Peter Jeffrey (18 April 1929 – 25 December 1999) was a British actor with many roles in television and film.^[1]

Jeffrey was born in Bristol, the son of Florence Alice (née Weight) and Arthur Winfred Gilbert Jeffrey.^[2] He was educated at Harrow School and Pembroke College, Cambridge but had no formal training as an actor. After many years on stage with the Bristol Old Vic and the Royal Shakespeare Company, he became a very familiar face to British television viewers. Numerous television roles include his 1978 guest appearance in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who as Count Grendel in the serial The Androids of Tara and his 1967 appearance as the Colony Pilot in The Macra Terror. It is reputed he had been offered the role of the lead character in the show by Innes Lloyd in 1966, but turned it down; Patrick Troughton was cast instead. In the BBC serial Elizabeth R, he played King Philip II of Spain. He also appeared in Porridge, Quiller, Rising Damp, Nanny, Minder, Yes Minister and many others.

Jeffrey died on 25 December 1999 from prostate cancer.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Peter Jeffrey at the Internet Movie Database
• Obituary in The Independent^{[dead link]}

This article about an English film and television actor or actress is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Bud Spencer
Spencer in December 2009
Born	Carlo Pedersoli (1929-10-31) 31 October 1929 (age 82) Naples, Italy
Other names	Carl Spencer
Occupation	Writer, Actor, former Swimmer, Singer, Composer, Jurist, Screenplaywriter, Fashion designer, Record producer
Years active	1951–2011
Spouse	Maria Amato (1960–present)

Bud Spencer (born Carlo Pedersoli; 31 October 1929) is an Italian actor, filmmaker and former swimmer (he was the first Italian to swim 100m in less than a minute). He is known for past roles in action-comedy films together with his long time film partner Terence Hill. Growing from a successful swimmer in his youth, he got a degree in law, and has registered several patents.^[1]

Biography[link]

Spencer was born in Santa Lucia, a historical rione of the city of Naples. He married Maria Amato in 1960, with whom he had three children: Giuseppe (1961), Christine (1962) and Diamante (1972). From 1947 to 1949 he worked in the Italian consulate in Recife, Brazil, where he learned fluent Portuguese. He changed his screen name in 1967 reportedly chosen to pay homage to Spencer Tracy as well as his favorite beer, Budweiser. Other sources report that he found it funny to call himself "bud" despite his weight and his imposing height at almost 6 ft 4 in (192 cm).^[1]

Swimming and water polo career[link]

A successful swimmer in his youth, Spencer was the first Italian to swim the 100 m freestyle in less than one minute. He achieved this on 19 September 1950, when he swam the 100 m in 59.5 s.^[2] In the 1951 Mediterranean Games, he won a silver medal in the same 100 m freestyle event.^[3]

Spencer participated in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, reaching the semi-finals in the 100 m freestyle (58.8 s heats, 58.9 s semi final).^[4] Four years later, in Melbourne, he also entered the semi-finals in the same category (58.5 s heat, 59.0 s semi final).^[5] As a water polo player, he won the Italian Championship in 1954, with S.S. Lazio. His swimming career ended abruptly in 1957.

On 17 January 2005 he was awarded with the Caimano d'oro (Gold Caiman) by the Italian Swimming Federation.^[6] On 24 January 2007, he received from the Italian Swimming Federation's president Paolo Barelli, swim and water polo coach diplomas.^[7]

Acting career[link]

Spencer's first movie role was that of a member of the Praetorian guard in Quo Vadis, a film shot in Italy, in 1951.^[1] During the 1950s and part of the 1960s, Spencer appeared in some Italian films but "his career was strictly minor league until the late 1960s."^[1]

Spencer met Terence Hill, with whom he made a large number of Italian Westerns and other films together, including (named using their most common US titles):

1. Hannibal (1959), as Carlo Pedersoli together with Mario Girotti
2. God Forgives... I Don't! (1967), first time as Bud Spencer together with Terence Hill
3. Ace High (1968)
4. Boot Hill (1969)
5. They Call Me Trinity (1970)
6. Blackie the Pirate (1971)
7. Trinity Is Still My Name (1971)
8. All the Way, Boys (1972)
9. Watch Out, We're Mad (1974)
10. Two Missionaries (1975)
11. Crime Busters (1976)
12. Odds and Evens (1978)
13. I'm For the Hippopotamus (1979)
14. Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure (1981)
15. Go For It! (1983)
16. Double Trouble (1984)
17. Miami Supercops (1985)
18. Troublemakers (1994)

Films with Spencer in solo performance include:

1. The Five Man Army (1969)
2. The Fifth Day of Peace (1969)
3. It Can Be Done Amigo (1972)
4. Piedone, the cop (1973)
5. They Call Him Bulldozer (1978)
6. The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid (1979)
7. Everything Happens to Me (1980)
8. Why Did You Pick On Me (1980)
9. Banana Joe (1982)
10. Bomber (1982)
11. Superfantagenio (1986)

Many of these have alternate titles, depending upon the country and distributor. Some have longer Italian versions that were edited for release abroad. These films gathered popularity for both actors, especially in Europe.^[1]

The main dubber of Bud Spencer in Italy is Glauco Onorato who, with his characteristic voice, successfully enriched the character of Bud Spencer with many particularities. In some movies the dubber is Sergio Fiorentini (Botte di Natale, Al limite and the series of Detective Extralarge). In the movie Oggi a te domani a me the dubber is Ferruccio Amendola

Spencer also wrote the complete or partial screenplay for some of his movies. His fan base is particularly large in Europe. His feature film career slowed down after 1983, shifting more toward television. In the 1990s, he acted in the TV action-drama "Extralarge".

