences."^[19][20]

In November 2008, Blanks became the father of a new daughter named Angelika. The mother was his Japanese interpreter Tomoko whom he had known since 2007.^[21] Billy and Tomoko's marriage was formally registered in January 2009 and their wedding ceremony was held on June 20, 2009. He has also adopted his new wife's two daughters, Marriett and Erika Peterson. He is currently living with them in Osaka, Japan.

Filmography[link]

• Jack & Jill (2011)
• Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV series) Guest star season 4 episode 7 (Prelude to a Kiss) (1999)
• Virtual Kickboxing (1998)
• BattleDome (1998) (TV series)
• Kiss the Girls (1997)
• Balance of Power (1996)
• Expect no Mercy (1995)
• Back in Action (1994)
• Tough and Deadly (1994)
• Showdown (1993)
• TC 2000 (1993)
• Talons of the Eagle (1992)
• Zhan long zai ye (1992)
• The Last Boy Scout (1991)
• Timebomb (1991)
• The King of the Kickboxers (1991)
• Bloodfist (1989)
• Low Blow (1986)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Billy Blanks

• Official website
• Billy Blanks at the Internet Movie Database
• Billy Blanks at AllRovi
• Jewel, Dan (15 December 1997). "Karate Kid: Refining Tae Kwon Do, Billy Blanks Delivers a Punch to the Stars". People Magazine. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20124035,00.html. 

v t e Karateka Rafael Aghayev · Seishō Arakaki · Steve Arneil · Hideyuki Ashihara · Steven Bellamy · Billy Blanks · Jon Bluming · Tino Ceberano · Sonny Chiba · Chōshin Chibana · Howard Collins · Joe Corley · Keinosuke Enoeda · Shigeru Egami · Glaube Feitosa · Francisco Filho · Seiko Fujita · Michael G. Foster · Gichin Funakoshi · Gigō Funakoshi · Alexander Gerunov · Shinpan Gusukuma · Mitsusuke Harada · Yuchoku Higa · Kanryō Higaonna · Morio Higaonna · Shane Higashi · Loek Hollander · Andy Hug · Seikichi Iha · Motokatsu Inoue · Ankō Itosu · Manzo Iwata · John Jarvis · Nobuaki Kakuda · Hirokazu Kanazawa · Hajime Kazumi · Katsunori Kikuno · Chogi Kishaba · Chokei Kishaba · Chōtoku Kyan · Lechi Kurbanov · Kenwa Mabuni · Lyoto Machida · Akira Masuda · Shokei Matsui · Sōkon Matsumura · Miyuki Miura · Chōki Motobu · Chōyū Motobu · Chōjun Miyagi · Shōshin Nagamine · Andrews Nakahara · Seigi Nakamura · Tadashi Nakamura · Masatoshi Nakayama · Jōkō Ninomiya · Chuck Norris · Hironori Ōtsuka · Masutatsu Ōyama · Henry Plée · Katsuaki Satō · Semmy Schilt · Katsuhiko Shinzato · Yoshiji Soeno · Hohan Sōken · Georges St-Pierre · Taiji Kase · Ewerton Teixeira · Kenji Tokitsu · Robert Trias · Masami Tsuruoka · Sannosuke Ueshima · Luca Valdesi · Bill Wallace · Cheryl Wheeler-Dixon · Gōgen Yamaguchi · Terutomo Yamazaki

Carmen Martín Gaite (December 8, 1925–July 22, 2000) was an award winning Spanish author. She wrote in many genres, including novels, short stories, and essays. She also wrote screenplays.

Born in Salamanca, over the course of her life she won various awards, including the Prince of Asturias Awards in 1988, the Award Premio Castilla y León de las Letras in 1992, and the Premio Acebo de Honor awarded to her life work.

She was married to fellow writer Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio.

Bibliography[link]

Novels[link]

• Entre visillos (1957) (premio Nadal)
• Ritmo lento (1963)
• Retahílas (1974)
• Fragmentos de interior (1976)
• El cuarto de atrás (1978)
• Nubosidad variable (1992)
• La Reina de las Nieves (1994)
• Lo raro es vivir (1996)
• Irse de casa (1998)
• The Back Room (2000) (Translation of El cuarto de atrás, (1978))
• Los parentescos (2001) (posthumous, unfinished)
• Usos amorosos de la posguerra española

Short stories[link]

• El balneario (1954)
• Las ataduras (1960)
• Cuentos completos (1978)

Children's literature[link]

• El castillo de las tres murallas (1981)
• El pastel del diablo (1985)
• Caperucita en Manhattan (1990)

Theatre[link]

• A palo seco (1957)
• La hermana pequeña (1959)

Television[link]

• Teresa de Jesús (see article) (1984 miniseries)

Poetry[link]

• A rachas (1976)

Essays[link]

• El proceso de Macanaz (1969)
• Usos amorosos del dieciocho en España (1972)
• La búsqueda de interlocutor y otras búsquedas (1973)
• El cuento de nunca acabar (1983)
• Usos amorosos de la postguerra española (1987)
• Desde la ventana (1987)
• Agua pasada (1992)
• Cuadernos de todo (2002)

Translation[link]

• Madame Bovary (1993)

External links[link]

This article about a Spanish writer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Medal record
Competitor for  Spain
Women's handball
World Championship
Bronze	2011 Brazil	Team
European Championship
Silver	2008 Macedonia	Team

Carmen Martín Berenguer (born 29 May 1988)^[1] is a Spanish handball player. She plays for the club SD Itxako, and on the Spanish national team.

She was part of the Spanish team at the 2008 European Women's Handball Championship,^[2] where the Spanish team reached the final, after defeating the German team in the semifinal.^[3]

Awards and recognition[link]

• All-Star Right Wing of the World Championship: 2011^[4]

References[link]