Personal life[link]

After appearing in Più forte, ragazzi!, Spencer became a jet airplane and helicopter pilot.^[1] He established Mistral Air in 1984, an air-mail company that also transports pilgrims, but later sold it to Poste Italiane to buy a textile mill that produced clothes for children.

Career in politics[link]

In 2005, Pedersoli entered politics, unsuccessfully standing as regional counselor in Lazio for the Forza Italia party. Spencer has stated: "In my life, I've done everything. There are only three things I haven't been - a ballet dancer, a jockey and a politician. Given that the first two jobs are out of the question, I'll throw myself into politics."^[1] The opposition criticised him for engaging in "politica spettacolo" ("showbiz politics").^[1] He worked for many years at Italian Embassy in Brazil.

Filmography[link]

Writer: 1990s[link]

• Banana Joe (1982)
• Big Man
  • La Fanciulla che ride (1988) (TV)
  • Diva (1989) (TV)
  • Boomerang (1989) (TV)
• Extralarge
  • Ninja Shadow (1993) (TV)
  • Diamonds (1993) (TV)

(in the 1980s, he was credited as Carlo Pedersoli)

Image gallery[link]

• Angelo-Romani Carlo-Pedersoli.jpg

  Pedersoli (right) with the Olympic swimmer Angelo Romani

• Italian waterpolo team circa 1950.jpg

  The Italian water polo team, early 50s

• Geninio-Ognio Carlo-Pedersoli Siro-Banchelli Pennecchini.jpg

  Left to right: Geminio Ognio, Carlo Pedersoli, Sirio Banchelli, Pennecchini

• Paolo-Galletti Carlo-Pedersoli Angelo-Romani Osvaldo-Berti Giorgio-Grilz.jpg

  Left to right: Paolo Galletti, Carlo Pedersoli, Angelo Romani, Osvaldo Berti, Giorgio Grilz

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bud Spencer at the Internet Movie Database
• Budterence.it - Bud Spencer & Terence Hill Italian Website (Italian)
• Hill & Spencer website (French)
• Carlo Pedersoli at sports-reference.com

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Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor. He is best known for starring in multiple action and western films (so-called spaghetti westerns) together with his longtime film partner Bud Spencer.

Biography[link]

Hill was born in Venice, Italy. His mother was German, his father an Italian chemist. As a child, he lived in the small town of Lommatzsch, Germany from 1943 to 1945 during World War II, surviving the Dresden Bombing. After being discovered by Italian filmmaker Dino Risi for Vacanze col Gangster (Holiday with the Gangster, 1951) at an early age of 12, he had, after 27 movies in Italy (including Gli sbandati), a major film role in Luchino Visconti's The Leopard (Il Gattopardo, 1963). In 1964, he returned to Germany and there, appeared in a series of Heimatfilmen, adventure and western films, made after novels by German author Karl May. In 1967, he returned to Italy to act in God Forgives... I Don't! (Dio perdona... Io no!, 1968). He changed his name to Terence Hill in the same year. The name was made up, as a publicity stunt, by the film producers; he had to choose from a list of twenty names and picked the one with his mother's initials. In a Q&A,^[1] he dismissed as a journalist's invention the rumour that it might have been taken from the Roman playwright Terence and his wife's surname (his wife was Lori Zwicklbauer; she later took her husband's surname).

In the following years, he starred in many action and Spaghetti Westerns together with his longtime colleague and friend Bud Spencer. The pair were notable for their comedy films, successful not only in Italy, but also abroad. They made a large number of Italian Westerns and other films together. Many of these have alternate titles, depending upon the country and distributor. Possibly their most famous film is the 1971 western Lo chiamavano Trinità (They Call Me Trinity) and the 1972 sequel Continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità (Trinity Is STILL My Name!). He has stated in interviews that Il mio nome è Nessuno (My Name Is Nobody, 1973), in which he co-starred with the American Henry Fonda, is his personal favorite of all his films.

His first American films were Mr. Billion and March or Die (both 1977), after which he divided his time between Italy and the US.

Hill's adopted son Ross was killed in an accident in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1990 while the actor was preparing to film Lucky Luke on the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe. Hill later went on to a successful television career in Italy. In 2000, he landed the leading role in the Italian television series Don Matteo, as a crimefighting parish priest.

Filmography[link]

• Vacanze col gangster (1951)
• Un Amore per te (1952)
• Villa Borghese (1953)
• La voce del silenzio (1953)
• Divisione Folgore (1954)
• Gli sbandati (1955)
• La vena d'oro (1955)
• I vagabondi delle stelle (1956)
• Mamma sconosciuta (1956)
• Lazzarella (1957)
• Guaglione (1957)
• La grande strada azzurra (1957)
• La spada e la croce (1958)
• Novelliere: The picture of Dorian Gray, Il (1958, TV)
• Anna di Brooklyn (1958)
• Cerasella (1959, as Mario Girotti)
• Spavaldi e innamorati (1959)
• Padrone delle ferriere, Il (1959)
• Primo Amore (1959
• Giuseppe venduto dai fratelli (1960)
• Militare e mezzo, Un (1960)
• Cartagine in fiamme (1960)
• Annibale (1960)
• Juke box urli d'amore (1960)
• Pecado de amor
• Le meraviglie di Aladino(1961)
• Il Giorno più corto(1962)
• Il Dominatore dei sette mari (1962)
• Il Gattopardo (1963)
• Winnetou - 2. Teil (1964)
• Among Vultures (1964)
• Duell vor Sonnenuntergang (1965)
• Schüsse im Dreivierteltakt (1965)
• Der Ölprinz (1965)
• Ruf der Wälder (1965)
• Old Surehand (1965)
• Die Nibelungen, Teil 1: Siegfried (1966)
• Rita nel West (1967)
• La feldmarescialla (1967)
• Io non protesto, io amo (1967, as Mario Girotti)
• Die Nibelungen, Teil 2: Kriemhilds Rache (1967)
• Dio perdona... Io no! (1967)
• Preparati la bara! (1968)
• I quattro dell'Ave Maria(Ace High, 1968)
• Barbagia (1969)
• La collina degli stivali (Boot Hill,1969)
• La collera del vento (1970)
• Lo chiamavano Trinità (They Call Me Trinity, 1970)
• Il corsaro nero (Blackie the Pirate, 1971)
• ...continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità (Trinity Is Still My Name, 1971)
• Più forte, ragazzi! (All the Way, Boys, 1972)
• Il vero e il falso (1972)
• E poi lo chiamarono il magnifico (Man of the East, 1972)
• Il mio nome è Nessuno (My Name Is Nobody, 1973)
• Porgi l'altra guancia (Two Missionaries, 1974)
• ...altrimenti ci arrabbiamo (Watch Out, We're Mad!, 1974)
• Un genio, due compari, un pollo (A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe, 1975)
• I due superpiedi quasi piatti (Crime Busters, 1976)
• Mr. Billion (1977)
• March or Die (1977)
• Pari e dispari (Odds and Evens, 1978)
• Io sto con gli ippopotami (1979)
• Poliziotto superpiù (Super Fuzz, 1980)
• Chi trova un amico, trova un tesoro (A Friend Is a Treasure, 1981)
• Nati con la camicia (Go for It, 1983)
• Non c'è due senza quattro (Double Trouble, 1984)
• Don Camillo (1983)
• Miami Supercops - I poliziotti dell'ottava strada (1985)
• Renegade - Un osso troppo duro (They Call Me Renegade, 1987)
• Lucky Luke (1991)
• Lucky Luke (8 episodes, 1992)
• Botte di Natale (1994)
• Potenza virtuale (1997)
• Don Matteo (8 seasons/168 episodes, 2000–2011)
• L'uomo che sognava con le aquile (2006, TV)
• L'uomo che cavalcava nel buio (2009)
• Doc West (2009)
• Un passo dal cielo (12 episodes, 2010–2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Terence Hill at the Internet Movie Database
• Terence Hill official international website

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Simon Gray
Born	Simon James Holliday Gray (1936-10-21)21 October 1936 Hayling Island, Hampshire, England
Died	6 August 2008(2008-08-06) (aged 71) London
Occupation	Playwright, screenwriter, memoirist, novelist academic (1965–1985)
Nationality	English
Education	Westminster School
Alma mater	Dalhousie University (B.A., 1967) and Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1971)
Period	1963–2008
Genres	Drama, screenplay, memoir, novel
Notable work(s)	Butley, Quartermaine's Terms, Otherwise Engaged, The Smoking Diaries
Spouse(s)	Beryl Kevern Gray (1965–1997) Victoria Katherine Rothschild Gray (1997–2008)
Children	2
www.simongray.org.uk
Literature portal

Simon James Holliday Gray CBE (21 October 1936 – 7 August 2008^[1]) was an English playwright and memoirist who also had a career as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years.^[2][3] While teaching at Queen Mary, Gray began his writing career as a novelist in 1963 and, during the next 45 years, in addition to 5 published novels, wrote 40 original stage plays, screenplays, and screen adaptations of his own and others' works for stage, film, and television and became well known for the self-deprecating wit characteristic of several volumes of memoirs or diaries.^[4][5][6][7]

Biography[link]

Simon James Holliday Gray was born on 21 October 1936 on Hayling Island, in Hampshire, England, where his father, James, a G.P. who became a pathologist later, worked.^[8] In 1939, during World War II, when he was three years old, he was evacuated to Montreal, Canada, to live in "a house where his grandfather and [his grandfather's] alcoholic wife were attended upon by a younger aunt"; in 1945, when he was nearly 10, he returned to England, where he was educated at Westminster School, in London.^[8] In 1965, he was appointed a lecturer in English at Queen Mary College, London.^[6][8] In 1967, he received a B.A. from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia; and, in 1971, another B.A. from Trinity College, Cambridge.^[8][9]

He married his first wife, Beryl Kevern, in 1965; they had two children, a son, Benjamin, and a daughter, Lucy, and were divorced in 1997.^[5][8] During their marriage, he had an eight-year affair with another Queen Mary lecturer, Victoria Katherine Rothschild (b. 1953), a daughter of Sir Nathaniel Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild;^{[2][5][10][11]} in 1997, after his divorce, they married, living together in west London, until his death on 6 August 2008.^[12]

In 2004 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama and literature.^[8]

Suffering from both lung cancer and prostate cancer and related ailments at the time of his death, he died of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, on 7 August 2008, at the age of 71.^[4][6][13]

Career[link]

When he was still in his 20s, he began his writing career as a novelist with Colmain, published by Faber and Faber in 1963.^[14] His career in drama began when he adapted one of his own short stories, The Caramel Crisis, for television. He subsequently wrote a number of plays for, amongst others, The Wednesday Play and Play for Today BBC anthology series, frequently in collaboration with the producer Kenith Trodd.^[15] Gray wrote 40 plays and screenplays for the stage, television, and film and 8 volumes of memoirs based on his diaries.^[14]

Wise Child, an adaptation of a TV play deemed too shocking for the small screen, was his first stage play. It starred Simon Ward and Alec Guinness and was produced by Michael Codron at Wyndham's Theatre in 1967. Subsequently, he wrote original plays for both radio and television and adaptations, including: an TV adaptation of The Rector’s Daughter, by F. M. Mayor; stage adaptations of Tartuffe and The Idiot. His original television screenplays include Running Late, After Pilkington, Unnatural Pursuits, and A Month in the Country. His 1971 play Butley, produced by Codron, began a long creative partnership with Harold Pinter as director (of both the play and the film versions) and continued the partnership with the actor Alan Bates begun with Gray's 1967 television play Death of a Teddy Bear; Bates starred in 11 of Gray's works, while Pinter directed 10 separate productions of Gray's works for stage, film, and television, beginning with Butley; the last one was a stage production of The Old Masters, starring Peter Bowles and Edward Fox.^[14][16][17]

As with Butley (1971) and Otherwise Engaged (1975), whose London productions and films both starred Bates, and Quartermaine's Terms (1981), starring Fox, Gray "often returned to the subject of the lives and trials of educated intellectuals."^[14]

He wrote many other successful stage plays, including The Common Pursuit, The Late Middle Classes, Hidden Laughter, Japes, Close of Play, The Rear Column, and Little Nell, several of which he directed himself.

In 1984, at the suggestion of Robert McCrum, Faber editor-in-chief at that time, he kept a diary of the London premiere of The Common Pursuit (directed by Pinter at the Lyric Hammersmith), resulting in the first of his 8 volumes of theatre-related and personal memoirs, An Unnatural Pursuit (Faber 1985), and culminating in the critically acclaimed trilogy entitled The Smoking Diaries (Granta, 2004–2008).^[18]

Gray's play about George Blake, Cell Mates (1995), starring Rik Mayall, Stephen Fry and Simon Ward, attracted media attention when Stephen Fry abruptly "fled to Bruges" after the third performance, thus leaving the show without its lead actor.^[3] Gray subsequently wrote his theatrical memoir Fat Chance, providing a scathingly hilarious account of the episode.^[19]

In August 2008, shortly before his death, he attracted further press attention with his criticism of the Royal National Theatre's "cowardice" in dealing with the subject of radical Islam.^[20]

Posthumous tributes and related developments[link]

Gray's final volume of diaries, Coda, "so named because it rounds off the trilogy of 'Smoking Diaries' (The Smoking Diaries, The Year of the Jouncer and The Last Cigarette) … a meditation on death, or rather dying, an account of living on borrowed time," was published posthumously by Faber and Faber and Granta in November 2008.^[21][22] From 8 to 12 December 2008, in five 15-minute episodes, actor Toby Stephens read from this "candid and darkly comic account of coming to terms with terminal cancer" for BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week.^[23]

Simon Gray: A Celebration, directed by Harry Burton, who directed Gray's last stage production in Spring 2008 (Quartermaine's Terms at Theatre Royal, Windsor),^[24] was held at the Comedy Theatre, in London, on 15 March 2009.^[25]

A production entitled The Last Cigarette, based on Gray's and Hugh Whitemore's adaptation of the three volumes of his memoirs called The Smoking Diaries and directed by Richard Eyre, is being staged at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, England, through 11 April 2009.^[26][27] On 28 April 2009, after previewing from 21 April, the production, in which Felicity Kendal, Nicholas Le Prevost, and Jasper Britton all continue to "portray the playwright through the course of the play," transfers to the Trafalgar Studios, in London's West End, where it runs through 1 August 2009.^[28][29]

An official web site was launched in October 2009.^[30]

The Late Middle Classes finally received its London premiere on 27 May 2010 at the Donmar Warehouse in London, directed by David Leveaux and starring Helen McCrory, Eleanor Bron, Peter Sullivan and Robert Glenister. The original production of the play, directed by Harold Pinter, was prevented from reaching its intended West End theatre by a musical about a boy band.^[31] Gray's experience of this production is the subject of his diary "Enter a Fox".

Plays[link]

• Wise Child, Wyndham's Theatre (1967)
• Dutch Uncle, Aldwych Theatre (1969)
• The Idiot (adapted from Dostoyevsky), Old Vic (1970)
• Spoiled, Haymarket Theatre (February 1971)
• Butley, Criterion Theatre (1971)^[32]
• Otherwise Engaged, Queen's Theatre (1975)
• Dog Days, Oxford 1976; Eyre Methuen (1976) ISBN 0-413-37270-7
• Molly, stage adaptation of his television play Death of a Teddy Bear (1967), based on the Francis Rattenbury 1935 murder case, Comedy Theatre (1978)
• The Rear Column, The Globe Theatre (1978); Eyre Methuen (1978) ISBN 0-413-39170-1
• Close of Play, National Theatre Lyttelton (1979)
• Stage Struck, Vaudeville Theatre (1979)
• Quartermaine's Terms, Queen's Theatre (1981)
• Tartuffe (adaptation), Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. (1982)
• The Common Pursuit, Lyric Hammersmith (1984)
• Melon (later revised as The Holy Terror), Theatre Royal Haymarket (1987)
• Hidden Laughter, Vaudeville Theatre (1990)
• The Holy Terror, Temple of Arts Theater, Tucson, Arizona (1991)
• Cell Mates, Albery Theatre (1995)
• Simply Disconnected, sequel to Otherwise Engaged, Minerva Theatre, Chichester (1996)
• Life Support, Aldwych Theatre (1997)
• Just the Three of Us, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre (1997); Nick Hern Books (1999) ISBN 1-85459-434-6
• The Late Middle Classes, Watford Palace (1999)
• Japes, Peter Hall Company, Mercury Theatre, Colchester (2000) and Theatre Royal Haymarket (2001)
• Japes Too and Michael, published in Four Plays by Faber (2004) ISBN 0-571-21988-8
• The Pig Trade, published in Four Plays (2004)
• The Holy Terror (revival), Duke of York's Theatre (2004)^[33]
• The Old Masters featuring art critic Berenson and art dealer Duveen, Comedy Theatre (2004)^[34]
• Little Nell, BBC Radio 4 (2006); Theatre Royal, Bath (2007)^[35]
• Missing Dates, BBC Radio 4 (1 March 2008)

Screenplays[link]

• Butley (1974)
• A Month in the Country adapted from the novel by J. L. Carr (1987)^[36]

Television plays[link]

• The Caramel Crisis (BBC, Thirty Minute Theatre, 25 April 1966)
• Death of a Teddy Bear, based on the Francis Rattenbury 1935 murder case (BBC, Wednesday Play, 15 February 1967)
• A Way with the Ladies (BBC, Wednesday Play, 10 May 1967)
• Sleeping Dogs (BBC, Wednesday Play, 11 October 1967)
• The Princess, adapted from a D. H. Lawrence short story (BBC, The Jazz Age, 1968)
• Spoiled (BBC, Wednesday Play 28 August 1968); Methuen Plays (1971) ISBN 0-416-18630-0
• Mother Love, adapted from W. Somerset Maugham (BBC, August 1969)
• Pig in a Poke (ITV, Saturday Night Theatre, March 1969)
• The Dirt on Lucy Lane (ITV, Saturday Night Theatre, April 1969)
• The Style of the Countess, adapted from the novel by Gavin Lambert (ITV, Playhouse, August 1970)
• Man in a Side-Car (BBC, Play for Today, May 1971)
• Plaintiffs and Defendants (BBC, October 1975)
• Two Sundays (BBC, October 1975)
• The Rear Column (BBC, 1980)

Films for television[link]

• Quartermaine's Terms (BBC, 1987)
• After Pilkington (BBC, January 1987)
• Old Flames (BBC, 1990)
• They Never Slept (BBC, March 1991)
• The Common Pursuit (BBC, March 1992)
• Running Late (BBC, October 1992)
• Unnatural Pursuits (semi-autobiographical, two-part satire, BBC, December 1992)
• Femme Fatale (BBC, February 1993)

Novels[link]

• Colmain, Faber (1963)
• Simple People, Faber (1965)
• A Comeback for Stark (writing as Hamish Reade), Putnam (1968), Faber (1969)
• Little Portia, Faber (1986) ISBN 0-571-14598-0
• Breaking Hearts, Faber (1997) ISBN 0-571-17238-5

Memoirs[link]

• An Unnatural Pursuit and Other Pieces, Faber (1985) ISBN 0-571-13719-9
• How's that for Telling 'em, Fat Lady?, Faber (1988) ISBN 0-571-15139-6
• Fat Chance, Faber (1995) ISBN 0-571-17792-1
• Enter A Fox, Faber (2001) ISBN 0-571-20940-8
• The Smoking Diaries, Granta Books (2004) ISBN 1-86207-688-X^[37]
• The Year of the Jouncer, Granta Books (2006) ISBN 1-86207-896-3^[38]
• The Last Cigarette: Smoking Diaries Volume 3, Granta Books (2008) ISBN 1-84708-038-3^[39][40]
• Coda, Granta Books (2008) ISBN 1-84708-094-4^[21][22]

Collected plays[link]

Honours and awards[link]

• 1967 Writer's Guild Award for Best Play, for Death of a Teddy Bear
• 1971 Evening Standard Award, for Butley
• 1975 Best Play, New York Drama Critics' Circle and Evening Standard Award, for Otherwise Engaged
• 1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play (foreign), for Otherwise Engaged
• 1982 Cheltenham Literary Prize, for Quartermaine's Terms
• 1987 Prix Italia, for After Pilkington
• 1993 Golden Gate Award for a Television Feature, San Francisco International Film Festival, for Running Late
• 1999 Barclays Theatre Award for Best New Play, for The Late Middle Classes
• 2004 Appointed CBE for services to Drama and Literature

See also[link]

Theatre portal

• Comedy

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

Articles and book reviews

Obituaries and tributes

Performance reviews

External links[link]

• Simon Gray articles index in the Guardian.
• Simon Gray at the Internet Broadway Database
• Simon Gray at the Internet Movie Database

Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Background information
Birth name	Hansjörg Moroder
Also known as	Giorgio
Born	(1940-04-26) 26 April 1940 (age 72) Urtijëi, Italy
Origin	Urtijëi, Italy
Genres	Dance, disco, electronic, electronic dance, Hi-NRG, Eurodisco, Italo disco, pop, rock
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Synthesizers
Years active	1965–present
Labels	Oasis
Associated acts	Donna Summer, Freddie Mercury, Limahl
Website	www.moroder.net

Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder,^[1][2] named on record sleeves often only Giorgio (born 26 April 1940, Urtijëi, South Tyrol, Italy) is an Italian (of Ladin ethnicity^[3]) record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records. He collaborated with Donna Summer during the era of disco (including "Love to Love You Baby" and "I Feel Love") and is the founder of the former Musicland Studios in Munich, which was used as a recording studio by artists including the Electric Light Orchestra, Led Zeppelin, Queen and Elton John.

In addition to producing several hits with Donna Summer, Moroder also produced a number of electronic disco hits for The Three Degrees, two albums for Sparks, a handful of songs on Bonnie Tyler's album Bitterblue as well as her 1985 single "Here She Comes" and a score of songs for performers including David Bowie, Irene Cara, Madleen Kane, Melissa Manchester, Blondie, Japan, and France Joli.

Music career[link]

Moroder made his first steps in music in Berlin by releasing a few singles under the name "Giorgio" beginning in 1966, singing in Italian, Spanish, English, and German. He came to prominence in 1969, when his recording "Looky Looky", released on Ariola Records, was awarded a gold disc in October 1970.^[4] He then began making a name for himself in studios around Germany in the early 1970s. Often collaborating with lyricist Pete Bellotte, Moroder had a number of hits in his own name including "Son of My Father" in 1972 before releasing the synthesizer-driven From Here to Eternity, a notable chartbuster in 1977, and in the following year releasing "Chase", the theme from the film Midnight Express. These songs achieved some chart success in the United Kingdom, the United States, and across Europe, and everywhere disco-mania was spreading. The full film score for Midnight Express won him his first Academy Award for best film score in 1978. In 1979, Moroder released his album E=MC². Text on the album's cover stated that it was the "first electronic live-to-digital album." He also released three albums between 1977–1979 under the name Munich Machine.

In 1984, Moroder worked with Philip Oakey of The Human League to make the album Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder; which was a UK singles chart hit with "Together in Electric Dreams", title track to the 1984 film Electric Dreams. 1985 saw him collaborating with Kajagoogoo frontman Limahl for their worldwide hit "Neverending Story". In 1986, Moroder collaborated with his protégé Harold Faltermeyer (of "Axel F.") and lyricist Tom Whitlock to create the score for the film Top Gun (1986) and Berlin's "Take My Breath Away". "Chase" was also used as an entrance theme for wrestling's group The Midnight Express. In 1987, Moroder produced Falco's song "Body Next to Body".

In 1997, Moroder and Donna Summer won the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for the song "Carry On".

On 20 September 2004 Moroder was honored at the Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony, held in New York, when he was inducted for his many outstanding achievements and contributions as producer. In 2005, he was given the title of Commendatore by the then President of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. On September 5, 2010 Moroder received the Great Order of Merit of the South Tyrol.

Film work[link]

Throughout much of his musical career, Moroder has been involved in soundtrack work for various motion pictures.

In 1980, he composed and produced two film soundtrack albums: the first for Foxes and the second for American Gigolo. A double album, of the Foxes soundtrack was released on the disco label Casablanca Records which includes Donna Summer's hit single "On the Radio", which Moroder both produced and co-wrote. The American Gigolo soundtrack featured the Moroder-produced Blondie's "Call Me", a US and UK number one hit. All singles from the album also went to number two for five weeks on the disco/dance charts.^[5] In 1982 he wrote the soundtrack of the movie Cat People, including the hit single "Putting Out Fire" featuring David Bowie.

In 1983, Moroder produced the soundtrack for the film Scarface. During its initial release, the album was only available in a few countries and strictly through import in the United States. Notable Moroder-produced tracks included "Scarface (Push It to the Limit)" by Paul Engemann, "Rush Rush" by Debbie Harry, and "She's on Fire" by Amy Holland. In 2006, the soundtrack was featured in the game Scarface: The World Is Yours, which is based on the film and also includes some previously-unreleased instrumentals by Moroder.

In 1984, Moroder compiled a new restoration and edit of the silent film Metropolis (1927) and provided it with a contemporary soundtrack. This soundtrack includes seven pop music tracks from Pat Benatar, Jon Anderson, Adam Ant, Billy Squier, Loverboy, Bonnie Tyler and Freddie Mercury. He also integrated the old-fashioned intertitles into the film as subtitles as a means of improving continuity, and he also increased the film's frame to 24 frames a second. Since the original speed was unknown this choice was controversial. Known as the "Moroder version", it sparked debate among film buffs, with outspoken critics and supporters of the film falling into equal camps.^[6]

Moroder also scored other films in the 1970s and 1980s, including Midnight Express, Flashdance, The Never Ending Story, Thief of Hearts, Electric Dreams, Cat People and Over the Top.

In 2002, he wrote the score for Leni Riefenstahl's final film, Impressionen unter Wasser, a marine documentary.^[7]

In an interview in May 2012, Moroder said he is collaboration on a little "rap" on the upcoming album of Daft Punk.^[8][9]

Video games[link]

His score for "Scarface" has been used in the video game Grand Theft Auto III while Moroder's "From Here to Eternity" and "Chase" were used in the Sony PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. "Together In Electric Dreams", a collaborative effort of Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey (of The Human League) features in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.

Sporting events and other media[link]

Moroder wrote the official theme songs, "Reach Out", for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and "Hand in Hand", for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and "Un'estate italiana" for the 1990 Football World Cup. "The Chase" is now also used as the theme bumper-music for the US AM talk radio program Coast to Coast AM. The BBC used Moroder's film soundtrack "Ivory Tower" as theme song during the broadcast of the motor-racing event Formula 1 Grand Prix, during the late 1980s and the early/mid 1990s. He also composed the song "Forever Friends" for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Other[link]

In the late 1980s, Moroder collaborated with Claudio Zampolli to create the Cizeta supercar.

Awards[link]

Moroder has won three Academy Awards: Best Original Score for Midnight Express (1978); Best Song for "Flashdance...What a Feeling", from the film Flashdance (1983); and Best Song for "Take My Breath Away", from Top Gun (1986).

Moroder also won two of his three Grammy Awards for "Flashdance": Best Album Of Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special and Best Instrumental Composition, for the track "Love Theme from Flashdance".

Notable collaborations[link]

{{columns-list|4|

• María Conchita Alonso
• Adam Ant
• Pat Benatar
• Edoardo Bennato
• Berlin
• Big Trouble
• Blondie
• Daft Punk
• David Bowie* [[* The Three Degrees
• Bonnie Tyler

}}

Discography[link]

The discography of Giorgio Moroder includes thirteen studio albums and ten soundtracks. This list is not representative of Moroder's work, as he is most successful as music producer.

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

• 1965 Baby Courreges / Warum hoer' ich nichts von dir (as Rock Romance)
• 1966 Stop / Believe In Me
• 1966 Glaub An Mich / Stop
• 1966 Bla, Bla Diddley / How Much Longer Must I Wait, Wait (as Giorgio and The Morodians)
• 1967 Lilly Belle / Love's Morning Land
• 1968 Moody Trudy / Stop
• 1968 Yummy, Yummy, Yummy / Make Me Your Baby (as Giorgio)(as George)
• 1968 Cinnamon / Reesy-Beesy
• 1968 Monja / Raggi Di Sole (as George)
• 1969 Luky, Luky [Looky, Looky] / Senza Te, Senza Me [Happy Birthday] (as George)
• 1969 Looky, Looky / Happy Birthday
• 1969 Mah Nà Mah Nà / Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo
• 1970 Lina Con La Luna (Moody Trudy) / Risi E Bisi (Reesy Beesy) (as George)
• 1970 Mony Mony (Muny Muny Muny) / Tempo D'amore (Make Me Your Baby)(as George)
• 1970 Arizona Man / Sally Don't You Cry
• 1970 Arizona Man (Jerk) / So Young (Slow)
• 1970 America, America / Rhythm Of Love (as Spinach)
• 1971 Action Man (part 1) / Action Man (part 2) (as Spinach)
• 1971 Underdog / Watch Your Step
• 1971 I'm Free Now / Son Of My Father
• 1971 London Traffic / Everybody Join Hands
• 1972 (Sweet Sixteen) You Know What I Mean / Knockin' On Your Door
• 1972 Tu Sei Mio Padre [Son Of My Father] / Non Ci Sto [Underdog]
• 1972 Son Of My Father (part 1) / Son Of My Father (part 2)
• 1972 Lord (Release Me) / Tears (as Children Of The Mission)
• 1972 Today's A Tomorrow (You Worried 'Bout Yesterday) / Pauline
• 1972 Take It, Shake It, Break My Heart / Spanish Disaster
• 1972 The Future Is Past / Blue Jean Girl
• 1973 Lonely Lovers' Symphony / Crippled Words
• 1973 Heaven Helps The Man (Who Helps Himself) / Sandy
• 1973 Hilf Dir Selbst/Geh Zu Ihm
• 1974 Marrakesh / Nostalgie
• 1974 Lie, Lie, Lie / Collico
• 1974 Born To Die (Mono) / Born To Die (Stereo)(as Giorgio)
• 1974 Born To Die / Strongest Of The Strong (as Giorgio's Common Cause)
• 1975 Bricks and Mortar / It's A Shame
• 1975 Rock Me To My Soul / Dark and Deep and In between (as Giorgio's Common Cause)
• 1975 Einzelgänger / Liebes Arie (as Einzelgänger)
• 1976 Einzelgänger / Good Old Germany (as Einzelgänger)
• 1976 Take Five / Enterprise (as MLS (Musicland Set))
• 1976 Knights In White Satin
• 1976 I Wanna Funk With You Tonite / Oh, L'Amour
• 1977 Let The Music Play / Oh, L'Amour
• 1977 From Here To Eternity / Too Hot To Handle
• 1977 From Here To Eternity / Utopia - Me Giorgio
• 1977 Get On The Funk Train (part I) / Get On The Funk Train (part II) (as Munich Machine)
• 1978 A Whiter Shade of Pale / It's All Wrong (But It's Alright) (as Munich Machine)
• 1978 Love's In You (Love's In Me) / I Can't Wait (as Giorgio & Chris)
• 1979 Party Light / Bolectro (as Munich Machine)
• 1979 Baby Blue / If You Weren't Afraid
• 1979 If You Weren't Afraid / E=MC2
• 1980 Night Drive / The Apartment
• 1983 Scarface (Push It To The Limit) / Tony's Theme (as Giorgio Moroder & Paul Engemann)
• 1984 Together In Electric Dreams / Together In Electric Dreams Instrumental (as Giorgio Moroder & Philip Oakey)
• 1984 The Duel / Madeline's Theme
• 1984 Reach Out / Reach Out (Instrumental)(as Giorgio Moroder & Paul Engemann)
• 1984 American Dream / Too Hot To Touch (Instrumental) (as Giorgio Moroder & Paul Engemann)
• 1985 Shannon's Eyes / Shannon's Eyes (Instrumental) (as Giorgio Moroder & Paul Engemann)
• 1985 Night Time Is The Right Time / Baby Blue [1985 Remix]
• 2012 Giorgio's New Dancing Shoes (from the CD: The 84th Academy Awards)

Soundtracks[link]

Sampling and other uses[link]

• Bronski Beat have covered "I Feel Love" and "Love to Love You Baby" for their debut album The Age of Consent (1984).
• Madonna has sampled "I Feel Love" ( a production by Moroder, sung by Donna Summer ) in the early 90's.
• "On Fire", the second single from rapper Lil Wayne's seventh studio album Rebirth; contains allusions from Amy Holland's song "She's on Fire" and was inspired in its entirety by Scarface.^[11]
• "Push It", the second single from rapper Rick Ross' debut album Port of Miami; samples "Scarface (Push It to the Limit)" and the story of the video has a very similar theme to the film Scarface. It was produced by J. R. Rotem.
• His song "Tears" was sampled and used as the basis of the DJ Shadow song "Organ Donor" on his 1996 album Endtroducing...... Canadian Hip Hop group Swollen Members sampled the song in "Fuel Injected" and "Meltdown". It also appears on the song "Tragedy" by RZA. The main melody and chord progression form the basis of "Marz" by folk musician John Grant and "Only Light" by Australian ska band The Cat Empire.
• The Hip Hop-duo Mobb Deep used a sample from the song "Tony's Theme" in their song G.O.D. Pt. III.
• His Song "E=MC2" was sampled and used for J. Dilla's song of the same title.
• One of his early compositions, "Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo" from 1969, would be featured for many years in silent sketches on The Benny Hill Show, as part of a medley that also included "Mah Nà Mah Nà", a 4/4 adaptation of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Für Elise", and "Gimme Dat Ding".
• The theme from Midnight Express was sampled by hip-hop duo OutKast for their song "Return of the Gangsta", and by hip-hop producer J Dilla for "Phantom of the Synths", a beat later used by MF DOOM for "Gazzillion Ear" and by Jay Electronica for "Dimethyltryptamine".
• Moroder's opening theme from the film Scarface is sampled by Nas and Mobb Deep for the track "It's Mine".
• "Leopard Tree Dream" from Cat People is sampled by Cannibal Ox in the song "Iron Galaxy."
• "The Legend Of Babel" theme From the "metropolis" soundtrack was covered By DJ Dado.
• British electronica musician Little Boots covered "Love Kills", which was written in collaboration with Freddie Mercury.
• "Future Lovers", a song from American recording artist Madonna's 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor, has a bass line inspired by Donna Summer's Moroder-produced hit "I Feel Love". Furthermore, Madonna opened her 2006 Confessions Tour with a medley of "Future Lovers" and "I Feel Love".
• For the "Chase" instrumental, see that article
• Suns of Arqa's album "Technomor" includes the track "Moroder Vibe" which contains elements of "I Feel Love".

See also[link]

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
• Cizeta Moroder V16 supercar project

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2010)

External links[link]

• discog.info: Giorgio Moroder discography
• Giorgio Moroder discography at Discogs
• Giorgio Moroder at the Internet Movie Database